Hackney Central Labour

Moving the boundaries of Hackney South

2011-09-14T15:52:00.004+01:00

The government announced that it was seeking to reduce the number of MPs representing constituencies in the UK from 650 to 600 and as a result, the Electoral Commission yesterday published its proposals for achieving this reduction.

Whilst our ward will remain in a newly named "Hackney South" constituency, there are some changes, with Clissold, Stoke Newington Central and Dalston wards coming into our constituency. Three of the existing Hackney SOuth & Shoreditch wards will move into a new "Hackney North" constituency: Chatham (right next door to us), Kings Park and Wick wards to the east going into Diane Abbott's constituency.

Although this is a technical change which won't bring any noticable change to our ward, it's important that if you have any comments, you let the Electoral Commission know.

More information can be found here.

We Love Hackney Weekend - this Saturday & Sunday!

2011-09-13T14:45:00.003+01:00

This weekend sees a series of events across the borough to celebrate all that is good about the borough and bring lots of different people from across our community together to meet, talk and generally have a good time.

Hackney Central has lots of different activites on - from St Augustine's Tower being open as part of Open House London, to performances from Hackney Children's Theatre outside Marks & Spencer.

There's lots to do and it's guaranteed to be lots of fun!

For all the information, please see this site here.

Current planning applications

2011-09-12T09:59:00.002+01:00

There are three present planning applications relating to our ward:

Application Number: 2011/2334
Applicant: Mr Kenneth Farnon

117 Wilton Way, London, E8 1BH

Development Case Officer: Gillian Nicks

Description:
Submission of details pursuant to condition 13 (Noise Assessment) of planning application reference 2009/2673, dated 21/04/2010

Application Number: 2011/1187
Applicant: Mrs Adele Walker

401 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 1HY

Description:
Installation of new shop front and roller shutter.

Application Number: 2011/2201
Applicant: Mr John McCarthy

Ward Hall Court, 2 Navarino Grove, London E8 1AH

Description: Rear dormer roof extension to provide two additional bedrooms, shower room and
storage cupboards

The Health of our area

2011-09-09T09:41:00.004+01:00

Hackney Central, like all the different wards in Hackney are in the top 10% of the most deprived areas in the country.

The East London and City NHS have produced new reports that look at the breakdown of important health statistics for Hackney and the findings make for some challenging reading and shows how much more work there is to do in our own community to improve people's life chances and basic health.

Headlines:

We have just under 11,000 people living in our ward

Almost 1 in 5 of our residents are under 15 and 70% are of working age

7% of our neighbours provide regular unpaid caring for friends or relatives - just under 200 people are spending 50 hours or more a week caring for people

Almost 6 out of 10 of us live in council or housing association properties

17% of our working age residents are on job seekers allowance or incapacity benefit

We have the second lowest level of life expectancy for women in the borough (just under 79 years) and the lowest life expectancy for men (just under 73 years old)

We have lower levels of childhood obesity than the borough average, but still a staggering 1 in 5 children are obese

Teenage pregnancy remains a substantial issue, with just under 9% of young women between 15 % 17 becoming pregnant

35 of our neighbours with disabilities receive support from the council to live independently at home

Cardiovascular health (heart disease) is a problem with our death rate at about 80% higher than the English average and cancer deaths 36% higher than the English average (the highest in the borough)

The readings make for some worrying reading and shows the sort of challenges that still face the council - now that it has taken over responsibility for public health - and for our local NHS.

With all the excitement about the Olympics, it is often all too easy to forget about the underlying problems that many of our community face and good health is clearly one of them. Whilst smoking rates and teenage pregnancy rates have fallen - the money to deliver these services has been cut by the government - forgetting that even in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, some of our own are in desperate need of help and support.

More details about the Hackney Central statistics can be found here.

Other profiles and summary reports of major categories of health issues can also be found here.

London Riots: Continuing the pursuit for Justice

2011-09-06T10:01:00.003+01:00

As part of the ongoing police operation to identify, find and bring those involved in the London riots to justice, the police will be setting up an "ad van" later this month showing CCTV images of people who are still being sought by the police.

The images will be shown and police support officers will be present for those who want to come forward with information.

The ad van will be in the Narrow Way/Clarence Road area and in Dalston on the 16th, 19th and 20th of September between 9am and 5pm.

We strongly urge anyone who has information to come forward. Justice has to be be seen to be done.

The man pictured is Richard Charles Bezzina, who is 44 and lived at Banister House, E9. As a result of his actions during the riots, he was convicted of violent disorder and was given 20 months in prison.

Tell us your policing priorities for Hackney Central

2011-09-05T11:55:00.002+01:00

The next meeting of the Hackney Central Police Advisory Committee is on 12 September. This is where the police, councillors and local residents sit down to discuss crime and disorder issues in our ward and set three policing priorities for the month ahead.

If you would like to attend, give us some issues to be raised at the meeting or anything else, then please get in touch!

**Also, previous posts also discussed the cut to police resources in Hackney. Our borough will have to lose 5 sergeants - a huge loss of talent, skills, knowledge and experience. Thankfully, our ward has been spared and so we are delighted that Sgt Elsey will be remaining in post and able to concentrate on policing our ward.**

Hackney's Libraries - continuing to invest

2011-08-22T12:15:00.002+01:00

The council recently ran an extensive consultation on the future of Hackney's libraries.

As you will have seen from the discussions about how councils make their budget fit with the cuts agenda, lots of councils in London have been cutting opening hours, or the number of libraries. Hackney currently has 8 libraries, including the large Hackney Central library beside the Town Hall.

As a result of the consultation, the new provision has been outlined. The great news is that none of our libraries will close and the opening hours will actually be extended - so more people will be able to access our libraries.

Our own library in Hackney Central will have new opening hours in future:

Monday - Thursday 9am-8pm

Friday 9am-6pm

Saturday 9am-5pm

In addition, the new CLR James library in Dalston will also be open between 1pm and 5pm on a Sunday, so our residents will have easy reach to libraries seven days a week. The new hours will begin when the new CLR James library opens later this year.

There is some more work to do on increasing access to the computers in our libraries and we'll wait to hear what proposals are coming forward on these. Events will continue in all of our libraries and we'll keep you informed of good ones in our own in the future - also check Hackney Today.

We're delighted that despite the pressures of the cuts that the government is passing to us, we continue to be able to keep all our libraries open, increase opening hours, invest in new books and other materials and maintain a superb service.

Planning Applications in Hackney Central

2011-08-22T11:19:00.002+01:00

We have previously used this blog to discuss planning matters that have been raised with us. We will also now be advertising current planning applications in the ward to ensure that this blog becomes another source of information about what applications have been submitted.

There are currently 2 applications in the Council's Planning Applications system that we wanted to bring to your attention:

56 Navarino Road, E8
Erection of ground floor side extension and re-building of the existing ground floor rear extension.
Application numbers: 2011/1983 (main application) & 2011/2093
Case Officer: Raymond Okot

16 Horton Road, E8
Front Garden: 2 X Lime Trees – Crown reduce by 30%, Crown Lift by 3m, Crown Thinning by approx. 20%
Application numbers: 2011/2230 (main application) & 2011/2230
Case Officer: Nick Jacobs

Please contact the relevant case officers with any objections/comments via:
Hackney Planning Service
2 Hillman Street
London E8 1FB

Plans can also be viewed on the council's planning website, or in person at the office at 2 Hillman Street.

Alan and Samantha can also act on your behalf on these cases if you wish to get in touch with them.

A-Level results

2011-08-19T10:27:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to all of Hackney's young people who received their A-Level results yesterday. We hope that all the hard work and studying paid off!

Special note goes to the pupils of our own Mossbourne Academy, who have performed outstandingly, with every student sitting the A-Levels being offered a place at University. More than 80% of the students received all grades of A*-C.

For those pupils who didn't achieve what they had hoped for, there are plenty of other opportunities out there and we hope that you are using the clearing system to find suitable courses.

Mossbourne shows that just because you live in a poor area, it doesn't mean that you can't succeed. Congratulations to the staff, parents, relatives and most importantly, the pupils for all their hard work and achievements!

Samantha, who sits on the governing body of the Academy was delighted with the results: "It shows just what can be done when everyone focusses on success. The school has done tremendous work and I congratulate everyone involved and wish all the pupils luck with their continuing studies. We've set a benchmark for the rest of Hackney."

For more details on the results, please see coverage in the Guardian here, the Daily Mail here and the Daily Telegraph here.

After all the recent events, this shows the real Hackney and how the borough is changing - for the better.

Mare Street wins National Urban Transport Award!

2011-08-16T10:04:00.004+01:00

The redesign of Hackney's Mare Street, from Richmond Road to the Narroway has rightly received a prestigious award from the urban design profession - the 2011 Urban Transport Design Award.

The simple workmanlike approach to removing ugly gaurd rail, widening footways, simplifying pedestrian crossings and introducing street trees was seen as a model of good design, but also reproduceable, unlike the very expensive projects undertaken by some other London boroughs.

"This was a project that emphasised simplicity, many residents will not even have even noticed the changes, but it has rebalanced the area a little more in favour of the pedestrian, as it should be in one of Hackney's most important commercial centres" said Cllr Vincent Stops.

Cllr Alan Laing, who as Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods championed the scheme and won the funding neccesary for the works, welcomed the prize:

"The almost £1 million we invested has made a huge difference. People can walk around our town centre more easily and pedestrians are no longer an afterthought. We're delighted that the hard work of council officers, our contractors and the vision that brought this about shows that Hackney can be the very best."

More information about the prize can be found here. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Tea on Clarence Road - Monday

2011-08-12T15:49:00.003+01:00

St John at Hackney (the church which is both closest to the Hackney troubles as well as where some of the disturbances broke out in its graveyard) is organising an afternoon tea on Clarence Road on Monday 15 August at 5pm.

The tea party is to coincide with exactly a week after the trouble broke out and is a community response to take back the street.

The event is being sponsored by Hackney Marks & Spencer, Hackney Council and other local businesses.

The event set-up is from 4:30pm in the church - please do come along!

Siva Kandiah - helping him rebuild his business

2011-08-12T11:36:00.005+01:00

Siva Kandiah is one of the local businessmen who was most affected by the rioting and looting on Monday evening on Clarence Road.

His shop was broken into, looted and - to put it bluntly - trashed. He lost £10,000 in stock and has been left with virtually nothing.

Hackney Council is helping Mr Kandiah to rebuild and his determination to get back on his feet is a testament to the spirit of London in light of the riots.

To help Mr Kandiah rebuild his shop and life, colleagues and others such as HCVS have helped set up an online fund to help.

Please go to http://www.hcvs.org.uk/

Ways to donate:

Online : Please click the button (a button to donate will be displayed here)

By Mobile text : Text HCVS01 followed by the amount you want to donate to 70070 for e.g. HCVS01 £10 to 70070 to donate £10.

Texts are charged at your mobile phone operator's standard rate. The charity will receive 100% of your donation. You must be 16 or over and please ask the bill payer's permission. For full terms and conditions and more information, please visit www.justgiving.com/info/terms-of-service.

By Cheque: Please complete the form and make cheques payable to 'HCVS' and their postal address.

By Cash: at HCVS offices.

IMPORTANT NOTE: there are a number of Paypal and other online appeals for Mr Kandiah. Please note that this is the official fund - please don't risk your money going astray by providing money to another source.

** UPDATE - you can go straight to the donation page by clicking here.**

London Riots: Bringing those responsible to justice

2011-08-12T10:07:00.003+01:00

Operation Withern has been set up to investigate the last few days of disorder and violence in London.

Anyone with information should call the Major Investigation Team on 020 8345 4142.

Alternatively you can call the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Images of people sought in connection with looting across London have now been published on the web and can be found here. If you know someone who was involved - contact the police. A clear message that, whatever the problems people have, there is never an excuse for what happened in our community at the beginning of this week.

London Riots: Looking back - and to the future

2011-08-11T13:54:00.005+01:00

The police are currently assessing 30+ hours of CCTV footage, from council CCTV cameras which will provide a fuller picture of the number and scale of incidents around the borough. Importantly, this will also help secure more convictions of those who took part in the events.

Around 52 arrests were made in total in Hackney and at least 30 people have now been charged. Two of the arrests were made directly as a result of live CCTV footage and both the police and fire services used the CCTV control room as the base for their operations during the riots. The planning exercises have previously shown that this inter-service working is well rehearsed and prepared for in the borough.

Council street cleaners performed an amazing job:

The Narrow Way was cleared twice, on the first occasion around 8.30pm on Monday night immediately after police had cleared the rioters. Street cleaners then had to clear the top of it again at shortly after 3am as a result of further damage.

Most scenes cleared by 5am

Streets washed down by 7am to 7.30am

14 burnt vehicles identified and removed by parking in Clarence Road by noon with 10 in other areas removed.

The damaged carriageway in Clarence Road will be repaired by close of business on Friday, with Clarence Place, Goulton Road and Clapton Square following on early next week.

All minor street lighting damage was repaired on Tuesday and 2 burnt lamp columns to be replaced next Monday and UKPN will connect them on Wednesday.

The graffiti that covered the whole wall in Clarence Road was also removed at 7am on Tuesday

All bins and loose street furniture removed from Hackney Central, Dalston and the A10 on Tuesday, as a precautionary measure. They will be returned on police advice.

Supporting local businesses in Hackney Central:

The Council has been supporting local shops and businesses in Hackney Central in a variety of ways, including:

We have been visiting all shops in the town centre frequently on a daily basis since Monday.

We have distributed Police Advice Sheets to all possible businesses and asked businesses to cascade information onwards to fellow businesses to ensure maximum coverage

From CCTV footage, we have been able to give advice to retail managers about how their shops were broken into and measures they can take to make them safer going forward.

About 150 people turned up at the Town Hall on Tuesday morning as part of the Twitter campaign (#RiotCleanUp) and were thanked but told that the streets had been cleared and they should go elsewhere in London where their help was needed.

Going forward both the Mayor of London and the government have announced funds to help those areas most affected by the events of earlier this week. Unfortunately, at present, both what this consists of and whether any money will come to Hackney Central is unclear. We will push to ensure that businesses and our town centre get the money that they need.

We have been delighted by the response of the community in coming back to bring the real character of Hackney to the fore. There will be more opportunities to come together and we will keep you updated.

Picture copyright of Hackney Gazette.

London Riots: The Next Few Days

2011-08-10T11:36:00.004+01:00

Last night saw the streets of Hackney quiet with very few incidents.

The police had a significant presence that everyone will have seen and in the days to come there will be an increased number of officers both in the borough and available to come if there are any further incidents.

For advice, updates and more news from the police - please go to the Hackney section of the Met Police website here. Other specific advice can be found here.

In addition to the increased policing, community leaders and groups will be coming together to offer support and opportunities for people to talk about what happened, ask questions and raise any points they may have. We will keep you posted.

Lastly, we'd like to pay our own tribute to the street cleaners and residents who worked hard to get the streets back to normal and cleaned up in the aftermath. Their work and commitment shows that Hackney will move on from the events of earlier this week.

Alan, Samantha and Vincent

London Riots: Statement from Jules Pipe from yesterday

2011-08-10T09:49:00.002+01:00

"I am appalled by the events of last night. These were people bent on violence who attacked not just property and local businesses but put residents in fear of their lives. The Council has cleared away all the debris from last night and Hackney is going about its business, but if we are to avoid a repeat of last night, I am urging families across London to make sure they know where their children are and to support the police in identifying perpetrators.

“The Council's cleaners were on the streets throughout the night and had cleared away all the debris, apart from a few burnt out cars, by 7.30am and I would like to pay tribute to them for their hard work. I would also like to thank the several hundred residents and volunteers who turned up at Hackney Town Hall this morning offering to help clean up the borough. This shows overwhelming generosity and community spirit and many were keen to go and help in other parts of London when it was clear the clean up in Hackney was already complete.”

London Riots: Statement from Jennette Arnold AM

2011-08-09T17:26:00.001+01:00

Over the past two nights, following similar disturbances in Tottenham and Enfield, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest have all borne witness to devastating looting and violence.

Last Thursday in Tottenham, Mark Duggan, a father of four, lost his life during a police operation. Mr Duggan’s family subsequently organised a peaceful protest on Saturday only for it to be hijacked by a few thugs leading to widespread violence in the Tottenham constituency. I added my voice and support to David Lammy MP in Tottenham who condemned the opportunistic violence.

As the violence extended across London into Sunday and Monday, we moved well beyond any relationship between this violence and the death of Mark Duggan as a minority of opportunistic people used the unrest as an excuse to riot in their own communities, wreaking havoc on the streets of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest.We have all been deeply shocked and angered by these events.

I have also been moved by the stories of heroism that are emerging and the work, foresight and sense of community of those taking part in local clean-up operations. But what action should we take to deal with the immediacy of the crisis and to consider preventing a repetition?

I have had discussions with police and community leaders in Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest. I have raised a number of concerns, witnessed Metropolitan Police senior staff willing to accept outside help, and was inspired by the commitment from all parties to moving forward together. Some had seen it all before and thought they would never witness it again; others were shocked to see for the first time scenes more redolent of an urban war zone.

It is easy to assume we have quick fixes. There has been much criminal activity and the police will, quite rightly, investigate that thoroughly.

But there are broader and more complex issues here. My position is this:

Enforce the law -- people I have spoken to do not want any 'no-go' areas for the police in London; criminal behaviour must be dealt with using the full force of the law.

Let the Independent Police Complaints Commission do it's job -- we argued for this body to exist as an alternative to the police service investigating itself. They need time to assemble the facts surrounding the death of Mark Duggan and to make recommendations.

Adopt economic policies that support local people -- the recession has left some people facing real hardship and there are concerns about social dislocation. We need policies that will enable investment and growth, rather than a focus on what will be the next area to be cut.

And we the community must continue with our message that we will not stand for this. We will work to bring the perpetrators to justice – they do not speak for us. We live in wonderful communities with strong senses of solidarity- we will not allow this to drag us down.

Jennette Arnold OBE AM

The London Riots - statement from Meg Hillier MP

2011-08-09T13:39:00.002+01:00

"I am shocked and horrified by the events in Hackney.

"The thugs behind this need to be dealt with by the police.

"Hackney has seen such progress in the last decade. We must condemn the violence. Hackney is a commnunity of diversity and tolerance and we need to make sure that these are the characteristics Hackney is known by, not the actions of some mindless, violent thugs.

"If people have grievances we must use the democratic process to resolve them."

"I have spoken to the Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Bending who I will be meeting urgently. I will also be meeting community leaders and business representatives later today to discuss the clean up and how we rebuild the community"

If you have any thoughts and suggestions about where we go from here after such awful events please let me know

Meg

We also want to add our voices of concern and support to those affected yesterday by the actions of a violent minority intent on causing damage and illegality.

We hope that the residents of our ward, particularly those on the Pembury Estate who have suffered more than enough over the past few years can now slowly rebuild their daily lives and receive the support from the police in the days, weeks and months ahead.

We need a period of calm - of young people and trouble-makers to stay off the streets and support for the police to get their job done and bring those responsible for the outrages of yesterday to court.

We love Hackney and Hackney is better than this.

Suffering from Anti-Social Behaviour?

2011-08-04T09:44:00.003+01:00

When you suffer from anti-social behaviour (ASB), it is all too easy to think that you are alone. If it isn't serious enough to involve the police (or if you don't want to involve them), or it is simply making where you stay a living hell - finding the right support to stamp it out can be difficult.

That's why Hackney Homes are running a series of drop-in sessions with the police and other parts of the council for members of the public who are wanting help or advice on tackling ASB.

The nearest ones to our area are:

Warburton & Darcy Estate (close to Broadway Market) E8 3RS

18th August 1.30pm – 4pm

Trelawney Estate (opposite Tesco in Mare Street) E9 6NS

21 September 3pm – 5pm

More advice on noise nuisance, how to report it and what the council can do can be found here.

If you are a Hackney Homes tenant or leaseholder, information from Hackney Homes can be found here.

Don't suffer in silence - get the help you deserve and let's all join together to clamp down on ASB.

Licensing - application from 'Casablanca' on Sandringham Road

2011-08-03T17:21:00.007+01:00

The owners of 'Casablanca' restaurant at 170 Sandringham Road, E8 have submitted an application to the council's licensing service for:

Recorded music to be played between 10am and 00:30 the next day Sunday - Thursday

Recorded music to be played between 10am and 02:00 the next day Fridays and Saturdays

Dancing and similar activities between 21:30 and 00:30 the next day Sunday - Thursday
Dancing and similar acitivities between 21:30 and 02:00 the next day Fridays and Saturdays

Supply of alcohol between 10am and midnight Sunday - Thursday
Supply of alcohol between 10am and 01:00 the next day Fridays and Saturdays

Local residents who wish to object to this application have until 25 August to object in writing to the Licensing Service.

As local councillors, we are able to support you in this process and speak on your behalf. Please get in touch if you would wish us to become involved.

More information on making representations can be found here.
It is important that if you have concerns that you speak up - otherwise, without objections, the application is likely to be approved by a committee.

Solar power on the Pembury!

2011-07-27T11:22:00.003+01:00

Peabody Trust is currently part way through a programme of installing 'photo voltaic' (PV) cells onto the roofs of blocks on the Pembury Estate. 10 have already been installed with more to come.

In what will be the biggest scheme in the borough, the PV cells will harness the power of the sun to help reduce the amount of electricity used and reduce bills.

Vincent, who is regularly involved on the Pembury said: "This is really exciting. Reducing our carbon footprint is one of the most important challenges that we face and I welcome this investment by the Peadbody Trust. I hope other housing associations do the same."

He went on: "Fuel poverty is a big issue and the Pembury is one of the poorest estates in Hackney. This investment will help many residents in making sure the choice this winter isn't one between keeping warm and buying food."

Mountford Estate - over to you!

2011-07-27T11:00:00.003+01:00

We've blogged quite a bit about trying to get Hackney Homes to get the Tenants' & Resident's Association on the Mountford Estate up and running - particularly after the death of the former Secretary.

Since then, it has not met and has struggled to meet and we've been pressing Hackney Homes to put the resources in to get this important forum up and running.

As a result, Hackney Homes is running a new meeting on the estate, tomorrow (Thursday, 28 July) which will give residents on the estate the opportunity to meet and discuss how to take the TRA forward.

The meeting is Thursday, 28 July
7pm
Mountford Estate Community Hall (off Cecilia Road)

TRAs are really important. They allow residents to raise issues of concern and to get things on the estate done. Without it, often the problems and the niggles that annoy people end up being missed without anyone to champion the issue.

Now that the ball is rolling, it is over to you, the residents to make it a success. We'll be there to see how it goes - but the residents need to own the TRA and make it happen.

Over to you! We'll be there to support you however we can.

Where to Eat in and around Hackney Central

2011-07-21T12:16:00.003+01:00

Lots of us have our favourite places to go. We enjoy new businesses opening up - and we're excited by the new cinema which will open later this year in the old Ocean building opposite the Town Hall.

Some of us look at websites, reviews or rely on recommendations from friends. However, there is another way to try to find other good places to eat - or at the very least - places that reduce the risk of getting a nasty stomach bug or food poisoning from a meal out. Try looking at Scores on the Doors which is a great way of finding out what the results of the last food hygiene inspection were. Hackney Council spends a huge amount of time inspecting premises and ensuring that people are safe when they buy food, eat and drink in the borough.

In and around our own ward, those businesses that got two or fewer stars are the ones to consider as they have the poorer standards of hygiene or standards, and consequently, the higher risk of getting a nasty after-effect.

There's lots of good news - places like the Hackney Empire, KFC, Pizza Hut, Borough Wines, Subway, Gregg's and M&S all have high ratings.

However - the Pembury Tavern on Pembury Circus, Mess Cafe (Amhurst Road), Taste of Africa, Tony's Cafe, Tai Luck (all of Graham Road), Percy Ingle and The Cock Tavern (Mare Street), Dalston Lane Cafe and Noodle Express (Dalston Lane) and the Spurstowe Arms and the Costcutter both on Greenwood Road all have 2 or only 1 star.

Time for those businesses to improve their standards in time for the next inspection and you may want to think about the above when you decide where to go out!

Delivering for Horton Road and Reading Lane residents

2011-07-21T11:50:00.003+01:00

After almost a year of fighting for answers, Hackney Central Councillors finally got them for residents of Horton Road and Reading Lane on Monday night - after the council Cabinet considered a report which outlined a future for the site of the former Great Eastern Buildings on Reading Lane.

After pushing for reassurances about the development plan, Hackney Homes and the council revealed that they are seeking a building of 3 storeys on the site and which will provide affordable apartments - much needed in Hackney.

Residents were fearing that an over-development on the site would take place, seeing a large building squeezed into a small plot size to maximise the profits raised.

Instead, officers listened to Alan and the residents and reduced the scale of what is sough for the site - however, there is more work to do. We will work with residents and ensure that the final proposals when they are brought forward later this year reflect the assurance that has been received.

Notable thanks go out to Stuart Bennett of Horton Road for his dogged determination on this subject and to Cllr Glanville for his support and time with residents.

Silencing the Sirens - update

2011-07-21T11:39:00.002+01:00

Previous posts have talked about the problems of the police using their sirens unneccesarily after dark and in particular, between the hours of 11pm and 6am.

Often, with no traffic or pedestrians on the road, police cars will drive along with lights and sirens, disturbing people's sleep and enjoyment of their homes - without good reason.

With thanks to Jennette Arnold, our very hard working London Assembly member, we arranged a meeting with the borough commander, Chief Superintendent Steve Bending (pictured).

At the meeting, the use of sirens was raised and contrasted with Kennington in Lambeth where the police agreed to restrict the use and in Barnet where at 2am polic and ambulances don't use sirens.

The borough commander has promised ot work with Jennette to raise this issue at a London-wide Met level, as well as regularly mentioning it to officers as they turn up for evening shifts. He also agreed that senior officers, when out on patrols, would remind officers that they are travelling through areas where residents live and should be mindful of that fact.

Hackney's own statistics and surveys show that emergency vehicles are the main reason for noise at night breaching limits set by the World Health Organisation for allowing people to sleep. We know that this doesn't need to continue. People being disturbed by police sirens are encouraged to contact them and complain - it shouldn't happen in Hackney.

We'll be following this up with the borough commander and thank him for his understanding of the problem.

"Meet Ken" - Monday 27 June

2011-06-20T14:35:00.003+01:00

Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London and Labour's candidate to win back City Hall at the Mayoral elections next year is visiting Hackney next Monday, 27 June.

Ken will be undertaking a number of engagements, including one of his "Tell Ken" public meetings, where people can come along and ask him questions about politics, London and what he'd do differently to Boris Johnson.

7:15pm - 8:30pm
Abney Public Hall
73a Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS

So go along and Tell Ken what you think London needs!

Keeping Hackney's dogs on a tighter leash?

2011-06-15T10:02:00.002+01:00

As we have previously mentioned, Hackney is consulting on whether to introduce a "Dog Control Order" which would place restrictions on how people can exercise or manage their dog in public places - including whether to make parts of public parks 'dog free'.

You can consider more of the options here and respond to the consultation.

Tackling dangerous dogs and their effect is already a police priority in the borough - but many people are of the view that the irresponsible dog owners who allow dogs to run free in busy parks, or who don't clean up after them, mean that the council is considering these steps.

Alan commented: "I put the wheels of this consultation process in motion just before I stood down from the Cabinet last year - I hope that as many people as possible respond so that everyone can feel safe in our public spaces and enjoy clean parks."

Police cuts - putting neighbourhood policing at risk

2011-06-13T11:14:00.005+01:00

Hackney was one of the first local authorities in the country to have benefited from the complete roll-out of Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) - dedicated police teams that were focussed upon tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in each of the wards in the borough.

This localised and specific resource has been critical to the reduction in crime and helped ensure that confidence in our police has increased dramatically in the past couple of years. Now however, more details have come to light of how the police locally are having to face up to the cuts that will put all of this good work to risk - after an email from the Borough Commander, Steve Bending (pictured).

To date, each ward has had one sergeant, two PCs and three PCSOs to help police the ward. The borough commander has now identified that five SNT sergeants will be removed later this year and that the ward resources will no longer be ring-fenced and that much of the resources will be made available for other policing work.

Not only will the number of officers in total be reduced, but the reduction will be at the most experienced level - sergeants - who are critical in guiding operations, tasking resources and helping to drive through performance. Also, by removing the resources that are dedicated to ward policing, the highly visible local policing and the ability to meet the demands of local residents and priorities, will be dramatically reduced.

Having built up Hackney residents' confidence over the past few years - the cuts forced upon the police by the Tory-led government will now not only shatter this progress and development, but will also now threaten the ability of our police to meet local aspirations and respond to local priorities.

This is the beginning of what the cuts will mean for our vital public services outside the council - and we will be raising our concerns with the Metropolitan Police Authority and Jennette Arnold, our GLA member, who sits on the body.

Let us know your views too.

Decent Homes - works in Hackney Central over the next 12 months

2011-06-10T15:24:00.004+01:00

Despite the cuts that we have previously announced to the Decent Homes budget by the current government, Hackney Homes have announced the properties that will be receiving much-needed investment in the current financial year.

So for the occupiers of one of the street properties on Eleanor Road, they will be receiving external works (new windows and roof). Marcon Court will be getting the much awaited new windows as well as new kitchens and bathrooms (for many - the first new bathroom or kitchen in over 40 years.)

7 properties on Lushington Terrace and 4 on Sigdon Road will be getting new kitchens and bathrooms.

All much welcomed, but for many more residents in Hakcney, their wait for essential works will be longer and more painful due to the massive cuts that the government has made to the budget.

Stuck for things to do this bank holiday?

2011-05-27T12:57:00.007+01:00

Another bank holiday and another one with the potential threat of rain...but don't let that put you off getting out and about!

What better time then to climb up ancient stairs and view Hackney from a quite different perspective by climbing St Augustine's Tower in St John's at Hackney's churchyeard off the Narroway?

The Tower is open between 2pm-4:30pm and historical tours of the churchyard kick off at 3pm.

More details can be found here.

Or alternatively, if you want to find a nice bottle of wine or real ale for a hopefuly BBQ, then you could do a lot worse than visit our own, independent (and hopefully more successful!) version of Oddbins - Borough Wines - on Wilton Way. Superb range and service - and more details of the liquid refreshment seller can be found on their website here.

Of course, next door to Borough Wines is the hip coffee shop which we've written about before - however we have been in receipt of complaints about poor service due to the demand they are facing! We're sure that they'll improve quickly to keep up with the thirst of the locals...

Lastly, if you are wanting to have a BBQ in London Fields - bear in mind that there is a pilot going on that welcomes BBQs before 9pm, but only in one section of the park and they need to be raised off the grass. This is being enforced by wardens and the local police - so please love London Fields - pick up your rubbish when you are done, bin it/recycle it, respect this much loved open space and remember that people live all around it!

Let us know what you think about the BBQ plan and fill in the questionnaire that is running here.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Cuts - now police stations are facing closure

2011-05-17T14:58:00.005+01:00

Hackney can be a challenging place at times. Many of the public services who operate on the 'front line' do so at all times of the day and night and often in incredibly difficult circumstances. Hackney, due to it's diversity and deprivation in many places can often need more intensive levels of representation of these vital services in the community.

Part of the vital front-facing elements of policing is the ability of members of the public to have face-to-face contact. All too often, officers on patrol aren't able to spend the amount of time speaking to people and whether it is to report a lost animal, report a minor crime - or to seek advice - being able to walk into a police station and speak to a uniformed officer or member of staff. Currently Hackney has three police stations and members of the public are able to walk in off the street and speak to the police - but this may now be all about to change...

The Met Police have launched a survey to seek views about what people think about how they wish to contact the police. This is one of the means by which the Met will decide whether to restart a process that they had previously abandoned which will see them seek to sell off about two thirds of police stations in London and reduce the number of front desks and contact points. Whilst there are many reasons for doing this - the most obvious and at the forefront of this decision are the government cuts.

Residents in Hackney should be able to speak to the police - our main station is just outside the ward on Lower Clapton Road - but this will inevitably be closed under the proposals - along with the station in Shoreditch.

We understand that the police are seeking to maintain resources into frontline policing, but being seen to be open, accessible and available to all is vital - and being based within the communities in which they police is similarly vital.

This is now all at risk.

Tell the police and the Metropolitan Police Authority - chaired by Boris Johnson - that you want our police stations to be kept. Efficencies shouldn't mean the end of accessible police bases in our communities.

The police do an amazing job in Hackney and they rightly justify our support - but this proposal is nothing more than selling off the family silver to try to plug a gap in the police budget that has been created by the Mayor of London and his government - tell them what you think.

You can access the survey here.

Also, contact our Met link member - our Assembly Member Jennette Arnold - her contact details are in the right hand column of this blog.

Proposed Dispersal Zone Meeting - tonight

2011-05-11T09:15:00.003+01:00

Due to an increase in ASB and other criminal behaviour in Victoria Ward, the police are wanting to introduce a dispersal zone which covers a large part of that ward, Chatham ward and a small part of our ward around Mare Street.

This is to help prevent moving the ASB from where the police will be undertaking heightened activity in the weeks ahead.

The proposal is being discussed TONIGHT - please go along and let the police and council know what you think. Alternatively, let us know and we can pass on your thoughts.

The meeting is being held at:

Wednesday 11th May 2011 07:00 pm
Kingshold Community Centre, Ainsworth Road E9

Whilst Dispersal Zones aren't to be entered into lightly and do give the police substantial powers, when they have been introduced in different parts of the borough they have been tremendously successful - both in terms of levels of crime, but have also led to increased levels of public confidence.

Remember to vote today!

2011-05-05T15:27:00.002+01:00

That's right - it's the most exciting political event of our lifetimes....the referendum on the Alternative Vote!

It's fair to say that the views on this have split across all the main parties and this has been evident both within the local Labour Party as it has with the national campaigns - although it hasn't set the imagination of Hackney residents on fire.

Voting stays open until 10pm tonight - go out and use your vote and help decide on how we all elect our MPs in future elections.

Keeping hopes alive for Hackney Central train station

2011-05-05T15:18:00.002+01:00

Hackney Council has been working with TfL and Network Rail to make Hackney Central station accessible and also refurbish the grand old Victorian ticket hall to be the new station entrance, putting the station centre stage on the high street.

Whilst it is still intended to install lifts and there has been progress designing the new station and cafe, the refurbishment has stalled for lack of cash.

Last night's full council meeting agreed that officers of the council should try to keep the project alive, by seeking to persuade Network Rail, the station owner, to only rent it out for non-rail uses on a short term lease. Without such an assurance, the possibility of bringing the station building itself back into use will be lost.

Vincent.

Thank you!

2011-04-19T11:26:00.005+01:00

So the marathon is done and over. On what turned out to be an extremely hot day, which affected lots of runners - I managed to get round in about 6 and a quarter hours - about 45 minutes slower than I had hoped. But, I am pleased to have gotten round without collapsing, heat exhaustion or other issues...it was also an honour to run alongside PC David Rathband who had been shot in the face by Raoul Moat. He was just one of the people who were running for all of their own many personal reasons.

It was the hardest thing I have ever done - but I wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge "thank you" to my better half for going running with me and for getting me to do this in the first place (even if it was a year late!), my family for their support and ribbing that forced me to do the distance but perhaps as importantly the thousands of total strangers who stood and cheered all of us running.

The priest who blessed us as we went past - the London Fire Brigade who were out hosing us down, the families there with their children offering much-needed jelly babies - the St John's Ambulance volunteers who were there offering vital supplies of vaseline (say no more), the people handing out water and Lucozade and the thousands of people who made the event so slick and well managed and who cheered every single one of us over the line...

I doubt I will ever do it again, but I have my medal and literally the t-shirt. I am also in the process of losing at least one toenail and trying to regain movement in my back and legs. A wonderful experience and I'm glad that I've done it.

To everyone who completed the race - well done. To anyone thinking about doing it - do the training and don't ever underestimate the scale of the undertaking. It is absolutely worth it.

Alan

Marathon - finally here

2011-04-13T09:50:00.004+01:00

Occasional readers of this blog will remember that Alan signed up to do the London marathon this year. He was meant to do it last year, but injury stopped him. Well, this year sees him signed up and ready to go this Sunday on what will be one of the most difficult things he's ever had to do in his life.

Looking forward to the big day, Alan said "I have been in denial for the last couple of weeks about how close it was - but there's no excuse available to me this year. I've been training and am thankfully injury-free. I just need do the best I can."

If you are following any of the runners on Sunday - look out for someone who looks a bit like the picture and towards the back of the field!

Alan will post some thoughts about the run at the beginning of next week.

Tackling Irresponsible Dog Ownership

2011-04-06T10:27:00.010+01:00

Those of you who have read the current edition of Hackney Today will have seen a piece talking about the council going out to consult on whether there is a case for restrictions on where dogs can be excercised freely in the borough.

When Alan was Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, he set in track a process which is now coming to the fore of introducing increased help and support for dog owners - responding to some of the biggest concerns raised regularly by residents. All councillors receive complaints about irresponsible dog owners - everything from dogs mess on the streets (the council have started to fine those responsible) to dangerous dogs, dog fighting, damaging trees and dogs being left unattended in flats.

As a result, Alan asked officers to work up proposals to introduce free or discounted dog chipping, training for dog owners and consider whether some parts of our parks and open spaces be made free from dogs.

Steps that the council are taking to help dog owners are available here and people should note the next session of free dog advice and training in St John's Churchyard on 4 May between 2-6pm. So people who have a dog that isn't chipped, or who want more advice on getting their dog trained should pop along.

Alan welcomed the move: "When I was in the Cabinet, I listened to residents' concerns about dogs in the borough and we took the first steps to tackle the problem.

"I'm pleased to see that the council continues to take this work forward and I hope that the steps we take help ensure that fewer dogs are left abandoned, or cause distress to other residents of the borough."

We are keen to hear your views about the upcoming consultation on introducing Dog Control Orders - would you support parts of London Fields or Hackney Downs becoming "dog free"? Let us know and we will also keep you up to date with the consultation.

Rubbish and recycling collection dates over Easter

2011-04-05T11:08:00.006+01:00

For those of you who will be going away over the bank holiday period, especially with the additional public holiday - there are some changes to the refuse collection in Hackney - details below.

Remember to recycle as much as you can as we offer some of the most comprehensive recycling services in the country.

Collection Dates

18 April will be collected on Sunday 17 April

19 April - 22 April all normal service

25 April - 29 April - all collections will take place one day later

2 May - 6 May - all collections will take place one day later

Taking action against homophobic crime in Hackney

2011-03-30T09:53:00.011+01:00

Next month sees a meeting of the Hackney Community Engagement Board which meets regularly to discuss policing matters in Hackney in an open, public setting.

Set up by Jennette Arnold, our local London Assembly Member and our representative on the Metropolitan Police Authority, the Board has tackled many of the issues that most concern residents in Hackney: anti social behaviour, youth crime, gang activity and other issues of concern.

One of the growing concerns in the south east of the borough, particularly around the Shoreditch neighbourhood, has been the perception of an increase in homophobic crime and a couple of notable violent assaults. There has also been a series of posters being put up around Shoreditch and parts of Tower Hamlets which have inflamed feelings.

As a result, the Community Engagement Board has decided to address these concerns with an open meeting.

"Hackney Community Engagement Board invites you to hear how the police, and partners are keeping the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities safe in Hackney, raise awareness around homophobic and transphobic crime and discuss strategies to deal with itsimpact on individuals and the community.

Speakers include:

Meg Hillier MP

Borough Commander Steve Bending

Jennette Arnold Member of the Metropolitan Police Authority

Musical entertainment from young people at Stoke Newington School and networking time."

06 April · 18:30 - 21:30

Geffrye Museum 136 Kingsland Road Shoreditch London E2 8EA

If you require more information, then please contact Kate Smith on: Kate.smith@hackney.gov.uk or call 020 8356 4251.

Alan welcomed this event: "The LGBT community in Hackney has grown substantially over recent years and this event is an important one to ensure that the police and council hear clearly what the needs are from the community.

"Homophobic crime is thankfully rare in our borough, but when it does happen, it can have devastating impacts both on the individual(s) concerned, and the wider LGBT community.

"Come along, stand up and be heard - equality always requires hard work from all of us."

Hackney Central leads the way again in showing communities in action

2011-03-29T11:57:00.005+01:00

Earlier this month saw Hackney Homes' annual awards for residents who continue to work hard to speak up for others and make a contribution back into the community within which they live.

Our community has always previously done well - down to the tireless hard work of our residents and this year is no exception.

Tony Osborne, Sectretary of the Aspland & Marcon Estate TRA (far right of the picture) won the much coveted "Resident of the Year" award. Tony is well known to residents on his estate and within the wider tenant movement in the borough. he has single-handedly rejuvinated the youth club on the estate, fought long and hard with our support to bring the ground floor of the community building on the estate back into use (having previously been a laundry for the estate!). His award is much deserved and we are delighted for him.

Wilton Estate TRA won another prize as "Resident Group of the Year" for their ongoing work in successfuly running a youth group, community garden scheme and other initiatives that help bring different parts of the estate and community together. Both prizes are much deserved.

Samantha, as a Hackney Homes Board Member, was particularly delighted: "Celebrating our residents who give back is one of the pleasures I have as a Board Member of Hackney Homes. The fact that our own ward is again prominent in the awards is down to the hard work and consideration that our residents have for their communities and others. It was a delight to see."

All three of us are delighted for the people and the estates involved. Well done!

Pembury Circus development - another chance to provide your feedback

2011-03-18T10:45:00.007Z

Next week sees two drop-in sessions where local residents will be able to see more plans for the Peabody/Bellway redevelopment plans for Pembury Circus, on the corner of the Pembury Estate.

The sessions will be on:

Wednesday 23 March between 4-7pm

Thursday 24 March between 4-7pm

Both will be held at the Senior Citizens Centre on the estate. Peabody's proposals are outlined in more detail here.

As your local councillors, we have made clear our opposition to one of the applications which contains proposals for private car parking which, given the amount of public transport on the doorstep of the development, is completely unacceptable. We are disappointed that despite this clear advice from us, and from officers of the council, Bellway and Peabody continue to promote this option in their application. We have also pressed for commitments around the nursery provision and youth facilities for the young people in the area. We await an update on these areas from the developers.

It is important that local residents come along to see more of the plans for the area which will see more housing being provided in one of the poorest parts of the borough. If you have concerns, make sure you have these documented and tell us, so we can pass these on to the planning department.

**UPDATE** Below is the newest image of the proposed scheme that is about to be released by the developers.

** UPDATE 2** 22 March

We have just received an updated set of ground floor plans, elevations and an briefing note from the developers and we are increasingly concerned by what we are hearing. It would appear that Peabody are now rolling back from a commitment to provide a new nursery site in the new development (which is actually relatively small) and that the possible "A2" use is a possibility - something that we have insisted is not possible.

We are also concerned that Peabody have not commited to a some of money for youth activities in the development, despite our repeated requests - and that they wish to see increased "private money" being introduced - which makes us question their commitment to funding a long-term youth facility.

The revised proposals also see additional height on the lower blocks making them higher than the existing blocks on "old Pembury", something that we again are concerned about.

As a result, we are seeking an urgent meeting with planning officers in Hackney and will let you know the outcome.

Another Cut to Hackney

2011-03-17T14:12:00.005Z

The Tory government has just announced yet another cut which hits Hackney's poorest residents.

As part of the previous government's Decent Homes programme, the council has been investing in new bathrooms, kitchens, windows and roofs - many in blocks where new fittings were needed after 40 years of use.

The council and Hackney Homes have been working hard to improve standards of service, making us eligble for receipt of Decent Homes money. To date, more than £100 million has been invested into our housing stock with Wilton, Wayman, Boscobel and Mountford estates in the ward having received the much needed improvements that have transformed many residents homes.

Despite the good work, the government has announced that instead of giving us the remaining £89 million that is needed to finish this vital work, we have instead been given only £61.5 million - a cut of about £28 million and it has been spread over an additional two years - delaying further the work that is badly needed.

The reality may be even worse. No money beyond 2013 has been guaranteed and so £27 million of the remaining amount is still in doubt. This reduction is purely a decision of the government - and has nothing to do with either Hackney Council or Hackney Homes.

Hackney Central has been lucky that a large amount of work that has meant to have taken place has - but Aspland and Marcon remains an ongoing concern. Other parts of the borough have not been so lucky and will see work scaled back dramatically.

We will continue to press for the works that are so badly needed on the Marcon estate and will keep you up to date as more news comes through.

This is yet another, in an increasingly long list of cuts, being carried out by this Tory government on one of the poorest parts of the country.

Upcoming Planning Applications

2011-03-16T17:34:00.003Z

Hackney's Planning Committee will be hearing two Hackney Central applications at the committee on the 22nd of March at 6:30pm. Both have a recommendation to approve.

The applications are:

Application number 2010/3068

44 Eleanor Road

Erection of a single storey rear extension for a dining room

Application number 2010/3085

71 Greenwood Road

Change of use from 3 flats (2x1 bedroom and 1x4 bedroom) to a single dwelling house and minor external alterations to the windows

If you would wish to raise any issues about the above with Samantha or Alan, then please get in touch. Vincent is Chair of the committee and as such shouldn't be contacted about the applications.

Interested parties can also make representations about the applications and should contact the planning department to make arrangements, no later than the working day before the committee.

Making the streets of Hackney Central safer

2011-03-09T10:04:00.006Z

Work will be beginning on 21 March to introduce 20mph speed limits on more of Hackney Central's streets.

The area surrounded by Graham Road, Amhurst Road and Dalston Lane will soon have the maximum speed reduced to the new limit to help make the streets safer and more accessible for cyclists, pedestrians and other road users.

The northern halves of Greenwood and Navarino Roads, along with the entire length of Spurstowe Terrace, Marcon Place and Malpas Road will soon have the 20mph limit in place.

Hackney has been introducing more 20mph zones over the past few years, with more than 70% of residential streets now covered by the lower limit.

As the police won't enforce this limit, it is important to make the limit self-enforcing and as such some additional measures such as introducing two sets of speed humps on Marcon Place.

Pedestrians will benefit from raising the road surface to pavement level at Marcon Place, Institute Place, Malpas Road and Spurstowe Road. The entry and exit points for Hackney Downs train station will also be improved for pedestrians.

Works beginning towards the end of the month should be completed by the end of May.

We welcome this additional investment in our streets, to make them safer for everyone and to help encourage more people to get out of their cars and onto their bikes, or walking.

The council will do their best to reduce the amount of disruption uring the works, but if you have any specific problems, then do please get in touch.

Census 2011 - make sure you fill in your forms!

2011-03-08T14:26:00.003Z

Forms have begun to land on people's doorsteps from the Census 2011, Britain's survey of our population which takes place every decade.

This is not only important so that future generations will be able to trace back and discover who you are and what you did as we have all seen in TV programmes like "Heir Hunters" and "Who Do You Think You Are?" - it is also a critical tool used by government to decide how money is divided up between different local authority areas.

Last time, Hackney Council estimates that around 13,500 were missed out of the census - meaning that we lost out on valuable funding which, as our previous post about the budget shows, every penny right now is critical.

Some people may find the forms confusing, or want some questions answered and there are a couple of different ways to get those answers.

You can call the Census hotline on 03000 2011 01 or contact them via their website. The council will also be providing help via local libraries from next week.

We know that there have been some concerns that personal information is being asked for, but it is SO important that you complete your form and return it.

Last time, we had the second lowest response rate in the country at only 73% - and the undercounting meant that we lost out on valuable resources. It equates to the local NHS services receiving £40 million less than they should have over the period and the council missing out on £17 million. This is a serious amount of money that is dependent upon you filling out your forms.

Do the right thing. Open the form, complete it and send it in, or do it online.

Your replies will make all the difference for Hackney over the next decade.

Setting priorities for the local police

2011-03-04T12:09:00.002Z

Monday sees the regular meeting of the Hackney Central Community Advisory Panel (CAP) which meets regularly to discuss the local policing priorities.

This meeting is an opportunity for local residents and councillors to come together to discuss policing and anti social behaviour issues in the ward and discuss what the priorities for the local safer neighbourhood team will be for the weeks ahead.

We will also receive updates about the work undetaken since the last meeting where priorities like cycling illegally, anti social behaviour in and around the Narrow Way and the Pembury Estate were identified.

If you have any issues that you'd like us to raise, then please do get in touch!

Hackney Council passes budget for 2011/12

2011-03-03T10:19:00.005Z

In a heated and charged evening in the council chamber of Hackney Town Hall last night, the council overwhelming passed the budget for the upcoming year.

Despite the attempts to disrupt the meeting, the entire meeting was held in public with a large number of members of the public able to attend, hear what was being said (most of the time) and see what was being proposed.

We have always been clear about the challenge that Hackney was facing once the intentions of the government became clear. With massive cuts to councils up and down the country, places in most need like Hackney were always going to bear the brunt of the Tory cuts.

Over the past few years, Hackney Council has been prudent. Millions of pounds have been saved and re-invested into front line services. Council tax has been frozen for 5 years in a row, ensuring that the council looked to itself to find the savings it needed to invest in priority areas. However, with a cut of £44 million to our spending in this year alone - some difficult decisions had to be made.

Despite the complete removal of "Area Based Grant" which was central government money directed to the poorest areas of the country, we have managed to find £3 million to contribute towards maintaining services that would otherwise have been axed totally: help for domestic violence victims and youth crime intervention work.

No youth facilities will be closed, no libraries shut, no reduction to key services like recycling or street cleansing, no restrictions on care to be provided to our oldest and most vulnerable of residents.

There have been redundancies - to date about 190 voluntary redundancies have been taken up. Other positions which were unfilled, or occupied by agency staff have been removed. Senior management has been scaled back. Some fantastic officers who all three of us have worked with as members of the Cabinet have left, or will be leaving at the end of the month. None of these are to be welcomed, but these decisions have allowed us to preserve the services at the frontline and which are needed by our residents.

But the vote last night is only part of the story. Next year we face additional cuts of £26 million. To deliver those savings will push us even harder and will be even more difficult. To be honest, we don't know where those savings will come from yet. But we will continue to do our best to ensure that the impact of the cuts made by this Tory government are minimised.

Those who protested last night wanted us to resist the cuts and refuse to set a budget. If this "principled" stance were to have been taken, then nurseries, meals on wheels, youth work, social services, libraries and leisure centres would now be closed up or been stopped. The decision taken last night was to refuse to play politics with people's jobs or people's lives.

We hope that the anger, resentment and justified horror at what is being done - at a rate and scale that far exceeds even Thatcher's vigour - is directed at this rotten government that has directly targeted the poorest areas for the majority of the cuts. We will be portesting at the national, TUC organised march on 26 March - to tell this government that they have neither the electoral nor moral mandate to do what they are to our vital public services.

More details of the march can be found here.

More details on the budget passed last night can be found here.

Please let us know about what you think are the most important services that you wish to see maintained next year in the next budget where even more savings have to be found.

(Photo courtesy of Hackney Citizen and remains the copyright thereof)

Dispersal Zone affecting Hackney Central

2011-02-15T15:46:00.006Z

The police and council have put in place a Dispersal Zone (covering the area shown in the map to the left) which will remain in place until 30 April.

This is a policing tool which allows any group of 2 or more people who are suspected may cause crime or anti-social behaviour to disperse.

If they fail to move on and out of the area outlined, they can be arrested. In addition, young people under the age of 16, unaccompanied by an adult can be taken to a place of safety or their home at any time.

This is a serious set of powers and are taken very seriously by both the police and the council and aren't entered into lightly. The main areas of the ward affected are the whole of the Pembury Estate, Clarence Road, the Narrow Way and St John's Churchyard.

These powers have been sought as a policing response to a series of muggings in and around the churchyard and the powers are in place 24 hours a day.

If you have any questions, then please don't hesitate to contact us about this, or any other policing matter.

On another note - the ongoing existence of the Alcohol Exclusion Zone around the Narrow Way has led to 7 ASBOs being issued against problem-causing street drinkers and has made a real difference to the area in reducing the number of street drinkers hanging around the toilets near the Churchyard. Let us know your views about how you think the area has been improved as a result of the order.

Mountford Estate - still trying to ensure that the residents are heard

2011-02-14T13:10:00.003Z

Today, we have written another letter to Hackney Homes asking for more work to be undertaken to get a successful Tenants & Residents Association in place for the Mountford Estate.

Previous posts highlighted the plight that residents on the estate are in - there is no formal process or body where they can communicate with Hackney Homes and have issues and problems on the estate fixed. This length of time without intesnive support to get a TRA up and running is simply unacceptable and our frustration is growing.

The following is the text of a letter that we sent to Hackney Homes this morning:

Charlotte Graves
Chief Executive
Hackney Homes

14 February 2011

Dear Charlotte,

Mountford Estate – establishing a TRA

You will recall that last year we enquired about the progress that was being made towards re-establishing a viable and working TRA on the Mountford Estate following the death of the secretary of the association.

Despite this request, there seems to be no TRA that is up and running, nor any update provided to us about the work undertaken to try to establish such an association.

Can I therefore ask what work has been undertaken, what meetings with residents have taken place and how close are we from seeing a TRA up and running on the estate?

I would welcome an update from you on the above.

Yours sincerely,

We will keep you updated about what progress Hackney Homes makes on this.

Working for the residents of Wayman Court

2011-02-10T12:07:00.004Z

Last night, Wayman Court held the Annual General Meeing of its Tenants & Residents Association.

A packed meeting room heard from the local police and from Hackney Homes and the contractors responsible for the aerials and satellite dishes - Avonline.

Residents have been at the forefront of the programme that is taking place across the borough of putting in communal aerials and dishes in time for the digital switchover which will take place in London next year.

However, the residents in the tower block have been having ongoing problems with the signal for which Ofcom won't investigate and which has caused real problems over the festive period.

As the local councillors, we're fighting for Hackney Homes to make a suitable payment to each of the affected properties - as a gesture ackowledging the ongoing disruption that has taken place. We're also seeing whether the huge new dishes and aerials on the maisonette block can be moved - it is a real eyesore.

Residents also discussed the successful outings and events that have taken place in 2010 and no doubt their belated New Year dinner later this month will be another success!

Whilst at the meeting, the recently completed works to the electrical supplies is obviously a problem going forward with large, unsightly and obstructive metal casing running all over the estate. This has been taken up, along with shoddy workmanship on a repair to a window in the communal parts of the tower block.

If there are issues that we can help you with when dealing with Hackney Homes - then please do let us know.

Planning concerns on Greenwood Road

2011-02-09T10:54:00.003Z

Residents in the Greenwood Road area have been getting in touch with us recently on two different planning matters:

- 1a Greenwood Road and the plans for further conversion work at the premises

- 120 Greenwood Road and the intention to use it as bail accommodation

This weekend, on 12 February at 4pm, the church at 1a Greenwood Road will be holding a meeting to show their plans and answer questions. Neighbours who have concerns about the proposals and the proposed extension should attend and give very clear feedback about what they think about the plans.

We're pleased that the church has made this move and in the meantime have withdrawn the previous application,

Neighbours around 120 Greenwood Road contacted us as they understood that the property was looking to be turned into bail accommodation by the overseas owner. Having spoken to the police and the local planning officers, we understand that there are no such plans to undertake this work. However, we will continue to press the planning enforcement team to ensure that the PVC windows are returned to wood, as this property remains within the conservation area and the new windows do not have consent.

Supporting residents who are experiencing crime and anti-social behaviour

2011-02-09T10:33:00.003Z

Some of our most regular casework is what is often described as "low-level" anti social behaiour. But we also involved outselves in helping residents who are in real fear over where and how they live.

A current case in point is a serious matter in one of our estates where residents, having previously taken the brave steps to seek the conviction of a neighbour who was dealing class A drugs from his flat. Recently, another residents has been moved onto their floor with the same issues and has brought real concern and worry about the safety of neighbouring residents.

This is clearly a difficult matter and as local councillors, we have acted to represent our residents to ensure that the police and Hackney Homes take strong action in removing this risk to residents on the estate. The case seeking a closure order has gone to court and we're awaiting the outcome. Prohibitions on visitors are in place and the resident is being given intensive support.

Once we have resolved the serious concerns of residents about who is living next door to them, we can then look to seek assurances that where residents have previously taken the courageous step to testify in court to remove people causing crime and anti-social behaviour, then tey should never be exposed to vulnerable residents who risk having to put them through that again. This is something that we will be following up on.

Hackney is getting safer - but the cuts will threaten the progress made

2011-02-07T11:01:00.003Z

The crime figures for the 12 months of 2010 have been released and they make for good reading - showing that Hackney's level of crime is now lower than for any time in the last 11 years, continuing the progress that makes our streets safer every single year.

Figures for January to December 2010 show that year-on-year, total crime in Hackney has fallen by 910 offences, equating to a reduction of 3%.

In particular, residential burglary fell by 15% or 246 fewer offences. Across the Metropolitan Police District burglary fell by 5.5%. Over the past 10 years the number of recorded residential burglaries has fallen by 57% in Hackney.

Gun crime fell by nearly 16% (down 25 offences) and domestic violence by 13% (down 238 offences). Racist and religious hate crime fell by nearly 10% (down 36 offences).

A total of six homicides were committed in 2010 in Hackney - two fewer than the previous year, and seven fewer than in 2000. Whilst every one of these is a tragedy - the reduction offers hope of progress towards ending the London-wide problem of serious youth violence.

The theft of motor vehicle offences has fallen substantially over the past ten years, down 74% since 2000, however there has been an 8% increase in motor vehicle offences in 2010 and police and partners are working hard to push that figure back down.

Offences resulting in serious wounding were down nearly 19% last year, drugs offences were down 30% in the last year and sexual offences down 2%.

Chief Superintendent Steve Bending, Hackney’s Borough Commander (pictured), said: "We have seen a significant drop in crime in Hackney over the last ten years, which represents our continued focus on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and bringing criminals to justice. These figures mean fewer victims of crime, which has a real positive impact on the lives of Hackney’s residents. Whilst I am pleased by these reductions, we are not complacent and will be maintaining our focus on tackling robbery, youth violence, burglary, and motor vehicle crime over the next year."

But there were some challenges that emerged in 2010:

Robbery against the person rose by 186 offences in Hackney in 2010, however this is still 572 fewer offences than in 2006 and 51% down on 10 years ago. There are 12 other boroughs in London with higher levels of robbery than Hackney.

Rape increased by five offences, motor vehicle crime rose by 8.2% (239 offences) and homophobic crime by nine offences.

Overall, this is an incredibly positive set of headlines for Hackney. This has come about through dedicated work by the police and with support from the Council. However, with overall cuts to policing and the threatened reduction to staffing in London's Safer Neighbourhood Teams - the progress that has been made over the years is threatened by reduced resources to the police.

The fight to keep our frontline policing continues, and we will keep you up to date with news.

Ending the Educational Maintenance Allowance - what it means for Hackney

2011-01-25T11:27:00.004Z

One of the first cuts announced by the Conservative-led government was the abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

This is a small amount of money paid to the poorest children to assist them staying on in education beyond the age of 16. It is paid only when attendance and punctuality is at a superb level and there has been extensive coverage in the press about how it has been so useful for encouraging children who, in previous generations, would have otherwise left education.

We now have the figures on just what level of impact that we can expect here in Hackney and it makes for depressing reading.

Of the 3,600 over 16's in education in Hackney, just over 2,100 have been in receipt of the EMA, making it about 66% of our young people being poor enough to require this payment.

BSix 6th form college has 58% of students receiving the allowance and Mossbourne Academy has 57% in receipt. When you look at Clapton Girls Technology College more than three quarters of the girls there receive the EMA. Its removal puts the continued education of these most vulnerable young people at risk.

In the words of Hackney Community College:

"...the impact on students will be serious, not only for 16-18’s with the loss of EMA but for adults, many of whom will have to pay fees for the first time. Hardship funds will be increased but only at about 10% of current EMA spending".

In addition to the cuts to the EMA, the college itself is facing a massive cut, with 6.5% of its budget being cut next year (2011/12) and every year up until 2015 - meaning a total loss of over £2 million per year by the end of the period. If 10% of students drop out as a result of the abolition of EMA (this is the government's estimate - it will probably be much higher), that sees another loss of about £350,000 to the college. Add that to the loss of spending on students learning English (17% cut), and that is another £1 million per year that the college will need to save - on top of the ual cut of 6.5% mentioned above.

£700,000 is also being lost to the borough with the abolition of "Train to Gain" which helped get people skilled to go into work - another huge blow to our borough which has been working, successfully, to begin to turn around the ongoing problem of multi-generational unemployment that has blighted too many of our estates and communities for too long.

To sum up what the college thinks:

"The combined impact of the changes is likely to be significant and could adversely affect the ability of the College, the Council and Team Hackney to deliver key objectives of reducing worklessness...in the Borough".

Stonewall recognises Hackney Council as one of the UK's best places to work for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual staff

2011-01-12T17:07:00.006Z

We were delighted to read today that the council was ranked highly in Stonewall's list of 100 top employers in the UK for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

This year, LB Hackney came in at the 23rd spot, beaten only by Tower Hamlets and Islington councils in London. This is up on last year's position of 43.

Alan welcomed the news:

"Not only are we proud that Hackney the borough is one of the most diverse places in the country, but to have the council recognised as one of the best places for gay and lesbian people to work, is fantastic.

"In these difficult times, it is perhaps worth remembering that there is some tremendous work going on to ensure that all our staff are treated in a fair and respectful way - which can only make it easier for them to give the best that they can in helping our residents."

Despite an increasing number of companies and organisations entering this scheme, coming 23rd means that Hackney has beaten household names from the private sector such as American Express, Aviva, Royal Bank of Scotland, Eversheds and Deloitte.

For more information check out this site.

New Year and a double-whammy for hard working Londoners

2011-01-04T13:22:00.004Z

2011 has hardly begun and Christmas decorations are being brought down, but the festive season is well and truly over with the double whammy that hit most Londoners this morning.

Not only did VAT rise from 17.5% to 20%, a regressive tax which hits the poorest the most, but Londoners getting on their bus, tube or train would have noticed that fares have been hiked yet again - rising by almost 7%.

Fares on public transport have now risen by around 40% since Boris Johnson took office as Mayor - mkaing it even harder for Londoners to get around town and to and from work.

But it isn't all bad news...if you are a 4x4 "chelsea tractor" driving type in Kensington & Chelsea. Boris scrapped the extension in the congestion charge area - a move that costs him £55 million per year. His fare hike raises £60 million. Guess where the increased fares paid by hard working Londoners go? He's taxing all of us to keep his wealthy supporters on-side.

VAT rises that hit the poorest; funding cuts of 14% to the poorest councils like Hackney and train and bus fares rises to boot - 2011 is going to be a much tougher year for Hackney residents - thanks to a Tory-led government and a Tory Mayor of London.

It isn't going to be a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2010-12-20T10:40:00.003Z

It's been an eventful year in Hackney!

From passing a fifth council tax freeze in April, all three of us being re-elected in May with increased majorities, a new Labour Party Leader, our MP being elected to the Shadow Cabinet, to the sad news earlier this month of the government cuts to the money that Hackney so desperately needs, 2010 has certainly been a bit of a rollercoaster of a year.

2011 will certainly be no less hectic and will be a challenging year. There's a referendum on how we elect our representatives to Westminster, the next council budget in April will be a difficult one where we balance the needs to pass a legal budget with protecting our most precious front-line services and Alan is definitely running/walking/crawling the London Marathon.

We wish all of our constituents a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - thank you for your continued support and interest in this blog. Keep warm and we hope that those of you hoping to go somewhere for Christmas manage to get there!

The Coalition Cuts - pt. 2

2010-12-16T17:09:00.003Z

More details of the settlement that local authorities across England have received have been published.

The headline is that no council will have their funding cut by more than 8.9%. Hackney is one of those councils that will face this "maximum" cut of just under 9%.

The reality though is very different. Our budget from government has actually been cut by over 14%. That means that about half of the savings that the government has identified over four years will be delivered, effectively, in the first year. This is devastating to Hackney, because we need additional resources to deal with the challenges of being one of the poorest local authorities in Britain.

So how does the government claim that the cut is actually under 9% (which makes a huge difference in terms of the millions of pounds being cut)?

Well, the overall funding is being cut by over 14%. But the government has agreed some funding to help try to soften the blow (this is only one-off money and can't go into the base budget) and Hackney has been given about £5 million. On top of that there is some additional money for the local NHS (we don't know whether this has to be spent in a particular way) and then, for the first time ever, the government has said that we should also take into account the amount of money we raise from council tax. This creates the figure of the cut to our "spending power".

This is simply smoke and mirrors and can't hide the devastating levels of cuts. We have to be pleased though that Hackney is one of only 3 London boroughs to be receiving the additional money to try to soften the blow - and that's in no small part to the role we've been playing in highlighting the cuts.

Whilst Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Manchester and Rochdale all get cuts of (at least) 8.9%, other councils have odne much better. Richmond-Upon-Thames, Buckinghamshire and Surrey have seen cuts of less than 1%.

The government is taking money away from some of the poorest communities in Britain at a faster and higher rate than more affluent parts. Something is fundamentally wrong with this.

We continue to fight and continue to do our best to set a budget that protects as many of our frontline services as possible.

We will keep you updated.

The Coalition Cuts

2010-12-07T12:26:00.003Z

As everyone will be aware, the issue of the national coalition government spending cuts has been in the news for the past few months. With many of their policies, it looks like it will continue to remain newsworthy.

There have been the local protests about cuts in funding to the Educational Maintenance Allowance, which especially in places like Hackney, makes all the difference for young people deciding about whether to stay on in education, or find work. It couldn't have been summed up better than in this article in The Guardian.

But this cut is only the beginning. Central government looks likely to have cut local authority finance dramtically, but - crucially - these cuts are front loaded, which means that the bulk of the cuts are due in April next year.

Hackney had planned well for the upcoming cuts. Samantha, who looks after council finance in her cabinet brief, had worked with officers and others to identify £26 million of cuts which would have protected front line services. This is on top of the year on year savings that had been achieved over the last 4 years by the Labour run council.

However, instead of looking at £26 million worth of cuts, we're looking at around £50-60 million. Despite the government claiming that the sums were wrong, they now seem to be accepting that the cuts will be more dramatic and swifter than even they had realised.

Hackney can not survive these cuts without impacting vital services. As Labour councillors, we will fight to ensure that when it comes to setting a budget, we will set one which will do the best that it can to protect services for the most vulnerable in our communities. We have no viable option to not set a budget - to refuse to set a budget, when we would be the only council doing so - would hand our budget over to unelected bean counters who have very different priorities.

We will continue to fight the cuts through a number of channels and will support national campaigns to help focus people's anger at the coalition government and what they have done.

Hackney wants to hear about what services you think should be protected most. Email them on:

budget@hackney.gov.uk

It simply isn't fair that Hackney, as one of the country's poorest areas, will be one of the ten councils to be hit the most by the cuts. Five of the ten councils most affected will be in thepoorest areas - the government's own figures show that the money taken from the poorest areas will be then redirected to the wealthiest. It just isn't fair. It isn't right and it isn't equitable.

We'll keep you posted about this incredibly important issue.

Snow is falling...

2010-12-02T14:22:00.003Z

...and there is bound to be some disruption to some services like waste and recycling collection as a result.

However, the council has reassured us that it has more than enough grit for the main roads and that there is no risk of a shortage of supply - even last year we were one of the few councils to not run out.

The priorities for gritting remain the same - main routes, bus routes, pavements around health and educational facilities. Not all residential roads will be gritted and people should take extra care, especially as temperatures drop and slush can turn to ice.

Check the local news and weather and also the council website for updates on local disruption.

If you have any specific problems or requests, then please don't hesitate to let us know.

In the meantime, keep warm, wrap up when outside and be sure to check on elderly neighbours to make sure that they're ok.

Hackney Design Awards

2010-11-25T10:15:00.002Z

We were delighted to hear that the streetscene improvements to Mare Street won a "Highly Commended" award at the Hackney Design Awards.

As we previously mentioned, this scheme has transformed the look and feel of our town centre - from fencing in pedestrians and being cramped and crushed - to a fresh, open, transformed streetscape with additional street trees to help green the centre and masses of guard railing removed.

Thanks to everyone who supported the scheme and we hope you all keep on enjoying it!

Remembrance Sunday

2010-11-19T14:53:00.003Z

Alan, Samantha and Vincent joined the Speaker of Hackney, Cllr Sally Mulready, Hackney South & Shoreditch MP Meg Hillier and other council and voluntary sector representatives to pay respects to the recent and historic sacrifices of the men and women who have served our country.

In the largest service and gathering to date, youth organisations joined the M.O.T.H.S. and veterans and many members of the public at Hackney's main service at St John's in the town centre.

As usual, the march to and from the church brought the centre of the borough to a standstill as people of all ages and backgrounds paid their respects to our service men and women.

The service itself heard from Sergeant Major Steve Williams from the Grenadier Guards who had returned from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, having also served in Iraq and four previous tours in Northern Ireland. Segeant Williams had himself been injured in Afghanistan and recalled the effects of losing members of his team in Afghanistan.

As ever, it was with pride that we joined the rest of the civic party to take the march past outside the Town Hall.

We Shall Remember Them.

Hackney Gazette coverage of the campaign

2010-11-03T17:53:00.004Z

The efforts to stop the emergency services from unthinkingly using their sirens after dark has been picked up by our local paper.

The story can be found here.

There's a great quote of support from Jennette and we're awaiting word from our two MPs about whether they too will add their voice to the efforts.

The police have yet to make contact directly on this, and their reassurance in the story isn't good enough.

We'd like something that means that there is an effort to take proactive steps to reduce the use of sirens after dark - merely asking officers to be considerate isn't enough.

The work goes on!

More support for silencing the sirens!

2010-10-29T12:01:00.003+01:00

Jennette Arnold, the London Assembly Member who covers Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest has added her support to the efforts to try to get the police in Hackney to act more considerately by not using their sirens unneccesarily after dark.

Jennette, who also sits on the Metropolitan Police Authority, that scrutinises how the police in London runs and which sets the police budget, will be making enquiries about how best we can take this fight forward.

Thanks Jennette for your support!

Stopping sirens from disturbing your sleep

2010-10-28T12:13:00.005+01:00

Last night at Full Council, Alan raised the issue of the police using their sirens excessively during the hours of darkness.

Residents who live in our town centre and on the main roads such as Amhurst Road, Dalston Lane, Mare Street and Graham Road will know only too well the disruption that the police and other emergency services cause when they tear down our roads, after dark, with flashing lights and sirens blaring.

Whilst we know the police and others need to get to certain locations qucikly, sirens are left on when there is little or no traffic on the road, where there are no junctions nearby and when a little bit of consideration would make everyone's life easier.

This isn't a problem confined to Hackney. Residents in Kennington have been campaigning on this issue for some time and seem to have scored some success.

The council now has evidence that shows that this problem is widespread throughout our town centres - affecting the sleep and peaceful enjoyment of residents' homes all over the borough.

Alan asked for the cabinet member responsible, Cllr Sophie Linden, to speak to the police to try to seek agreement about limiting their use after dark. We'll keep you updated about the efforts as they progress.

What do you think? Let us know by emailing us...

Art in our station

2010-10-15T14:23:00.003+01:00

Residents and passengers can now visit a new reading room and art exhibition on Platform One at Hackney Downs station, as part of a project supported by Hackney Council.

The contemporary art space brings back into use empty units on the railway platform and includes a programme of exhibitions, events and performance. The reading room holds a collection of artist's books and other printed material that can be read there or bought.

The project is entitled 'Banner repeater' and is the latest in a series of projects supported by Hackney Council to being empty shops and premises back to life. The projects are financed by central government funding awarded to the Council, and are designed to provide activities that will benefit Hackney's residents and visitors.

Cllr Guy Nicholson, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: "By commissioning initiatives such as Banner Repeater, the Council is helping to promote to residents and visitors alike, the great creative talent flourishing across Hackney, as well as supporting our local economy. This series of commissions, which includes Farm:Shop, is a fantastic use of empty spaces across the borough. I hope as many people as possible visit these great projects.”

Banner Repeater is run by artist Ami Clarke. The reading room's permanent collection is home to Publish and be Damned’s public library. Banner Repeater will publish an on-going series of pamphlets and posters, in tandem with the arts programme, as well as events, performance and lectures commissioned from the project space.

The website gives current details of all projects and has an email listings to subscribe to, as well as allowing people to log the location of pamphlets: http://www.bannerrepeater.org/

Supported for the first year by Hackney Council’s Empty Shop Fund, and Arts Council England, the project is planned to run for three years. Other projects in the series supported by Hackney Council include Farm:Shop at 20 Dalston Lane, E8, which is due to open to the public next month (November). Eco-designers Something & Son are working with volunteers to transform the empty shop into a working farm. Mini fish farms, rooftop chicken coops and an indoor 'hydroponic' allotment are among the eco and agricultural innovations being created. Something & Son aim to grow as much food as possible over the next year, which will be served in the shop cafe and sold to nearby restaurants. Find out more: http://www.farmlondon.weebly.com/

The first project was pop-up art gallery POSTED in a former post office at 67 Wilton Way, E8, curated by Julia Royse and running from July 2010 to March 2011, which explores the post and our postal heritage. Two exhibitions of work by local artists were also run in the new library building at Dalston Square, under the direction of curator Rose Lejeune.

For more information on all the projects please visit: http://www.artinemptyspaces.org.uk/

Lib Dems abandon another principle for power

2010-10-14T15:21:00.004+01:00

The 2010 Lib Dem manifesto, published in April said:

“We have a financially responsible plan to phase fees out oversix years, so that the change is affordable even in these difficult economic times, and without cutting university income.”

Mr Clegg, Mr Cable and all Lib Dem MPs signed a pledge (pictured) to oppose any increase tuition fees and actively work to abolish them over 6 years.

In October 2010, the Lib Dem leader wrote to his MPs explaining why the commitment that he made was being thrown out:

“With the benefit of hindsight, I signed a pledge at a time when we could not have anticipated the full scale of the financial situation the country faces now…”

Two questions arise from this volte-face:

(1) How many of their costed spending commitments weren't properly costed or were unaffordable?

(2) How many more pledges and principles will the Lib Dems throw out of the window and betray in order to keep their seats in this coalition of cuts?

The former Lib Dem Leader Sir Menzies Campbell has made clear that he will not betray his principles and the promise he made. How many of his colleagues will show this level of decency?

We urge our residents who voted Lib Dem and who did so partly upon the basis of the promises that they made - not least this one - make your displeasure clear and tell Clegg directly. Email him on: nickclegg@sheffieldhallam.org.uk

Our MP - elected to the Shadow Cabinet

2010-10-08T09:23:00.003+01:00

As you may have seen as the news broke last night, our MP, Meg Hillier, has been elected to the Shadow Cabinet.

We are still waiting to find out what post Ed Miliband will give her, but we're delighted that a real Hackney talent has been recognised by her colleagues in Parliament.

**UPDATE**

Meg will be the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change.

London Marathon 2011

2010-10-06T15:05:00.004+01:00

Ok, so due to injury, I wasn't able to run the marathon this year. I was disappointed and felt that I'd let everyone down - including all of the generous people who sponsored me.

The money still all went to Shelter, but the challenge I set myself remained unconquered.

Well, the good news for everyone is that Shelter have kindly rolled my entry over to 2011 and so I will be running the marathon. This time, nothing is going to stop me. If it means I have to crawl over the finish line, then so be it...!

I amn't asking people to sponsor me, especially if you gave money last year - but if you feel compelled, then I will set up a Justgiving page.

Say hello if you see me out on my training runs!

Alan

Parking update for Horton Road/Eleanor Road - Hackney Central Labour winning for local residents!

2010-10-05T14:33:00.004+01:00

As we had previously posted, there are some ongoing issues with the number of council staff and Hackney Homes vans that are parking on Horton Road, Eleanor Road, Wilton Way and the other roads around the Town Hall.

Residents have found the parking an onging issue and one where progress has sometimes seemed slow.

However, Alan went with residents from Horton Road Residents Association last night to meet with the Head of Parking Services, Seamus Adams and the Director of Neighbourhoods and Regeneration, Steve Douglas.

Everyone found the meeting helpful and productive. Residents were relieved to find out that full enforcement of the new traffic order around the Town Hall will take effect as from 18 October. Officers gave a full commitment around the amount of enforcement and that if council staff received a ticket then it would be down to them to pay it and repeated offences would lead to disciplinary proceedings. Residents this morning thanked officers for their help and clear commitments - something that we're happy to share - the assurances given weren't forced and there is a genuine recognition that the problem had to be solved.

On another note, residents received further assurances around the future of the demolished site on Reading Lane. Before plans are submitted for the future use of the site, residents will be given advance notice and be asked to comment and express their views at an early stage. All three of us as ward councillors will keep our ears to the ground on this issue.

Mare Street nominated for a Hackney Design Award!

2010-10-04T15:26:00.004+01:00

The much acclaimed improvements to Mare Street in our very own town centre have been nominated for a Hackney Design Award!

The decluttering of Mare Street, which saw guard-railing go, new paving, new bike stands, trees being planted and pedestrian crossings improved and pavements widened was a scheme championed by Alan as Cabinet Member and was unveiled to wide acclaim and support. This has improved cyclist safety, improved access and walking for pedestrians and has shown the way for other such schemes across Hackney.

The success of this scheme then led Alan on to seek external funding for a similar project in Dalston town centre which has now received over £2 million of funding and with work expected to commence next year - a scheme that will transform this important gateway to the borough.

Details about the People's Choice Award can be found here.

TO VOTE FOR THE MARE STREET SCHEME - GO HERE!

Ready, Steady - Charge!

2010-09-29T17:28:00.002+01:00

Hackney officially launched its first publicly accessible electric vehicle charging point in Dalston last week .

The Council is committed to helping people to travel in more sustainable ways while also working to reduce transport-related emissions across the borough. This includes looking at ways to encourage the transition to electric vehicles from petrol/diesel engine vehicles amongst residents, businesses and the Council’s own fleet. The Council has begun a programme installing publicly accessible electric vehicle charging points across the borough with support from Transport for London and Department of Transport.

This was a programme that was given the green light by Alan last year and compliments the commitment to give over even more spaces to car club cars as well as ensuring that polluters pay in parking charges.

Ben Plowden, Director of Better Routes and Places at Transport for London, said:

“It is great news that Hackney residents are benefiting from the first of the planned network of electric vehicle charge points across London.

“Over a quarter of all electric vehicles in the UK are located in London and their numbers are steadily rising. The installation of the first electric vehicle charge point in Hackney is testimony to the efforts of the Mayor, TfL, the boroughs and other partners to boost the number of charging points across the capital to make charging an electric vehicle as convenient as possible. More electric vehicles are coming onto the market in the next six to twelve months and the planned network of charge points in the capital will be key to encouraging a considerable increase in their take up.”

Further charging points will be installed around the borough during 2010/11, and the Council is currently assessing sites where demand is expected to be highest.

If you would like to suggest a location for a new electric vehicle charging point please contact Ben Kennedy on 020 8356 8023 or Ben.Kennedy@hackney.gov.uk

For more information about electric vehicles in Hackney please visit the Council’s website: www.hackney.gov.uk/electric-vehicles

Do you want a charge point in our ward? If so, let us know...

Securing Hackney's bikes

2010-09-23T15:22:00.004+01:00

As we previously mentioned, this morning saw the local police marking bikes of local residents at a drop-in session on the Narroway this morning.

Bicycle use is on the up and Hackney has more cyclists and more miles travelled by bike, than anywhere else in London.

The work of the police is an important part of responding to the needs of our local community.

Vincent visited the session this morning as the picture shows and was delighted that so many people were having their bikes marked, so that if they are stolen, the police can return them to their rightful owner.

Public consultation: Calling time on "sex encounter" establishments?

2010-09-20T16:02:00.004+01:00

Hackney Council’s licensing committee is inviting residents to help shape the borough’s town centres by taking part in a public consultation looking at the way sex establishments are licensed.

The licensing committee is responsible for regulating sex shops, sex cinemas and sex entertainment venues, such as lapdancing clubs and erotic dancing venues, and has drafted a new policy to determine whether and how to grant sex establishment licences in Hackney. As Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Alan pushed for this consultation and for the policy to be reconsidered as a result of studies conducted by other authorities such as Glasgow City Council and organisations such as the Fawcett Society.

Within the policy document a ‘nil’ policy is being proposed, which would mean that no licences will normally be granted to sex establishments in Hackney, and the licensing committee wants to know whether local people think this is appropriate. Hackney currently has one licensed sex shop and four premises that are “licensed to provide live performances or displays of nudity solely or mainly to sexually stimulate audience members”. The licensing committee wants to hear from all Hackney residents and is particularly keen to find out the views and experiences of those who live, work or run a business near to one of the current sex establishments.

Residents’ views will help the committee determine a policy based on local knowledge about the impact of sex establishments on the local community, which may, for example, include concerns about noise and anti-social behaviour or their effect on local businesses.

The draft Sex Establishment Licensing Policy will guide the licensing committee when considering applications for licences in balancing the conflicting needs of commercial interests, patrons, employees, residents and communities.

For a hard copy of the consultation document go to: www.hackney.gov.uk/licensing or call or e-mail the Hackney Council's licensing team on: 020 8356 2431 or: licensing@hackney.gov.uk

For an executive summary of the draft Sex Establishment Licensing Policy in an alternative format such as Braille, large font, audio tape or another language, please contact the licensing team.

As your local councillors we'd be keen to hear your views and feed them back ourselves, so please do let us know.

Sneak a peek around Hackney's historic and new buildings

2010-09-13T13:37:00.002+01:00

Open House London
Your chance to explore inspiring buildings for FREE
18-19 Sept 2010

Take the chance to discover great architecture over the weekend of 18 and 19 September, as 30 buildings in Hackney throw open their doors to the public for a glimpse of their design excellence.

As part of the Capital’s largest architectural festival, Open House London, residents are invited to visit the properties free of charge and learn more about their distinct features.

Among the buildings open to the public will be Stoke Newington Town Hall on Stoke Newington Church Street, N16, recently restored to its Art Deco glory by Hackney Council. Impressive features include the original sprung Canadian maple dance floor and beautifully renovated council chamber with original gold cornicing, wood panelling and vaulted domed ceiling. Tours of the building will be available on Sunday 19 Sept and must be pre-booked: www.openhouselondon.org.uk/bookings

Take the chance to go backstage at the Hackney Empire on one of the tours at 10am and 12noon on Saturday and Sunday. The Grade II listed auditorium on Mare Street, E8, is the best example of Edwardian variety theatre remaining in London. Refurbishment restored the interiors, added to the fly-tower and provided new backstage areas.

The Graeae Theatre Company welcomes visitors to its fully accessible office and rehearsal space at Bradbury Studios, Kingsland Road, E2. Their Grade II listed home was built as stables in 1914 and now has access at the heart of its design, providing an inspirational hub for the arts.

Two of the borough’s academies offer architect-led tours to showcase modern learning spaces at The Bridge Academy, Laburnum Street, E2, and The City Academy, Homerton Row, E9.

Amnesty International’s UK headquarters at 17 to 25 New Inn Yard, EC2A, are housed in two refurbished factories with exhibition space, library and lecture theatre on the ground floor and offices over five floors. Other buildings open to the public include Shoreditch Town Hall, St Augustine’s Tower (pictured), Village Underground, Round Chapel and more.

Now in its 18th year, this year’s theme for Open House London is ‘Our buildings, our neighbourhoods, our city’. It tells the story of amazing architecture in every London neighbourhood. Londoners will find out more about issues that are relevant to their local area – from the design of homes to the impact of climate change, and the role of architects and contemporary design in revitalising places.

For a full list of all buildings open to the public in Hackney during Open House London, visit:
http://www.openhouselondon.org.uk/

Experiencing the stroming of the Palestinian Aid Flotilla

2010-09-03T10:37:00.003+01:00

You will remember the significant international coverage that happened at the end of May over the storming of a flotilla of boats bringing aid to the Gaza Strip by Israeli commandos.

The claims and counter-claims of what had happened, the levels of violence, the deaths of unarmed members of the flotilla and the scenes of Israeli paratroopers rappelling down onto boats were vivid and stark as they were beamed into our living rooms.

As was reported locally at the time, two of those on board were Hackney residents and one was one of our own local Party members, Sarah Colbourne, who was on board the passenger ship.

Sarah spoke to our local branch meeting last night and her talk was shocking, eye opening and astonishing.

Sarah herself saw those killed by Israeli troops, was held captive with others without water for a number of hours and arrested - all in international waters.

She was then stripped searched and charged with illegally entering Israel. Despite repeated requests, she was denied a telephone call and consular contact. She has, to date, not received any of her property removed from her. Much of the aid

Her account of events, of wounded people denied medical treatment by Israeli forces, of being denied water and the troops using her to negotiate and sharing a cell with a woman whose husband had just been shot through the head was perhaps the most vivid account we had heard about this ongoing and controversial international issue.

Sarah ended the meeting by asking us to help ensure the new coalition government retain "universal jurisdiction", something that would allow UK authorities to arrest war criminals when they land on British soil, even for crimes that occured in other countries.

The branch party agreed and have decided to ask the constituency Labour Party to agree to certain actions. We will report back as things continue to happen.

Sarah is part of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Other news on the situation can be found here and here.

Tampering with your mail?

2010-09-02T10:47:00.003+01:00

As local councillors we have previously received complaints about mail looking like it has been opened deliberately whilst in the hands of the Royal Mail.

This has also happened to one of us recently, where an envelope clearly carrying a card had been opened to see if there was money inside.

We would like to hear from you if this has happened to you - did you complain? Has it happened more than once? Do you still have details about when it happened? What did Royal Mail say to you?

Obviously, the lesson is never to send cash through the post, but if you want to help inform us in any discussions with Royal Mail, then please do get in touch with Alan by sending him an email to:

alan.laing@hackney.gov.uk

If other resident shave experienced this, then we'll happily take this up with Royal Mail in more detail.

Picking up the scraps

2010-09-01T17:19:00.002+01:00

The council has launched a new survey about food waste recyling in the borough.

For a number of years, we've offered a comprehensive food waste recycling service, but we know that not everyone takes part and not all the food that could be recycled is put into those blue boxes.

Telling us what you do and what you think about the system is really important - so please do take part and let the council know what you think.

You can complete the survey here.

Make sure your voice is heard!

2010-08-31T14:48:00.003+01:00

It is that time of year again when the council is sending around the annual canvass to all households.

This informs the council of all those who are eligble to vote, or who are about to turn 18 and who will become eligble to vote over the next few months.

Despite what many think, being on the council tax list, or in the phone book doesn't make you eligble for a vote - this is the only means by which you are put on the electoral register.

This form is incredibly important and it is a legal requirement for this to be returned.

Without this form you will not be able to vote and will lose out on the chance of having your voice heard in elections.

You can find out more here.

Securing your bicycle

2010-08-17T10:37:00.003+01:00

Date for your diary:

23 September 2010

Time:

8am - 1pm

The local police, in a joint piece of work with the council will be in St John's Churchyard on the above date to help provide cyclists with some additional peace of mind.

They will be providing markings for bikes that will help identify them if they are ever lost or stolen. The bikes will be registered there and then with the police.

With cycling becoming ever more popular in Hackney and with us being the number 1 borough in London for cycling - making sure your bike can be identified if it is stolen - is really important.

So go along and get this additional peace of mind for free!

Ongoing Parking Problems on Horton Road - a solution?

2010-08-12T16:14:00.003+01:00

Residents of Horton Road and the other streets around the Town Hall and the new annex building have been complaining for some time about the ongoing parking problems sue to council and Hackney Homes staff parking using their "All Zone permits."

As the local ward councillors, we've been working with the Chief Executive of the council and the Head of Parking, to come up with a solution that is workable for residents and that alleviates the pressure on residential roads around the Town Hall Square.

After much work and consideration, along with ongoing pressure from us as ward councillors, it looks like a solution may now be in sight.

The council are now looking at amending the parking order on the streets around the Town Hall to prevent users of the "All Zone" permits parking within Zone D (Central).

Whether those members of staff who breach the conditions will then have HR/disciplinary is also being looked into by the council. If they do park within the zone, they will be liable to a ticket from a parking attendant and they will be personally liable for paying any fine they receive.

The alteration will require support through a public consultation and there will be 28 days for comments to be made. Once the consultation has begun, we'll ensure that we let you know.

But we're confident that if this is put in place - then we might just have found a viable solution to this ongoing problem.

Tory councillor passes away

2010-07-30T15:30:00.003+01:00

It was with sadness that we learned today about the death of Conservative councillor Maureen Middleton.

Maureen hadn't been well for some time, but had continued to undertake her council duties and maintain her ever-felt presence on the council.

We didn't agree with Maureen about much, in fact, we'd struggle to find any common ground on issues facing the borough - but her dedication to her constituents and her love of the borough could never be questioned.

We hope that her family and friends draw some comfort at this time and from whatever side of the council anyone came from - Maureen's verbal jousts with anyone and everyone will be greatly missed.

Free Swimming to Continue

2010-07-21T15:04:00.003+01:00

You may have heard news from around the country that due to the government cuts in allowances, many councils have decided to scale back on the free swimming that they offer residents.

However, we've decided to keep the offer going - so despite the coalition government cuts, Hackney's under 18's and over 60's will still be able to swim for free in Kings Hall, Britannia and Clissold Leisure Centres.

There will be a consultation in the autumn on how this will continue in the future.

Lots more information about swimming can be found here.

Things to occupy the kids over the holidays...

2010-07-19T11:45:00.003+01:00

Whilst children always look forward to the long summer holiday, it can often be only too soon before they're complaining that there is nothing to do.

However, Hackney Council has produced a guide with a whole range of activities for children up to 19 over the summer period - so there isn't an excuse for them staying indoors and getting under your feet!

It lists the different play areas, youth clubs, activities and other useful information.

You can download a copy here or pick it up from council offices and libraries.

Hackney Credit Union closing

2010-07-08T09:34:00.002+01:00

It was with sadness that we learnt this week of the closure of the Hackney Credit Union.

This was an innovative and much welcome addition to the borough in 2005, but it seems that the challenges it has faced has become too much and the Financial Services Authority has stepped in to order it to cease trading.

The Union has around 2,000 customers in the borough and depositors who have money will have their savings saved as the Union has referred itself to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme which will ensure that those with money in the Union will be able to recover their savings.

We're disappointed by the failure and we know some of those who have been involved in trying to turn it around over the past couple of years. We also know that sometimes these problems are sadly insurmountable. Those who have intervened recently deserve praise for their work and Hackney needs to look again at offering affordable and accessible savings and lending to our most vulnerable and excluded residents.

For those concerned about their money, they should contact the Scheme via their website or by calling them on 0800678 1100.

Scores on the Doors

2010-06-30T14:33:00.005+01:00

Ever wondered whether the restaurant or take away that you like to visit is up to scratch when it comes to food hygiene?

Hackney, along with many other local authorities is part of a national scoring scheme called "Scores on the Doors."

This allows you to see whether they have been inspected and how clean and well-trained their staff are on food hygiene matters. 5 stars is the top grade and 0 stars is the poorest score.

Go to the website and you can search for your local restaurant or take away.

One of the biggest issues when it comes to food hygiene in Hackney is the huge number of businesses in this area that open up and close down each year - making the task facing the council's Environmental Health officers a never-ending challenge.

If you have any concerns about food hygiene in another business, then please contact the council's environmental health team - more information can be found here.

Savoy Cafe - Graham Road

2010-06-01T14:03:00.005+01:00

We saw this post on another local blog about the Savoy Cafe on Graham Road.

We're concerned that the fabric of this special cafe may have been altered wrongly and Alan has raised this with planning officers - we'll let you know the outcome of our enquiries.

We're also acting on two other planning matters on that short parade of shops, and are happy to look into any other planning concern that you may have - so please do get in touch.

*Update* - Alan's raised this with planning officers who have now opened up an enforcement file about the property. We will keep you updated about what the progress is.

Thanks to Emily Webber for the photo (www.londonshopfronts.com)

Carers Week 14 - 21 June

2010-06-01T13:49:00.001+01:00

CARERS are being invited to attend a free event at Hackney Town Hall on 15 June where they can find out about services and benefits available to them, as part of national Carers Week (14-21 June).

The annual Carers’ Conference offers the opportunity for Hackney carers to have their say

about services and support available from the Council and partners, meet other carers, find out about free training courses, employment support, Telecare, and how adult social care is changing, have their blood pressure checked, relax, and have lunch.

Those attending the conference, which runs from 10am to 3.30pm, can also apply for a free Carers Card, which offers concessionary rates of up to 50 per cent at Council leisure centres, and discounts at local shops.

Carers are unpaid and look after family, a partner or friend in need of help because they are ill, frail or have a disability.

Other events in Hackney being held as part of Carers Week include:

16 June – an information morning, from 10am to 1pm, at Homerton Hospital

17 June – a barbecue event for carers, from 11am to 2pm, at City & Hackney Carers Centre, Tyssen Street

Cllr Jonathan McShane, Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “Hackney is committed to improving services for carers, and to valuing their important role. I strongly urge carers in the borough to come along to the conference and find out more about the services that are available for them.”

For more information, please contact City & Hackney Carers Centre on 020 7923 8750

Recycling and fun for all the family!

2010-05-31T20:03:00.004+01:00

BeReCreative Hackney’s green festival

A free, fun packed, family event with a green theme at its core is being held in London Fields, Hackney, on Saturday 5 June. Now in its fifth year, the BeReCreative event, a joint effort between Hackney Council’s Recycling Team and Green Champion network, aims to raise environmental and sustainable awareness in the borough.

Building on the success of previous events, this year’s BeReCreative theme is 'Things to make and do' and it promises to be bigger and better than ever. Kids will be able to take part in a variety of activities and can get busy making costumes and decorations out of recyclable materials before displaying them in a parade towards the end of the day. There will also be drumming and dance workshops leading up to the parade to get everyone involved. Other highlights include a ‘Give or Take’ area where people can swap unwanted items; the Healing Tent health and wellbeing services offering a wide range of health advice and massage therapies (at a cost); learn to knit, jewelry and vintage children’s clothes stalls; plus information on the Transport for London Cycle Hire scheme.

The Bike Doctor will be on hand to offer advice to cyclists and provide minor repairs. Dr Compost will also be available for composting advice that will include free compost giveaway. There will be organic food on sale and you can create your own organic drink with the Blenda Venda smoothie bike, alternatively, bring your own picnic.

There will be live music performed by local musicians on a solar powered stage creating a lively soundtrack for the day.

Visitors will also be able to talk to the Recycling Team as well as have a shot at being a recycling collection operative, sorting materials into the compartments of the recycling vehicle that will be on site.

BeReCreative will be held on Saturday 5 June from 12noon-6pm in London Fields, E8. For more information, call the recycling hotline on: 020 8356 6688 or visit: www.hackney.gov.uk/recycling

Hackney has a new Speaker

2010-05-27T13:58:00.006+01:00

Last night, at the council's Annual Meeting, in front of civic leaders, councillors, representatives of the armed forces, the emergency services, a representative of the Irish Embassy, our MPs and GLA member, Cllr Sally Mulready became Hackney's 110th "first citizen".

Sally has been a councillor for 12 years and represents our neighbouring ward of Chatham.

She's also been involved in some pretty amazing feats, including her work supporting the wives of striking miners, supporting elderly Irish residents in London and helping to bring in many hundreds of thousands of pounds from Ireland to help the traveller community here in Hackney. She has also been a notable supporter for those subjected to miscarriages of justice, helping on the cases of the Birmingham Six and also supporting the calls for a review into the conviction of Hackney's Sam Hallam.

Sally has made a huge contribution since coming, unskilled, from Ireland and beginning work in a launderette at the age of 16 after leaving care and coming on a boat to London. Taking time out of work, she took on courses at college and gained qualifications and picked up additional work before going on to found and run charities in London.

She will be a superb Speaker and we look forward to events with her here in our own ward and hope that she has many years of fantastic work in the years ahead.

Hackney is Bloomin' Marvellous

2010-05-27T11:52:00.002+01:00

Hackney in Bloom is a free gardening competition that gives you the chance to show off your green fingers. If it grows and it’s in Hackney, it’s eligible!

Part of the regional London in Bloom campaign, the competition supports and encourages gardening, horticulture and environmental sustainability to make Hackney a greener, brighter and better place to live.

An awards ceremony will be held in October to present a prize to the winning entry in each of the following categories -

Best Front Garden
Awarded to the best front garden (visible to the passing public) with horticultural displays planted directly into the ground and incontainers.

Best Container Garden
Awarded to front gardens, balconies, patios or areas (visible to the passing public) that use containers of any sort (window boxes, hanging baskets, recycled materials etc) as the main means of displaying plants.

Best Business Premises
Awarded to the best horticultural displays in a business premises (industrial, office, shop, garage forecourt, market or any other area of business excluding pubs and restaurants).

Best Pub or Restaurant
Awarded to the most attractive horticultural display at any pub, restaurant or eating house (rear gardens, such as beer gardens also qualify).

Best Community Project
Awarded to the best community growing project where a garden, group of gardens, frontages of buildings, places of worship or alternative are maintained by members of the community for the shared benefit and enjoyment of others.

Best Voluntary Organisation Garden
Awarded to the best gardens maintained by a not-for-profit, charitable or voluntary organisation. The garden can be maintained by staff, volunteers or clients of the organisation.

Best Educational Garden
Awarded to educational gardens or outdoor areas associated with schools, colleges and other educational institutions where students have been involved in designing and/or maintaining the environment. The project should be educational and environmentally sustainable.

Best Food Growing Project
Awarded to projects including vegetable gardens, orchard areas, or other projects (excluding allotment sites) where food growing is the main focus. Judges will belooking for quality of produce, sustainable practices and examples of innovation.

Young and Green Fingered Award
Awarded to up and coming gardeners under the age of 21 who solely or as part of a group have created and/or care for a garden or area (excluding school or other gardens in the educational category).

An award will also be given to the best overall entry.

To enter the competition please complete the Hackney in Bloom entry form.

All entries must be received by Friday 11 June 2010. Judging will take place after 11 June and winners will be notified in writing by August.

Hackney in Bloom is run in parallel with London in Bloom and finalists in the local competition contribute significantly to the borough’s submission to London in Bloom. In 2009 Hackney was awarded a Silver Gilt award, the borough’s highest ever achievement. We also won awards for Hackney Downs in the Best Commons category as well as Silver Gilt awards for Clapton Pond and Springfield Park in the Parks Category.

Got a question or a problem? Come and visit us at one of our surgeries!

2010-05-25T16:05:00.007+01:00

Many of our residents like to come to us and discuss their issues or concerns face to face at one of our advice surgeries.

As from June, our new surgery details will be:

2nd Saturday of the month

11am

Wilton Estate Community Hall

Wilton Estate

Greenwood Road

(map here)

4th Saturday of the month

11am

Marcon Estate Community Hall

Amhurst Road

(map here)

We operate a rota basis for the surgeries which means we take turns doing these so you will not always get the same one of us at each one.

We can of course still be contacted by email, or by phone, or by good old fashioned letter via the Town Hall - all out contact details are on the right hand menu of the page.

We're happy to help in any way we can with whatever problems or issues you may have.

Safer Hackney Central Newsletter - out now

2010-05-25T15:56:00.007+01:00

The new edition of our regular joint police/council safer Hackney Central newsletter is out now and will be distributed with copies of Hackney Today.

You can also read it here.

We'd be keen to hear from you with feedback about these newsletters, but also more generally about any concerns or questions you may have about crime and community safety issues.

Please do get in touch.

Hackney Today

2010-05-24T18:36:00.001+01:00

The new edition of Hackney Today is out now and will be delivered to homes across the borough in the coming days.

You can read it online here.

Parklife

2010-05-20T11:33:00.003+01:00

London's largest expanse of green space can be found right here in Hackney. With nine award winning Green Flag parks to visit, everyone can get healthy in Hackney!

This summer Hackney's parks will come to life with a jam packed schedule of exciting events and free festivals, fitness classes, a fun run and walking groups. Watch this space to see upcoming events.

The Parks for Life initiative is in association with NHS City & Hackney.

Parks for Life springs into action!

Parks for Life comes alive on Saturday 22 May, 12noon-6pm with an exciting celebration in London Fields. Join us to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and get fit and active in Hackney's award winning parks.

Highlights of the day include -

A theatre kitchen with local personalities and chefs presenting healthy recipes and seasonal cooking demonstrations.
Sport and health challenge
Stage displaying the best of home grown Hackney talent
Food stalls
Craft and information stalls
Health check ups
Performers and street theatre
Complementary therapies and health advice
Information about Hackney's leisure centres

Plus free swimming lessons at London Fields Lido -

12noon-12.30pm: Beginners - juniors
12.30pm-1pm: Beginners - adults
1pm-1.30pm: Aqua Tots - for children from 4 months to 3 ½ years of age. Structured session for parent or guardian and baby getting used to the water through structured play
2pm-3pm: Non swimming families - non-swimming parent + children min age 3 ½ yrs

To book call the London Fields Lido on 020 7254 9038 by 5pm Friday 21 May.

To find out more about Parks for Life email parksforlife@hackney.gov.uk or telephone 020 8356 5378

Get Creative this Summer!

2010-05-18T13:34:00.001+01:00

The annual summer festival that celebrates arts and culture in the five host boroughs for the 2012 Games returns this year from 19 June to 1 August.

CREATE10 presents homegrown, internationally acclaimed artists including singer Paloma Faith, artists Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk and Jason Bruges, and award-winning comedy team Punchdrunk. Events such as underwater music at London Fields Lido are also part of a programme that features music, art, film, dance, carnival, theatre, talks, opera, walks, and family days.

The urban music festival Young London: Into Music creates the opportunity for over 150 young people, aged 14 to 23, to be trained and mentored before starring alongside big names in grime, dubstep and indie.

This year’s CREATE Art Award, sponsored by the Bank of America, has been awarded to Hackney artist Robin Turner who will present a rural adventure across East London called ‘Roam’. Future Histories will run a series of discussions about art, politics and ideas, invention, industry and fashion design.

More than 12,000 artists live and work in Hackney, Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, and CREATE gives residents the chance to get involved and play a part in producing a world class festival.

For more info visit: www.createlondon.org

Thank you!

2010-05-08T12:08:00.005+01:00

We'd like to thank the residents of Hackney Central Ward for returning all of us as your Labour councillors!

Jules Pipe was re-elected as Labour Mayor of Hackney and Meg Hillier re-elected as our local MP.

We appreciate that there will be those who are concerned about the reports of people being turned away from polling stations at the election - although this didn't happen in out ward, we share the desire that there be a thorough investigation into what happened on Thursday.

We're honoured by the responsibility and confidence that the people of our ward have shown in so convincingly re-electing us for the third time. There has been so much progress made since we became councillors for the ward in 2002 and there's lots more still to do.

The next four years will be challenging for Hackney. Whilst the national situation remains fluid, if the Liberal Democrats decide to prop up a Tory government, both commited to vicious cuts, then it will be places like Hackney that will suffer the most and we'll do all we can to fight them every step of the way.

Thank you again.

Alan, Samantha and Vincent

The result for our ward can be found in full here.

The result of the mayoral election can be found here.

The result for the election of MP for Hackney South & Shoreditch can be found here.

Election tomorrow!

2010-05-05T09:12:00.002+01:00

Dear residents,

Tomorrow sees the first ever polling day in London to combine the local and general elections.

We've been out and about, as we have been over the past eight years, meeting people and knocking on doors and we'd like to thank all of you who have pledged your support for us. It has reinforced in our minds just how proud we are to serve you all and how far we've come - and the challenges ahead.

Thursday 6 May offers you a significant choice, both for the future of our ward, but also for Hackney.

We have previously set out our priorities that we will work towards over the next four years if you return us to office tomorrow. For the borough as a whole, we've also laid out in detail what Hackney Labour offers everyone in a costed and comprehensive programme laid out in full in our manifesto.

Whatever may happen nationally, Hackney cannot afford to suffer the years of no overall control, when services were cut and the council descended into chaos and real people suffered real hardship.

Hackney Labour has been the only party to offer a positive agenda to continue our borough's improvement, to invest in our young people and to continue our fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.

So we ask you tomorrow to re-elect:

Meg Hillier as your MP

Jules Pipe as your Mayor, and

Alan, Samantha and Vincent as your local councillors.

Remember, you have five votes and we ask you to use them ALL for Labour.

For a safer, cleaner and greener Hackney.

Thank you.

Cllr Alan Laing

Cllr Samantha Lloyd

Cllr Vincent Stops

7 Days to Go!

2010-04-29T13:57:00.003+01:00

A reminder to those of you who have been sent postal votes to get them into the post so that they arrive in plenty of time before Thursday.

You should now have received your two polling cards (where eligible) for the General election and for the mayor and local elections. If you haven't, please contact the election services team at the council.

We're continuing to enjoy meeting many of you on the doorstep and the messages we're getting are clear and welcome:

- the streets are cleaner

- people recognise the strides forward the council has taken

- people don't want to put this at risk

Remember, to use ALL your votes for Labour.

Also, the three of us would like to say a huge thank you to the ordinary party members who have been coming out to support us, from knocking on doors, to delivering leaflets and cards - we really do appreciate it!

Thanks also for the questions that are coming in to us from residents - keep them coming and we'll answer them as quickly as possible.

We're into the final straight now!

Cllr Alan Laing

Cllr Samantha Lloyd

Cllr Vincent Stops

Postal votes issued

2010-04-26T11:14:00.005+01:00

Many of you who have applied for postal votes will have had them delivered on Saturday or today by the Royal Mail.

Please make sure that you return them as soon as possible - and remember to use all your votes for Labour.

One key bit of advice is:

DO NOT hand your postal vote to anyone, from ANY party, who offers to deliver them for you. All parties have been told that they are strictly forbidden from doing so.

Also, DO NOT let anyone from any party be in the room when you vote, or direct you on how to vote. Again, all parties have been told that this is strictly forbidden.

Your vote is private and is something that shouldn't be interfered with by someone from any political party.