We are creating an excellent local model but ....

The SH AGM was another well attended, top networking event with over 50 people from all across the Hackney spectrum. We are doing really well and the network grows steadily everyday (over 600 networking on the SH website).…

The Smart Homes grant scheme was launched this week with £6.5m in grant funding for energy-saving on homes in 6 London boroughs…

Transport for London is consulting again on Crossrail 2.  They now want to know if we'd prefer to have a Crossrail 2 station at Dalston or Hackney Central.  Apparently it will be cheaper than having stations at both.  The Homerton option has completely gone from the agenda.  Closes 25th July 2014.…

Hi!  Have you been affected by or noticed changes in your area as a result of gentrification? The increased house prices, the effects on the environment and the changing social nature of Hackney?

My name is Georgie and I'm studying Geography with Economics at Queen Mary, University of London and doing my dissertation this summer on the spatial relationship between gentrification and race in Hackney. I am currently looking for research participants to take part in 45 minute interviews…

Congratulations to the Green Party for a strong showing in the elections held in Hackney last week.  The Greens gained second place in the Mayoral, Council and European elections, confirming the growing support for the green agenda.  Greens came second in 17 out of 21 wards showing good support across the borough.  

The  newly elected councillors and mayor will all be aware of the level of support for the green agenda in their wards - let's make sure they act on that in the next four…

Nick Perry of Stokey Local succeeded in persuading a High Court judge to grant leave for a judicial review (JR) of the Wilmer Place planning deicison. This is the second JR to be granted permission to proceed. It's complicated but there are two challenges (JRs) to two LBH planning decisions to allow Newmark Properties to build a Sainsbury's and block…

Remember whoever you vote for the government always wins.

Which means what is misrepresented to us as 'democracy' is in reality nothing of the sort. Whether the control comes from Capital, corporate, State, Media or other institutional or private POWER,…

Jules Pipe told the Hackney Cyclists' meeting on Wednesday that TfL have informed him that returning the Stoke Newington Gyratory to 2-way working is on their work plan for 2018.

Was anyone else aware of this?

I'm not sure exactly what it means: will this definitely happen or will it maybe happen depending on funding etc.?

I look forward to more details, but it definitely sounds like good news.

On Thursday May 22nd Hackney goes to the polls to vote for 57 local councillors, 1 Hackney Mayor, and 8 London Euro MPs.  This will be your chance to say who you want to run our council and represent you in Europe.   A list of candidates is available here.

Hackney Unites is holding…

A lot of you will know about the fly tipping that wrecked the meadow last year. What you may not know is that we are well on track to fixing it. The rubbish is gone and after a bit of gentle lobbying the ruts have mostly been ironed out. We will be sowing meadow seeds on 10 May at 11AM so please come on down and lend a hand.

Sanctuary Housing have kindly supported our application to get the gardening club up and running again this autumn (fun for little ones after…

For our third Restart Party we joined the fun at Abney Park's well-attended spring fun day on April 12th.  On offer was wood carving, stone carving, music, and stalls from Abney Park Trust, RSPB, Friends of the Earth and Hackney Energy as well as music and dancing.  I was lucky enough to win an RSPB apron  in the raffle!

Abney Park Trust kindly turned the lovely eco classroom over to us, and we enjoyed being surrounded  by wildlife pictures, carved wood, and insect models as we…

A food swap is a seasonally event where people come together to share, exchange andd celebrate homemade, homegrown, or foraged edible goods with each other. Swaps allow direct trades to take place between attendees, e.g., a loaf of bread for a jar of pickles or a half-dozen backyard eggs. These events are a great way to diversify the homemade foods in your own pantry while getting to know members of your local food community.

Everyone is welcome! You just need…

I had a wonderful day pruning one of Hackney's orchards today. I find it hard to reconcile the beauty of these warm first days of spring, the peach blossom, the bird song, the emerging bees and the bursting hope of a new season, with the insanity and violence that secretly dominates our world. As the EU, USA and Russia play dangerous…

Here's a copy of a draft Hackney Sustainable Food Charter, prepared by the new Hackney Food Partnership. Comments and support are welcome now but please also come along to the launch event on 2nd March, at The Russet, Hackney Downs Studios, from 3 to 4.30pm (food market outside from 12 noon to 5pm).  

Through the Hackney Food Charter, we will be focusing on issues such as improving school and care meals,helping good food enterprises to flourish, providing residents with useful tools…

We held our second Restart Hackney party at the Redmond Centre on the 1st February 2014.  It was a beautiful day and queues were forming as we prepared to start.  We had the Daily Telegraph and BBC London on hand to report on the event and lots of interest after the Restart Project had been on the BBC earlier that week.

Many thanks to all the repairers, our lovely…

Olympic Park - Land Grab for Unaffordable Housing

The London Legacy Deveolopment Corporation (the name is descriptive!) wants to steal 0.85ha of the Olympic legacy park to make money for private housing.  Hackney lost 9 ha of green space to the olympics including very biodiverse sites like Arena Field and White Hart Field.  After the £12bn party for the elite the LLDC was created to deliver a lasting legacy for…

Rare reed beetle found at Stoke Newington East Reservoir

The Nationally Scarce reed beetle Demetrias imperialis.  I found this little beauty when collecting reeds to make bee/bug hotels. At less than 6mm its easy to miss but the extensive reed baeds at the…

Hackney has been awarded the third highest level of New Homes Bonus in the UK for 2014-15 - £13,141,188. The…

The West Anglia lines are to become part of the Overground network report the Evening Standard and …