Pic. Kikishua

The BBC today confirmed the dates for the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend and announced performances from Ed Sheeran, Michael Kiwanuka, Jessie J and  Professor Green.

The two-day Hackney Marshes event will take place on 23 and 24 June and 100,000 tickets have been made available. The event is set to feature over one hundred UK and international artists. The full list of artists performing can be viewed here:

Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney said: “Radio 1 are bringing the biggest event in their history to Hackney and we’re playing our part to make it the best ever. The line-up is impressive and, with much more to come, the Hackney Weekend will be at the top of the list for music fans this year.

The BBC couldn’t have made a better choice – the Hackney Marshes is a unique venue, there’s a huge level of local enthusiasm and, with the Olympic Games in Hackney, we’re better prepared than anyone to host the event”

Professor Green said: “Hackney is a great place, so events like this and the Olympics will help showcase the borough in a positive light. It’s going to be an amazing weekend and I’m delighted to be a part of it.”

Radio 1 will carry out outreach activities in east London ahead of the main event. This will includes the Radio 1 & 1Xtra Academy, which will open on 1 June. Young people from Hackney will be invited to attend and take part in workshops and sessions on a range of subjects including business, the arts, career development and media skills, including radio production and journalism.

Hackney born Radio 1 & 1Xtra DJ Trevor Nelson said: “It’s not just the main event that will have a lasting impact in Hackney and the area – but the exciting projects that we are doing beforehand – like the Academy. I’m proud to be an ambassador for this event and I can’t wait until June!”

Tickets for the event are free, but a small fee of £2.50 per ticket will be charged in order to cover ticket handling and administration costs. People interested can register at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/hackneyweekend/2012/tickets/ but registration does not guarantee a ticket. After registration, they are welcome to apply for a ticket at 11am Sunday March 25 and 4 pm on Monday March 26. Most of the tickets are reserved for Hackney and the remaining five Olympic boroughs will have first come first serve basis.

East London Lines had previously reported that Hackney Council is calling for people to volunteer at the event.

pic: Duygu Saykan

Prince Charles visited the Good Hope Café in  Lewisham last night, delighting locals who filled Hither Green Lane to greet him.

The Prince was visiting the café to meet with young people who have been helped by the Prince’s Trust, as well as representatives from the Scouts Association and Youth United, an initiative launched by The Prince of Wales in 2009.

The Good Hope Café was set up by the Mizen family in memory of 15-year-old Jimmy Mizen, who died in a stabbing in May 2008.  The café was established as “a haven for young people”.  All proceeds go towards local youth projects.

The Prince of Wales talked to youth representatives about their experience of gangs and asked whether having a group that was “like a gang but more constructive”  would have made a difference to their lives.

30-year-old Arfan Naseer told the Prince the lack of male role models was the reason he got involved in drug related crime as a teenager, while Rod Jarman, chairman of Youth United, spoke of the need to increase the number of Scout leaders.

Scouts came from different parts of the country. Simrit Kudhail, 17, Hannah Husein, 16, Jasmin Robinson, 15, Stefan Lewis 17 and 16-year-old Alex Tarrant-Anderson had a chance to express their opinions on what more can be done for young people who are in danger of gang recruitment.

Hannah Husein said: “We also wanted HRH to know how scouts are affected. Hopefully this will show that life for young people doesn’t have to be wrongfully portrayed in the media.”

Barry Mizen, father of Jimmy said: “We were asked if we would host HRH The Prince of Wales and a group of young people in our café ahead of a meeting he was hosting for government officials this evening.”

As Eastlondonlines reported last week, The Café of Good Hope was awarded social enterprise of the year by Lewisham Council on 23rd of January.

The Prince is to convene a roundtable meeting at Clarence House to tackle issues such as unemployment amongst young Britons, which recently reached over one million. The meeting will be attended by representatives from the three political parties, youth organisations and representatives from civil society.

Pic: Goldsmiths

Figures released by UCAS today reveal a significant drop in university applications across east London boroughs, with applications from Hackney dropping a whopping 14.6 per cent.

According to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), applications from Lewisham were down 11.8 per cent compared to last year, whilst Croydon experienced 9.3 per cent drop. In Tower Hamlets, applications fell by 7.7 per cent.

The figures, which relate to the mid-January deadline for most undergraduate university courses, confirm fears that students are being put off going to university by the prospect of huge debts. UCAS reports that applications to UK universities have witnessed a fall of 8.7 per cent, the steepest fall in decades.

The data comes just over a year after London witnessed mass student protests over cuts to the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and the proposed rise in tuition fees. In December 2010 the Coalition government narrowly won a vote in the House of Commons allowing universities in England to charge up to £9,000 for the annual tuition costs of undergraduate degrees.

East London universities were hit worse than the national average, with all higher education institutions to east of Westminster experiencing a drop in applications of over 10 per cent.

Marlon Gomes, Head of Admissions at Queen Mary said: “We expected applications to fall with the increase in student fees for 2012, and an increase in entry tariffs across most of our programmes, so although some courses experienced a drop in applications, we were pleased with the influx of applications to Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry. Our 16 per cent increase is particularly impressive when compared to a reduction of over 3 per cent in Medicine and Dentistry applications to other UK universities.”

According to the Guardian, languages and art related subjects have witnessed the biggest falls in applications, with non-European languages down by 21.5 per cent and creative arts and design courses down by over 16 per cent. Figures at Goldsmiths and the University of the Arts bear this out but an unofficial source at Goldsmiths said that as a result of a surge in late applications the figures are a lot better then they appear.

Another reason for the overall drop is a significant drop in applications from mature students.

Reacting to the drop in applications in Hackney, Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, told EastLondonlines: “Under this government, in Hackney, we’re seeing big rise in the number of young people on the dole, and a significant drop in University applications.  It’s a perfect storm for young people in Hackney, because the Government is costing the economy jobs, whilst bulldozing over education opportunities – kicking away the ladder.  The brutal price our young people are paying for this government’s economic policy is now crystal clear. The verdict is in: this government is failing an entire generation.”

Jamie Duff, teacher at Brooke House Sixth Form College in Hackney told EastLondonLines: “The biggest factor putting students off going to university is the rise in tuition fees and the huge debts that come with it. But the removal of EMA has also had a knock-on effect. At our college, 75 per cent of students were in receipt of EMA. Across the board, 6th form colleges have seen numbers drop as a result of cuts to EMA. I believe it’s a mixture of people not doing their A-levels and people put off by the rise in tuition fees. “

Toni Pearce, Vice President of the National Union of Students, said: “The indication is that the confusion caused by the government’s botched reforms is causing young people to at the very least hesitate before applying to university.

“The significant reduction in applications from mature students is a warning sign and government needs to quickly take their concerns on board or else risk those people falling away from education for good.”

Figures released by UCAS yesterday are indicative of the changes but do not paint the full picture for the 2012 intake, as students can still apply for most courses through UCAS until the end of June.

Photo by: Crazy Bayliff

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that a 45-year-old man was arrested following the eviction of the occupied UBS buildings known as ‘the Bank of Ideas’ in Hackney last night. He was subsequently taken to hospital due to a health condition, where he remains.

Officers have received and are considering footage of the incident for which the man was arrested.

The man, who is believed by police to be a bailiff, has been taken to a north London police station on suspicion of assault and causing criminal damage.

Just after midnight, police officers and bailiffs moved in to evict the UBS owned building on Sun Street, Hackney, which has been occupied by Occupy London protestors since November of last year.

According to the Bank of Ideas website around 50 protestors initially resisted peacefully but left the building shortly after.

The Police and enforcement officers then went to carry out an eviction of the Earl Street Community Centre, also a UBS-owned building.

Around 70 protestors had gathered outside the building in solidarity with those on the inside. According to a statement from Occupy London, protestors were brought out peacefully and were allowed to take their belongings with them.

But Occupy London reported that a photographer has been punched in the face by a bailiff and have complained of heavy-handed behaviour by both bailiffs and police.

A video on YouTube shows a man, believed to be a bailiff, trying to drive his car through a group of people and then driving off with a man, who is understood to have suffered minor injuries due to the incident, clinging on to the bonnet of the car.

Ronan McMern from Occupy London told EastLondonLines: “The most astounding thing about last night was the reaction of the police. Serious questions need to be asked about the inactivity of the police to deal with the actions of the bailiffs.”

According to McMern several people reported being assaulted by police as they stormed through the crowds to gain entrance into the Earl Street building.

According to the Metropolitan Police there have been no injuries to officers or protestors.

Photographer Jules Mattsson, who reported the assault allegation on Twitter told EastLondonLines: “a number of journalists had issues with enforcement officers. Some enforcement officers think they can act entirely outside the law.”

Occupy London have said in a statement that they are “gravely concerned that the police’s actions this morning demonstrated a greater concern for the well being of a building than the safety of the public.”

A High Court Possession Order on the ‘Bank of Ideas’ came into place at 2pm on Wednesday January 24. Since then according to their website the Bank of Ideas has been closed to the public and a team of volunteers has been cleaning the building.

Occupy London are urging anyone that witnessed events to report them to Shepherdess Walk police station.

Pic: Soha Ibrahim

Lewisham Council was faced with angry residents, community activists and a fuel poverty action group, who came together on Friday evening to protest against high energy bills.

People gathered in front of Lewisham Town Hall in Catford for a briefing on the issue, before entering the reception, not just to warm up but to stay in. They then held a forum to discuss the wider issues around high bills.

Ewa Jasiewicz, 33, an activist and campaign organiser told the Council’s security guard: “We are locals and this is a taxpayer-heated building so we will be ‘warming up’ here.”

She added: “One in four UK homes are in fuel poverty; many have to choose between heating and eating this winter, while an estimated 2,700 people will die unable to heat their homes this year.”

The activists say the ‘big six’ energy companies – British Gas, EDF, npower, Southern Electric, E.ON and Scottish Power – have a 99 per cent monopoly on UK energy and are making record profits.

Pic: Soha Ibrahim

Three police cars later arrived at the Town Hall, and an officer told the group they would have to leave before the council closed for the evening.

Activist James Holland, 39, spoke to EastLondonLines just before being arrested for trying to break into a closed office. He said: “It is a disaster that people are dying of cold while the big six and housing providers are making profits over the right to a warm and safe home.” Holland was released a short time later.

Dave Croft, 32, said: “We are all here to demand democratically controlled and accountable energy, decent, fuel-efficient housing, and an end to deaths caused by fuel poverty.”

Local resident Julie E, 73, said she believes energy monopolies are an example of “the worst kind of capitalism”, which widens the gap between the poor and the rich.

“I feel terribly sorry for young people. I was not surprised by the riots and it is going to happen again,” she said.

Eventually the group decided to cooperate with the police and took their protest back outside the Town Hall, where they symbolically burnt bills to stay warm.

Video by Tabby Kinder

Kate Bull, CEO of The People's Supermarket Pic: Albert Steinberger

The People’s Supermarket has launched a campaign to renovate its new premises in Hackney. The ‘brick by brick’ campaign, where people can buy a piece of the re-development for £1, aims to bring new life to the building opposite Homerton station.

The community-focused co-operative supermarket moved to the 4,000 square foot premises on Sedgwick Street after a consultation with locals last year.

Now, more than ever, TPS is depend on the support of local residents.

Jessica Green, Community Engagement Manager, told EastLondonLines: “We need to raise £1m by March to be able to open next summer.”

Donators will have their names in a brick wall inside the new venue.

The plan is to dedicate half of the new area to services to the community, such as a crèche and a communal kitchen. Local producers are also being encouraged to sell their goods in the store.

Fundraising is just one of the strategies TPS is employing; they are also looking for partnerships with companies and construction specialists.

TPS offers local, seasonal food alongside recognised brands and works on a co-operative basis.

Kate Bull, Chief Executive Officer and founding member of TPS, said: “I always had a great deal of faith in people. While most supermarkets want to prevent people from doing something and have a list of ‘do not’, we have a list of what they can do. Here people come first.”

Retired teacher Gene Fisher decided to join the initiative as a volunteer after seeing it on TV. “It is such a lovely idea. This is about people helping each other. Here you do not only shop, you contribute,” she said.

This sense of community extends to all parts of the scheme. It uses an electric car for its delivery service, avoids waste of food at all costs and most of the initiative is based on voluntary work.

In order to function as a co-operative, TPS of Hackney needs at least 700 volunteers and 30 employed staff.

If you want to help, contact The People Supermarket though its website or email hackney@thepeoplessupermarket.org.

Children at St Joseph's oppose sewer plans

School children will be put at risk and face noise, smell and dust pollution for more than three years if the proposed Thames Tunnel super sewer in Deptford goes ahead, school governors have warned.

Residents and campaigners in Deptford have heavily opposed the plans after a meeting in November, when Thames Water announced that the green land outside St Joseph’s Primary School was their preferred site, despite not making the short list in the first round of consultation.

Henry Sullivan, Head of Governors, said: “This is the last thing St Joseph’s needs.” He explained that the children would face noise and dust as they work and that the site is the school’s fire safety gathering point, something that could lead to delays in checking that pupils are safe in case of fire.

This week children, teachers and governors at St Joseph’s joined the Don’t Dump on Deptford’s Heart campaign.

Children wrote letters to Thames Water, with one pupil pleading with them to “please find a heart for Deptford” and another worried about smells saying: “Parents will not appreciate us smelling of poo.”

Liberty Mosse, of the Don’t Dump on Deptford’s Heart campaign, said he really appreciated the children getting involved and that he hoped Thames Water would take their honest pleas into concern.

“We are still waiting for Thames Water to explain how this green space has gone from not even being shortlisted in phase one to being the preferred site now,” Mosse said.

Phil Stride, head of Tideway Tunnel, explained in an earlier interview with EastLondonLines that the Borthwick Wharf site, which was initially considered, would affect more residential properties and cause encroachment into the river.

He also said the work on the site would follow “normal working hours” and that noise, dust and smell would be at a minimum.

However, even Thames Water’s own Environmental Impact report says that St Joseph’s will experience sound and noise from the site.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Mosse said, adding that their original proposed site in Borthwick Wharf Foreshore, in Greenwich, is much more suitable.

Currently the Don’t Dump on Deptford’s Heart campaign continues with plans for further meetings, canvassing efforts and a winter picnic before the final consultation closes on February 12.

Perri Shakes-Drayton Pic: Tower Hamlets Press

Olympic hopeful, Perri Shakes Drayton, has thrown her support behind her home borough’s city bid.

The 23 year old 400m specialist, joins the likes of the City of London, Canary Wharf Group, Tower of London and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the oldest manufacturing company in the UK, who have all pledged to give Tower Hamlets’ bid their full backing.

As part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebration Tower Hamlets is competing against 26 other towns, including Reading, Middlesbrough and Luton, to become the UK’s newest city.

Drayton, who lives in Bow, just a short dash from the Olympic Park, attended primary and secondary school in the borough and continues to train at Tower Hamlets and Victoria Park Athletics Club based in Mile End.

Drayton said: “Tower Hamlets is where I grew up, work and live and I would be delighted to see it become the UK’s next city. The place is full of life, culture and excitement, which are components that make great cities and part of the reason why I love Tower Hamlets and why I am happy to lend my support to its bid.”

Alongside attaining a degree in Sports Science at Brunel University, the former Bishop Challoner pupil broke world records when she won two bronze medals in both the 400m hurdles and 400m at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, a key instigator in the city bid, said: “I am thrilled to have Perri’s support for the bid as she is a great ambassador for the borough.  2012 is an exciting year for Tower Hamlets with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Diamond Jubilee celebrations and of course the announcement of city bid competition to look forward to.”

If successful, the borough will join both Westminster and the City of London and become the third official city in London.  According to the Council website, this will enable Tower Hamlets to be part of a group of boroughs that reflect the political, economic and historical centre of both London and the UK, attracting more visitors and boosting inward investment.

Though it is not the only borough in London to be applying for city status, with Croydon also in the running.

The Queen is planned to announce the winner early this year.

Olympic site, Pic: EG Focus

A new body that will control the future of the Olympic Legacy site – incuding areas in Hackney and Tower Hamlets – is one step closer to creation after the London Assembly voted unanimously in favour of its proposal.

The Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC), which will require an act of Parliament to be established, will be the authority responsible for an area earmarked for development that is described by Mayor Boris Johnson as ‘London’s single most important regeneration project for the next 25 years’.

The area covers land in the boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest including the Olympic Park, currently the responsibility of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC).

Direct responsibility for the MDC will be vested in the Mayor of London.

London Assembly deputy chair Dee Doocey said:

“The creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation sets a clear structure to deliver… regeneration and places responsibility for it firmly in the hands of the Mayor.”

Significantly the MDC will have much greater powers than those currently held by the OPLC. It will be the legal planning authority for the area, giving it the right to decide on any future developments and regeneration schemes.

However unlike its predecessor, the MDC’s powers would extend over residential areas, such as Hackney Wick in Hackney and Bromley-by-Bow North in Tower Hamlets.

During the London Assembly meeting concerns were raised about the body’s accountability to local residents.

Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson called for assurances that planning processes are respected in the event of council planning powers being transferred to such a body.

He said of the proposals: “The Mayor must ensure that local residents and community groups can make representations to planning committee meetings, otherwise it could turn out to be less open than a normal council committee.

“[He] should also take the opportunity to involve the local community in ongoing dialogue about the wider plans, going beyond the usual consultation process to benefit from their energy and ideas at an early stage.”

Once legislation is passed, the body will come into formal existence on 1^st April this year and planning powers will come into effect from August. A board headed by the mayor will be established, with a representative from each of the boroughs as will a planning committee. While it is not yet clear who will sit on the board, sources indicate members could be appointed by the Mayor of London.

A spokesman for Hackney Council said:

“The MDC must work very closely with Hackney and the other host boroughs when it is formed.  We are very keen to encourage the MDC to fully engage local people and businesses in developing its regeneration plans.”

Any planning decision made by the board will be subject to all relevant planning legislation.

Under the terms of the Localism Act 2011, the Mayor of London has the power to designate any area of land in Greater London as a mayoral development area.

In the past, the actions of such planning quangos that span several boroughs have caused controversy.

In December last year EastLondonLines reported how the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC), a planning authority that covers a large region of east London including Tower Hamlets, gave the green the light to a 12-storey tower on Fish Island.

Local residents opposed to the development slammed what they called a “travesty” and complained of being “gagged” in the planning process.

Even Tower Hamlets council, also opposed, was overruled by the ultimate planning power of the corporation. There was anger that politicians from other boroughs were effectively making decisions for boroughs they did not represent.

But fears of a lack of accountability have been downplayed by the Mayor’s office. They insisted the Mayor, as head of the MDC board, will be directly accountable to all Londoners.

Payslips are becoming less frequent in Tower Hamlets, Pic: renway2007 (Flickr)

Tower Hamlets is suffering from the one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country.

Unemployment has reached 13.2 per cent in the borough, making it the third highest of all the London Boroughs and fifth out of 415 regions and local authorities in the UK.

According to a report released today by the Office for National Statistics unemployment in Britain has hit a 17-year high with approximately 2.68 million people currently unemployed.

Hackney is among the top 10 per cent of jobless local authorities in the country, while Lewisham falls just outside of this percentile.

The figures also carry bad news for Lewisham residents, showing the borough to have the worst job density in the whole country. This means that the borough has the least jobs per number of residents out of any area in the country.

Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Hackney and Croydon all recorded a slight rise in unemployment and numbers of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance on last year.

While unemployment in Croydon has risen to 8.8 per cent, an increase of one percentage point since last quarter, it still remains slightly below that of London as a whole – currently at 9.1 per cent.

As unemployment reached its highest level nationwide for seventeen years, analysis of figures by think tank IPPR showed Lewisham as one of the areas worst affected by a lack of jobs, with 16 job seekers chasing each vacancy. This is four times higher than the national average.

The statistics have elicited varied responses from local political and business figures.

Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse in Tower Hamlets, released a statement laying the blame for the ‘jobs crisis’ at the feet of the government:

“These figures will only confirm what families in Poplar and Limehouse already know – we are facing an unemployment emergency. Complacent and out of touch Ministers need to wake up to the jobs crisis they’re responsible for and take urgent action now”.

Trade unions also rounded on the government. Arguing that public sector redundancies are far outweighing job creation in the private sector, Laurie Heselden of the Southern and Eastern TUC criticised the Coalition’s austerity programme and slammed its belief that private sector investment and growth would offset job losses.

Speaking to EastLondonLines, he said:  “Britain is in the midst of a full-on jobs crisis and this is acutely apparent in the labour market in East London. Look deeper and the data shows that desperate workers are being forced to accept part-time work and insecure self-employment, and that the unemployment rate for young Black men under 25 might be as high as 50 per cent. The Government’s economic policy is not working and it is now the cause of recession, not a response to recession.”

Yet the gloomy figures are not necessarily reflective of prevailing local business conditions, according to Daphne Clifton, President of the South East London Chamber of Commerce, who said that many local businesses have an optimistic outlook. In a survey carried out in December by the organisation, which largely represents small and medium businesses, 88 per cent of the 150 respondents expected business to be better in the year ahead. In addition, more than two thirds expected their size to remain the same, while 23 per cent anticipated increasing their staff numbers, compared with 13 per cent a year ago.

She told EastLondonLines: “It is difficult to take a definite stance on why the numbers are so high without looking at which sector is most affected, but it will at least partly be due to [redundancies in] the public sector”.

When asked why the jobless level is so high in parts of South and East London, Clifton commented: “It is not necessarily about a lack of skills […] but it can be about being prepared for work, things like punctuality and proper presentation when going to work.”

She added that the Chamber of Commerce is encouraging small and medium businesses to take on young apprentices.

Written by Ruth Edwards and Michael Pooler