The Foundry will be torn down after Hackney Council last week granted permission for it to be replaced by a hotel and retail complex. Developers plan to demolish the popular building despite it being part of what many hail as the heartbeat of London’s art scene.

An Ofsted Report has praised a local college for an improvement in GCSE results and a better revised curriculum. Bethnal Green Technology College was recently inspected and its overall performance was judged to be satisfactory.

Stop and search in Tower Hamlets and Hackney appears to be working, despite claims by a leading criminologist that it has no positive impact on knife crime. Marian FitzGerald, visiting professor of criminology at Kent Crime and Justice centre, analysed new Metropolitan Police figures and found no link between stop and search and a reduction [...]

Local traders and artists in the old “Tram Sheds” in Clapton are campaigning against the demolition of the space to construct residential and retail buildings. Housing developers had previously submitted a proposal to the Town Hall to demolish the tram shed and construct 92 residential units in the area, with retail space and car parking. [...]

‘Early-bird’ voting to elect the 4th Young Mayor of Tower Hamlets began this week to help students not living in the borough cast a vote.