LARA

STOKE NEWINGTON COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL (CAP)

2011-12-11T10:08:00.001Z

If you'd like to help set the priorities for the work of the police's Stoke Newington Safer Neighbourhoods Team , why not come along to the Stoke Newington Community Advisory Panel ?

The next meetings are at 7 30 pm on :

Wednesday 11th January

Wednesday 14th March

Yorkshire Grove Community Hall
Yorkshire Grove Estate
Gunstor Road
N16 8HF

If you can't attend the meetings you can still help to set priorities by going to StokeNewingtonCentral.snt@met.police.uk and completing a short survey giving your views online.

Carols!

2011-12-07T21:11:00.001Z

Protect Your Local Railway Station

2011-12-04T20:10:00.000Z

Hackney Unites is proud to be supporting the Together for Transport initiative which wants to protect Hackney’s local railway stations from staffing cuts. There is a public meeting on Monday 12 December, at 6.30pm at the Old Fire Station, 61 Leswin Road N16 7NX.

There will be speakers from:

Disability Backup (highlighting the value of station staff to disabled people using rail transport)
The TSSA (rail workers’ union),
Jennette Arnold (Labour Party GLA member covering Hackney) and
Anna Hughes (Green Party candidate for the GLA).

This will be an opportunity to hear about the government’s ‘McNulty Report’ and its recommendations which if carried through will see the closure of ticket offices at six of the borough’s railway stations and reductions at a further three (the government is also planning above inflation fare increases).

However, this meeting is not intended to be just a ‘talking shop’ we want to establish rail user groups (similar to the park user groups already active in the borough) for each railway station in Hackney. Elsewhere, rail user groups have been active in their communities and have worked with train operating companies to win improvements to stations, and have campaigned successfully to maintain staff on their stations.

This meeting will initially focus on Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Rectory Road, and we have invited speakers from the company Abellio which will be operating the train services through these stations from next year, (but if you use any station in Hackney and want to get involved, please come along).

Bring your friends and bring your ideas about how we can create a voice for passengers in the borough.

The meeting is supported by the N16 Magazine: http://www.n16mag.com/news/latest-news/974.html

Help us promote this meeting by forwarding this email onto friends, neighbours and colleagues who you use Hackney’s rail stations, by forwarding this email on, by sharing it on social networking sites, and by promoting our facebook event https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=552496836&ref=notif&notif_t=friend_confirmed#!/events/248155985240504/

If you have any time over the next week, and can help by leafleting outside one of the stations, then please email woodsg@tssa.org.uk

Please consider forwarding this email to Hackney people who may be interested. Hackney Unites is a coaltion for social justice, if you are not already on our mailing list, you can sign up on-line (http://eepurl.com/bPJDH) to receive regular updates.

Many thanks

John Page
Secretary
Hackney Unites

A Family Friendly Concert

2011-11-27T09:44:00.003Z

Recommended by one of our residents:

Sunday, December 18th 2011 Elements of surprise: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
Venue: Assembly Hall, Stoke Newington Town Hall, Stoke Newington Church Street, London
N16 0JR
Elements of surprise: Vivaldi's Four Seasons Hackney Proms present a family-friendly, Sunday morning concert in the Assembly Hall of the beautifully refurbished Stoke Newington Town Hall. In this original programme, period-instrument ensemble Battuta explore the four Classical elements—Air, Fire, Earth and Water—and their representation in the Baroque period. Thunder, lightning, storms at sea and the fiery descent into hell are depicted in thrilling music by Rameau, Rebel and Telemann, and the more earthly delights of nature by Vivaldi's most famous work, Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons). Hackney Proms are relaxed, informal Sunday morning concerts, with coffee and croissants available at the interval. Children are welcome. For tickets and more information about Hackney Proms and Battuta, visit www.hackneyproms.co.uk Ticket prices: Adults: £12 • Children over five: £5 • Children under five: free Senior citizens, full-time students, disabled & unemployed: £8 To book tickets:
Online: www.hackneyproms.co.uk
In person: Bridgewood and Neitzert, 146 Stoke Newington
Church Street, N16 0JU
The Workshop, 77A Lauriston Road, E9 7HA
Broadway Bookshop, 6 Broadway Market, E8 4QJ
Or pay by cash or cheque on the door

Upcoming Events and Local News

2011-11-23T09:32:00.003Z

Our latest newsletter has been sent out to over 80 email addresses and the number is slowly climbing which is good news! You can also read them here on the blog - just click on the Newsletter heading above.

A few dates for the diary this month:

Last chance to catch -

- Concrete Skin -  5th - 27th November

Address: Unit A, Leswin Place.

This autumn BHVU Gallery presents Concrete Skin, an exhibition exploring domestic dynamics and ways in which our behaviour within the home is motivated by social expectations. Concrete Skin brings together four internationally recognised artists whose selected works explore the intimate and emotional experiences that we often struggle to put into words.

For more information on this please visit their website www.bhvu.co.uk

This Saturday sees the first of the School Winter Fairs:

- Benthal School Winter Fair - Saturday 26th November 1.30-4pm

- Jubilee School's winter fair is on Friday 9th Dec 3.30 - 5.30 pm,

- William Patten School Winter Fair is on Saturday 11th December from 12.30 - 3.30pm

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- West Hackney Recreation Ground

Do you want to get involved in the future of West Hackney Recreation Ground?

Come along to a meeting of the West Hackney Recreation Ground User Group

The next WHUG meeting with mince pies and mulled wine is on

Monday 5th December at St. Paul's Church Hall. 7.30pm start.

Everybody welcome.

St Paul's Church, Hackney Council and Groundwork are worikng together to bid for the second stage of Heritage lottery funding to transform the park and surroundings of St Paul's Church.

Please contact the User Group on whrgusergroup@gmail.com or 07794 637870 for more information. We want to hear your views and get more local residents involved with the park.

From one User Group to another, it's good to hear from Clissold Park User Group that the Mansion House and Cafe will finally open on the 3rd January.

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If you haven't discovered it yet - go take a peek at The Chocolate Factory Open Studios....

- The Chocolate Factory Open Studios Weekend - 3rd/4th December 11am-6pm; Private View - Friday 2nd 6.30-9pm all welcome!

Farleigh Place, N16 7SX www.chocolatefactoryn16.com

Good news from Hackney Unites about the Sainsbury controversy:

Stoke Newington has been up in arms about the proposals for a massive Sainsbury development in Wilmer Place. Now, following intense local pressure from the community, the developer of the Wilmer Place site has shelved their original plans and is developing new proposals. We also have confirmation that the housing association One Housing will not now be involved in the development. The new proposals will be subject to public consultation before the developer submits a planning application. This is fantastic news, although it does not guarantee that the revised proposals will be acceptable, it does demonstrate that as a community we can have an influence on what happens to our area. Hackney Unites will continue to work with the Stokey Local campaign, but you can get more info from their website: http://stokeylocal.org.uk/latest-news/

...and finally a word of warning from one local Tyssen Road resident:

'I'd just like to alert everyone in the area to something that happened to me last week. I was at home, having just seen my daughter off to school. the doorbell rang and and I answered it. There stood a stocky-looking guy in a high-viz jacket, apparently rather agitated, who told me that he was doing some work on the road on the high street and they had gone through a gas pipe and didn't know how many houses were affected - would I run the tap to check my gas supply was OK? I went down to the kitchen and did as he asked. By the time I got back to the door, having shouted back that the gas was fine, he was gone. And so, as it turned out, was my iphone which had been on the hall shelf.

I failed to ask for ID; someone I told this story to suggested as an alternative simply shutting the door in their face while making the check, and then reporting back to them. It's not how most of us would choose to behave towards other people, but this kind of experience does make one more wary of doorstep requests.

Anyway, please be alert to lightfingered, opportunist, bogus workmen. This one probably won't risk returning to the area, but others may.'

AGM - Minutes

2011-10-24T18:54:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the delayed posting of our AGM minutes - but here they are. Letters have also gone out across the neighbourhood - so please feel free to get involved and send us your email address for updates:

Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA)
MINUTES

AGM
St Paul’s Hall, Amhurst Road, N16
7pm, September 2011

Present Jim Westwood (Chair), Guada Marengo (Treasurer), Fiona Fieber (Secretary), Andrea Jung, Anne Towndrow, Maureen Diffley, Helen Rawlinson, Jamie Elliott, Gavin Smith, Niall Weir
Apologies Chris Dennis

Election of Officers

Chair Andrea Jung
Secretary Fiona Fieber
Treasurer Guada Marengo

Heartfelt thanks were expressed to the out going chair, Jim Westwood, for all his hard work in setting up and leading LARA since 2009.
Congratulations to the newly elected Chair, Andrea.
Gavin Smith joined the committee as a member.

Agenda

Big Lunch
Fiona reported LARA’s second Big Lunch on Sunday 5th June 2011 had been a great success. Individual contributions had covered the costs. Agreed LARA will create some events to fundraise.
Big Lunch 2012 is on Sunday 3rd June.

20 mile an hour zone
Consultation – recommend keep on putting views to LBH re the consultation.
LBH Cycling Officer has acknowledged LARA’s views and comments.
The traffic lights at the Evering/Rectory junction are problematic, especially for children.
Suggested LARA teams up with Friends of Benthal School.
Involve Cllr Louisa Thomson.

Sainsburys
No news yet regarding planning permission.
Jamie outlined some of the issues and controversies re the process.
Proposal: LARA takes a position against the proposed development for Sainsburys on Wilmer Place.
Tell Stokey Local - Jamie

West Hackney Rec
Niall said Stage One of the application to Heritage Lottery Fund has gone through and provided some funding to support a consultation and development period.

AOB
Gary reported a spate of late night muggings around the Brooke/Bayston Road area.
Call for greater neighbour awareness and engagement.
Contact the Safer Neighbourhood Police Team.
Anne said she would take it to the next CAP meeting.

If you wish to add any comments or want to raise any issues within the LARA area, please write below - thank you!

Latest Newsletter delivered through your door.

2011-10-21T10:48:00.002+01:00

Hopefully LARA residents received a letter through their door this weekend.

We are requesting residents to submit an email address or adresses for each household. We can then put you on our mailing list. We intend to send monthly updates on developments in the area, highlight points raised by other residents and publish any events happening in the local area.

You can play as little or as large a role as you like. We know and understand that everyone has busy lives, but we feel it is important for residents to at least know what is going on in the local area and this is where the monthly email update comes in. Please get in touch!

If you have not received the newsletter it reads as follows:

Dear Neighbour,

My name is Andrea and I am the new chairperson of LARA (Leswin Area Residents Association). The key aims of LARA are to foster a community spirit among the neighbours, to help make improvements to the area, to tackle traffic problems, planning issues and other local concerns. You may have come along to the ‘Big Lunch’ we organize each summer?

We want every resident in our neighborhood to know what we are doing to help improve the community we all live in. And we are keen that everyone who wants to, can get involved with LARA as much or as little as they wish.

To do this we really would like you to provide us with an email address so we can then update you monthly with current campaigns and events happening in the local area.

Also we would like you to get in contact with us if you need any local information, local business contacts or if you would like to voice concerns on any neighborhood issues.

Please reply to us via email to the following address. In the title just state LARA contact email. Please send email to lara.n16@googlemail.com Please note: your email will not be passed on to any third party.

If you are a local business and want to pass information on to us that could be a benefit to others in the neighborhood please do so.

Also if you would like to get involved with LARA and help build our community please let us know.We are working together as a committee (see below for members’ details) and would like more residents to get involved on the committee. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed.

Apple Day, Shopping and Bread Making!

2011-10-13T19:15:00.000+01:00

Local things to do this weekend:

Celebrate Apple Day at Stoke Newington Farmers' Market with apple bobbing, food film show, display of rare fruit varieties, bee experts and more.
Kids Welcome
10am - 2:30pm
Stoke Newington Farmers Market
St Paul's Church,
Stoke Newington High St,
N16 7UY
and yey...the market is here to stay!
Website

A new little shop has opened up just opposite on Evering Road - Committee of Taste.
Some great vintage finds and local top designers!
Website

And this sounds like fun.....
BREAD HEAD is a two day participatory bread making workshop / performance.
Sat 15th 12. 00 - 6. 00 and sun 16th 12. 00 - 8. 00pm.
Sat 15-Oct to Sun 16-Oct
Kids Welcome

Campbell Works
27 Belfast Road,
N16 6UN
020 8806 0817
Website

On Sunday Belfast Road will also be having their annual Street Sale, which is always a lively event!
Sunday 16th 1pm - 6pm

More events to be found here: LiveAtYourLocal.org.uk

Anything else going on in the area you'd like to shout about? Just leave a comment below!
Enjoy your weekend!

Latest Newsletter September 2011

2011-09-16T14:19:00.001+01:00

LARA AGM and Full Meeting
Thursday 29th September, 7pm, St Paul's Church Hall
(Corner of High Road and Evering Road)
This meeting will have a discussion on the proposed 20mph zone, the Sainsbury’s issue and give an update on the years events. We will also be electing the committee and officers for the coming year.
All residents of the LARA area welcome
Help build your community. We need residents to get involved on the committee. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed.

Would Sainsbury’s plan destroy local shops?
Local traders, politicians and residents are joining forces to oppose plans for a big Sainsbury’s store at Wilmer Place (where Church Street meets the High Street).
They fear the giant supermarket would devastate local businesses by taking away customers and undercutting smaller traders on price at a time when deserted shop fronts are scarring high streets up and down the country.
Our three local councillors plus Diane Abbott MP and Jennette Arnold of the London Assembly wrote to Sainsbury’s last month, expressing opposition to the firm’s plans, and demanding they attend a public meeting before submitting a planning application.
But Sainsbury’s snubbed the politicians and refused to face local people in a public forum.
The firm’s response follows criticism in the Hackney press of a ‘consultation’ event where residents were asked to complete questionnaires which asked them to comment only on positive aspects of the scheme.
Earlier in the summer it was revealed that Four Communications, the PR firm which carried out the questionable consultation and is lobbying planners on behalf of Sainsbury’s, employs two serving councillors – former deputy mayor Karen Alcock and Alan Laing. Cllr Alcock represents Clissold ward which will be seriously affected by the proposed development.
There are also questions about the Town Hall’s decision earlier this year to award to Four Communications a contract to build a council website to help local businesses. Council officers are helping staff from the PR company meet local businesses to discuss the website – the very businesses the PR company wants to influence on behalf of Sainsbury’s.
Have your say about the proposed new store and the much criticised consultation with local people by coming along to the next LARA meeting at St Paul’s Hall, 7pm on 29th Sept and make your voice heard.
You can also check out Stokey Local, a campaign group set up to oppose the development. http://stokeylocal.org.uk/

LARA Inclusive Traffic Campaign - Update
Brooke Area 20mph Zone – on June 28th LARA committee members and ward councillor Louisa Thomson met with Maryann Allen and her colleagues from the LB Hackney Streetscene to discuss LBH’s latest proposals for the Brooke Area 20mph zone before they go out for public consultation. They include 20mph signs for traffic entering the LARA area, entry treatments at the southern entries to Evering, Bayston and Darville Road , as well as some more speed humps. We had a fruitful discussion and generally felt that the solutions put forward by Maryann and her team were well thought out and addressed the problems raised by LARA residents. The consultation papers are now out with all residents and we’d like to ask everyone to please take this opportunity to make your views known – the deadline is September 23rd!
This is a good start but there’s a lot more to do and LARA will continue to lobby TfL and Hackney for more and better pedestrian crossings around the area and better cycleways.

2nd Big Lunch
We had our 2nd annual Big Lunch in June and thanks to a strong turn out again from local residents, it was a great day to meet the neighbours, catch up on local gossip, eat and be merry!
The kids had sung and danced with Jorge - musician extraordinaire and the great wall of West Hackney Rec was once again blasted with colourful chaos! Thanks to everyone who turned up, brought food and contributed to a great local day out. See all the photos here on our blog (over 10,000 page views to date!)

Stop Press
You'll be pleased to know that the stage one bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for The Recreation Ground (behind St Paul’s Church) has been successful. £45,700 has been granted to work up the second stage application for £600K which needs to be submitted in Feb 2012.
Congratulations to Niall and all concerned.

Obituary
Yvonne Pritchard, of 29 Leswin Road, died suddenly on the morning of Friday 12th August 2011.
Aged only 64, Yvonne worked in Barton's Bakery on the High St., for many years and prior to that at a toy shop in Finsbury Park. She is survived by her son, Finlay, and her partner of 30 years standing, Ivan Perry. Originally from Dublin, she lived on Leswin Road since 1987 and will be sadly missed by Ivan and her neighbours.

Don’t forget to have your say on the Brooke Area 20mph Zone by completing the consultation document and returning it by September 23

Help build your community. We need residents to get involved on the committee. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed.

West Hackney Recreation Ground - Good News!

2011-07-14T12:10:00.001+01:00

Dear Friends,

Greetings from West Hackney.

I'm writing to tell you some good news about West Hackney Recreation Ground.

As you know, we recently submitted a 'Stage One' application to The Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to regenerate the Recreation Ground and the adjacent churchyard.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has considered our application and has awarded the project £45,700 development funding which will enable the partnership of St Paul's Church, West Hackney Parochial Charity, Groundwork, London, London Borough of Hackney and residents of West Hackney to develop a 2nd stage application to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund's joint Parks for People Programme for £639,200 to complete the work.

This 2nd stage application will be submitted in February 2012 and we will hear HLF's final decision in June 2012.There is a huge amount of work to do in preparation for this, but it's really heartening that the HLF has such confidence in what they have seen of the project so far.

This is incredible news for the people of West Hackney. For four years now we’ve been dreaming of how, one day, this site might once again be an open green space here in the heart of West Hackney, which will provide an historical and recreational focus right in the heart of our local community. We're one step closer now and we will do all we can to bring this to fruition, not only for the community of today but for that of tomorrow.

Sue Bowers, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in London, said on behalf of HLF and The Big Lottery:

“West Hackney Recreation Ground is a valuable pocket of green space in urban Hackney and is an important part of London’s natural heritage. We are pleased to be giving our initial support for this redevelopment project and are looking forward to seeing these exciting plans progress over the coming months.”

Thank you for all your interest and support so far - I'll keep you updated as to how things progress.
With kind regards,

Niall

Sainsburys development in Stokey - Have your say

2011-07-03T15:45:00.002+01:00

There have already been two public meetings regarding the proposed developement of a new Sainsbury's in Stoke Newington (Friday and Saturday 1st/2ndJuly). Emotions were running high at the Abney hall meetings, where the plans for the development were on show.
The next public meeting is arranged for 13th July at St Marys Church Community Centre Defoe Rd at 7pm.
There isn't much time to act against this proposal, so it is vital that any objections are made as soon as possible.

To find out more and where to make your objections please see below:

Taken from the new Stokey Local Website in light of the proposed Sainsburys developement in Stoke Newington:

In the middle of June it was announced that a development is being planned for Wilmer Place, just beside Abney Park Cemetery on the corner of Church Street and the High Street – right in the heart of Stoke Newington.
The proposed development comprises a large supermarket and 50 homes and has significant implications for the diversity of the local economy, employment, transport & traffic, noise and safety and local heritage.
It also comes as an addition to a raft of existing supermarkets in the area, including the Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Metro on the High Street, the Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s on Stamford Hill (both of which are similar in size to the proposed Sainsbury’s), as well as a Tesco Metro and large Sainsbury’s down towards Dalston.
In short the area is already well stocked with supermarkets, but more importantly there is also a large number of small, independent shops which have to compete against these existing supermarkets in a very challenging economic climate.

Go to website and continue reading here

Here is a link to an article in the Gazette about it: http://tinyurl.com/5vkjuea

If you are opposed to the idea, you can sign an online petition here
http://www.ourcampaign.org.uk/KeepitStokey

There is also a new google group for people interested in this scheme. Whether you agree with the development or not, it would be great if you could join as it's important that as many people as possible have their voices heard http://groups.google.com/group/stokeylocal . There is also a website http://stokeylocal.org.uk (extract above) facebook group https://www.facebook.com/StokeyLocal and a new twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/stokeylocal

You can also post comments here as it will be interesting to find out what residents in the LARA area think about the proposal and how we can best support these opinions as your local resident's association.

News

2011-06-26T22:46:00.000+01:00

Upcoming Traffic Meeting
Ian Daly and Maryann Allen from the LB Hackney Road Safety Team have asked for a meeting with LARA to discuss progress of the traffic measures/suggestions previously investigated and discussed, ie the Brooke Road 20mph zone proposals, and to finalise a way forward. We assume that the next step will be a public consultation with questionnaires to the residents but shall confirm this with LBH.

The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday June 28^th at 7.30PM
Location: The council chamber at Stoke Newington Town Hall.

All welcome, please come along and make your views known.

People Power needs your vote!
LARA committee member, Fiona Fieber is looking for support for her great project 'People Power', where artists will use innovative and creative ways to engage pupils and schools with renewable energy and sustainability. There are funds of £500,000 available to go towards the best projects, and the more support each project gets the more chance it has of being successful.

You can read all about it and vote here http://www.energyshare.com/people-power/

Vote for People Power!

The Big Lunch in the Bag

2011-06-13T22:32:00.003+01:00

Despite the grey clouds and the threat of rain, we gathered slowly but surely and turned our patch of green into a cracking Big Lunch once again.

Here comes Jorge

A musical warm up

Food time!

The great wall of West Hackney

Left to do their own thing this time!

perhaps left for a bit too long....

But they were happy!

Non stop chatter

A post lunch bounce

.....and a final quick retreat as the rain came down

Thanks to everyone for turning up and bringing fantastic food to share.

Special thanks to Niall from St. Paul's for supplying tables and chairs, music from the great Jorge and all the extras needed to pull The Big Lunch together.
Fiona for the huge bunting supply and for whizzing emails amongst us all to set the day in motion.
Kerry from Growing Communities for the organic salads.
Café Mostra for the delicious cous cous donation
Andrea for the trampoline
Paul for the gazebo
The table tennis table was a big hit too! (Thanks Jo)
Helen for the crazy wall painting (apologies for the resulting paint covered kids!)
and everyone else who turned up to help on the day and during the big build up.

It was great to see our neighbourhood getting together, making new friends, catching up with local gossip and all the kids having a great time.

We managed to raise just under £100. This was a combination of individual contributions from the LARA committee, contributions collected at two Big Lunch meetings plus the donations collected on the day (Thanks to Guarda's bucket shaking!). This practically covers the cost of the park hire (£50) and the insurance (£50.35) which is excellent.

Looking forward to next year..June 3rd 2011

The LARA Big Lunch

2011-05-09T21:57:00.000+01:00

On the success of last year's fun day, LARA is organising our second Big Lunch as part of the nationwide annual event. Friends, families and neighbours are invited to come and have fun, eat and be merry!
Entrance is a plate of food to share.
West Hackney Recreation Grounds (the green space behind St. Paul's Church, Entrance on Evering Road at the end of Leswin Road).
N16 7UY
Sunday 5th June
1pm to 4pm

We're looking for any volunteers to help set up on the day. Meet up at 11am in the Recreation Grounds.
We will be doing door to door leafleting very soon, any help would be very much appreciated!

See all the pics from last year here
More updates coming soon!

Call to Volunteers, Saturday - FREE Pancake extravaganza!!!

2011-03-02T22:19:00.000Z

A slightly desperate call for Saturday afternoon 5 March.

We are organising a superbe event for Shrove Tuesday in Gillett Square (well, a little bit early) with lots of games and competitions around pancakes. This will be the first event of the Cadbury's Spots vs Stripes events.
I have attached the poster and you can find more info here http://www.gillettsquare.org.uk/webdocs/forthcoming.html

We would need 3 volunteers to help us coordinate the games from 12pm until 4.30pm. You will be provided refreshments and pancakes! (or other food if you don't like pancakes)

It is going to be a lot of fun, tossing and racing with pancakes, pancake limbo, building weirdly shaped ships with Snug play equipment, playing ping pong (I don't know yet where the pancake element will fit in that one.... yet to be devised!), board games
and more

Don't hesitate to contact me e-mail stephanie@vortexjazz.co.uk or phone 07719529313 if you would like more information,

We hope to see you there!

All the best
Stephanie

STREETSCENE - BROOKE AREA TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - OPTIONS APPRAISAL

2011-02-27T20:08:00.001Z

Here is the report from Hackney Council regarding potential traffic calming schemes for the LARA area. If you have any comments about these schemes, please leave a comment at the end of this post or email us at lara.n16@googlemail.com If you would like to see drawings relating to this report we can also send these via email.
There will be a public consultation in March relating to this report.

1. 0    Introduction

    As part of the London Borough of Hackney’s Road Safety programme for 2011/2012, funding is available to consult upon (and implement) a 20mph Zone in the Brooke Road area of Stoke Newington.

    The 20mph Zone is to be bordered by the Stoke Newington Gyratory (Manse Road, Evering Road, Rectory Road and Stoke Newington High Street).

    In addition, several traffic management issues in this area have previously been highlighted by local residents, originating from traffic ‘rat running’ away from the main gyratory. As such, it is to be investigated whether any of the identified problems can be addressed as part of the proposed 20mph Zone works in 2011.

    To this end, a meeting was held on the 26th October 2010 between representatives of the Hackney Council Road Safety Team and the Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) to discuss their concerns with respect to traffic in their area.

Identified Issues

    The main traffic problems raised (at the meeting and previously) were:

    Rat running traffic along Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road.

    Rat running along Lawrence Buildings.

    Illegal left turns into Brooke Road from Lawrence Buildings in order to access Leswin Road.

    Wider issues directly relating to the Stoke Newington Gyratory have also been identified. However, these issues relate to Transport for London’s Road Network (TLRN) and fall outside of the scope of the 20mph Zone scheme.

    A drawing detailing some initial proposals relating to the 20mph Zone and traffic management schemes (Dwg TT-0220-BR-3, Appendix A) was presented to LARA at the meeting on 26th October.

    This summary note will examine the implications of several suggestions made by LARA (Appendix B) and appraise the remedial options available.

    OPTIONS APRAISAL

    Option 1 - Gated Road Closures (Appendix F, Dwg: TT-0220-BR-8, TT-0220-BR-9)

    One measure suggested by LARA in order to prevent ‘rat running’ along their residential streets is to provide gated road closures on Darville Road and Bayston Road. This would effectively cut off the parallel routes through the centre of the Stoke Newington Gyratory.

    Advantages

    The following advantages are expected from the implementation of permanent gated road closures:

    Complete removal of ‘rat-running’ traffic from the residential streets within the Stoke Newington Gyratory. The minimal amount of vehicles displaced from these streets is not expected to significantly affect the capacity of the surrounding gyratory.

    Relatively inexpensive to implement, estimated at £25,000.

Disadvantages

    The following disadvantages are expected from the implementation of permanent gated road closures:

    Severance of access to the local area resulting in inconvenience for residents.

    Loss of on-street parking expected at each closure point in order to provide a turn around area for cars. The loss of parking is estimated at 12 spaces in total split equally across the 3 closure points (4 spaces on Bayston Road, 4 spaces on Darville Road, 4 spaces Leswin Road).

    A turn around area for larger vehicles is not expected to be feasible at the proposed closure points. The occurrence of large vehicles (e.g. refuse vehicles) having to reverse over long distances will carry an inherent road safety risk.

    The Metropolitan Police (Appendix C) have expressed concerns over the proposals (for similar reasons to those above).

    The provision of closures on Bayston Road and Darville Road (as requested by LARA) is expected to result in traffic being displaced to Leswin Road, thus requiring additional measures at this location also.

Discussion

    Provision of gated closures will of course remove through traffic altogether, a major objective for LARA. However, such measures would incur several disadvantages with respect to access for local residents and emergency services.

    Issues regarding access may be resolved through a public consultation process. However, there are also concerns that turn around areas cannot be appropriately provided and loss of parking (estimated at 12 spaces) and additional road safety risks (as a result of reversing vehicles) will arise. The reduction in on-street parking on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road is expected to face opposition during consultation with the residents affected.

    Furthermore, when reviewing the results of speed and volume surveys (Appendix D) for the roads in question (Darville Road and Bayston Road) a major problem is not evident. Bayston Road recorded 85th percentile speeds of 22mph with a peak weekday average hourly flow of 93 vehicles. No collisions resulting in injury were recorded on these streets in the latest 36 months of data (Appendix E).

    The cost of implementing such measures is estimated to be £25,000 (a relatively inexpensive scheme). However, when considering the limited scale of the current issues and the potential for negative impacts on the wider community (i.e. severance of access, loss of parking etc), permanent closures are not considered a proportionate remedial measure to the issues highlighted by LARA.

    Option 2 – ‘Point No Entries’

    An alternative option to the permanent closures described above, would be to provide ‘point no-entries’ at the same locations (as shown in figure 2.1).

    Advantages

    The following advantages are expected from the implementation of ‘point no-entries’ on Darville Road and Bayston Road:

    Will discourage ‘rat-runners’ from using these residential parallel routes.

    Relatively inexpensive to implement, estimated at £6,500.

    Will not result in loss of parking or the requirement for turn around areas.

    Will not affect emergency service access (emergency vehicles can be exempted from the relevant Traffic Orders).

    Will not give rise to the road safety issues resulting from reversing vehicles.

Disadvantages

    The following disadvantages are expected from the implementation of ‘point no-entries’ on Darville Road and Bayston Road:

    Severance of access to the local area resulting in inconvenience for residents.

    Will not be self-enforcing and police enforcement is likely to be impractical. The measures will only serve as a deterrent to some motorists.

    Additional street clutter is inevitable, although the existing ‘point no-entry’ on Leswin Road at its junction with Tyssen Road may be removed as part of this proposal and relocated to the Leswin Road/Evering Road junction.

    May increase traffic speeds due to limited opposing traffic flow.

Discussion

    It is acknowledged that signed ‘point no-entries’ are unlikely to be as effective (i.e. 100% effective) as permanent gated closures. However, they are expected to act as a reasonable deterrent to most ‘rat-running’ motorists. In addition, ad-hoc enforcement by specialist units could be utilised to ensure the measures continue to be as effective as possible.

    Therefore, when considering the recorded low traffic speeds, low hourly traffic volumes and excellent existing collision history of the roads in question, such an approach is considered much more proportionate (than gated closures) and will result in fewer negative impacts on the local network and emergency services.

    The cost of this option (estimated at £6,500) is expected to be cheaper than the implementation cost of gated road closures and will result in no loss of on-street parking.

    Option 3 -     Deterrent Measures (e.g. Junction Tables and Pinch Points)

    Measures to deter rat-running without altering the priorities (or stopping up) of the local network have also been proposed by LARA as a different approach to solving the identified issues, by way of making the links in question (Bayston Road and Darville Road) unattractive to through traffic.

    Specific measures suggested by LARA include:

    Provision of junction tables at Tyssen Road j/w Bayston Road and Evering Road j/w Bayston Road (Dwgs: TT-0220-BR-5 & TT-0220-BR-7).

    Provision of a pinch point feature midway along Bayston Road (Dwg TT-0220-BR-6).

     Advantages

    The advantages of this type of approach are as follows:

    No severance of access for the local community will result from these measures. This is beneficial for both local residents and the emergency services.
    Will help to self enforce the proposed 20mph Zone for the area (due to be consulted upon in 2011).

Disadvantages

    The disadvantages of this type of approach are as follows:

    When considering that extensive traffic calming already exists on the roads in question, further deterrent (and hence a reduction in rat-running) is not guaranteed by the provision of these additional measures.

    The potential for significant speed reduction is not expected as the area is already extensively traffic calmed.

    The measures are expected to be costly and will not provide value for money relative to the benefits attributed to them. The two tables (Tyssen Road j/w Bayston Road and Evering Road j/w Bayston Road) have an estimated cost of £60,000 and the proposed pinch-point on Bayston Road is expected to cost £10,000.

    Extensive parking loss (estimated at 14 on-street spaces) will be required in order to implement the proposed ‘pinch-point’. This is expected to result in severe opposition during the public consultation process.

    Major design issues are associated with the implementation of the junction tables at the two proposed sites as a result of the existing levels and cambers on the carriageway at these locations. Extensive re-profiling is expected to be required and to this end, topographical surveys and carriageway core tests (estimated cost £3,000) will be required.

Discussion

    In the current financial climate, ‘value for money’ should be a key consideration before progressing any plans for remedial action.

    The construction of junction tables at the proposed locations is expected to be more costly, and achieve less (in terms of addressing the issues identified), than the other options described in this report.

    The construction of a pinch point is unlikely to provide a deterrent to ‘rat-running’ traffic (wishing to avoid congestion on the nearby gyratory system) as the existing low flow conditions will not induce any calming in terms of a ‘give and take’ operation at the pinch point. Furthermore, extensive parking loss (up to 14 spaces) is a major barrier to implementing such a measure.

    When considering the issues above, these measures are not expected to form part of a viable solution to the current traffic issues being investigated.

    OPTIONS SUMMARY

    Option 1 – Gated Closures

    Cost: £25,000.
    Loss of Parking: 12 on-street spaces for turn around areas on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road (4 spaces at each gate).
    Effectiveness: Total removal of ‘rat-running’.
    Traffic Impacts: Severance of access for local residents and emergency services.

    Option 2 – ‘Point No-Entries’

    Cost: £6,500.
    Loss of Parking: No parking loss.
    Effectiveness: Medium to high reduction in rat running expected, improved by ad-hoc enforcement.
    Traffic Impacts: Access/egress restricted northbound on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road with no severance of access for emergency services.

    Option 3 – Deterrent Measures (Junction Tables and ‘Pinch-Point’)

    Cost: £70,000 (plus additional survey costs).
    Loss of Parking: 14 spaces at ‘pinch-point’ feature (Bayston Road).
    Effectiveness: Minimal reduction in ‘rat-running’ and speed.
    Traffic Impacts: Minimal.

*Note: All of the above options will incur additional consultation costs.
    RECOMMENDATIONS

    When considering the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed traffic management measures listed above, it is recommended that the most appropriate option (subject to further public consultation) is the provision of Option 2 - ‘point no-entries’ on Bayston Road, Darville Road and Leswin Road (relocated from junction with Tyssen Road).

    This is the most proportionate solution when examining the scale of the traffic issues evident from the speed and volume surveys undertaken and the existing collision history in the area.

    Few adverse impacts are envisaged from the provision of such measures and it is hoped that they will provide sufficient deterrent so as to reduce the volume of through traffic currently using the parallel residential links.

    In order to maintain effectiveness and driver compliance of the ‘point no entries’, ad-hoc enforcement measures (i.e. temporary camera enforcement) may be considered as part of the overall package of proposals.

    Any measures must be consulted upon with the wider community in order to gain a full cross section of local opinion prior to any commitments with respect to implementing the proposals.

Update - LARA inclusive traffic campaign One-way system

2011-02-23T12:24:00.000Z

Are you awaiting the outcome of the Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation recently carried out by Hackney? Well don’t hold your breath. Whilst Hackney’s intentions are worthy no doubt, it doesn’t seem as if they have entered into a meaningful dialogue with TfL about the issue as yet. At our meeting in October with representatives from both sides present it quickly became clear that there isn’t a lot of talking going on between them right now.

In their own words TfL’s priorites are to implement the mayor’s traffic policies which are A) to ensure a smooth traffic flow (in our case on the A10 artery into London, which includes the SN gyratory) and B) to promote cycling in London. Apparently A) only applies exclusively to vehicular traffic and B) is only for lycra-clad city workers commuting up and down the A10 at lightning speed and with no regard for their own or anyone else’s safety.

However, when questioned TfL conceded that ‘We all realise that the one way system has created an environment which is not ideally suited for non car modes, but going forward nobody has been able to identify an alternative workable solution’.
They have confirmed that the Cycle Super Highway proposal will look at providing a cycle facility for the entire gyratory system. The design for the super highway is scheduled to start this spring (2011) and a two way cycle facility on the High St might be considered. We are keeping in touch with TfL so watch this space for updates – that is the best we can do right now. Does Boris Johnson care about us? - I think not.
On the other matters raised regarding TfL-owned roads they were similarly uncompromising. Here some answers received from TfL in response to the issues we raised with them…

Lack of safety on / inadequacy of existing pedestrian crossings across SN High St (Sainsburys), Evering / Manse Rd and Rectory Road) In the past three years there have been 17 personal injury collisions (all slight injuries) on the High Street, of which five involved pedestrians (29%) which is marginally lower than you would expect on the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN) when compared to the Borough average (Hackney 31.7%). In terms of converting the zebra crossing on Manse Road to a pelican, a review of the collision information shows that there have been just 4 injury collisions along this section, and none of these involved pedestrians. Unfortunately the statistics for this location would not meet TfL’s criteria for installing new signals on the network.

Insufficient number of crossings to Manse/Evering Road, Rectory Road but particular across SN High Street (additional crossing should be considered by Tesco’s) – A site visit to Stoke Newington High Street revealed a number of physical issues which would prevent the installation of a new crossing point. The parking and loading for the local businesses extend down both sides of the road, and a new crossing would require their removal over a distance of approximately 40m (on both sides of the road) to facilitate the zigzag markings. Based on previous correspondence with traders in the area this proposal would be fiercely resisted (they have been campaigning for more loading and parking). The signals would also be required to be sited at least 20m from a side road entrance to meet visibility requirements. Unfortunately the number of accesses onto the A10 mean that it would not be possible to site a new crossing near the Tesco’s.
The pedestrian facilities on Manse / Evering Road are sufficient to meet the desire lines and as there are no collisions involving pedestrians there would be no justification to provide an additional crossing point.

Excessive pedestrian waiting time at junction with Evering Road – The signal timings change according to set plans for each time of day. The cycle time varies from 50 – 60 seconds (the time it takes for all the movements to take place). This means that a pedestrian should have to wait on average 30 seconds for the green man to be displayed, which is well within agreed parameters.

TfL proposals – TfL is currently designing an improvement at the Stoke Newington High St junction with Brooke Road. The focus of the proposal is improving journey times and reducing congestion. The design is almost complete, however there is currently no funding to implement the measures in light of the recent budget cuts. TfL is also developing a proposal for the Manse Road junction with Rectory Road, as the junction is too narrow for HGVs approaching from the south. This proposal is still at the feasibility stage.

TfL clearly doesn’t see local traffic as their remit – and someone will have to die first before the statistics will allow them to look at a problem?? No doubt things will change with the revival of the West Hackney Recreation ground – which is definitely on the cards now with the application for funding going ahead soon.
We are looking at a number of routes to gain more and better attention for our problems here so watch this space.

Brooke Area 20 mph zone
Some good news here – Following our meeting in October LBH has sent us their draft traffic appraisal. This document looks at three options for the prevention of rat-running and excessive speed within the LARA area, in addition to the 20 miles per hour speed limit throughout. Their Option 2 – no-entry signs at the southern ends of Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road, seems to be the favoured proposal. LBH are planning a Consultation in March. We’d like to publish the draft appraisal on the blog as soon as possible and are awaiting LBH’s ok for this.
AJ

SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT MEETING ABOUT WEST HACKNEY RECREATION GROUND - WEDNESDAY 16th FEBRUARY @ 7:30pm in St PAUL'S CHURCH

2011-02-08T10:27:00.000Z

Anyone interested in what happens to West Hackney Recreation Ground, please read this note from Revd Niall Weir and come along to the meeting

Dear Friends,

Greetings from St Paul's Church.

As you may know, we are just about to submit an application to The Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant to regenerate West Hackney Recreation Ground.

We've already had one grant of £75,000 from The London Marathon Trust to install a fabulous play area should the regeneration of the Recreation Ground go ahead.

In making up their minds about whether or not to award the grant, The Heritage Lottery Fund needs evidence of local support for this venture and we can best achieve this by reporting to them a great turnout at our forthcoming meeting of the new User Group next Wednesday at St Paul's Church - please see the attachment for further details.

As someone who I know would love to see this regeneration programme happen, not just for our enjoyment but for that of local residents for years to come, may I urge you to come along to this meeting? It will last no more than one hour and there will be enough wine on offer to float a ship.

As well as showing the HLF that there is a load of local support, you can also come along and catch up with recent developments around the project.

Do come, do bring your neighbours - it would be an evening well spent!

With very best wishes,

Niall

St Paul's West Hackney - stpaulswesthackney.org
________________________________________________________________________________________________

From : The Revd Niall Weir
306 Amhurst Rd : West Hackney : London N16 7UE : 020 7254 3235 : 07840 762783 : Fax 0871 714 6005

2011-01-06T11:14:00.000Z

St Paul’s West Hackney
St Paul’s West Hackney & The Hackney Society
present
WEST HACKNEY – PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
an evening talk to mark the 50th anniversary
of the Consecration of St Paul’s Church, West Hackney
MONDAY 17th JANUARY 2011 at 7:00pm
ST PAUL’S CHURCH, WEST HACKNEY
on the corner of Stoke Newington Rd & Amhurst Rd, London N16 7UY

THE LOST PARISH CHURCH OF WEST HACKNEY

Dr Ann Robey
Ann Robey – architectural historian and heritage consultant – will talk about the creation of the parish of West Hackney in 1824, what the area was like at the time
and about the architect Robert Smirke and his design for the original West Hackney Church and how that church was destroyed in the Blitz

GOD'S ACRE? CITY CHURCHYARDS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

Professor Ken Worpole
The city churchyard was once a place central to the popular and literary imagination.
Their closure in the mid-19th century for health & sanitation reasons left many as historical archives.
Some have since been re-landscaped as pocket gardens or turned into wildlife conservation areas
as part of the 'Living Churchyard' project. In this talk local writer and academic, Ken Worpole,
will discuss the place of these remaining churchyards in the contemporary townscape.

CACHEMAILLE DAY AND THE CHALLENGE OF RECONSTRUCTION

Suzanne Waters
Suzanne Waters- architectural historian and Hackney resident for over 20 years – will talk about the architect Nugent Cachemaille Day, architect of St Paul’s Church, in the context of his church architecture in Hackney.
Her talk will include a tour of the church looking at its architecture and design
Entrance is free to all
The talk will last for approximately one hour and will be followed by refreshments

LARA Full Meeting & AGM

2010-11-30T22:28:00.000Z

Thursday 9th Dec 2010, 7pm, St Paul's Church Hall
(Corner of High Road and Evering Road)

This meeting will give an update from the last full meeting on the local traffic issues (see article below). We will also be electing the committee and officers for the next year.
All residents of the LARA area welcome
Help build your community. We need residents to get involved on the committee. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed

Look out for the Newsletter coming through your door!

Open Letter Re: Stoke Newington Gyratory

2010-10-24T22:06:00.006+01:00

In response to an article written in the Hackney Gazette recently, here is an open letter from our chair, Jim Westwood, on behalf of the LARA Commitee and its residents:
Just a reminder about the Walkabout this coming Tuesday as part of the on going consultation for the 20mph zone on our streets. All welcome. Please see previous post.

Dear Sir/Madam
I was very interested to read your article about the Stoke Newington gyratory system. While the consultation is welcome, many residents who live within the gyratory system have been discussing this issue for some time. Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) recently held a well attended meeting on the issues faced by residents living within the one-way system.

Your readers, and others, may be interested to note that the LARA members do not, in the first instance, see the retaining or abolition of the gyratory system as their main priority. What they do see as their main priority is taming the roads around the gyratory to make them safer and more pedestrian/cyclist friendly and improving the environment and safety of the gyratory’s internal streets. For example, more safe crossing points, traffic calming measures on the gyratory, stopping the rat running that goes on through our streets and creating a 20mph zone.

In your article, Trevor Parsons of LCC implies that reverting back to two-way traffic will cure if not all then most of the ills of the one-way system. Many of the LARA residents are not so sure. They fear that whichever traffic system we end up with, the problems our children, elderly and disabled residents face in crossing the High road and other roads will not disappear.

Stoke Newington High Road has been revitalised as a shopping centre over recent years. With the introduction of supermarkets such as Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s alongside the more established shops such as General Woodwork, their is more reason and temptation to cross the road other than at the current few and far between safe crossing points. Around the gyratory system the traffic must be slowed down by introducing traffic calming measures. We also need a lot more places where residents can cross the road in safety.

The issue of whether we stay with or reverse the gyratory system is a complex and costly one that could drag on for a long time. In the meantime, we still have cars racing at high speed along Rectory Road, Evering Road and Stoke Newington High Road as there are no deterrents in place to stop them. ‘Taming’ the gyratory system and improving the local environment within it could be achieved quickly and for a lot less money.

Traffic Concerns – Upcoming Consultations

2010-10-21T20:27:00.000+01:00

There are two separate consultations happening at the moment, concerning our area:

1. Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation October 4^th 2010 until January 10, 2011: LB Hackney is currently carrying out their own appraisal of the 2009 TfL study on the Stoke Newington Gyratory; as part of this Hackney are asking residents for their views. They have published a residents’ questionnaire, which can also be completed online at www.hackney.gov.uk/sn-gyratory. it would be great to see as many people as possible, particularly LARA residents, to put their views forward!

2. Brooke Area 20mph zone: the consultation for the 20mph zone on our streets will start in January 2011 and will be implemented from April 2011; we have arranged a ‘walkabout’ with Maryann Allen, Road safety Team Leader at LB Hackney, on October 26^th at 5.00pm – meeting point at 1 Darville Road (corner Darville / Evering Rd). The purpose of the walkabout is to raise those issues which we have identified following discussions with other residents (see list published by LARA), ie to make our points. We’ll also have the opportunity to hear more about Hackney’s plans for the 20mph zone in advance of the consultation. Please do join us if traffic in LARA is your concern - All welcome!

Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation

2010-10-11T13:57:00.000+01:00

Do we need a one way traffic system in Stoke Newington? – Have your say

Hackney Council is currently consulting residents and businesses in Stoke Newington to identify traffic and road safety issues in the area and to understand how the gyratory affects you as a resident, visitor or business owner.

How to have your say

Complete our online survey available on www.hackney.gov.uk/sn-gyratory or fill in a hard copy version set to be distributed with the 18 October edition of Hackney Today.

There will be a public exhibition in Stoke Newington Library between 18 October 2010 and 10 January 2011.

Drop in sessions:

Thursday 14 October 2010

6pm – 8pm

Stoke Newington Neighbourhood Forum

Stoke Newington Town Hall, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0JR

Tuesday 19 October 2010

11am – 2pm

Stoke Newington Library

184 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0JS

Friday 12 November 2010

5pm – 8pm

Morrison’s Supermarket

47/49 Stamford Hill N16 5SR

Saturday 4 December 2010

10am – 2.30pm

Stoke Newington Farmers’ Market

William Patten School, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX

Deadline for responses: Monday 10 January 2011

More information

For more information about this consultation, please contact the Traffic and Transportation team on 020 8356 4891 or email: consultation@hackney.gov.uk

Open Letter Re: Old Fire Station Planning Proposal

2010-09-13T22:21:00.003+01:00

For the attention of:
Neighbour of Old Fire Station, Leswin Road N16
Regarding:
Proposed improvements to the building

Fire Station Community Nursery

61 Leswin Road, Stoke Newington, LONDON, N16 7NX
020 7249 3234
info@firestationnursery.org.uk
firestationnursery.org.uk

Dear Neighbour

As you may have heard from Hackney Borough Council, the Old Fire Station recently submitted a planning application for improvements to the building.

If you would like to know more about the proposals, you can:

•download our Design and Access Statement from www.firestationnursery.org.uk/plans

•contact me, Nick Saltmarsh, at the above email or postal address

We'd welcome your views on the proposals - and would also you to let us know how you think the building should be used in the future.

Please send any comments to me at the above email or postal address.

The current proposals

The proposed improvements consist of alterations to the entrance to the building and the erection of a raised playdeck over part of the yard at the rear of the building.

We are hoping to fund these works with capital funding for the Fire Station Community Nursery, which occupies the first floor of the Old Fire Station and will be the primary beneficiary of these improvements.

The benefits will, however, be wider: changes to the entrance will improve the building's appearance and access, removing the concrete ramp access that compromises the building's appearance and imposes on the street. The playdeck will also provide a covered area for vegetable packing by Growing Communities and possible other uses.

The Old Fire Station

The building provides a variety of spaces for hire by the community – see www.oldfirestation.org – and is used on a permanent basis by three community groups: the Fire Station Community Nursery (community-run children’snursery), Growing Communities (community food group) and Anika Patrice (providing support to carers of people with learning difficulties from ethnic minorities).

We would like to extend the current use of the building and hope to secure further funding for improvements and development work. As well as the spaces for hire, there is currently vacant space in the former flat on the 3rd floor (suitable for office use) and in the basement (ideal for use as a youth club or rehearsal space).

Please let us know your thoughts on how the building could be used for the benefit of the local community.

Yours,

Nick Saltmarsh
Treasurer, Fire Station Community Nursery parents’ committee
Director, Old Fire Station

Good quality, affordable education and day-care for children from 13 weeks to 5 years
Fire Station Community Nursery is a registered charity (Fire Station Nursery, charity number 285133)

www.firestationnursery.org.uk/plans

More Pics from Sunday Lunch

2010-07-21T21:57:00.003+01:00

Cakes from Heaven to the Great Wall of Hackney, Big Lunch we salute you!

The Big Lunch.....We did it!

2010-07-19T23:40:00.000+01:00

From small beginnings.....

To a paint crazy, musical feast!

We even had a bar!

and a vintage car!

A day of lunching fun and just shows you what can happen on a little patch of forgotten green!

Don't forget the meeting this Thursday

Thanks to everyone for all there efforts to make this such a great day.

Join the West Hackney Recreation Ground User Group!

2010-07-16T13:02:00.002+01:00

Click on the flyer above to find out more about the group and how to get involved.
The meeting is on Thursday 22nd July 7-9pm at St Paul's Church Hall.
For more info contact Imogen Sherwood on 020 8510 5420
imogen.sherwood@groundwork.org.uk

Don't forget to come along to our Big Lunch on Sunday 18th July and enjoy a family day out in our local park. See the plans for what this large space can become and help to bring it to reality!

The Big Lunch Build Up!

2010-07-07T21:52:00.009+01:00

LARA is organising our first ever Big Lunch as part of the nationwide annual event. Friends, families and neighbours are invited to come and have fun, eat and be merry!
Entrance is a plate of food to share.

We had our last meeting at the Rec tonight....That's the West Hackney Recreation Ground. It's the green space behind St. Paul's Church at the end of Leswin Road.
Kick off is at 1pm but anyone who wants to help out beforehand can meet at 11am on the day. Niall the Rector at St. Paul's is kindly lending tables and chairs, so we are hoping to set up a banquet style long table. There won't be enough chairs for everyone so it's down to you all to bring picnic blankets and deckchairs etc. and to find your spot around the park.
Bunting needs to go up, table laid and general safety check of the park as a whole before everyone arrives.

There is no money coming from anywhere, unfortunately, so at the moment it's kind donations from LARA committee members. We hope to reimburse with donations on the day or fundraising at a later date. So basically it's what we can all make of it as a neighbourhood.

The general idea is to turn up with food to share, bring your own drink, plates, cutlery, picnic blankets and anything else to add to the entertainment on the day.

Growing Communities have come up trumps with donations of delicious, local grown salad!

Gazebos and deckchairs, cushions and blankets are all welcome.

Sorry, no barbecues, dogs and unaccompanied children. We are trying to make it as safe a day as possible and want everyone to have a good time!

Please comment below if you'd like to help out or have any suggestions.
You can also contact us at Lara.n16@googlemail.com

More updates coming soon and watch out for flyers in the next few days!

Thanks to local artist, Roger Mason for the great cartoon! www.looksgoodonpaper.co.uk

TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE Following public meeting on June 17th, 2010

2010-07-07T10:51:00.006+01:00

The Problems
A number of traffic issues have been identified, which are of concern to residents in the LARA area. In summary these include:
- Speeding cars along Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular, with the LARA area effectively being cut off all surrounding areas and green spaces by fast traffic;
- Cars ‘rat running’ up and down the residential streets off the High Street, Bayston Road inparticular (this issue has been addressed in the past in Leswin Road by making part of it one-way); speed bumps are insufficient in avoiding and slowing down through traffic;
- Lack of pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Lack of safety of the existing crossings across the High Street; inadequate warning to drivers
- and bad traffic light phasing; this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Inadequate access around and into the area by bicycle, particularly on one-way stretch of Stoke Newington High St. , as well as both Brooke Rd and Evering Rd being one-way in the same direction; this leads to ‘distorted’ bicycle traffic with the result of people cycling on the footpaths to avoid longer journeys;
- Local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and southbound drivers doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Inadequate access of local residents to public transport due to bus routing around one-way system;

There are other issues, which have been raised by residents’ groups of the other areas bordering the gyratory zone; these are being considered, however LARA is limiting its campaign to the area within the LARA boundaries.

The Stoke Newington Gyratory
LARA believes that many of the problems listed above are a result of the gyratory or one-way system, which has been in place for the last few decades, serving to alleviate congestion on the A10 into and out of Central London. There have been a number of campaigns in recent years for the removal of the gyratory in favour of 2-way traffic throughout.

-LCC position
In particular LARA has consulted with LCC iH (London Cycling Campaign in Hackney), who have a strong position in favour of removing the gyratory; their views are backed by experience with similar campaigns such as the Shoreditch High St. gyratory removal. Discussions with LCC also included consideration of other measures to improve accessibility to the area, including contraflow cycle lanes, and the dialogue with LCC has been particularly helpful to us in identifying possible solutions to the problems identified.

LCC’s own current position is to campaign for reinstating 2-way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2-way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second-best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.

-TfL Study
Transport for London (TfL) has carried out a feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which is not positive in terms of removing it. Hackney Council is currently conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options, results anticipated in late 2010. LB Hackney has confirmed that there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders in due course, to get a more coherent sense of residents’ views on the issue. LARA welcomes the opportunity to be consulted on the matter and we shall be keeping in touch with LB Hackney in order to ensure that this happens in due course.

-LARA position
There are differing views in the area about the pros and cons of reinstating 2-way traffic in this area. LARA has consulted with residents as well as a number of other local and regional stakeholders on the matter, and, as a committee, has decided to move forward with their campaign for addressing the problems identified above, and implementing local improvements rather than pushing for the removal of the gyratory. This is considered a wider issue and too long term, and we believe that going back to 2-way traffic would even worsen some of the problems present. Further to this we want to concentrate our efforts on goals which are achievable in the short to medium term.

To summarise, our aims are to
- lessen the impact of heavy traffic on our residential area;
- discourage unnecessary speeding and rat running through our residential area;
- improve and make safer pedestrian connections within the LARA area + between the LARA
area and its surroundings, including schools, shopping facilities, public transport, green spaces and other amenities;
- create better and safer access throughout the area for cyclists;
- make the LARA area safer and more inclusively accessible for all local road users.

What would LARA like to see happen?
LARA believes that, in order to achieve our goals outlined above, measures must include:

Traffic calming measures:
- 20mph speed limit throughout residential streets, properly enforced;
- Effective speed controls to one-way portion of Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road and Evering / Manse Road;
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, ie motor vehicle barriers mid-way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Increase number of pedestrian crossings across the High Street to account for better connection to shops and to schools;
- Make existing pedestrian crossings across the High Street safer by means of better warning to drivers, better traffic light placement and more pedestrian friendly phasing;
- Improve pedestrian connections to Stoke Newington Common and West Hackney Recreation Ground green spaces;

Improvements for cyclists:
- Implementation of separate , safe, cycle lanes, including contra-flow cycle traffic, to
Stoke Newington High Street, Brooke Road and Evering / Manse Road;

How can we bring about improvements?
The Roads within and around the LARA area are owned by TfL (red routes A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road) and Hackney Council (all other roads). LARA’s campaign must therefore now pursue its campaign with both these organisations.

LARA’s discussions to date have included Louisa Thomson, councillor Stoke Newington Central ward, as well as Andrew Cunningham, head of Streetscene (LB Hackney). No contact has yet been made with TfL – this should be our next step.

June 2010

Minutes from our Last Public Meeting

2010-06-28T16:13:00.003+01:00

LARA meeting on June 17th 2010 was held in the Church Hall at St Pauls at 7pm and was attended by over 30 local residents.

Also present were representatives of the Council, The London Cycling Campaign, the Stoke Newington Common User Group, Stoke Newington Local Business Association and Stamford
Terrace residents’ Association.

There were two agenda items for the meeting – a local traffic strategy and the planned BIGLUNCH event to be held in the Church garden or ‘Recreation ground’ on July 18th.

The Chair (Jim Westwood – Leswin Rd) opened the meeting and thanked everyone for
attending, explaining that the retention or scrapping of the Stoke Newington one-way system
which borders the LARA area (‘the gyratory’) was not the main item for debate at the meeting. The attendees were asked to offer views and suggestions for what might be achievable in the shorter term that would reduce traffic risks to pedestrians, cyclists and local residents and their children. A paper was distributed that identified these key points.

Andrea Jung, (Darville Rd resident and traffic sub-group lead) had invited representatives of local bodies, councillors and Andrew Cunningham from Hackney council to the meeting to take part in the discussion and to give their views. She outlined the background to the Lara traffic sub-group and her own involvement which had grown out of frustrations with cycling around the traffic system to get to her home. Since then investigations of previous and ongoing work and consultations on this subject had shown that;

Transport for London were the body responsible for all main red route roads while the council had responsibility for all residential and side roads.

TFL had completed a report on the gyratory which had concluded that it should remain in place.

Hackney council were conducting their own review in response to this published report and this would be available in the Autumn

London Cycling campaign were opposed to the continuation of the one-way system and supported a return to two way traffic on the high street

Local opinion was not unanimous on this topic, with some residents in favour of a return to two way traffic and some opposed.

The council were proposing to trial speed cameras in Church Street in the Autumn

A representative of the Stoke Newington Local Business Association was opposed to a return to two way traffic on the grounds that business deliveries, already difficult on the red route, would become impossible if the high road became single lane in two directions. Many residents spoke of their concerns about speeding and the dangers posed to children. A 20mph zone was proposed for the LARA area and councillors and Mr Cunningham were asked why this could not be implemented immediately. Residents were also broadly in favour of contraflow cycle lanes.

Mr Cunningham explained the reasons why the new speed cameras could not be installed on Rectory Rd but would be placed on Church Street. This was a result of traffic and risk analysis which had shown that statistically, accidents were far more likely on Church Street. He explained that funding was earmarked for implementing a new traffic scheme in the next financial year ( beginning April 2011) and that a public consultation would follow on from the publication of the report in the autumn. This consultation would involve residents, businesses, shoppers and other local stakeholders

Another resident proposed that community and arts based schemes should be considered as a means of changing the local area with the goal of calming traffic flows, as well as or instead of a rules and regulatory based approach to the problem.
Air quality was thought to be a significant risk too, though some felt that congestion would worsen if the high street was returned to two way traffic.

The Chair described earlier work that the previous LARA had done to lobby for one way traffic in Leswin Road. This had been considered a qualified success as it had created similar problems in Bayston Road. This was one of the reasons why Councillor Thompson was supportive of the Council’s position regarding a more wholistic review of the problems and solutions – it was tempting to take immediate action but this could have the effect of moving the problem to other roads. LARA had proposed a more comprehensive scheme at that time but this did not have the support of the police, as the position of the station on the one way system meant that they relied on using side roads to exit the area quickly when needed. There was no representative of the police at the meeting but it was agreed that they should be involved in these discussions at the earliest opportunity.

Generally there was much support from the meeting to taking action and maintaining pressure for change. Mr Cunningham agreed that he would launch the report and consultation at the next meeting in September.

The next item was the announcement of the LARA BIG LUNCH, a community picnic event which would be held in the church ground, or ‘rec’ on 18th July. Niall Weir, the Rector of St Pauls, explained some of the history of the closure of the ground and a recent initiative to reopen it and secure heritage funding to have it restored to full accessibility and community use. The afternoon would include entertainment, music, children’s activities and a bring-a-dish meal. Volunteers to take part and help with setting up, publicity and marshalling on the day were encouraged to contact one of the committee members to get involved. Everyone will be welcome at the lunch.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm

DAJ June 2010

LESWIN AREA RESIDENTS (LARA) PUBLIC MEETING

2010-06-15T13:34:00.000+01:00

Thursday 17th June 2010

7pm
St Paul’s Hall (entrance on Evering Road, N16)

ALL WELCOME

**************************

Traffic problems in the LARA area

Are you concerned about road safety in your area?

We are hoping to have a lively discussion and hear the views of other local residents, groups and organisations on traffic, safety and accessibility in this area - so please do join us to share your views! There will be two council officers attending and answering questions on wider traffic issues in the area.

**************************

Only a month to go until the Big LARA Lunch!

LARA is organising our first ever Big Lunch as part of the nationwide annual event. Friends, families and neighbours are invited to a free picnic,
entrance is a plate of food to share.

We need lots of help to get it off the ground and ideas for games, keen face painters, barbecue superstars, gazebos, deckchairs, ice cream vans,
first aiders, party people, foodies and volunteers to help make this a fab fun event for everyone.

The Big Lunch is on Sunday 18th July 2010 from 1 – 4pm on the
West Hackney Recreation Ground, Evering Road N16

If you can help out in any way email lara.n16@googlemail.com or come along to the LARA Public Meeting on 17th June

The LARA Big Lunch

2010-06-02T21:50:00.008+01:00

What? Looking for locals to have a good old get-together.
Where? West Hackney Recreation Grounds on Evering Road
When? July 18th 2010 1pm to 4pm
How? Bring a picnic and one dish to share and you're in!
Who? Anyone living in the LARA catchment area, friends and family.

Looking for: Ideas for games, keen face painters, barbecue superstars, gazebos, deckchairs, ice cream vans, first aiders, party people, foodies, volunteers to help make this a fab fun event for everyone.

Please email lara.n16@googlemail.com, leave a comment below or come along to our public meeting on Thursday June 17th and find out how to get involved.
St Paul's Church Hall 7pm on Evering/Amhurst Road

Find out more about The Big Lunch

LARA (Leswin Area Residents’ Association) TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE

2010-05-24T18:00:00.004+01:00

The Problems
A number of traffic issues have been identified, which are of concern to residents in the LARA area. In summary these include:
- Speeding cars along Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular, with the LARA area effectively being cut off all surrounding areas and green spaces by fast traffic;
- Lack of pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Lack of safety of the existing crossings across the High Street; inadequate warning to drivers
- and bad traffic light phasing; this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Inadequate access of local residents to public transport due to bus routing around one-way system;
- Inadequate access into the area by bicycle, particularly due to both Brooke Rd and Evering Rd being one-way in the same direction;
- Cars ‘rat running’ up and down the residential streets off the High Street, Bayston Road in particular (this issue has been addressed in the past in Leswin Road by making part of it one-
way);
- Local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and southbound drivers doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;

The Gyratory
We believe that the majority of the problems listed above are caused by the gyratory or one-way system and would like to see this reviewed in light of these local issues.

We recognise that the A10 is a major artery into and out of London and we accept that this cannot be changed. Our aim however is to lessen and channel the impact of heavy traffic and unnecessary speeding through what is essentially a residential area and to improve pedestrian and cyclists’ connection between the LARA area and its surroundings, which include schools, shopping facilities, public transport, green spaces and other amenities.

LCC iH(London Cycling Campaign in Hackney) Position
LARA has consulted with LCC, who have a strong position on the above issues; their views are backed by experience with similar campaigns such as the Shoreditch High St. gyratory removal. Discussions with LCC also included consideration of other measures to improve accessibility to the area, including contraflow cycle lanes. Please see below for a summary of the LCC position.

LCC’s own current position is to reinstate 2-way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2-way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second-best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.

In summary, some of the benefits of reintroducing 2-way traffic to the area could be:
- More continuous traffic flow generally
- No more speeding cars along the High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular
- Less rat-running;
- Reduction of density of traffic on the High Street at peak times;
- More local journeys undertaken on foot or by bike—the current picture is heavily distorted and not ‘normal’;
- Vastly improved access to public transport, mainly bus services, for local residents;
- Making for a more pleasant and less dangerous environment for pedestrians
- Increased retail activity as a consequence;

What would LARA like to see happen to the one way system and what other local traffic calming measures or complementary measures would we like to see put in place?
The suggestion here is a two-stage process: The removal of the gyratory, if this is agreed to be the long-term aim, must be preceded by local traffic calming measures - or In the very least local traffic calming would need to be introduced as complementary measures. The reason for this is that a reintroduction of a two-way system might increase rather than resolve some of the problems in our area, the major issue here being rat-running.

Step 1 – Local traffic calming measures, which are to include:
- 20mph speed limit throughout, properly enforced;
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, such as ‘modal filters’ mid-way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area - across-the-road barriers in other words;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- More and safer pedestrian crossings across the High Street;
- Better traffic light placement and phasing;

Step 2 – Removal of the one-way system
The return of the gyratory to two-way operation could have the following benefits:
- Slower and more regulated motor traffic flow around the area;
- Less rat-running;
- Better pedestrian connections;
- Better permeability for cyclists (‘maximum route choice, minimum diversion’); thereby enabling more local journeys to be taken on foot or by bike;
- Improved accessibility throughout the area and to public transport;
- Less pollution and noise;
- A better public realm;
- Better access to and therefore possibly greater prosperity for local Businesses;

How can we bring about improvements and include also the views other local stakeholders?
LARA’s initial discussions have also included Louisa Thomson, councillor Stoke Newington Central ward. Louisa advised that TfL is the main organisation to be lobbied for our purpose- it is important to note that the A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road are all red routes and controlled by TfL.

TfL has carried out a feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which is not positive in terms of removing it. Louisa Thomson advised that Hackney Council is currently conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options. The results of this are due this year and we understand there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders in due course, to get a more coherent sense of residents’ views on the issue. She felt that there is an opportunity for the wider LARA meeting with local stakeholders to feed into this consultation but this would be more effective as a resident led campaign.

The subject is complex, and no doubt there are many different views and interests at stake. LARA would like to have an open discussion with interested residents and other local stakeholders, including residents’ and business associations and the local police;

We are therefore inviting the following persons, groups and organizations to a meeting on Thursday 17th June at 7.00pm at St Paul’s Church Hall to discuss their views:

- All residents of the LARA area
- Anyone living in the adjoining areas who is interested
- Living Streets
- NARG (Northwold Area Residents’ Group)
- CAAG (Cazenove Area Action Group)
- SNUG (Stoke Newington Common Users Group)
- Stoke Newington Business Association
- Stoke Newington Police
- Councillors Stoke Newington Central Ward
- Any others who have an interest in the matter

Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) MINUTES

2010-05-04T20:58:00.003+01:00

PUBLIC MEETING

7pm, Thursday 22nd April 2010
St Paul’s Hall, Evering Road, N16

Present:
Committee: Jim Westwood, Fiona Fieber, Laurie Byrne, Maureen Diffley, Helen Rawlinson, Andrea Jung

Apologies:
Anne Towndrow, Deborah James, Chris Dennis, Georgina Allen

1. Traffic Issues
We talked about advertising our next meeting as a special LARA one–off to discus the Gyratory and other issues such as:
What would LARA like to see happen to the one way system e.g. is it a good or bad thing as it stands?
What traffic related measures would we like to see put in place anyway such as traffic calming, 20mph zone, one way system or roads blocked to stop ‘rat running’, more crossing points on the high road etc? Cycle lanes?
Action: Draft a LARA position on the issues and post on the Blog. Andrea
Invite Council Officers, Police and other stakeholders to the meeting. Circulate draft to Councillors.
Meeting Date: Thursday 17th June at St Paul’s Hall

2. The Big Lunch
LARA will organise a Big Lunch picnic on the Recreation Ground to tie in with the nation-wide event being held on Sunday 18th July. Everyone welcome, bring food to share, blankets to sit on etc. Local musicians. Performers. Games. Decorations.
Fiona, Niall, Maureen, Laurie, Barbara, Helen and Mohammed agreed to help organise the Big lunch and will meet in June.
More info and ideas at http://www.thebiglunch.com/ .

We need help to plan and publicise. Anyone interested visit the Blog or please drop a note through one of the agreed post box doors:

Laurie at 62b Darville Rd

Maureen at 54 Leswin Rd

3. Licensing issues
We talked about the idea of ‘Special Policy Area’ status which restricts the
number of licensed premises whilst maintaining the balance of a good night’s sleep with a vibrant night time economy. Follow up at the next meeting.

4. Gardening
Share cuttings, surplus plants etc by putting them, labelled for identification, out at the front of our houses, and posting a note on the Blog.

5. AOB

It was suggested that when distributing the Newsletter, publicity etc it would be good to knock on doors and talk to people face to face.

Niall presented the plans for improvements to the Recreation Ground, and told us that a funding bid was going in to the Heritage lottery Fund. Agreed there could be an info stall at the Big Lunch.

6. Date of Next Public Meeting: Thursday 17th June, St Paul’s Hall
NB. This meeting will focus on Traffic Issues.

Celebrate Hackney, 5 June: help make it a success!

2010-05-04T20:49:00.001+01:00

It is now just one month to the biggest community gathering in Hackney for many years; Saturday 5 June and the Celebrate Hackney event, to be held at Stoke Newington School from 10.30am to 4.30pm!

We have over 50 speakers from community groups, in 15 workshops, on greening Hackney, lifelong learning, miscarriages of justice (Celia Stubbs from the Blair Peach campaign will be joining campaigns for Sam Hallam), the arts in Hackney (Roland Muldoon will have lots to say!), defending public services, new initiative to make Hackney a ‘sanctuary borough’ for migrants, Gay Pride, young people, older people, peace groups, faith groups, trade union groups.

It is going to be fantastic. There are also 30 information stalls from local groups and a further four food stalls (Thai, Turkish, Caribbean and Vegan). There will also be children’s activities. We will have a mini-film festival, entertainment from local performers and a ‘question time’ with local politicians (your chance to have your say after the elections).

For more details visit: http://www.hackneyunites.org.uk/

The event is co-ordinated by Hackney Unites, but it has grown so much bigger than we could dare to hope that we now need to ask for help to make it the success it deserves to be.

To publicise the event we are producing a tabloid paper featuring the groups who are involved, and the work they do. We are having 50,000 printed, but we need help to distribute them. We are organising a distribution meeting on 12 May, between 7pm, and 8.30pm, at the Trinity Centre, Beechwood Road , Dalston , E8 3DY .

The aim of the meeting will be to organise the distribution of the tabloid paper. We are asking you to take just 300 papers to distribute door-to-door in the streets near where you live.

We will be organising distribution on a ward-by-ward basis and encouraging teams of volunteers to work together to make it less of a chore and to maximise coverage, so please bring some friends along!

If you can help, please let us know. You can either collect papers from the Trinity Centre on 12 May (the parking restrictions are not in place after 6pm) or we can deliver them to your door. Please let us know what you can do, and how many papers you can take.

Also, if you are able to take a number of papers for display in a community centre, or are able to display them at forthcoming events, then please let us know.

If you want attend on 5 June, can I also ask you to sign up to attend the event. While it is free, we need to be able to estimate numbers (for caterers and stewarding)

http://celebratehackney.eventbrite.com/

If you are on facebook, then please also sign up the event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120552934622314
(and then invite your friends to attend so that people get to hear of the day).

If you have a blog, please give us a plug.

We have some great posters for the Celebrate Hackney event, if you could get them stuck up somewhere, please let us know.

Finally, please forward this email to people who you think would be interested in Hackney Unites, the tabloid, and the Celebrate Hackney event.

Thank you to everyone for your help and assistance.

John Page

Next LARA Meeting

2010-04-12T16:17:00.003+01:00

The next LARA meeting will be on:
THURSDAY 22nd APRIL at 7pm
St Paul’s Church Hall, Stoke Newington Road, N16
Enter from the main road or via Evering Road entrance, the hall is to the rear of the Church.

Proposed Agenda:
- Licensing Issues in Hackney
- Traffic / cycling in the area
- The Big Lunch – summer event
- Gardening

All residents of the LARA area welcome
Help build your community. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed.

Licensing Issues in Hackney
Hackney Council is currently reviewing its Licensing Policy and we as residents will be able to make our views known as part of the consultation process. In areas where there are many licensed premises, particularly alongside residential communities, the Council may adopt a Special Policy, which means that it can be more difficult for new licences and club premises certificates to be granted. Shoreditch is an example of this.

At the next LARA meeting we can discuss the matter.

Local Traffic + Cycling - Update
We’ve held our first meeting to discuss local traffic issues on Feb 22nd, with Trevor and Oliver from the London Cycling Campaign in Hackney, Louisa Thomson, ward councillor, and Robert Lindsay, Bayston Road resident, who has been campaigning against the gyratory / one-way system in the past. The aim was to gather information on what the most pressing issues are with regard to road safety, cycling, etc., what has happened until now, and to start (re-)forming a view point which could be supported by local residents. Please read the notes which are posted on the blog for more details. We generally feel that much could be gained for us as local residents by the removal of the gyratory and other interim measures to calm traffic locally. We would now like to take things to the next level and discuss the points in a larger forum in order to revive the campaign.

Gardening
Some people have suggested the idea of setting up a plant swap. This was mentioned in the very first meeting and we ran out of time. Now that spring is here at last it’s the perfect time to have a go at the garden, plant up window boxes and think about growing veg. Instead of throwing out unwanted plants why not share them with the neighbours? We could even have a plant swap day on the Recreation Ground where you get a ticket for each one you bring and exchange your ticket for more.

Please visit the blog for more information to be posted shortly, and to get in touch with other interested people.

We want your ideas too.

THE BIG LUNCH
LARA will be organising a summer picnic. A chance for neighbours and friends to gather, chat, eat, drink and generally have a good time. ……find out more and how to get involved at the next meeting and here on the blog.

Local Jazz Poetry Nights

2010-04-08T13:01:00.000+01:00

Dear Lara,

I am a musician resident in the area and I run a Jazz Poetry Nights down at the Pangea. I am looking for local poets, jazz musicians who want to showcase their talent. Also if anyone wants to enjoy and be in the audience, feel free to come. Next date is Wed April 21st . Our monthly nights are beautiful and please let everyone check out blog/site at:

www.jazzpoetrylondon.com

Many thanks

Freddy

Tel 07961 833040

New Planning Applications

2010-04-01T16:50:00.002+01:00

More planning applications around us www.welovestokenewington.org/2010/03/two-new-licensing-applications.html

Update on traffic

2010-03-15T21:15:00.006Z

We’ve held our first meeting on local traffic issues on Feb 22nd, with Trevor and Oliver from the London Cycling Campaign in Hackney, Louisa Thomson, ward councillor, and Robert Lindsay, Bayston Road resident, who has been campaigning against the gyratory in the past.

The aim was to gather information on what has been going on up until now and to start (re-)formulating a view point. Please also read the notes which are posted on this blog. We generally feel that much could be gained by the removal of the gyratory, as well as other interim measures to calm traffic locally and would now like to take things to the next level and discuss the points in a larger forum in order to revive the campaign. We’ll post date and time and location here soon.

Meeting date:
22nd February 2010
Report date:
26th February 2010

Notes from LARA Traffic Meeting
Regarding Stoke Newington gyratory

1 Purpose of meeting
To learn about the history of the campaign against the gyratory; objectives:
- Improve accessibility for all users of the public realm
Robert Lindsay has previously campaigned against the gyratory under the name of SNOWS (scrap Stoke Newington One Way System);
Robert started when Ken Livingstone was Mayor of London. He gave an overview of his work to date. Robert is moving out of the area in the near future and would like to see the campaign continued. LARA is picking up from here.
- Wide range of support for the cause from residents, local businesses; huge hidden support for the gyratory to be discontinued;
- Different interest groups and strands which need to be brought together, including: LCC, LARA, Cazenove Area Action Group (CAAG), Stoke Newington Business Association; Stoke Newington Common Users Group;
- Another local residents group that has already publicly expressed support for scrapping the system is Cazenove Area Action Group – LARA check their website. Robert noted that Amy Erikson is one of the driving forces behind that as well as the Stoke Newington Common Users group.
- Opinions need to be sought from other groups such as NARG;
- LARA to help pull all together into unified campaign.
Robert also added the following post‐ meeting note:
“We didn't discuss this at the meeting but the most radical option, in terms of traffic reduction/calming would be to grass over Rectory Road where it runs over the common, forcing cars to use the High Street. There is a common myth that if you cut road capacity, eg by closing or narrowing a road or making it two way, the remaining roads (in this case the High Street) will become more congested. In fact evidence and experience shows that if you cut road capacity, the number of people using that particular route fall because they decide to leave their cars at home. One traffic engineer told me he expected huge tail backs when Shoreditch went two‐way ‐ in fact it never happened.”

2 Why are we campaigning for the return of the gyratory to two‐way operation?
- Slower and more regulated motor traffic flow around the area
- Better pedestrian connections
- Better access to and therefore possibly greater prosperity for local businesses
- Improved accessibility
- Less pollution and noise
- A better public realm
- To enable more local journeys to be taken on foot or by bike
- Better permeability for cyclists (‘maximum route choice, minimum diversion’)
- Less rat‐running
We fully recognise that the A10 is a major artery into and out of London and we accept that this cannot be changed. Our aim is to lessen the impact of heavy traffic and unnecessary speeding through what is essentially a residential area and to improve pedestrian and cyclists’ connection between the LARA area and its surroundings, which include schools, shopping facilities, public transport, greenspaces and other amenities.

3
3.1
LCC / Councillor Louisa Thomson’s Positions
Trevor and Oliver from the London Cycling Campaign in Hackney gave a detailed overview on the issues to do with the gyratory and how these tie with wider traffic policy issues and aims, streetscape issues, etc.
They have been campaigning for the removal of this gyratory and others (Shoreditch, Tottenham Hale) for over 10 years and the LCC in Hackney is among local organisations to be credited with the successful return of the Shoreditch High Street gyratory to two‐way operation;
There are literally dozens of options, and it’s not useful to drill down to the fine detail just yet. Options need to be discussed and agreed with all stakeholders to reflect or address interests and promote agreement, all in due course when the prospect of change becomes clearer.
LCC’s own current position is to reinstate 2‐way traffic for all road users on Stoke Newington High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road, Northwold Road, Evering Road, and Brooke Road. Their view is that 2‐way traffic is preferable to contraflow cycling lanes, being much more effective at achieving slowed down and more even traffic flow; they advised that experience has proven that contraflow cycling lanes are a second‐best option to returning the streetscape to its original appearance, causing problems especially at junctions.
In summary, some of the benefits of reintroducing 2‐way traffic to the area could be:
- More continuous traffic flow generally
- No more speeding cars along the High Street, Rectory Road, Manse Road and Evering Road in particular
- Less rat‐running;
- Reduction of density of traffic on the High Street at peak times;
- More local journeys undertaken on foot or by bike—the current picture is heavily distorted and not ‘normal’;
- Vastly improved access to public transport, mainly bus services, for local residents;
- Making for a more pleasant and less dangerous environment for pedestrians
- Increased retail activity as a consequence;
In tandem with the removal of the gyratory, local traffic calming measures (complementary measures) must be looked at, including
- 20mph speed limit throughout
- ‘filtered permeability’ measures, such as ‘modal filters’ mid‐way along residential roads, Leswin, Bayston and Darville Road in particular, to ‘filter out’ traffic unsuitable as through traffic in a residential area;
- Removal of local ‘rat run’ along Lawrence Buildings and stopping southbound drivers from doing an illegal left turn onto Brooke Road in order to continue along Leswin Road;
- Safer pedestrian crossings to the High Street—this is a particular issue for people with children in William Patten school;
- Better traffic light placement and phasing;
Not just in LARA area but also other adjoining areas—e.g. ‘filtered permeability’ in the area south of Northwold Road and east of Rectory Road.

3.2
Louisa added some more background to this last point, stating that one of the approaches we had taken as ward councillors was to campaign for improvements on the roads that the Council does control (Bayston, Darville, Leswin, part of Evering) as this was more achievable in the short term (whilst not losing site of the long term aim of removing the gyratory). The issue was first raised with ward councillors by residents in the area who had concerns about the route to school and the safety implications for families with small children. Louisa confirmed that as a result of a
walkabout with residents and lobbying by ward councillors, the Leswin Area is next in line for a 20mph zone, but that we had stressed that this scheme needed to also look at other road safety measures at the same time. There will be a full consultation with residents over the scheme and the indicative timing for this at the moment is end of 2010/11. This will be an important opportunity to feed in ideas for improving the rat run situation and making these roads safer and shouldn’t beseen as a distraction from the main campaign against the one way system.
We have already picked up the issue of turning left illegally at the bottom of Lawrence Buildings (the Council are looking to improve the warning signs here) and the danger of the crossing outside Sainsburys (TfL control this and haven’t been positive about any improvements that can be made so far).

4 How do we go about it / What needs to be done?
There seems to be a wide range of different groups and interested parties who have a stake in this issue and have been campaigning on different levels. The aim now is to pull together as many ‘strands’ as possible in order to form a more powerful campaign. It is probably unrealistic to get all interested parties to agree on all points, however we should aim for a general consensus before starting to lobby in earnest. LARA to discuss at next committee meeting and then arrange
for wider residents’ and interest group meeting with LCCiH present – consider St. Paul’s Church Hall.

Who do we address?
LCC and Louisa advised that TfL is the main organisation to be lobbied for our purpose, as it is important to note that the A10, Manse, Evering and Rectory Road are all red routes and controlled by TfL. LCC and Louisa referred to TfL’s feasibility study on the removal of the gyratory which had not been positive in terms of removing it. Louisa added that in light of this, Hackney Council was conducting its own appraisal of the TfL study to look further into the options. The results of this are due imminently and at the moment, we understand there will be a full consultation with local residents and stakeholders to get a more coherent sense of local feeling on the issue. Louisa felt that there is an opportunity for the wider LARA meeting with local stakeholders to feed into this consultation but this would be more effective as a resident led campaign (as the Shoreditch campaign was). Due to local government purdah from the 29th March, the consultation is unlikely to happen before then.

6 Next Meeting
TBA – LARA to keep all attendees informed of next meeting date to be arranged.

Comments Please !
If you have any comments about the above notes and want to give your opinion about local traffic concerns, please respond in our comments section below. We welcome input, for and against, any of the suggestions outlined above.

Growing Communities Need Plastic Bags!

2010-03-10T21:35:00.006Z

A note from Growing Communities, the organic fruit and vegetable box scheme which operates from The Old Fire Station on Leswin Road:

Hi all

Growing Communities is holding another bag amnesty! Our stocks of plastic bags have run down completely, so please, please, please can you bring along any bags you have lying around at home when you collect your veg this week.

In fact, we'd love it if people not on the scheme could bring bags to the Fire Station. There's a cupboard in the yard that's labelled "Plastic bags" and it would be great if people could bring them in there any time.

Also, this year, for the first time, we’re entering the Observer Ethical Awards. We’re putting ourselves in for the Grassroots Project category but we’d also like to enter the Best Local Retailer category, which is voted for by readers.

If you’re happy with the box scheme and/or love coming to the Farmers’ Market, please could you vote for us before this Friday, 12 March, if you haven’t already done so.

Go to www.observer.co.uk/ethicalawards, register and type Growing Communities in the box for Best Local Retailer.

Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win food hampers, gift boxes, skincare products, an Ecover house clean, a train and bike tour of Provence.

Thanks and good luck from everyone at GC

Growing Communities

The Old Fire Station
61 Leswin Road
London N16 7NX

Tel: 020 7502 7588
www.growingcommunities.org
Please note that our email has changed to growcomm@growingcommunities.org

Do We Really Need Another Betting Shop?

2010-03-02T21:26:00.001Z

Just heard that the new bookies has been given the go ahead - that means there are now six betting shops in Stoke Newington which is pushing it a bit I think.

Public Meeting Minutes

2010-02-18T21:56:00.004Z

Apologies for the delay! Here are the minutes from our last public meeting for LARA:

Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA)
MINUTES

PUBLIC MEETING

7pm, Thursday16th December 2009
Firestation, 61 Leswin Road N16

Present:
Committee: Jim Westwood. Fiona Fieber, Laurie Byrne, Maureen Diffley, Georgina Allen, Helen Rawlinson, Helen Ford, Deborah James, Anne Towndrow

Apologies:
Andrea Jung

LARA Constitution
The Draft Constitution was adopted, subject to amendments:
a) Public Meetings to be held four times a year.
b) £5 annual subscription per household.

The Constitution will be put up on the Blog.

Election of Officers
The following residents stood for election and were voted in by the Meeting:
Jim Westwood (Chair)
Fiona Fieber (Secretary)
Laurie (Treasurer)

Social event
An entertainments sub-committee was approved to organise LARA social events.

Communications
Helen Rawlinson presented LARA blog
Circulate the address to all residents

Reports
Traffic issues – Louisa Thompson talked about current situation regarding one way system. Changes are a long way off in the future as so huge. Ongoing process led by TFL. A detailed feasibility study being carried out on 20 mph zone, ends in 2010. Contraflow cycle lanes – council’s response fairly negative, pointing out work that’s already going on.
HCC – Hackney Cycling Campaign want to meet LARA to discuss options. PROPOSED Meeting with all partiies. Join up with other groups in the area. Liaise with Louisa Thompson.
Car Club – suggestion.
Zone E up for review 2010/11.
Paddy Power application 117-119 SN High Street. Make LARA representation with objections. ACTION Jim, Fiona
Nightclub – 92 SN High Street. Roger attend Licence meeting on behalf of Lara. Let Rita Krishna know. Action: Jim/Roger
CAP - Helen Ford. Next meeting at Somerford Community Hall 13th January 2010. Put notes onto blog.

Date of Next Public Meeting TBC

Meetings and Having Your Say!

2010-02-08T22:29:00.003Z

- The next Community Advisory Panel meeting will be held at 7 o'clock on Wed 3rd March at the Somerford Grove Communuty Hall. This meeting is open to the public and gives residents the opportunity to meet local police and influence the focus of their work in the community over the following 2 months.

- Hackney Council is reviewing its parking policies .We can fill in an online survey on www.hackney.gov.uk/pep or ring 020 8356 8877 to get a copy. I haven't looked at it yet but if you feel that residents' parking is a good thing in Stoke Newington it would be important to state that.

Thanks for this update Anne

Trolley Buses

2010-01-26T20:04:00.003Z

It seems that Leswin Road used to be part of a trolley bus network. If anyone has any pictures/information on this please let us know. Thanks so much.

Cycling / Traffic Meeting

2010-01-25T10:13:00.001Z

A note from committee member, Andrea:

Following my enquiry about cycling (and traffic) issues in the area I’ve had a good response back from the Hackney cycling campaign, from Trevor Parsons. They’d like to get in touch / meet and I think it would be worth us listening to what they have to say as they seem to have a much longer history of looking at the gyratory than we have. We’ve discussed the week commencing February 22^nd for a specific traffic meeting (for those who want to get involved). This would be a good opportunity to invite the Hackney Cycling people. I’m happy to organise and suggest a date + time – those who would like to be part of this please do let me know or forward on to people who might get involved........

You can leave any comments below.

New Late License Application

2010-01-25T10:05:00.000Z

No. 86 Stoke Newington High St. – located on the corner of Tyssen Road – the owner (Mr. Renk Art) has applied for a 2.00am license for a number of activities including live music, drama, performance of dance, film showing and art exhibition. A copy of the list is posted in their shop window. This may affect some of you living in the immediate vicinity. Representations can be made until February 4^th, and can be made on line via the Hackney Council website.

Foodie Blog

2010-01-17T22:48:00.000Z

A quick link to a wonderful blog from a wonderful chef on Rectory Road, full of lovely stoke newington references and some great recipes - Love and a Licked Spoon/Stoke Newington

Looking for a handy man

2010-01-15T22:18:00.000Z

Does anyone know of a good, reliable handyman for boring things around the house?

Flickr Find

2010-01-15T22:15:00.001Z

A link to some great photos of stoke newington during the 1970's. http://bit.ly/6uK8FF

I was trying to think of some famous people who'd lived round here. The Kray Brothers used to own my old house 28 Tyssen Road, when it was a garage and there's a rumour that Barbara Windsor lived at the end of Leswin Road when she was a hair dresser. Does anyone know of any others?

CAP Meeting - Licensing Issues

2010-01-14T19:31:00.000Z

Hello everyone.
I went to the CAP meeting last night . The minutes will be circulated at a later date but some interesting points arose which may concern us as an association as well as individually..

Someone from the Licensing Dept was invited .She went through the 4 grounds on which it's possible to make representations against a licence application (prevention of crime & disorder etc ) , as stated on the website , and gave some general information.

There was discussion about the increasing no of applications for late night licences in the High St / Church St areas particularly. It emerged that the council are bound to grant licences IF THERE ARE NO REPRESENTATIONS, which I hadn't realised. As well as making representations when the initial application is made, we can also complain to the enforcement officers if we feel that the terms / conditions of a licence are being broken (we can do this through our councillors if we wish ) . The premises will then be visited , although this will take time. If it's serious enough we can ask for the licence to be reviewed in which case it would go before a licensing sub- committee.

It was stressed that licensing officers are neutral . Louisa, who was at the meeting , pointed out that councillors can respond to and offer support re issues and concerns we raise but they are not allowed to instigate complaints etc themselves.

Re some specific applications - The Shipwreck -179 High Street . (mentioned in previous emails) They are applying for 6 a m licences every day . The final date for submission of representations is now the 7th Feb not 18th Jan.(this was due to be altered on the website today)

There is also a licence application for the basement premises of 86 High St. to open until 2a m Fridays - Sundays. Closing date is 4th Feb.

The question of public safety issues / late night noise / public nuisance / possibility of crime & disorder / safeguarding of children / obviously will loom larger for those of us who live closest to the late -opening venues but we will all experience the knock -on effect and ,if we wish to , we are all entitled to make representations as we live 'in the vicinity' of these venues.

It remains for LARA to decide which issues it intends to take up as an association. I don't know how feasible it would be re licensing issues anyway , due to the time factor, as there is only a 21 (or 28 - can't remember !) day slot to make representations after the application is publicised .(it was suggested at the meeting that it's a good idea to check out the new applications on the Council website on a weekly basis - as well as the Gazette & Hackney Today) Those of us who are concerned can obviously act as individuals ,with the possibility of more objections having a greater impact on the licensing sub- committees.

Best wishes

Anne (LARA committee member)

This link gives more info about what CAP (Community Action Panel) Meetings are all about:

Looking For............

2010-01-08T18:26:00.000Z

A recommended carpenter/cabinet maker.

Tyssen Road resident wants to find someone to finish their kitchen cabinets.
Any suggestions please comment here or send details to lara.n16@googlemail.com

It's Snow Time!

2010-01-06T21:46:00.001Z

Leswin and Hollar Roads.
Please email your snow pics to lara.n16@googlemail.com

Ghost Signs

2010-01-06T20:40:00.000Z

Corner of Tyssen and Stoke Newington Road. Anyone know the history of these?

Unwanted mens' clothing?

2009-12-26T23:39:00.000Z

Happy Christmas! I am collecting warm men's clothing for the shelter in St Paul's. If anyone has any clean winter items that they don't need any more let me know and can collect and take them along there when they open again in the New Year.

Deborah (Bayston Road)

LARA Meeting Review

2009-12-17T09:11:00.000Z

Well, despite the cold, wet weather, we had a reasonable turn out last night at the Old Fire Station. Thanks to everyone for coming along. Minutes to follow soon.....

Visit to santa's grotto...

2009-12-15T22:41:00.000Z

Carole Lucas who has the Cobbled Yard at the top of Bouverie Rd has opened a pop-up shop in the mews opposite. We went in there on Sunday afternoon and were invited into the fantastic Santa's grotto. 3.50 for kids to visit with Santa and his chief-of-staff elf. Also mulled wine and pies for adults and some great Jazz from Martha Lewis and Diane McLoughlin. Coming weekend is a different act but definitely worth a trip - beats queueing at Selfridges or wherever the commercial santys are hanging out these days.....

Reporting of Anti Social Behaviour

2009-12-08T21:36:00.001Z

A response from Amalia Rodriguez:

The Home Office has delivered a leaflet to every home in Hackney with a telephone number to report Anti Social Behaviour which is 0208 356 3030. This number has been made available for everyone to use if they wish to; however, if residents have been contacting the Police SNT directly, this does not have to change if they are happy with the response obtained from them.

Just bear in mind that the 0208 356 3030 is there if they have any doubt about who to report to, or the SNT or other bodies are not coming back to them.

Amalia Rodriguez
Amended 17/06/10: Currently Amalia is on maternity leave so Rachel Fairbairn is acting in her absence (same number and address)

Anti Social Behaviour Officer

London Borough of Hackney

Community Safety Team

Maurice Bishop House

17 Reading Lane

London E8 1HH

Tel: 0208 356 4464

Just a Little Update....

2009-12-06T21:38:00.000Z

Stoke Newington International Airport, Leswin Place

In response to a recent article in Stereo Stokey.....
I run STK and I just wanted to clear a few things up. We have been working to reduce late night noise and I think we now have a better relationship with our neighbours. In planning our christmas party we took care not to put live music on past 10.30 and to close at 1am which has been our policy of late. I must stress that we received no threats or complaints from neighbours, and the reason for canceling the party was down to a licensing issue. We have to tread very carefully in that respect if we want to continue in a legitimate fashion.There are no more parties this year, but the theatre remains active with shows from the Factory, who will perform Checkov's The Seagull on Sunday, and Shakespeare's Hamlet on Monday. Then Washing Line Productions perform their new physical show Lisa Appleby from 15th -17th. So there you go. Updated.
Greg.

If you have any comments to make please leave them here!

Update on the Leswin Place Development

2009-12-06T21:00:00.000Z

Also posted in our December Newsletter....
The Planning Department at Hackney Council agreed to meet a delegation from LARA to discuss the issues troubling residents about the Leswin Place development. Below is a summary of the meeting. A fuller report will be available at our next meeting.

How did Hackney council manage to 'lose' important documents for the appeal in 2009? Officers explained that the planning department had decided that the bulk of the residents issues and the council’s own reservations about the 2005 scheme were dealt with in the 2008 application. It is unlikely that they would have made a difference at the appeal.

What exactly is the position now? The conditions imposed at the Appeal remain to be clarified i.e. details of the design of the frontage of the B1 units need to be approved by the planners and also the materials to be used in the scheme.

Where does it go from here? Before beginning work on site, approval must be given which will cover the construction details, the engineering calculations and issues such as Means of Escape in Case of Fire. The Fire Brigade will comment on the scheme at this point. Residents will be within their rights to maintain a close eye on what is happening and call in council officers if any deviation from the approved scheme is witnessed. All adjoining owners will have rights under the Party Wall Act and an Agreement will be needed with each adjoining owner if any building work is likely to affect the garden walls.

Why has the enforcement order issued in 2005 never been enacted? The Enforcement Order against change of use to residential for the current buildings is still on the books at Hackney, because the buildings are deemed unfit for residential use. It is likely that the council will move to enact the Enforcement Order in the very near future.

Burglaries in Darville Road

2009-12-05T17:30:00.000Z

There have been a spate of burglaries recently in Darville Rd. Not sure if the other streets have suffered similar. They appear to be around 4.30-5.30 in the afternoon, just before people get home from work. The Front sash windows are being jemmied open. Ours was preceded by a spurious knock on the neighbours door, checking who was in. She was in, we weren’t. Just worth making people aware of and to be extra vigilant. The police said that anyone seeing anything suspicious should call 999 rather than the local station at Stoke Newington, as the desk there had no control on dispatch, If you call 999, if there are cars/officers in the area able to attend, they will do so, particularly being so close to the Police Station on the High Street. Hope this is a helpful flag.

This message came from Darrel Rees -thanks for the info.

The Next Lara Meeting

2009-12-05T06:56:00.000Z

The next full meeting of LARA will be held on:
Wed 16th Dec 7pm
at the Old Fire Station (61 Leswin Road)

All residents of the LARA area welcome
Help build your community. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed

Newsletter December 2009

2009-12-05T06:24:00.000Z

Leswin Area Residents Association is launched
On the 21st October, a very well attended inaugural meeting took place in the Old Fire Station to set up (or re-launch) the Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA).
The idea for it began with a few locals talking to each other and asking if anyone knew about what was going on in Leswin Place. This led to a pavement conversation where it was suggested that a residents' association would create a stronger voice for the whole area to be heard - and get results.
Every door was leafleted and an amazing number of people came. Many local concerns were raised ranging from antisocial behaviour issues, traffic, cycle paths and the proposed building development. Cllr Louisa Thompson said it was the largest such meeting she'd been to in Stoke Newington. She responded instantly to some of the concerns raised, promising to feed back on others.

Building a Community
On the up side we talked about how the residents' association could be brilliant for getting to know your neighbours better and encouraging a positive sense of community. We could organise a local festival! Gardening club? Blog site? Meet the neighbours social? What about something for young people? Some are interested in cycling facilities others for publicising information on trades people and more.
Key Aims
The key aims of LARA are to foster a community spirit among the neighbours, to help make improvements to the area, to tackle planning issues and traffic problems.
. While we have some current major issues such as the Leswin Place development and the use of our roads as ‘rat runs’, many other ideas to develop the community have already come forward.

LARA Geographically
LARA covers approximately Leswin, Bayston, Darville, Batley, Tyssen and Hollar Roads, Glading Terrace, Leswin Place and the houses on Brooke and Evering Roads that back on to the ‘square’.
Those residents who have been in the area for some time will remember that there was a residents association of the same name that did some excellent work some years ago. Working together we can be just as successful as they were.

Next LARA Meeting
The next full meeting of LARA will be held on:
Wed 16th Dec 7pm
at the Old Fire Station (61 Leswin Road)

All residents of the LARA area welcome
Help build your community. We want to hear your views and we need your participation to help LARA succeed

LARA Social Evening
LARA will be having a social gathering in the New Year. A chance for neighbours and friends to gather, chat, eat, drink and generally have a good time. Watch this space for details.

Community Advisory Panel (CAP)
Helen Ford from our Committee reported back from the local CAP meeting. The Community Action Panel (CAP) is a group that meets bi-monthly to discuss policing issues affecting your ward. Chaired by residents the group works together with police and Hackney Council to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. There is also room to discuss environmental issues which may be contributing to the level of crime in an area.
The good news is that the police reported decreasing levels of crime in and around the estate and a large drop in the anti-social behaviour being caused by a group of youths earlier this year.

Update on the Leswin Place Development
The Planning Department at Hackney Council agreed to meet a delegation from LARA to discuss the issues troubling residents about the Leswin Place development. Below is a summary of the meeting. A fuller report will be available at our next meeting.

How did Hackney council manage to 'lose' important documents for the appeal in 2009? Officers explained that the planning department had decided that the bulk of the residents issues and the council’s own reservations about the 2005 scheme were dealt with in the 2008 application. It is unlikely that they would have made a difference at the appeal.

What exactly is the position now? The conditions imposed at the Appeal remain to be clarified i.e. details of the design of the frontage of the B1 units need to be approved by the planners and also the materials to be used in the scheme.

Where does it go from here? Before beginning work on site, approval must be given which will cover the construction details, the engineering calculations and issues such as Means of Escape in Case of Fire. The Fire Brigade will comment on the scheme at this point. Residents will be within their rights to maintain a close eye on what is happening and call in council officers if any deviation from the approved scheme is witnessed. All adjoining owners will have rights under the Party Wall Act and an Agreement will be needed with each adjoining owner if any building work is likely to affect the garden walls.

Why has the enforcement order issued in 2005 never been enacted? The Enforcement Order against change of use to residential for the current buildings is still on the books at Hackney, because the buildings are deemed unfit for residential use. It is likely that the council will move to enact the Enforcement Order in the very near future.

Cycling Issues
LARA approached Councillor Louisa Thomson regarding cycling issues in the area. Louisa has advised that 11 additional cycle stands will be installed on Church Street overall, by the time the works are finished. She also notes that a lot of the issues raised with regard to road safety (both for cyclists and pedestrians) are linked to the one way system, and as any changes to the gyratory is a longer term project, focussing on more immediate improvements to roads the Council actually control is a productive way forward in the meantime.
With regard to the specific suggestions about contra flow cycle lanes on Brooke Road, Evering Road and Stoke Newington High Street – in the first instance, Louisa will contact Streetscene at the Council to ask for their views on this. Transport for London control the High Street and Evering Road which means it may take a while for them to respond. Louisa also promised to get in touch with Hackney Cycling Campaign who are working to improve cycling in the area, particularly the one way system. She suggested it may be an idea to invite them to a future LARA meeting.

More news to follow.....

Lara Social Evening

2009-12-04T22:15:00.000Z

As mentioned in our first newsletter: LARA will be having a social gathering in the New Year. A chance for neighbours and friends to gather, chat, eat, drink and generally have a good time. Watch this space for details.

We'll be looking for volunteers to help with this event so please let us know if you are interested!

Cycling Issues

2009-12-04T22:10:00.000Z

Want to have a moan about the inadequate access for cyclists in our area? Here's the place to start, but hopefully we can turn it into something positive and get some changes implemented. See our current newsletter post about what's going on at the moment. Send an email or comment here if you have any suggestions.

Our Talented Community!

2009-12-04T21:50:00.000Z

There are plenty of skilled people living in this community and it would be good to be able to find out what we all have to offer or recommend.
Everyone needs a good plumber, electrician, carpenter etc. etc. once in a while and it would be good to have local knowledge and word of mouth suggestions.

There is also a thriving community of artists and musicians amongst us so it would be great to tap into all the exciting things that are happening in our local area.
Want to publicize a local event, looking to recruit musicians, actors, set up a book club?
Send in your email suggestions and we'll do some posting and let the comments roll!

Before posting, please make sure the people you recommend are happy to have contact details put forward for all to view.
Good, solid, trustworthy recommendations only please!

Gardening Club

2009-12-04T21:09:00.000Z

This is a place for sharing tips on all things to do with gardening in our community. There must be plenty of keen gardeners out there willing to share a bit of advice!
Do you have plants to get rid of?
Want to do swaps?
Looking for a gardener?
Looking for advice about planting?
Email a suggestion and we can put it up for discussion. You can also comment directly after each post with your own suggestions/answers/recommendations etc.

We'd love you to submit photos too! Anything to lift the spirits and make things a bit greener round here is always good.

Disclaimer

2009-08-01T11:41:00.000+01:00

The content of this blog is provided for information purposes only.

No liaibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions.

The views expressed on this Blog are those of the contributors / authors and are not necessarily shared by the The Leswin Area Residents’ Association (LARA)

Through this blog you are able to link to other external blogs and websites. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Comments, additional content and corrections are very welcome - please contact us at lara.n16@googlemail.com

This Blog is a venue for discussion; therefore, the Authors will not delete critical comments, or comments portraying a different opinion from the Authors’ own. However, we reserve the right to edit, delete, or not publish a comment if this is deemed to be potentially illegal (this includes, but it is not limited to comments containing hateful, libelous, and defamatory content). Comments intending to advertise and/or off-topic (”SPAM“) will be deleted. The Authors also reserve the right to block Commenter(s) who have previously published offensive comments, illegal content, or SPAM.

LARA

STOKE NEWINGTON COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL (CAP)

Carols!

Protect Your Local Railway Station

A Family Friendly Concert

Upcoming Events and Local News

AGM - Minutes

Latest Newsletter delivered through your door.

Apple Day, Shopping and Bread Making!

Latest Newsletter September 2011

West Hackney Recreation Ground - Good News!

Sainsburys development in Stokey - Have your say

A Community Response to a New Supermarket in the Heart of Stoke Newington

News

The Big Lunch in the Bag

The LARA Big Lunch

Call to Volunteers, Saturday - FREE Pancake extravaganza!!!

STREETSCENE - BROOKE AREA TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - OPTIONS APPRAISAL

Update - LARA inclusive traffic campaign One-way system

SERIOUSLY IMPORTANT MEETING ABOUT WEST HACKNEY RECREATION GROUND - WEDNESDAY 16th FEBRUARY @ 7:30pm in St PAUL'S CHURCH

LARA Full Meeting & AGM

Open Letter Re: Stoke Newington Gyratory

Traffic Concerns – Upcoming Consultations

Stoke Newington Gyratory Consultation

Open Letter Re: Old Fire Station Planning Proposal

More Pics from Sunday Lunch

The Big Lunch.....We did it!

Join the West Hackney Recreation Ground User Group!

The Big Lunch Build Up!

TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE Following public meeting on June 17th, 2010

Minutes from our Last Public Meeting

LESWIN AREA RESIDENTS (LARA) PUBLIC MEETING

The LARA Big Lunch

LARA (Leswin Area Residents’ Association) TRAFFIC IN OUR AREA AND CHANGES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE

Leswin Area Residents Association (LARA) MINUTES

Celebrate Hackney, 5 June: help make it a success!

Next LARA Meeting

Local Jazz Poetry Nights

New Planning Applications

Update on traffic

Growing Communities Need Plastic Bags!

Do We Really Need Another Betting Shop?

Public Meeting Minutes

Meetings and Having Your Say!

Trolley Buses

Cycling / Traffic Meeting

New Late License Application

Foodie Blog

Looking for a handy man

Flickr Find

CAP Meeting - Licensing Issues

Looking For............

It's Snow Time!

Ghost Signs

Unwanted mens' clothing?

LARA Meeting Review

Visit to santa's grotto...

Reporting of Anti Social Behaviour

Just a Little Update....

Update on the Leswin Place Development

Burglaries in Darville Road

The Next Lara Meeting

Newsletter December 2009

Lara Social Evening

Cycling Issues

Our Talented Community!

Gardening Club

Disclaimer