Nappuccino at Hackney City Farm

The Hackney Real Nappy Network (HRNN) is a group of parents living in Hackney, London, UK, who use and promote real nappies.

They are holding a 'Nappuccino' social event on Friday at Hackney City Farm where you can find out more about the benefits of using real nappies. You can also claim a £54 real nappy voucher and spend it at the event.

Nappuccino, Hackney City Farm, Friday 26th March from 10.30-12pm.

Register with Leo on 020 8356 7930 or leonor.barricartebulnes@hackney.gov.uk

Lapdancing Consultation

Last night at Licensing Committee, councillors unanimously agreed to go out to consult residents and businesses in Hackney on the proposed new policy regarding "Sex Establishments".

The government has recently passed new legislation that will come into force later this year that allow local councils to licence lap dancing clubs, sex shops and sex cinemas using a different set of powers.

These include setting a maximum number of premises within a locality. Last night, the committee decided to consult on a "nil" policy across all of Hackney. It means that the five premises that currently have a sex encounter licence - which will then seek a "sexual entertainment" licence - would have to argue forcefully why they should be the exception to the policy.

Potentially, this could see all of the venues shut when they seek their licence renewal next spring.

The consultation will begin in the summer and we expect the policy to be adopted, subject to the outcome of the consultation, this autumn.

You can read the policy proposals here.

Photos from East London Line

Not long to go now...

Hoxton station is, like most good things, actually in Haggerston.

You can see one of the Fellows Court towers in the background.

More information on the line can be found here.

New powers to target street drinkers

The Council has today approved a Designated Public Place Order which gives police the power to confiscate alcohol being drunk in public places or require people to stop drinking. Failure to comply can result in arrest or a fixed penalty notice being issued.

This is not going to stop people enjoying a drink in the park - it’s for the persistent drinkers who’re shouting and intimidating people, and giving police the power to deal with them.

Tory mayoral candidate Andrew Boff does not approve. He told the Hackney Post:

“I think it would work in isolated problem areas but a blanket ban is just another example of the nanny state."

He's wrong. First of all it's not a ban on drinking - it's a power to prevent anti-social drinking in public places that makes decent people's lives a misery. Second, the trouble with tackling 'isolated problem areas' is that street drinkers simply move on a few hundred yards and cause misery to a new group of people. That's why Haggerston Councillors and others argued for a Hackney wide approach.

Latest news from Haggerston Safer Neighbourhoods Team

The latest Haggerston Safer Neighbourhoods team newsletter is out and can be found here.

It includes information about the "Hackney Says Relax" campaign run in Shoreditch over the festive period.

It also outlines the latest policing priorities set by local people at their recent CAP Panel meeting:

• Anti-social behaviour - drugs • Anti-social behaviour - youths • Squatters

On this last priority there has been recent action to evict 17 squatters from the Haggerston Estate which is being redeveloped to provide new homes for residents.

Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Alan Laing, said: “These squatters spoilt the quality of life for tenants who were still in the block and those living close by. Due to the premises closure order, they are finally out of the block and vital improvement works can now carry on for the estate.”

Making Recycling Easy

An earlier post mentioned our record level of recycling - we're all helping to get our recycling rate up even more and have reached 27% earlier this year.

As part of our ongoing attempts to make it easier and better for everyone to recycle, the council is going to trial recycling bins in busy areas of Hackney as 60 new bins are put on the streets. The new bins, which collect recyclables at one end and litter at the other, allow passers-by to recycle their newspapers, drinks cans, cartons, glass and plastic bottles, at the same time as disposing of general waste.

New Contract on Anti Social Behaviour for Hackney Homes Residents

Hackney Homes have published a contract in their latest magazine to residents about how they respond to anti social behaviour.

From the complaints we receive from residents, we know that anti social behaviour can have a massive impact on people's lives and that it can be frustrating and slow getting effective action to be taken.

Please do let us know you have any problems with anti social behaviour on your estate and we can help to take this up with Hackney Homes. You can also report ASB through the local housing office; online at www.hackneyhomes.org.uk, texting 07527 385603 or calling the out of hours helpline on 020 8356 3310.

When you report ASB, you can expect:

• An acknowledgment letter within three working days
• An invitation for an interview within five working days
• An action plan for resolving the complaint within 12 working days
• Monthly reviews of your case and regular contact updating you on progress

For more serious acts of ASB, you can expect:

• An acknowledgment within 24 hours
• An invitation to an interview with 24 hours
• An action plan within 12 working days
• Regular monthly reviews and contact.

More information online here.

Grow Your Own Food

Hackney Homes has teamed up with Capital Growth to help residents grow their own food.

Residents can apply for between £200 and £1500 from the Capital Growth Scheme to use spare pieces of land on estates for food growing. Hackney Homes gardeners can also help provide seeds, plants, and advice for residents intersted in growing.More info here. Fellows Court TRA is already looking into options for growing food on their estate.

Council Tax Frozen for Fifth Year Running

On Wednesday at the Town Hall, Labour's Budget for 2010/11 was agreed by the Council.

The good news is that council tax will be frozen for the fifth year in a row. Hackney's council tax is now below the London average and is the only council in the country to have five years in a row with no rise in council tax.

By running the Council more efficiently Hackney has made savings of more than £40 million during the past five years, the highest amount in London according to recent Government figures, and the third highest in the country. This has allowed consistent investment in those services that matter most to residents - with no cuts to frontline services.

During a lively Full Council meeting where the budget was debated, we also confirmed that there will be investment in the following areas:

• £66m on keeping our streets clean, waste and recycling services - including specific investment in improving recycling on estates with new containers which will allow residents to recycle a wider range of materials and extra investment into graffiti removal, and weekday litter picking
  
• £25m on safer neighbourhoods - working with partners to reduce crime and anti social behaviour across the borough
  
• £5.2m on parks and green spaces - to build on our record of 9 green flag parks across Hackney. We will also be refurbishing toilets in all our parks.
  
• £72m on children and young people's services - as well as £5m from the Myplace project which will bring new state of the art youth centres across the borough
• £186.7m on education - with £170m over the next five years going into the next phases of the Building Schools for the Future programme
  
• Investment in adult social care to provide an additional 5000 hours of homecare to support vulnerable residents in Hackney in their own homes
• £500k into a new library in Dalston
• Further investment in cycle training programmes, road safety improvements, car clubs, electric charging points and street decluttering
  

All the budget documents are publicly available here.

Conservative Proposals:

There weren't any. For the first time ever, the main opposition group didn't propose their own budget. In a truly remarkable and shocking move, they simply didn't do anything to propose their own budget, nor query any major part of the Labour budget. They have shown how unprepared they are and how little effort they have made in offering the people of Hackney an alternative.

Green Party Proposals:

This was to tax car owners and small local shops, by massively increasing the cost of parking your private car outside your house. They also proposed increasing pay and display costs (vital for customers to local shops) by 12%, when Labour in Hackney has decided to freeze them, given the recession, to help our local shops and town centres. They also proposed a massive cut in the budget to keep our streets clean and cutting the budget to replace old street lighting and dealing with pot-holes on our roads and broken pavements - which would affect about 300 roads in the borough.

Lib Dem Proposals:

These were to cut £170,000 from street cleaning and invest it in a bike club. They also proposed cuts to the planning service which is so vital in ensuring that illegal development doesn't happen.

It's Hackney Labour that offer Hackney residents a clear and costed approach to running the council.

New Recycling High

We're recycling more than ever in Hackney - the figures from January show that over 27% of rubbish in the borough was collected for recycling.

This shows the commitment local residents have to recycling. Since the end of last year, you can now recycle plastic packaging and cartons in green box collections.

However, there's still more to do - over 60% of household waste can be recycled so we need to do even more to get all residents in Hackney recycling.

More information on recycling can be found here.

Show your love

If you love Haggerston and want the world to know - drop me a line and I'll send you a badge.

Have your say

Each year, the Council asks residents what their priorities are for Hackney.

These are fed into the Council's scrutiny process - where backbench councillors across party political lines investigate issues of local concern and help to hold the Council, and other outside agencies like the police and health bodies to account.

Last year, residents told us that crime was one of their main concerns, and as a result two of the scrutiny commissions looked at anti-social behaviour on estates and how Hackney Homes, housing associations and the Council can improve their responses to residents.

Have your say on what work scrutiny councillors should do this year - this can be anything from prevention of crime, to housing, to health and education.

The survey is online here.

Licensing Applications w/e 5 February

On the Rocks at 24 Kingsland Road is looking for a 5.00am licence.

"Application for variation of premises licence to allow supply of alcohol from 08:00-02:00am Monday to Wednesday and from 08:00-05:00am Thursday to Sunday."

Closing date for representations is 5th March.

Two other applications for late night refreshment:

9 Great Eastern Street

London EC2A 3EJ

"Application for premises licence for late night refreshment from 23:00-05:00am daily."

Closing date for representations is 1st March.

Café Nibz

147 Shoreditch High Street

London E1 6JE

"Application for premises licence for late night refreshment from 23:00-02:00am Sunday to Thursday and from 23:00-05:0am Friday and Saturday."

Closing date for representations is 4th March.

Licensing Applications w/e 8 January

This week's applications include a 24 hour application from The Griffin on Leonard Street and an application til 2.00am from the Reliance on Old Street.

Please get in touch if you want to discuss any of these applications.

The Griffin
93 Leonard Street
London EC2A 4RD

Leonard Trading Ltd

Application for variation of premises licence for recorded music, late night refreshment and supply of alcohol 24 hours from Sunday to Friday and from 10:00-01:00am Saturday and making music 24 hours from Monday to Friday,10:00-01:00am Saturday and from 12:00-01:00am Sunday.


Deadline for representations: 28/01/2010

The Reliance
336 Old Street
London EC1V 9DR

Remarkable Restaurants Ltd

Application for a premises licence for films, anything of similar description from 11:00-00:00 daily, recorded music, late night refreshment and supply of alcohol from 11:00-02:00am Monday to Saturday and from 11:00-00:00 Sunday.

Deadline for representations: 4/2/2010

109 Shoreditch High Street
London E1 6JN

Mr Shaban

Application for a premises licence for late night refreshment from 23:00-02:00am Sunday to Wednesday and from 23:00-05:00am Thursday to Saturday.

Deadline for representations: 3/2/2010



Halk Supermarket
180 Hoxton Street
London N1 5LH

Mr.Gunes

Application for a premises licence to allow supply of alcohol from 08:00-01:00am Monday to Thursday and from 08:00-03:00am Friday to Sunday.

Deadline for representations: 4/2/2010

Snow

With more snow last night and more expected today along with freezing temperatures, I thought it would be helpful to explain what the council's approach is to clearing roads and gritting during this weather.

First, I've received assurances that there is enough grit to see us through the worst of the weather over the next few days.

The approach the council takes is to grade roads into three categories. Category one and two roads are prioritised for gritting. These are the main roads, bus routes, town centre roads and those roads around hospitals.

This work can be slow and street cleaning staff are taken off their normal work and are tasked with distributing grit and sweeping snow. The council does try to do as many streets as possible, but the priority is to keep traffic and public transport moving. February last year showed what happened if the main roads weren't cleared often enough. Having a decent amount of traffic is critical to ensure that the salt put out on the road actually works in removing the snow and ice.

If you have particular concerns about places that you think need griting please do get in touch or contact the council directly.

The main advice is to refer to the news and to heed the advice being given during this weather. Wrap up, take care and don't risk injuring yourself.

If you have vulnerable neighbours, try to take a few minutes to check they're OK.

Licensing applications w/e 4 December

Two licensing applications in the area this month.

First up, what looked like a lovely little coffee shop wants to sell drink til 2am and food til 4am....

The Bridge

15 Kingsland Road

London E2 8AA

Application for a premises licence to allow supply of alcohol from 09:00 to 02:00 Mon to Sat and 09:00 to 00:00 Sun, recorded music from 07:30 to 04:00 Mon to Sat and 07:30 to 00:00 Sun and late night refreshment from 23:00 to 04:00 Mon to Sat and 23:00 to 00:00 Sun.

Closing date for representaitons: 29/12/2009

Second it's our old friends at One Shop Food and Wine. They'd like to serve drink til 4am - every day!

One Shop Food & Wine

149-150 Shoreditch High St

London E1 6HU

Application to vary existing premises licence to allow supply of alcohol from 07:00 to 04:00 daily.

Closing date for representations: 30/12/2009

Hosts Borough

Hackney Hosts are a new initiative designed to help night time visitors get around Shoreditch safely and to try to ensure they do not disturb local residents.

They will be a feature in Shoreditch in the run up to Christmas handing out maps, taxi information and on the spot help for those who have overdone it.

The maps they are handing out include special offers on food and soft drinks in a bid to encourage people to eat and drink more sensibly.

The hosts will travel around Shoreditch on scooters handing out lollipops which have previously been used in the area to keep people quiet when they leave pubs and clubs.

It's a small step but a practical and imaginative one that should be welcomed. As Shoreditch gears up for one of the busiest times of the year it will hopefully remind people who visit the area that an increasing number of people live here too.

Tackling mini cab mayhem

From tonight there will be a new marshaled taxi rank outside 333 nightclub to make sure people can get home safely after a night out and to try and stop mini cabs and their customers upsetting local residents trying to get to sleep.

The rank will be marshaled between 10pm and 3am on Fiday and Saturday nights.

This is a joint initiative set up by Hackney Council, Transport for London and the police as part of the Safer Travel at Night campaign.

Remember the cabwise scheme can also find you a cab at night. Text CAB to 60835 and TFL will use GPS to text your two nearest minicab numbers and one taxi (black cab) number.

Campaign against road safety cuts

The London Cycling Campaign in Hackney and Hackney Living Streets came to the Full Council meeting at Hackney Town Hall last week to ask for urgent action following the Mayor of London’s decision to cut funding for the Commercial Vehicles Education Unit.

The unit played a vital role in helping to reduce collisions between large vehicles and cyclists or pedestrians. It also had the power to investigate unsafe lorry operators and make sure they were meeting health and safety standards. As a result of Boris Johnson’s funding cuts, the unit will be disbanded.

Cllr Alan Laing, Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, responded to the deputation, stressed that Hackney Council has already called on Boris Johnson to reinstate funding for the unit, He said: “This is another cut by the London Mayor. Despite this we continue to work with the police and cyclists to reduce the number of cyclists being injured on our roads. We have a number of initiatives in place including education events along the A10, improving signage on the Council's own lorries and continuing to improve our road surfaces.”

The campaigners also secured a commitment that the Lorry Safety Working Group which brings together user groups, the Police, freight operators and the Olympic Delivery Authority, will meet quarterly and work throughout the year to tackle the hazards and threats associated with lorries.

Another year another marathon

On March 7, in no doubt baking Catalonian heat, I'll be running the Barcelona Marathon to raise money for Laburnum Boat Club.

The club, which celebrated its 25th birthday recently, is a vital and much love part of the local community.

It's Co-ordinator, Jim Armstrong, has devoted a quarter of a century to giving children who face real challenges in their life a place to come and make friends as well as learning canoeing and sailing skills.

If you don't know about them check out their website at www.laburnum.org.uk

I'm proud to be associated with them in even this small way.

This will be the fourth marathon I have run for Laburnum in as many years and we hope to raise £1,500 this time. Every penny raised will go to the club and I know it will be well spent.

If you are able to donate please go to www.everyclick.com/jonathanmcshane or contact me direct.

Thanks in advance.