Hackney Council

One of the first residents to move into new Hackney Council homes in Victoria says a weight has been lifted from her shoulders by a move into genuinely affordable new housing.

Margaret Bibby and her one year-old son Prince were among families moving into 15 new genuinely affordable Council homes for social rent at King Edward’s Road, transforming land previously owned by a housing association that had been derelict for nearly 20 years.

Ms Bibby, who lived in Dalston for eight years before difficult family circumstances required her and her son to move, said: “It’s a great move and a new start for me – it’s like a weight has been taken off my shoulders.

“A roof over your head is the most important thing and everyone here is so excited. I hope they are as happy as I am!”

Among their new neighbours Katia Alloache and her family, who have transferred from a severely overcrowded flat in De Beauvoir, where they had lived since 2006, to a new five-bedroom family Council home.

18-year-old son Yassine said: “It’s been a big change, but this home is so much better for the family and there is a lot more space. We’ve met our neighbours here and everyone is really happy.”

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney, visited these families moving in to personally welcome them to their new homes.

Through its model of funding and building homes itself, rather than selling land to developers, Hackney Council will build nearly 2,000 new homes, three schools and a new leisure centre by 2022 – with over half of the new housing for social rent and shared ownership.

Homes at King Edward’s Road have been designed to fit in with the surrounding Victorian architecture, with townhouses and a landmark building built around a new communal courtyard, as well as improved public spaces, swift boxes and walking routes around the site.

The development, at the junction with Tyron Crescent, also includes 17 homes for outright sale to help pay for the new Council housing in the absence of any government funding.

Find out more on the Hackney is Building pages and the dedicated King Edward's Road project page. 

In the run up to this year’s World AIDS Day on Saturday 1 December, a series of events took place across Hackney to raise awareness of HIV and testing for the virus, championed by the Mayor Philip Glanville and Cllr Feryal Demirci, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, Transport and Parks.

A flag marking World AIDS Day was presented to the Mayor and Cllr Demirci by Mark Santos, Director at East London based charity Positive East and displayed at Hackney Service Centre in Hillman Street for a week. Positive East provides a range of services from information around HIV related issues, counselling and peer and group support for affected groups including HIV positive women who are asylum seekers and refugees.

Positive East also organised the annual Red Run fundraising race, which was opened by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan this year in Victoria Park on Saturday, to mark the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day. 

The Mayor of Hackney took part in the a 10k run. He said: “I was very proud to take part in one of the biggest fundraising events for HIV organisations, alongside the Mayor of London. There is a huge drive and commitment to raise awareness of HIV and in Hackney we are providing services to make it easier for people to get tested. However there is still too much stigma associated with the virus and taking a test; stigma also continues to affect the lives of people living with HIV. Both can have an impact on our work to reduce transmission. "We continue to champion the U = U campaign which seeks to ensure that everyone knows that someone living with HIV and on effective treatment cannot pass on the virus; and why we urge the Government and NHS England to commit to making PrEP fully available to those that need it.

“For all these reasons, I continue to personally champion HIV awareness and fight stigma, especially on World AIDS Day where we remember those who lost their lives to this disease before treatment was effective.”

There were free instant HIV tests available at Dalston Superstore in Kingsland High Street on Saturday 1 December and on Friday 30 November at Hackney Service Centre - offered by Homerton Sexual Health Services. The Mayor and Cllr Demirci visited the stall at the Service Centre to encourage residents to check their HIV status.

Cllr Demirci said: “There have been improvements in overall testing rates and a reduction in the number of people diagnosed with HIV this year but there is still a high proportion of people who are diagnosed at a late stage of infection - over 40 per cent - which has remained high for the past five years. “Our sexual health services in City and Hackney offer free HIV testing in a range of options to suit individual needs and we have seen a record number of free HIV home testing kits being ordered since the beginning of the year. The earlier someone is diagnosed, the better their chances of preventing potential illness.”

Homerton Hospital held a session to find out what it is like to live with HIV in 2018. This year also marked the 20th anniversary of the death of Professor Jonathan Mann, whose work on HIV and human rights has influenced the ethos of the services offered at the hospital. 

The Council also funded a community building event organised by the Terrence Higgins Trust for LGBTQ+ Persons of Colour (POC) at Chats Palace Theatre in Homerton on Thursday 29 November to explore their lived experiences and improve access to health services. 

Visit shl.uk to order a free HIV and other STI home testing kits, or http://www.homerton.nhs.uk/sexual-health to find details of clinics in the City and Hackney.

Revised proposals to support local schools to continue to improve are being shared with teachers, parents and residents.

The current plans have been shaped following extensive discussions with head teachers, school staff and governors, and will see a Hackney Schools Group Board established.

This independent board will provide advice and guidance to the Hackney Learning Trust on key educational issues.The Board will act in an advisory role, championing educational excellence in the local school system, promoting improvement, high standards, and ensuring fair access and inclusion for all young people.

One of the key aims of the board is to involve headteachers in shaping local policies and to enable schools to work more closely together to share expertise. It will bring together local schools and academies, the Council, independent professionals and Hackney’s Director of Education, with an independent Chair.

Sub-groups will focus on issues including professional development, educational standards and support for vulnerable children.Over the last year, the Council has considered various options to create a schools-led improvement group - including establishing the Hackney Schools Group as a legal entity which would bring schools together under existing federation legislation - in response to feedback from headteachers and governing bodies, concerned about the impact of Government education reform.

It followed the Hackney Schools For Everyone consultation, which found that residents were concerned about forced academisation and selection based on academic ability and that they wanted the Council to retain its role in education.Since then, government policies have changed, and while feedback from schools showed strong support for a schools-led improvement board and teachers were keen to get more involved in shaping policy, they felt a federation model was not necessary now.

 

A series of information and feedback events will take place over the coming months, before a final decision about establishing the Board is made in March. Information is being shared with teachers and governors now. Residents can find out more at a meeting at Hackney Town Hall, at 6.30pm on 24 January.

Register for the event at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hackney-schools-group-information-evening-tickets-52943138352

For more information visit: https://www.learningtrust.co.uk/content/hackney-schools-group 

Planning documents can sometimes come across as technical documents, and it can be difficult to understand what they actually mean or do. At first glimpse, Hackney’s draft Local Plan, agreed by the Council last month, could appear to be just that – a 250-page document even without the various add-ons!

But these hundreds of pages actually describe what Hackney’s neighbourhoods and town centres will look like over the next 15 years. This plan, nicknamed LP33, sets out to describe a fairer, safer and more sustainable place where Hackney’s communities can benefit from new development until 2033.

It sets new rules and makes requirements on those who want to build new buildings in Hackney, including dedicated planning policies for town centres like Dalston and Hackney Central, and proposals for a new town centre for Clapton. Above all, we are setting out to manage investment and development so that our neighbourhoods remain places where local businesses can thrive, residents can live and provide the spaces that support the services we need, when we need them.

Hackney is rapidly changing and this worries many of us living and growing up in the borough. It has become known as a great place to live in, grow up in and do business in. This reputation has spread far and wide and people want to come and be part of our community. As this demand increases, it creates profound changes in the affordability of homes, in the types of businesses found along the high street and the very size of the new buildings themselves. It brings changes that many think might not hold anything for them.

It would be wrong to suggest that the Council or LP33, has the authority to control all of this change. Our powers are limited and there will always be new buildings, new businesses and new residents. This, after all, has always been the story of our borough and that of London. But these changes should not come at the expense of local communities made up of residents and businesses who, over the years, have made this place their home. This change should and must be curated, used to improve our daily lives, our town centres, streets and public spaces – creating a place that is for everyone and not for just a few.

The principles that have guided LP33 are principles of equality. These were eloquently set out in our Mayor’s manifesto in May – a fairer, safer and more sustainable Hackney. Hackney’s Local Plan translates these principles from objectives into the detailed, technical policy that will make them happen.

So how does this technical document make the borough a fairer place? It means that anyone who builds even a single home in our borough would now be required to contribute to the provision of genuinely affordable homes – for social or living rent.

There is a proud tradition of industry and entrepreneurship in the borough, but if we don’t get the right type of new buildings in the right places, that industry and entrepreneurship will struggle and move on. That’s why the plan promotes office buildings being built in the south of the borough and in our town centres, and Hackney’s light industrial land is to be protected from redevelopment.

The cost of renting workspace – like rents for homes – continues to rise. We’re proposing to make developers prioritise genuinely affordable workspace in their new developments, with a special 60% discount on the market rate in Shoreditch and 40% discount in the rest of the borough.

But LP33 also proposes changes that will help us build a better, safer and more sustainable borough. Play space in new developments will have to be open to everyone to use. Accessible drinking fountains must form part of major building projects. Taller buildings must support nesting birds like swifts by installing nesting boxes, support carbon reduction and reduce overheating by bringing flora and fauna back into our town centres, not only by creating new green walls and green roofs, but also buildings designed to live or work in which support the growing of vertical forests.

Hackney will always be a tolerant place open to investment, to new ideas and to people. We have a proud heritage that has, over the generations, welcomed people from far and wide, and this has shaped our reputation as a creative place where people can flourish and have the space to express their new ideas. These changes have brought huge benefits to our borough over the years and our Local Plan aims to ensure that our proud heritage is carried into the next chapter of Hackney’s journey.

Cllr Guy Nicholson
Cabinet Member for Planning, Business and Investment

Plans are underway to transform and restore parts of the well loved Abney Park - the magnificent Victorian Cemetery in Hackney, London.

Abney Park covers 12.5 hectares and is one of the ‘Magnificent 7’ cemeteries in London. It is one of Hackney’s finest green spaces and a final resting place for around 200,000 people in approximately 60,000 graves, fourteen of which are listed. No longer a working cemetery, it is run by Hackney Council as one of London’s most central tranquil woodlands, home to a wide variety of invertebrates and fungi.

The Abney Park restoration project will take a holistic approach to conserving and developing all aspects of the Cemetery, its built and natural heritage and the experience of its users. Plans include:

• Making the entrance on Stoke Newington High Street more accessible by adding a ramp

• Restoring the chapel to allow it to host weddings, concerts and other events

• Launching an extended programme of activities at the site

• Building a new cafe and flexible community space at the Stoke Newington High Street entrance

 

As well as the memorials, Abney Park has a non-denominational funerary chapel and two Egyptian style lodges, all of which are in need of improvement. The Council hope that the proposals which expand the activities already taking place at the site will encourage more people to visit the site and engage with it.

The Council would like to invite feedback from residents on the proposals. The full plans are available at https://hackney.gov.uk/abney-park. This information will help to put together a fundraising bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund.

Over 350 residents from across the borough celebrated the start of the holiday season with the annual festive light switch-on at Hackney Town Hall this weekend.

Ahead of the event the square was lit up by handmade lanterns, created by local families and older residents at workshops led by artist Emily Tracy.

At sunset Rabbi Roni Tabik was joined by Simon Marks School choir to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, lighting the Menorah (a nine branched candelabrum), singing traditional songs, and enjoying some special Hanukkah donuts.

It’s the first time Hackney Council has celebrated Hanukkah, with a custom made menorah, this is now set to be an annual tradition.

To keep the crowd entertained throughout the evening, steel pan band Panatonic, played pop hits as well as festive favorites. There was also sing-a-long with Hackney Music Service’s Junior Choir, where the whole crowd joined in to sing ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’.

The Hackney Community Choir performed a choice selection of carols before the Christmas lights switch-on, Speaker of Hackney, Cllr Clare Potter, was joined by characters from the Hackney Empire panto, ‘Aladdin’ to switch-on the lights and launch the countdown to Christmas in a borough full of entertainment and activities across its town centres and markets.

For the spectacular event finale, local carnival group Tropical Isles, danced around a giant puppet swan, which along with the costumes was decorated with hundreds of lights.

In this month’s free Hackney Today paper, are a collection of other festive-themed events taking place across the borough such as a charity film screening at the Rio, late-night shopping at Chatsworth Road Market, and special visits from Father Christmas.

Almost 100 residents and business owners turned out to raise their issues and ideas with the Mayor during the second annual Hackney Mayor’s Question Time.

The event, in the Council Chamber, on Monday (26), was streamed live on YouTube and saw Mayor Philip Glanville respond to questions covering a wide range of topics for two hours.

Areas covered included: the housing crisis, social housing, temporary accommodation and the private rented sector; domestic violence; young people, opportunities, and their physical and mental health; crime and antisocial behaviour; licensing; public consultations; new communities, different priorities and social cohesion; the environment, tree planting, air quality, electric cars and parking; Universal Credit; and support for people with disabilities.

The event was chaired by Dr Melissa Butcher - long-term Hackney resident and lecturer at Birkbeck University, where she researches how cities change and the impact on communities.

She writes regularly on issues relating to gentrification, diversity and social cohesion, and has been working with young people in Hackney to create films and reports as part of the Creating Hackney as Home project.

Melissa said: “It was great to see the range of questions. There’s clearly a need for this kind of event, particularly given the intensity of social change that we’ve seen in Hackney. It’s important that residents are able to give voice to their concerns and be listened to.”

Watch the Quetsion Time on the Council's YouTube channel.

The Council’s proposals to build a new leisure centre, secondary school and homes by Shoreditch Park have been approved.

The GLA gave the green light to the application on Monday (26). Hackney’s Local Planning Authority had approved the scheme on November 7.

The Council’s proposals have been two-and-a-half years in the planning and subject to widespread consultations and more than 50 hours of engagement events, with regular update leaflets posted to thousands of homes.

The new leisure centre includes:

• A six-lane, 25m main pool with moveable floor
• A 20m x 10m training pool with moveable floor
• Leisure water – for children and families – with water features and a flume
• A café and toilets (also serving Shoreditch Park users)
• A six-court sports hall
• Crèche and soft play area
• Sauna and steam room
• Fitness suite and flexible studio spaces
• Four squash courts
• Two five-a-side pitches
• Two tennis courts

The scheme also includes:

• A new, much-needed secondary school and sixth form with 1,140 places to meet demand for school places in Hackney

• A public square with seating and which can be used for community events, and a new entrance to the park.

• Improved walking and cycle routes linked into the wider network, and more than 1,000 new cycle parking spaces.

• Tree planting, leading to 33 more trees than there are now, wildlife-friendly planting to provide a greater variety of habitats and food sources, particularly supporting bees, bats and birds.

The new buildings will be placed on the site of the existing Britannia Leisure Centre – which will not close until the new one is open – the existing asphalt sports courts, and the site of the Hoxton Press sales and marketing suite.

It's hoped that construction will start on the leisure centre and school in early 2019 and complete in 2021. More information on the proposals, including artists impressions, is available here.

The project is part of the Council’s work to build nearly 2,000 homes, three schools and a leisure centre on more than 20 sites across the borough by 2022. Find out more about how Hackney is Building.

Hackney Council is asking Transport for London to review the impacts of their plans to change and cut bus routes in the borough and give serious consideration to the impact it would have on residents of Hackney.

The Council is grateful for the continued engagement undertaken over the plans including Scrutiny panel discussion, meetings with Council Officers and senior directors. Importantly they are asking TfL honor their pledge to listen, consider the insights provided and scale back the changes proposed.

In a consultation letter response provided to TfL the Council has further emphasised concerns expressed throughout engagement. These are that Hackney has already seen significant cutbacks to the Borough’s bus services in recent years including: the curtailment of Route 242 from Tottenham Court Road to St Paul’s; the curtailment of Routes 73/N73 from Victoria to Oxford Circus; more recently the cutback of of route 277 from Highbury Corner to Dalston severing a direct link from Well Street to that area; as well as frequency reductions in routes 42, 48, 106, 141, 236, 242, 243, 276, 349, 488, N38.

The Council has extended understanding on the financial pressures that TfL are under and the needs to make savings in the operation of the bus service, knowing how London now stands as the only major city in the western hemisphere to not have a subsidised transport system by central government. Going further, Mayor Glanville has offered to join TfL in any lobbying against the £700m government grant cut and asks TfL to make sensible and considerate changes to the bus service in Hackney appreciating the impact it will have on residents in the borough.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Hackney is asking residents to join on in an issue which unites rather than divides us which is tackling our waste crisis across Europe. 

The European Week for Waste Reduction runs from Saturday 17 to Sunday 25 November.

Now in its 10th year, in 2018, 14,347 actions will be implemented under the coordination of 32 national or regional coordinators from 20 countries. Activities span waste reduction, products reuse and materials recycling, as well as clean-ups that will be taking place across Europe and beyond.

Hackney recycles 27% of its waste, and although it has improved in recent years, we can all do a little more.

What is the challenge?

If you don't recycle much, you can give food waste recycling a go. If you already recycle a lot, rethink the way you use single-use disposables and explore low-waste living. Start with simple tasks, like switching from shampoo bottles to soap bars or buying loose fruit and vegetables instead of packaged ones.

The aim is to encourage you to make as close to no waste as possible - if you manage none then even better. It may seem difficult at first, but if you challenge yourself you will undoubtedly reduce your waste. After the challenge is over, you may want to stick to some of your new habits. Small changes really can make a big difference.

After the challenge ends, check how much less waste you threw away. Did you manage to make zero waste?

Share your #ZeroWasteHackney tips during the challenge. Spread the word, nominate someone you know to take the challenge by tagging them on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

More information on the zero waste challenge here: http://hackney.gov.uk/zero-waste

 

Show your support for the ‘16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence’ as the Council calls on residents to rally together to show their support for the elimination of abuse.  

The Council and its partners will be hosting events as part of the UN’s campaign to help eliminate gender-based violence, starting with an event on the steps of Hackney Town Hall on Monday 26 November. Come at 1pm, listen to speeches and stand together to help eliminate gender based violence.

Official statistics from the latest crime survey reveal the shocking fact that last year in England and Wales,1.9 million adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse, this is 6 in 100 adults, with women than more likely than men to be victims.

Data also shows that nationally more than half of all female homicide victims were killed by a former or current partner; around two women are killed every week.Tackling domestic abuse and eliminating gender based violence is a key priority for the Council, and despite continued government cuts the council continues to prioritise preventing domestic abuse and supporting survivors.

The Council works in many different ways to tackle gender-based violence in the borough, through close collaboration with third sector partners, the police and health services to protect survivors of abuse and bring perpetrators to justice.

The Council works directly with survivors of domestic abuse who have been referred for help or who have sought help themselves. Working alongside survivors and with partner agencies to assess and reduce risk and make survivors safe. More recently the service has begun work with perpetrators to assess and reduce the risk they pose, to hold them accountable for their actions and where possible to effect lasting behaviour change.

Hackney’s youth service, in partnership with schools, and the voluntary sector, works with young people to teach them about healthy relationships. The Council is a national leader in the way it looks widely at different areas in the lives of young people, to make sure they are safe in their peer groups, schools and communities; tackling gender-based violence and problematic behaviour towards girls in these contexts.

Following on from 26 November the Council and partners will be hosting a series of events to coincide with the 16 days of activism, including events for young people at Youth Hubs, a public meeting and a conference for professionals.

You can contact Hackney Council’s Domestic Abuse Intervention Service anonymously and get help to stop abusive behaviour on 020 8356 4458; email dais@hackney.gov.uk or visit www.hackney.gov.uk/domestic-violence. Anyone needing help or support can also contact the 24-hour free national helpline on 0808 2000 247. In an emergency always call 999.

Public Events

● 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence, Hackney Town Hall Square, 26 November 1-1.30pm

● IMECE welcome service users, partners and colleagues working with BAMER Women at The Redmond Community Centre, Kayani Avenue, N4 2HF, 27 November, 10am- 2pm

● Living Well – Why Women’s Safety and Health Matters, sharing how women's health and wellbeing can be promoted with an open discussion and mini-tasters on wellbeing topics, such as self-massage, mindfulness, meditation, Hackney Women’s Haven, Whitmore Community Centre, 2 Phillip Street, N1 5NU, 27 November 10.30am – 2.30pm

● Violence Against Women and Girls Practitioners Forum – a space for Hackney professionals working in the field of gender-based violence to explore current issues and best practice in a range of areas, 28 November

● Domestic Abuse Intervention Service Information stall, Hackney Service Centre, 1 Hillman Street, E8 1DY, 3 December, 11am – 3pm

● Gender Based Violence Public Consultation, Hackney Museum, 5 December, 5.30-8pm. The Council’s Domestic Abuse Intervention Service would like to speak to residents to discuss Hackney’s Violence Against Women and Girls strategy for the coming year. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Unfortunately there will be no crèche facilities, but children under 3 are welcome to attend. The event is not suitable for older children.

Events for Young People

● Futures Theatre presents ‘Underwater Love’. An interactive play that explores healthy relationships, domestic abuse and ‘revenge porn’. Forest Road Youth Hub, Senior Session 20 November 7-8:30 pm

● Healthy Relationships (separate young men and young women groups), The Edge Youth Hub, 27 November, 6-9.00 pm

● Healthy Relationships (separate young men and young women groups), The Edge Youth Hub, 3 December, 6-9.00 pm

Residents can help shape the long term future of transport and travel by letting the Council know what you think about the its new Local Implementation Plan (LIP). This framework sets out how the Council will deliver the London Mayor’s Transport Strategy covering nine goals up to the year 2041 and sets out transport initiatives and investments for the next three years.

The LIP is divided into ten sections which cover proposals on the Council will respond to the environmental challenges confronting an inner London borough and proactively plan for the rapid economic and population growth which it is undergoing. The transport initiatives and investments are a starting point for a borough-wide engagement exercise in 2019 to find out what Hackney’s residents, workers and visitors would like to see further improved in the borough.

 

Central to this plan is the Council's overarching aim of increasing more sustainable forms of transport such as walking and cycling and reducing both the volume and impact of car traffic with the aim of improving the quality of air and life in Hackney.

The plan covers how the Council proposes to work with partners to improve public transport; embed sustainable transport principles into Hackney’s new build programmes, freight and delivery activities in the borough and unlock the delivery of new homes and jobs. The Council is also urging people to take part in the consultation to gain views, ideas and aspirations from Hackney’s residents, workers, organisations and visitors.

Anyone interested in giving their views can read the Draft LIP and complete a questionnaire at hackney.gov.uk/street-consultations by Sunday 16 December 2018. Hard copies are also available at the Hackney Service Centre and at all libraries around the borough or by phone request on 020 8356 2897.

People can also attend a drop-in session to talk to Council officers about the LIP on Thursday 6 December 2018 from 4pm-7pm on Pitfield Street (at the junction with Hyde Road).

Residents, businesses and visitors in Dalston will get the opportunity to directly tell the Council their ambitions for their community at a major event this month.

More than 3,000 people have already had their say about the future of the area in the Dalston Conversation since the campaign launched two months ago.Now the Council will bring together hundreds of people from across Dalston’s different communities for a conversation about what its priorities should be to ensure that the growth of the area brings opportunities for everyone.

Dalston’s population has gone up 12% in just four years, and the prospect of Crossrail 2 – a proposed high-speed train line that would link the town centre directly to north, central and south-west London – means developers and landowners are likely to want to build more tall buildings in the area.

While some of these changes will be out of the Council’s control, it wants to make sure it is using every tool at its disposal to maximise the benefits of growth – whether that’s better public spaces, getting the right new buildings in the right places or ensuring everyone has access to new jobs, education or arts and culture opportunities.

Sign up to the event in Dalston on Tuesday 27 November, 6.30-8.30pm, by visiting the Consultation pages or calling 020 8356 1739.

21-year-old Thaddaeus Brown is on an early track to success, having been named London Council’s Apprentice of the Year 2018, for his creative contribution to Hackney Council’s Design team.

The trainee has been celebrated with an award acknowledging his attention to detail and dedication to his profession, with Thaddaeus selected from a competitive group of high-achieving apprentices from across the capital.

Thaddaeus, who is from Hackney made a big impression working in the Council’s Design team where he delivered high quality content for service areas across the organisation on major borough-wide campaigns, including the successful summer apprenticeship recruitment campaign.

As an apprentice, Thaddaeus contributed in team meetings and gained extensive hands-on experience to complement his college studies working towards gaining a Level 3 Junior Content Producer qualification.

The award was based on direct feedback from those who have worked with Thaddaeus, including Employment Pathways Programme Manager Alex Jacobs.

The award ceremony, run by London Councils which represents the 32 boroughs and the City of London, was held at Saddlers Hall on Friday 28 September 2018.

Now in their eighth year, the prestigious awards recognise the excellence of apprentices working across local government in the Capital in a range of sectors including housing, finance, regeneration, and waste and recycling.

To find out more about current/upcoming apprenticeship vacancies visit: https://hackneyworks.hackney.gov.uk/apprenticeships

Notes to editors:

Over 100 apprentices are currently employed by the council and all earn at least the London Living Wage.

Hackney Council was named 'Top Employer - Public Sector - at School Leaver Awards 2018, based on direct, anonymous feedback from our apprentices.

Our apprenticeships vary from Level 2 to 7 in areas including ICT, Design, Youth Work, Administration, Legal, Finance, and Housing.

On 2 December residents are invited to come together for the borough’s festive light switch on in Hackney Town Hall Square from 4.30pm to celebrate the holidays.

Around sunset there will be a ceremony to mark the Jewish festival of Hanukkah with a special 12ft menorah.

This will then be followed by festive activities in the Square, where visitors can get warm with hot chocolate and mulled wine while listening to live music.

Later in the evening Panto characters from Hackney Empire’s Aladdin will join the Speaker of Hackney, to turn on the borough’s Christmas lights.

The annual switch-on will launch Hackney’s festive celebrations and will feature a sing-a-long to festive tunes, a steel pan band and a lantern display created by elders at St Joseph’s Hospice.

Christmas lights will also be unveiled across the borough, which will see local markets such as Ridley Road lit up for the festive season.

This event is being conducted in partnership with; Hackney Empire, artist Emily Tracy, Pantonic steel pan band, Simon Marks Primary School, Hackney Music Service and Tropical Isles.

Hackney Council is taking decisive action to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming with the announcement that it will obtain 50% of its electricity from clean, renewable sources by April 2019.

This significant increase in renewables as part of Hackney Council’s energy mix will be delivered alongside a range of other radical decarbonisation measures, including: the implementation of a world-leading energy efficiency management system, which will significantly reduce carbon emissions and save the Council money: and through the creation of a publicly-owned, renewables-focused, energy company.

Hackney Council purchases energy directly from the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) who buy energy on the wholesale market by pooling demand across Central Governmental bodies and Local Councils. However, this system is subject to constraints. The Council therefore decided, in the short term, to mandate CCS’ suppliers to secure a minimum of 50% of electricity from renewable sources. Meanwhile, a plan to secure even greater amounts of value for money clean energy, by working with London local authorities, is being developed.

In the future, the Council will continue to work closely with the London Energy Project on a plan to develop an energy procurement framework to meet the environmental and value for money goals of London’s local authorities. Further to this, Hackney Council will host Procuring the Future, a seminar dedicated to clean energy procurement, in January 2019, to which representatives from all of London’s 32 boroughs have been invited.

More than 100 Hackney residents celebrated as they received certificates for completing English language courses run by the Council at Hackney Empire last week.

The Speaker of Hackney, Cllr Clare Potter, attended the event to present the awards and congratulate course graduates for achieving an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) qualification, which is run by the Council’s Adult Learning Trust.

Over the past academic year hundreds of residents attended 25 English ESOL courses, which ran throughout the borough.

Hackney Learning Trust’s Adult Education team work closely with schools, children’s centres and community organisations to provide accessible venues to host classes and encourage residents with limited language skills to come forward.

Elssye Santos, originally from Brazil won ‘learner of the year’ for her ESOL Entry Level 2 qualification at Shoreditch Park School.

To join an ESOL class, potential students need to attend an ESOL advice session, where an adviser will check their level of English before helping them find a class which will best suit their needs.Advice sessions take place regularly at five venues across Hackney.

For more information call 020 8820 7043, email esol@learningtrust.co.uk or visit www.learningtrust.co.uk/esol.

Future career prospects are now looking much brighter for nine local young people with physical and learning disabilities, as they begin their ground-breaking Project SEARCH internships based at Homerton Hospital.

Launched by the Council’s Supported Employment Service, this is the first year the internationally acclaimed programme, which aims to remove barriers faced by young jobseekers with disabilities, has been run in Hackney.

The nine students, aged between 17 and 23, will work in a range of departments over the next academic year. They may be placed in a cafe, shop or even a maternity ward depending on their strengths and interests.

Each intern will spend their first week in a classroom setting at the hospital, learning personal and professional skills before embarking on their work placements.

The interns are looking forward to getting started with Project Search and are keen for the same success as recruits from similar projects from around the world.

Summai Lerner-Edgell, 17 from Clapton, joined the project after hearing about it from a family member.

To find out if your business could benefit from having a Project Search intern in your place of work or to find out more about Supported Internships, please contact: Anna-Renee.Paisley@hackney.gov.uk

A major project aimed at amplifying the voice of young people in the borough is set to launch early next year.

The Hackney Young Futures Commission will hear evidence over the course of a year about the lived experience of young people in Hackney, to make sure young people’s voices are heard, by the Council and by its partners.

The commission will be chaired by young people and over the next two years will be looking into the experiences over those in Hackney under 25, how they view the borough, what challenges they face, and how they feel about local services.

Hackney Young Futures will be independent of the Council, but will be organised and accountable to it, and will be made up of young people themselves, community representatives, academic partners, those from the voluntary sector and councillors. The project will be supported by a major youth engagement exercise to get views from hundreds of local young people.

Ahead of the project launch, Hackney Young Futures is looking to appoint commission chairs and members, with applications open until Monday 10 December.

To chair the commision the Council is looking to appoint two young people, who are Hackney based and aged under 25.

For commission members there are nine positions open, to people who live, work or study in Hackney. People with particular expertise in youth, education, employment, or the voluntary and community sector are encouraged to apply. There will also be a number of positions open to young people aged under 25.

The Commission chairs posts will attract an annual allowance of around £2,500, with commission member posts being voluntary, with expenses paid, and requiring a commitment of around one evening a month for a year,

 

To apply send a CV and a one page cover letter detailing interest in being either a chair or a commission member to polly.cziok@hackney.gov.uk by Monday 10 December. Find out more at: www.hackney.gov.uk/young-futures.

In 2015 Transport for London (TfL) and Hackney Council announced improvements to CS1 in Hackney. Following further consultations, additional improvements around De Beauvoir Road and Wordsworth Road were installed to reduce rat-running traffic.

Following a review of these schemes, and taking into account feedback from residents, a number of actions are being planned to reduce traffic and improve the CS1 route in Hackney.

The route has been divided into five sections, with the main actions listed below. All proposals will be subject to relevant consultation and approval processes.

Matthias Road to Stoke Newington Church Street

Last year, as part of Cycle Superhighway Route 1 (CS1), three roads were filtered to restrict through traffic around Wordsworth Road. These measures have succeeded in reducing motor traffic on the cycle route and improving road safety near schools.

Walford Road scheme

In December 2017 and January 2018, we consulted on traffic-calming measures in the area bounded by the A10 Kingsland Road, the B104 Stoke Newington Church Street and Albion Road, and Mildmay Road / Crossway, aimed at reducing the volume of traffic travelling through the area and improving safety for cyclists along Cycle Superhighway 1 (CS1), while still allowing residents to access their homes.

The proposals followed concerns from residents and businesses that increased numbers of vehicles are rat-running along residential roads, including Walford Road, Brighton Road and Nevill Road. They are aimed at making the area safer and more pleasant for everyone, especially pedestrians and cyclists, and creating healthy, safe and attractive streets for people to enjoy.

During the consultation, some residents became concerned about the effect that the proposals could have on air quality on Stoke Newington Church Street and outside William Patten School. As a result, we postponed a decision on the proposals and commissioned more detailed traffic and air quality research from independent consultants to find out what the proposals would mean for the Stoke Newington area.

We expected to share this modelling with residents in October, but, unfortunately, the modelling process is taking longer than anticipated. We apologise for this delay.

The detailed traffic and air quality modelling will:

• assess the degree to which nitrogen dioxide concentrations would increase or decrease and identify areas that would experience significant increases or decreases

• highlight areas where the changes would likely result in a new breach of the National Air Quality Objectives (NAQO) or where an existing breach of NAQO would be significantly exacerbated

• identify whether the overall area exceeding the NAQO would shrink or increase.

Any potential impacts on traffic and air quality will be published when completed, alongside a full analysis of the consultation responses, including petitions.

Hackney Council has been working with William Patten School as part of our schools air quality monitoring project for some time. We are working with the school to put in place measures to reduce pupil exposure to air pollution, which includes paying for a green wall and screens for the school gates.

What happens next

• We expect to receive the detailed air quality modelling back from the independent consultants at the end of the year.

• We will consider the findings of the air quality modelling, and expect to make a decision on the Walford Road improvements early in the New Year, working with Transport for London to take into account the potential impacts of the Stoke Newington Gyratory proposals. We will only make a decision on the scheme when its impact on the area is fully understood.

• Information relating to the decision, including the results from the consultation and the air quality modelling, will be published on the Council’s website and sent to residents in Stoke Newington.

Wordsworth Road area 

The filters in the Wordsworth Road area will be retained. These  have proved controversial due to increased traffic on Brighton Road and Walford Road in particular, and the fact that residents’ ability to drive across the area is restricted. However, the Council feels that the closures have succeeded in reducing traffic on the cycle route and improving air quality and road safety near the schools. 

The existing closures, implemented in temporary materials, will be upgraded with measures such as physical kerb build outs

Build outs will be implemented at the school crossing patrol location by St Matthias School.

A design workshop will be held with local residents to develop ideas to reduce the conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists around Butterfield Green.

Documents

• Signed decision paper
• Appendices
  • A - 2016 decision paper
  • B - works notification
  • C - residents and Hackney Cycling Campaign feedback
  • D - response to residents' feedback
  • E - traffic count analysis
  • F - pollution monitoring data

Stoke Newington Church Street to Holmdale Terrace

A protected cycle lane will be built on West Bank following consultation earlier this year. The outcome of the consultation shows overall support for the scheme. 

Investigating options to improve safety around Dunsmure Parade.

Protected crossing to be built at Manor Road / Bouverie Road / Heathland Road, subject to be built at Manor Road / Bouverie Road / Heathland Road, subject to resolving technical issues.

De Beauvoir area (from Downham Road to Balls Pond Road) De Beauvoir Road / Englefield Road

Junction to be made permanent and safer by building a wider island, narrower junction mouth and raised entry to help enforce the one-way operation. Additional signage to be added and guard rail to be removed to improve crossing point.

Englefield Road / Culford Road

Design for a parallel pedestrian & cycle crossing has been prepared and is being consulted on during November. 

Documents

• Signed decision paper
• Appendices
  • A - 2016 decision paper
  • B - works notification
  • C - residents and Hackney Cycling Campaign feedback
  • D - traffic count analysis
  • E - pollution monitoring data

Pitfield Street area (from Sun Street to Downham Road) Wilson Street / Worship Street / Paul Street

This area is still difficult for cyclists due to parking and loading arrangements. These are being reviewed with Islington Council and will be rationalised where possible.

Pitfield Street / Boot Street / Chart Street

Further closures under investigation to reduce traffic crossing Pitfield Street.

Pitfield Street near New North Road

Zebra crossing to be raised to slow traffic.

Pitfield Street /Hyde Road / Hoxton Street

Investigating a scheme to reduce traffic and simplify the junction.

Balls Pond Road

This section is jointly maintained by Hackney and Islington and is also on the Strategic Road Network. Discussions are still ongoing but the aspiration remains for a protected cycle lane on Balls Pond Road between its junctions with Culford Road and Kingsbury Road.