Haggerston Pool supporters are asked to help in registering Haggerston Pool as a Community Asset. The Save Haggerston Pool campaign want to do this first to establish the community's interest in the pool, and second it will help should we apply for grants to start work on the pool.

Your support is needed - Click…

Over recent months I've posted a number of blogs about Dalston development issues here and on the Hackney Unites websites.  Here is an article I've written for the Hackney Society with links to each and a summary of what Hackney Unites is trying to do in mobilising local communities to get a better deal from new developments.  If you want to get involved with their Dalston Futures project fill out the questionnaire attached (and on their website) to join their mailing list for future…

A new year. It would be nice to start it with a message of hope. Alas that's not very easy in a country dominated by a secret state, rich crooks and coward politicians. To be fair to myself I did start the year with my usual hopeful NYD nature walk around Abney Nature Reserve. Remarkable nearly 40 people braved the cold, wind and rain to join me. It was surprisingly lovely.

But having foolishly glanced at Tweets on the …

Dalstonmanifesto1-14.pdf

New Year, new skills.  I think I've finally managed to convert to pdf and attach the list of local demands for the future of Dalston that emerged from the Dalston Peoples Festival last July.  The delay is not all my fault as it took ages to get everyone to respond with amendments and some never did.  If this works I might even post some photos too.  If…

An offer for London-based employers with 5 or more staff*



What’s available?

• Free cycle parking for staff – view the various types on our website
• Free bike checks…

Funny how that's not a question that was asked very often. Even though there are fewer and fewer people alive today who can actually remember the day US democracy was assassinated 50 years ago it seems to me an event worth remembering. If you are at all unsure about how or why JFK was murdered then it's not very hard to educate yourself. In fact it can be fairly entertaining since Oliver Stone's 1993 movie is based on a pretty good balance of fact…

Hackney Unites are going places in engaging the local community to press for regeneration in Dalston that better benefits us all.  They did post the report I wrote on the "Making a difference..." event at the Dalston Peoples Festival back in July.  You can find it at; http://hackneyunites.blogspot.co.uk/ I've now worked through that report and included all the policy ideas into a Dalston manifesto which I hope to…

Our first Restart party at Passing Clouds with Friends of the Earth went well, so many people we were struggling to keep up with demand.  It was great the way people pitched in to help repair each other's stuff!  Thanks to Friedericke, our friends at…

The North London Waste Authority is abandoning the procurement process for waste contracts estimated to be worth more than £3bn over 25 to 30 years. and is looking at cheaper options instead.

The process came under fire after the withdrawal of Veolia left FCC Environmental and its partner Skanksa as the sole bidder for one contract to collect…

Newmark has re-submitted same application to be heard by LBH November 6^th in order to circumvent the arguments of our Judicial Review; SLocal is therefore calling for ‘calling in’ of application on grounds that LBH not qualified to judge it because of complex issues. Decision would then have to be made by a Planning Inspector rather than by councillors. ‘ Calling in’ is decided by Eric Pickles as Secretary of State for Communities and is the person we need to…

Mabley Green in Hackney is currently a boring but quite large patch of grass.  The Mabley Green User Group received £100,000 (held by the council) to improve it and wants the money to be spent on creating the world's largest edible park full of fruit and nut trees, herbs and shrubs for all to enjoy.  Sign their petition to the council …

I've finally sent Hackney Unites a 15 page report I wrote on the planning and regeneration theme I organised for their Dalston Peoples Festival.  We'll add a link from this site once it gets posted on their website. Since the impact of the proposed redevelopment of Kingsland Shopping Centre was a big issue throughout the Festival I've sent the developers a summary of our concerns and attach it below. They did promise to submit an applciation this September but seemed to have made no effort…

By: Bridget Newbery (from …

Central to the Restart project is the idea of the "Restart Party" an event where members of the public bring along "broken electronics and sad kit to troubleshoot and fix".  The event is facilitated by a number of repairers who bring tools and expertise, and who facilitate people's learning to repair things for themselves.  Restart are holding two events at Arcola…

In March Hackney changed its recycling system in a move that the council expected would boost recycling rates considerably.

The change from green boxes to green bags has made recycling easier, especially for those living in flats, but provisional figures show that Hackney is recycling only 0.5% more using recycling sacks. This is not the step change that was expected.…

Can some suitably practical local person please apply to be included in the Restart Project's London "how to" session on 14th September: how to get started running a Restart Party or community repair event - logistics, tools, venues, health & safety as well as a Restart Party, apparently.

The Project recently ran their first ever event…

TfL is consulting on two options for Crossrail 2, and the consultation closes on 2nd August. 

While I agree Hackney needs a tube line it seems these proposals are more concerned with future central area tube congestion than the transport needs of Hackney; the Metro option will have only one station in…

I'd encourage people to look at Clean Thames and sign the petition against the supersewer. This is expensive, non sustainable [it'll probably fill with increased rainfall, concrete area and population, like a watery version of the M25] and will add £80 to Thames Water bills. 

Actually the £80 added to TW bottom line is probably why they're so keen on it, especially as it's being built with fairly cheap government money.…

Finding a voice on the future of Dalston...

Sunday 14^th July; 1.00 pm till 5.00 pm, The Arcola Theatre, Ashwin Street.

Strategic planning in Dalston;  2.30 pm –…