Design changes made to Wilmer Place proposal

Today is the final day for comments on the proposed supermarket and housing development in Wilmer Place Stoke Newington.

This is the second proposal made by Newmark Properties to Hackney Council. The first was rejected  by councillors following an intensive community campaign. Local campaigning group, Stokey Local identified a number of issues with the proposal. These included the potential effect on the character and heritage of the area, its impact on the local economy and increased traffic and noise pollution.

Newmark Properties say the new application takes these objections into account. After reviewing community member feedback the owners say “substantial” changes have been made. These include reducing the size of the development, increasing the number of family-sized homes and green spaces in the area and retaining buildings on Stoke Newington High Street that had previously been tagged for demolition.

According to Stokey Local: “The development has been reduced in scale at the back only, and the perimeter has been set back only a modest amount. We believe these changes are minimal and do not address the reasons for refusal of the previous application.”

The application number is: 2013/1583 and 1584.

Comments can be made here. Or email planningconsultation@hackney.gov.uk quoting application number 2013/1583.

A street food cart that opened in London Fields park on June 14, sets out to cater for the entire community, “not just the hipsters”.http://news

Italian-inspired Coppa Cart gained permission to trade in the public park until March 2014 through a Hackney Council scheme  that supports local businesses.

The council’s choice of a trader was met with mixed responses from the local residents of Hackney, the area famous for its gentrification issues.

Will Coldwell, 24, a journalist from Stoke Newington, said: “I think it is a disappointment when the council is giving up space in a public park to private companies that are going to sell food, drinks and snacks out of price of what people will be able to afford.”

Although Coppa Cart pricing was quoted as “reasonable” and “certainly not expensive” by the owner Eliza Flanagan, £2 for coffee and £1.5 for a cup of tea turned out to be out of some people’s budget.

Bryan Eaton

Bryan Eaton, 48, who is unemployed and lives near Homerton Hospital, said: “Not everyone is affluent in this area, not everyone has got loads of money. They only cater for the people who can afford it.”

“We should have an alternative,” added Eaton. “I would rather see a lot more shops here that can offer competitive prices.”

“You need to take into consideration what people have to live on,” said Warren Philbert, 35, a leaflets distributor from Dalston.

“Some people are on benefits, some people have better jobs than others.”

Norman Saggers, 45, who works for Young Hackney and lives in Walthamstow, said that the prices were average for the area.

“But if you are in a park with kids, it will add up quite quickly,” he added.

The food van is an extension of Coppa rooftop bar and barbecue terrace that overlooks London Fields. Both vendors are the trading names of Lardo, an up-market restaurant on Richmond Road.

Flanagan said Coppa Cart was not trying to be exclusive or elitist in any way.

“We thought about our menu carefully. We even offer Halal hot dog for £4, which is pretty democratic and suitable for people who do not eat pork for religious reasons or by choice.”

Other items on the menu include sandwich with rocket and porchetta for £5 and marinated artichokes for £2.30

Lorna Ellis,
Manager, Coppa Cart

Lorna Ellis, Coppa Cart manager, said that the cart had a lot of interest from the passerby on its opening day.

She said: “A lot of people are enquiring whether we are here for just one-off day and people are surprised when we say we will stay until March.”

Ellis felt it was too early to say which audience favoured the cart most. She added that Coppa Cart would try to cater for everybody in the park.

“From 8 am we are open for breakfast and coffee- grabbing people on their way to work, then quite a few people come with their children in lunch time, and in the evening we will create a little bit of an atmosphere.”

A few passersby offered their suggestions for Coppa Cart.

Mia Buzzi, 46, a tourist from Italy, said: “I would add something to eat. The drink menu is very long but the part with food is short.”

Edoardo Ugolini, 54, senior fund manager, said: “The food cart is nice, but I’d have it re-painted, the colour looks old. And plastic mandarines are a bit cheap.”

Both Buzzi and Ugolini said they felt the prices were fair.

Coppa Cart will be changing locations around the park throughout summer.

“We have to be careful not to tear up one piece of land,” said Ellis. “We have to move as it is a public space.”

Coppa Cart will be open seven days a week in the summer. For more info visit: http://www.lardo.co.uk/

Silicon Roundabout, Tech City

Parts of Hackney and Tower Hamlets will be exempt from planning laws that came into force on Thursday because the government has recognized that they might hurt new business developments.

The Hackney exemptions apply to key areas associated with commercial growth in the area, including Shoreditch, Hoxton, Dalston and Hackney Central. Tower Hamlets has two similar areas – City Fringe and northern part of the Isle of Dogs, which covers Canary Wharf.

Jules Pipe, Mayor of Hackney, said: “We are pleased to have been granted these exemptions and will continue to protect space for local employment. The original plans could have seriously damaged Hackney’s fast-growing local economy, particularly putting at risk small independent start-up businesses who need affordable office space, and all for the creation of high-value private flats that local people would have been unable to afford.”

He had denounced the original proposals as a  “misguided policy [that]could stop growth in its tracks and risk turning the borough into a dormitory village full of luxury apartments that do nothing to tackle the affordable housing crisis”.

The news laws are intended to make it easier for developers to change the use of buildings.  Under the previous legislation developers had to apply to the council for permission to change a building from, for example, a bank, to a betting shop, or from a pub to a block of flats.

From today, changes can be made without reference to the council. Although all the boroughs along the East London Line applied for exemption from the new laws, only small areas of Hackney and Tower Hamlets have been given an opt-out.

The Local Government Association said today: “Councils are warning that Government’s attempt to breathe new life into empty buildings by removing safeguards on how commercial properties are used, risks doing the opposite. Instead it could lead to more high streets being over-run with clusters of betting shops and payday loan companies.”

Although the news planning rules are only being brought in for three years, the LGA points out that lack of local council oversight could mean that the balance of housing and amenities in an area will change forever.

The new laws could be a blow to Deptford and Tower Hamlets  residents who have been campaigning against more betting shops and to those who have campaigned to prevent pub closures. This could also have an effect on the plans by Tower Hamlets to limit the number of  strip clubs in the area.

The changes fly in the face of public opinion.  A poll by Comres for the LGA last year  found that 76 per cent of residents wanted Government to give councils more powers to improve their high streets in the interests of their communities.

FSA Food Hygiene Rating
Map: Google

The SE25 area of Croydon has been listed as one of the “worst areas for hygiene scores” in a Which? Magazine investigation called the “State of Our Plates: The Food Hygiene Lottery.”

The consumer rights group collected data from thousands of local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2011 onwards.

The results come from individual councils’ food and safety inspections carried out in accordance with guidelines set by the Food Standards Agency.

The guidelines provide a 0-6 scale, scoring food outlets from 0 meaning “urgent improvement necessary,” to 5 meaning ‘very good.’

Although the subheading of the “Which?” article uses the word “eateries,” the data includes food outlets such as takeaways and restaurants, but also schools and hospitals.

“Which?” reported that 44 per cent of the 85 inspected outlets in the SE25 area of Croydon scored less than 3. The average score for Croydon was 2.65.

The worst in the country was Bexley with an average score of 2.62.

East London Lines spoke to the Food Safety Team at Croydon Council who said that “there are many reasons why the average ratings vary from place to place”.

The Food Safety Team suggested that there may be variation in the way in which people are grading. The spokesman said that some people may be “tougher than others.”

Croydon Council stressed that “whilst those premises with low scores do have things that they should improve they are not considered to be an immediate health risk.”

They added that “if the council does find such risks we always take immediate steps to close a business down until problems have been remedied.”

The council released a statement this month revealing that a takeaway in the Selhurst area, just outside of the SE25 postcode, received the highest food safety fine ever levied by Croydon Magistrates.

The owners were fined a total of £30,000 after failing to meet standards since 2005. However, although the “business had consistently failed to meet hygiene standards since first being visited by Croydon Council food safety officers in 2005,”  it was only in November 2012 that legal action was taken.

Prior to this, notices for improvements had been made by the inspectors. Problems included cockroach and mice infestations, and “split bags of raw meat stored above and in direct contact with raw salad vegetables.”

When asked about the high percentage of low scores, The Food Safety Team commented that a low score does not necessarily reflect the hygiene of premises.

Lots of smaller businesses and owners who do not have English as their first language often do not have a proper written health and safety system and “this prevents them scoring over one on the hygiene rating system, regardless of how good they are.”

Croydon Council said that they are working with these businesses to improve their grading.

East London Lines found that the claims published by “Which?” did not correlate with information on the consumer information website “Scores On the Doors,” although both use council’s FSA data as their source.

According to a “Scores on the Doors” search in the SE25 area, only 29.94% of 167 SE25 registered food outlets scored below 3 and 27.54% scored the highest at 5. However, Scores on the Doors data is updated every day, displaying the current situation, whereas “Which?” have taken an average score over 3 years.

Food outlets are currently not required to display their rating to the public but “Which?” magazine are backing plans to make this a requirement across the UK.

Croydon Council commented that they “definitely support the idea of making display of score mandatory as this will do a lot to encourage low-scoring premises to up their game.”

Cronx Brewery Beer Pic: Dea Cisar

The idea for the first Croydon based brewery in more than 50 years came to Mark Russell, 30, and Simon Dale, 31, right after the 2011 riots, and now they have launched the Cronx brewery in New Addington.

After the riots, the aspiring brewers felt they needed to start a business that would reflect their support for their borough.

Simon Dale explained: “The riots kind of spurred us on … we went … let’s just do something for Croydon to be proud of.”

Cronx beer label Pic: Dea Cisar

These citizens of Croydon are also supporters of Crystal Palace Football Club, and the first steps towards the Cronx brewery were taken on the CPFC fan club’s online message board.

Mark Russell recalled: “It transpired that we both had the same idea at the same time, and that’s how it grew.”

New businesses in Croydon are greatly encouraged by local businesses and politicians, but Simon Dale and Mark Russell said their strongest support comes from the community and local pubs.

Despite sleepless nights, both brewers are encouraged with every new beer-launch. “Ordering your own beer at the bar is such a weird sensation” they said.

The Brewery’s first year has brought locally brewed standard ales as well as limited editions brewed from hops from abroad.

It has also seen the duo supplying several pubs around the borough and across London. 

Digital Shoreditch Festival predicts what the future holds for East London Pic: Natalia Talkowska

A new website/app from Transport for London and a free pop-up university are just two of the many glimpses into the not-so-distant future that are currently on display at Digital Shoreditch.

From Monday May 20, thousands of techies, entrepreneurs and investors are gathering in Shoreditch Town Hall for the third annual Shoreditch Digital Festival.

The festival is the culmination of an all-year round celebration of the technical and creative talent of East London, specifically the Tech City area between the Olympic Park in Stratford and Old Street in Shoreditch.

The offices of several technology giants like Facebook and Google, alongside more than 500 small and medium enterprises, are currently located in Tech City.

One of the presentations that was surrounded by a lot of buzz on the opening day was that of the City Unrulyversity -  a free pop-up university in the heart of Tech City.

It is a collaboration between City University and Unruly, a video technology company, aimed at combining “Academic rigour and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge with practical relevance from the world of business.”

The idea for #cityunruly is to do something different through a partnership between cass business school and unruly twitter.com/CityUnruly/sta…

— City Unrulyversity (@CityUnruly) May 20, 2013

Transport for London was also at Digital Shoreditch to launch an exclusive sneak peak of their new website and accompanying app, which were very well received.

Many participants as well as speakers at Digital Shoreditch expressed their enthusiasm for the new app on Twitter. Alex Shebar, Yelp London Community Manager and speaker at the festival wrote:

The new @tflofficial app looks fantastic, and the video that goes along with it is pretty damn adorable. #ds13 twitter.com/yelplondon/sta…

— Alex S (Yelp!) (@yelplondon) May 20, 2013

Besides celebrating the many technology-based start-ups, the festival can also be seen as a tribute to the development of East London in general.

In April this year, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson pledged to boost tech investment through a £22m start-up fund focused on financing tech startups as well as helping other creative industries beyond technology.

Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners, the official promotional organisation for London, said “The amazing growth that has taken place in east London over the last few years has been significant to the city’s economy and reputation. Without a doubt London’s success is being driven by centres of excellence such as Tech City, and forms a key part of London’s business future.”

Kam Star, who founded Digital Shoreditch, told Tech City News that the growth of tech initiatives in Hackney has actually been a challenge for the festival in terms of staying relevant when there are so many other offers in the area.

“We need to keep finding interesting ways to engage the community, that’s the real challenge. How do we stay relevant? The only way we can do this is through our crowd. (…) Digital Shoreditch is a community thing. Everything I do is based on the feelings, the emotions, the direction I’m getting from the rest of the community.”

The festival will run from May 20-31 and is expected to attract around 15,000 UK and international visitors.

Love Your Local Market runs from May 15–29. Pic: Clare Boylan

This week marks the launch of, Love Your Local Market, a national campaign involving more than 300 markets.

The project was set up by the National Association of British Market Authorities  to boost local street markets, but some traders are questioning whether it will bring real benefits.

The initiative aims to attract new shoppers and help start-ups and enterprises by offering them a market stall for only £10 per day.

As part of the campaign Tower Hamlets, which is famous for its many street markets, is trying to support its traders and encourage more people to shop local.

One of the markets that forms part of the campaign is the Roman Road Market in Bow, once a focal point for socialising and shopping in the East End.

During recent years, the market has decreased in size and popularity, despite the building of the nearby Olympic Park. As a response to this decline a local residents group, The Roman Town Team, has been set up.

Paula Hirst, coordinator of the group, says: “[we] are trying to restore Roman Road back to what town centres used to be which wasn’t just where to shop but somewhere to go, to hang out to meet new people and spend a little bit of time and enjoy yourself.”

The market has also been featured recently on the retail expert Mary Portas’ BBC2 programme Mary Queen of Shops.

The market was made focus of the show because of its recent failure to attract new shoppers and traders to the area. Portas suggested the introduction of hot food stalls and the creation of “anchor” attractions at the two ends of Roman Road to help boost business for all of the shops and traders.

Local business owner Helen Fischer says she was attracted to set up in this part of London because the rents are low but also because she recognised that there was a sense of community in the area.

However, Fischer is not impressed with the portraying of Roman Road in the BBC programme: “I don’t think the programme addressed anything to do with how the technical issues like business rates and parking and all those things that physical business comment on quite a lot.”

Another market that is participating in Love Your Local Market fornight is Petticoat Lane Market in the city’s East End. Local trader, Ahmed Hassan, agrees that markets in Tower Hamlets need to change. However he is unsure as to how the campaign would help this and argues that new goods and advertising is the only way it would attract new customers.

Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said: “Love Your Local Market fortnight is a really exciting opportunity for the borough. For any local resident who’s dreamt of starting a business, now is the time to try it and take advantage of the special £10 trader rate on offer.”

The follwing markets are involved in the campagain that runs from May 15 to 29:

·        Chrisp Street (Monday to Saturday)

·        Roman Road (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)

·        Roman Road Square (Monday to Saturday)

·        Watney Street (Monday to Saturday)

·        Petticoat Lane (Monday to Friday and Sunday)

·        Brick Lane, Cheshire Street and Sclater Street (Sunday)

If you would like to participate, or more information, contact Market Services on 020 7364 1717 / 1706 or email them at streetmarkets@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

Reporting by Clare Boylan, Evy Samuelsson and Julie Thing

The Roundabout Kids meet once a month at the Book Club in Shoreditch to talk business and to make friends. Pic: Vishal Ladwa

In Shoreditch a monthly meeting called the Roundabout Kids has started to bring young entrepreneurs working in the the tech scene at the Silicon Roundabout together.

Alex Nguyen and friend Vishal Ladwa thought it would be a good idea to have meetings for young professionals who want to start up their own business on the internet or already run one.

23 year-old Vishal told East London Lines that it is an opportunity for like-minded people “who have the same passions for start ups and technology” to come together and talk about their ideas.

The meetings also offer a chance for young people to get involved in the tech scene and the start up culture, something that Vishal says “can be very daunting.”

The Roundabout Kids poster. Pic: the Roundabout Kids

Through sharing ideas, Vishal says it is also a chance to improve their business prospects:

“It’s a way for people to learn more about the industry, to meet people with the same interests and to make friends.”

East London Lines went along to this month’s meeting and spoke to Meera Trivedi, a 24 year old PR agent. Meera said being a part of the Roundabout Kids offers a great chance to see what is going on in the start-up scene, to “share ideas” and to get reliable advice:

“If you want an upfront answer, I’m sure they’ll give it to you. They’ll say what doesn’t work and people will give you other ideas.”

As well as talking business, the meetings are an opportunity to socialise.

The Roundabout Kids happens in Shoreditch for people working in the Silicon Roundabout, but the attendance grows, and Vishal hopes it could “pop up in other boroughs.”

The venue is currently the Book Club in Shoreditch. Tickets need to be brought in advance from here.

Modernisation and new management plan for Croydon’s Fairfield Halls

Fairfield Halls will be working more closely together with Croydon Council in the future management of the venue. This comes after 27 million pounds has been earmarked by the council for modernisation and refurbishment.

A restoration plan for the venue, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, has been on the drawing board for years, but not until now has the decision been finally implemented.

Fairfield Halls performs a key role in showcasing local amateur societies and up and coming artists. The hall has hosted many famous musicians, including a performance from the Beatles in 1963.

On top of the recent renovation funding, the halls will also receive their yearly one million pound grant as well as a further economic commitment to the musicians in residence, the London Mozart Players.

The council will be represented through membership of the Fairfield Halls which makes them able to exercise their “member’s rights” and step in should their investment be considered poorly managed.

Both Simon Thomsett, chief executive of Fairfield Halls and Simon Funnell, chief executive of the London Mozart Players have expressed their excitement about working more closely with the council in the future.

Fairfield Halls, Croydon Pic: Google

Local community groups, on the other hand, are concerned about the council having a greater role in the management of the venue.

Charlotte Davies, chair of South Croydon Community Association, said her members did not share the optimism being expressed about the future: “If anything they feel it is going to reinforce poor quality management and lack of vision”.

Councillor Tim Pollard defends the move saying that it is only in very unlikely circumstances that the council would exercise any kind of control over the running of Fairfield Halls.

The presence of the council, he says, is meant to ensure that the investment is “not spent unwisely.”

He said that the council would step in if there were financial problems, but he did not think it would come to that as “the Fairfield board are much better at running an event’s programme than the council could ever be.”

Charlotte Davies, of The South Croydon Community Association, is concerned about the lack of a buffer between the funding authority and the institution.

She fears this might have an effect on other investors in the future who may “see [Fairfield Halls and LMP] as effectively Croydon Council and therefore charities won’t fund them.”

Other concerns include affordability for local amateur societies to use, and differences of opinion about the nature of the building’s refurbishment.

Croydon Council and local residents hope the Halls can regain the reputation they had when first built in the early 1960s.

Visitors to the Halls, Frank Edwoods (67) and Trevor Baker (61) said that were a number of opportunities for improvements, such as updating the toilets and film facilities.

Councillor Pollard says the council wants the venue to be up to date for the audience and performers of today with better management and accessibility:

The modernisation would be completed faster and at a lower cost through a complete shut-down but a decision has been taken to keep two thirds of the Halls open.

“Local organisations and schools in particular use it for a lot of performance works, so it really is in the heart of the community,” the councillor says.

Reporter: Dea Cisar

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Pic: The Newspaper Society

The South London Press, one of the famous titles in London’s print media, is supporting Local Newspaper Week, by emphasizing the role of local papers as “being essential to democracy.”

The paper has had a turnaround in fortunes and is bucking the trend in local paper closures and rationalization after being taken over by the Tindle group in 2007.

It fully backs a national initiative running from Monday May 13 until Sunday May 19 organised by the Newspaper Society while a political battle rages over a Royal Charter to regulate newspaper and online content.

The NS theme this year is press freedom and the Society is stressing the importance of the local newspapers’ power to “scrutinize authority and hold the powerful to account.”

The society has published a report this week on the findings of a survey of local newspaper editors looking at press freedom issues including the effect of the Leveson Inquiry on the industry, but this has been condemned by Hacked Off as “Unscientific and Misleading.”

The Society’s survey reports that “Nearly half of all local newspaper editors believe the Leveson Inquiry has negatively affected their titles’ relationship with readers.”

It has been reported that Hacked Off’s executive director Brian Cathcart has written to local and regional newspaper editors arguing “The Royal Charter approved by all parties in Parliament in March is good for working journalists, good for the regional and local press – and good for the public.”

The Newspaper Society supports a rival majority industry proposed Royal Charter and their intervention persuaded the Prime Minister to put the all-party Hacked Off backed Royal Charter on hold.

Lobbying group attacking Newspaper Society survey of local editors.

Press Freedom Week campaign and events

The week’s events  include the Newspaper Society’s Annual General Meeting and the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards at Savoy Place.

The awards ceremony, run in conjunction with the Society of Editors and Journalists’ Charity, will be hosted by LBC presenter Nick Ferrari, and will celebrate regional and local journalism.

There are currently 1,100 local newspapers in the UK and 1,600 associated websites. According to the British Market Research Bureau, 30.9 million people read a local newspaper every week, making it the most widely read print medium in Britain.

The campaign has been backed by a number of high profile supporters, including Lorraine Kelly, Lord Hunt and the retiring Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Igor Judge.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson told East London Lines that “the way we ingest news is changing fast but I truly believe there remains an important place for well-informed, local journalism that speaks about the issues and concerns of the local community.”

Supporters of the Local Newspaper Week
Individual Pics: The NS
Graphics: Hannah Newton

Campaigning by the South London Press

The South London Press is one of the newspaper groups supporting the campaign. Founded in 1848, the newspaper provides weekly publications for the boroughs of Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, Merton and Greenwich.  The newspaper, originally a Trinity Mirror publication, was taken over by the independent, family owned group Tindle Newspapers in 2007.

The South London Press will be backing the Local Newspaper Week, by interviewing local people and covering it editorially. They are also broadcasting an interview with the group’s founder, Sir Ray Tindle, about press freedom and the importance of the local press.

East London Lines spoke to the South London Press Managing Director, Peter Edwards who said “Press Freedom is something we as a nation should be proud of” and that we should “strive always to protect that.”

It is clear that this year’s campaign theme, Press Freedom, is in response to the Leveson Inquiry and the prospects of press regulation. Lord Justice Leveson, in his report, recommended that local newspapers be considered and that they should not face the same treatment as the national press.

Peter Edwards, of SLP, said that “The Leveson Report specifically mentioned local papers as not being complicit in what went wrong.” He said that Lord Justice Leveson acknowledged that they served an important role in their communities and that factors such as the recession have meant that the local press have had a hard time in recent years.

Edwards said that the government and all party Royal Charter campaigned for by Hacked Off have been “a broad brush that don’t serve our needs or the needs of our readers.”

The Newspaper Society calls the government’s royal charter “state-sponsored” regulation. Peter Edwards said that the newspapers’ alternative charter differentiates much more clearly between the serial offenders and the local papers who “just have the best interests of their communities at heart.”

However, the campaigning organisation Hacked Off has attacked the Newspaper Society’s position alleging it: “has, unfortunately, consistently failed to give a fair representation of the findings of the Leveson inquiry to the public and to its members. It has consistently misunderstood and misrepresented the effect of his recommendations on the local press.”

Edwards said that the “power to scrutinize authority and hold the powerful to account” is not the sole objective of a local newspaper.

He highlighted the unique and privileged position of the South London Press, saying that they are “not only a voice for the community, but they also celebrate with the community and they also mourn with the community.”

He stressed that the role is also commercial, as the local press is an essential part of the local economy: “they rely on and support the high street.”

According to the NS, 62 million unique users visit local news websites each month.

With local people blogging and tweeting stories as soon as they break, some newspapers may be concerned about the demand for publications. But SLP’s Peter Edwards said that the new media is a channel they embrace, through their own websites and social networks, as well as feeding online material into their printed publications.

However, he is also confident that this new source of information “doesn’t in any way lessen the importance of the printed word”, quoting that families will always want to buy “first day at school pictures” in print.