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The BBC offices on Marylebone High Street |
Switched off to BBC move plan
Residents’ surprise over decision to go
WHILE Marylebone High Street reels from the announcement that the BBC is abandoning its base there after 73 years, questions are being asked as to why residents were kept in dark over the plans.
Staff from BBC London TV and Radio are being moved to nearby Broadcasting House in Portland Place, with the lease on the building due to be sold off by the end of October.
It has been described as a “huge loss” to the street by residents, some of whom are saying that the corporation should have been more open about the move.
Carl Upsall, chairman of the Marylebone Association, said: “It is particularly sad to see an institution like the BBC moving. We presume that they had plenty of time to plan the move, and it would have been helpful if we, as the local amenity society, had been briefed.
“We usually have a very good relationship with the BBC, who work hard to keep the local community informed about the development of the Langham Place site. So I would have been keen to know why there wasn’t the same level of communication over the decision to move off the High Street.”
Other departments based in the High Street including the BBC training department and the BBC Trust will move to Great Portland Street.
Defending the move, which will see an extra 10,000 staff based in Portland Place, the BBC insisted it has done nothing wrong by not consulting residents. It says the switch is part of a property management plan to keep the licence fee down.
Harvey Marshall, councillor for Marylebone High Street ward, said: “The BBC haven’t actually done anything wrong here. They are no under obligation to tell anyone about their plans, and actually I think quite a few people have known about this for a while.”
The studios have been a fixture on the High Street since 1936, decades before it became a fashionable place to live, originally housing BBC publications and the Radio Times magazine.
Alison Kelly, from BBC Workplace, said: “If we had been redeveloping the site we would have consulted, but in this case we didn’t need to. It is part of our strategy to reduce the cost and size of our portfolio.” |
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