Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Our Talented Community and Local Events

We have a new Noticeboard!
We've had a few requests recently to post about events, offers of work and recommendations for tradespeople etc. Here's an update of recent contacts.  Apologies for the late posting and if you would like to 'advertise' your local talent please read the info on our Noticeboard for the quickest way to do it - otherwise, keep sending in the emails and we'll post up whenever we can.

Latest requests:

Dear LARA,

I have been living on Bayston Road for 18 months and would like to extend an offer of Private Tuition to the residents of our area.

I currently tutor a 9yr old girl in Archway, preparing her for the 11+ exam in English, Maths, Science, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. I am an Oxford University English Literature graduate and have experience teaching English, Drama, and English as a Foreign Language from beginner to A level standard. I can also teach Spanish (I am a fluent speaker) and Latin (up to GCSE).

As I am local, self-employed and not paying fees to an agency, I can offer a friendly, flexible and reliable tutoring service at competitive rates. If you think this may interest the residents involved in LARA, do please pass on this email. I would love to hear from them. Last year I met lots of young people (ages 3-11) in Stoke Newington, leading the drama component of half-term and holiday creative workshops at Newington Dance Space on Church Street. I know the Easter holidays are coming up and this is a crucial time for revision and extra help outside of school! I am happy to provide more information or references on request.

Many thanks,

Lucy
Contact:
wray.lucy@googlemail.com


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Babysitter Needed?

Dear LARA community,

We are 4 lively creative 20 something ladies living in N16 (Bayston Road) keen to gain some extra pocket money in the evenings and weekends. If you could put this up on your blog, we'd be chuffed to bits.

Thanks a lot,
The ladies of Bayston Road

(07929016002)

p.s Here's my personal photo blog if you are at all interested - caraguthriephotos.blogspot.com



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and finally not quite a local - but sounds interesting anyway!
 Dear N16 folks,

I live in france and teach english there, and am doing a Jazz poetry performance in Dalston on April 10. could you please inform your members of this event. people and come come along and have a good time in this nice little bohemian bar and we can chat about jazz and poetry and the Beat generation etc. below's the info:

Jazz Poetry Improv Ensemble

Servant Jazz Quarters | 10a BRADBURY STREET | DALSTON | N16 8JNApril 10, 8pm - 10.30pm
door fee: £5


Taran Singh, poetry (english, french, hindi)
Colin Webster, saxophones
Noel Taylor, clarinets
Ollie Brice, doublebass
Pharoah Russell, drums

Jazz Poetry Improv Ensemble brings together performance poetry and free jazz. Taran Singh performs poetry by the Beat Generation poets, black poets and original poems. The musicians improvise around the voice to create the sonic atmosphere that the context and the tone of the poems call for. Each performance is unique, cos entirely improvised in the moment. The poems are fun and the music runs the gamut from blues to jazz to funk to free jazz. Poetry in FRENCH, ENGLISH & HINDI. 

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

A Big Cheers to the Pub Quiz!


Our first Lara fundraiser was a great success thanks to all the local residents that turned up on the night and made it a great evening. We had a full house and the competition was severe!
Jamie and Jim did a brilliant double act on questions and answers, whilst our youngest quiz master Arthur kept everyone entertained during the grand 'vintage' raffle.


Many thanks to the White Hart for letting us have their room upstairs (a fantastic room for a private party!) and a big thanks to all our committee for helping to set it all in motion.
We managed to raise £133 which will help towards promoting and funding our Big Lunch in the summer and any admin costs for future leafleting/newsletters etc. throughout the year.

Thanks for all the donations to the raffle - which included extra special home made marmalade, a box of chocs, various bottles of fine booze, a pair of genuine Ray Bans, a super stylish photo of the 'Carry On' star Charles Hawtry, a classic retro alarm clock (which went off mid game!) and the grand prize of a designer lamp by local lighting Queen Helen Rawlinson
and the winners ......






Drum roll..........
Top prize went to Rachel..or was it Jim?

If anyone can remember who actually won the quiz and team names, please add in the comments. We were the Tyssen Tearaways!

See you at the next one!

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

The LARA Pub Quiz

Just a reminder about the LARA pub quiz tomorrow night:



LARA PUB QUIZ + RAFFLE - Upstairs at the White Hart. 69 Stoke Newington High Street, N16. Wednesday 1st February 2012. 8.00pm start. £2 entry

Make up a team of friends and become Brain of Stoke Newington.
Fun! Pub grub! Competitiveness! Prizes! Meet and beat your neighbour!
Fundraiser for LARA (Leswin Are Residents’ Association).

Dont worry if you don't have a team, you can just turn up tomorrow and join in the fun.

Hopefully see you there.

LARA committee

Sunday, 11 December 2011

STOKE NEWINGTON COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL (CAP)

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
at
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.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Protect Your Local Railway Station

Hackney Unites
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

Sunday, 27 November 2011

A Family Friendly Concert

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

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Upcoming Events and Local News

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.'


Monday, 24 October 2011

AGM - Minutes

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!


Friday, 21 October 2011

Latest Newsletter delivered through your door.

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.


Thursday, 13 October 2011

Apple Day, Shopping and Bread Making!

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!

Friday, 16 September 2011

Latest Newsletter September 2011

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.

Thursday, 14 July 2011

West Hackney Recreation Ground - Good News!

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



Sunday, 3 July 2011

Sainsburys development in Stokey - Have your say

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.