Brownswood Councillors: January 2012

Clissold Park and House refurbishment complete

The £9m project funded by Hackney and the lottery, to improve the park and bring the house fully back into use, was completed on time and budget. Feedback has been very positive. http://www.hackney.gov.uk/Assets/Documents/park-wide-masterplan.pdf This month also saw the opening of the new Dalston CLR James Library.

Finsbury Park Regeneration Conference

We were pleased to support FinFuture’s Your Finsbury Park conference, on Saturday 28th January. The next stage is the development of the “Finsbury Park Accord”, an agreement how the three councils will work jointly to regenerate and promote the area.

Local Government Boundary Commission Review

As previously reported the commission are carrying out a review which may change the number of councillors, number of wards and ward boundaries. The council’s position is to maintain the overall number as broadly what we have now, maximise 3 member wards, and oppose 1 member wards. The other local parties generally agree.

£11.5m refurbishment of Kings Crescent Estate underway

The second stage of the refurbishment has begun including replacement of the electrical mains and lighting, all lifts, the installation of two tier door entry systems, and new roofs and windows for Weston and Lemsford Courts. Works are progressing well though inevitably causing some disruption.

Following a series of consultation and amendments, there was broad support from residents for the final proposed masterplan. Officers are working on submitting an outline planning application which they hope to have validated next month. The issue of flat roofs on the remaining blocks to be refurbished remains to be resolved. We also remain concerned that they have not properly addressed the GLA’s reservations.

Amongst management issues, letters to some residents requiring them to remove gates which blocked access to their flats in the blocks affected by prostitution and associated ASB had caused concern. We got Hackney Homes Chief Executive Charlotte Graves to personally visit them and agree a compromise. The late planning for the installation of new digital TV aerials has also led to some confusion and stress.
Woodberry Down regeneration

The first four KSS1 blocks which were for social rent or shared ownership, are now complete and fully occupied. “Waterside Apartments” (67 for private sale plus 8 shared ownership) are now complete and the first resident moved in on Friday the 20th January 2012 which is another key milestone reached. All units here have been sold. The hoarding line has now been moved back and “Goodchild Road” which allows access to the basement parking, created. Some photos are available.

Riverside Apartments is the final private block at the eastern end of the West Reservoir and is on schedule to be occupied towards the end of March 2012. “The Residence” Tower (175 private units) is being fitted out and residents will be moving in from July 2012 with the remainder by the end of October 2012.

Basic construction of both blocks at 268 Green Lanes is now complete, with fit out and landscaping to the external areas due to be finished by the end of February 2012.

Demolition works at Pewsham, Peak & Petherton are now complete with all materials crushed and stockpiled to be used later in the development. Construction works will begin on the first 180 affordable units as soon as the 3 houses have been vacated.
Berkley Homes are continuing to pursue a further tower block at Woodberry Down.

Alexandra National site

Construction is back on schedule with all the new council housing already allocated to returning tenants.

Community safety and policing

We attended the CAP meeting at the Redmond Centre on Woodberry Down on 12th January where we met new members of our police team. This saw increased concern about vice and burglaries. We pressed to ensure that policing would be maintained during the Olympic period. After the meeting we received data about local vice operations. Last month there were 21 prostitute cautions in total. The police now have 12 prostitutes who are on two cautions and can be arrested on the next occasion. As before, we want to ensure there is also appropriate support available for the women.

Manor TRA

Issues raised included parking on Amwell Court and youth engagement. There was a positive response to some of the work done by the new SNT team on Amwell.

St Johns Court TRA

The inaugural AGM was held this month and there were a number of issues raised. In particular we were keen to ensure that the Decent Homes funding secured for half of the estate is delivered in this financial year. We have also pushed to ensure flats not included in this round are at the very least surveyed in the near future. Other issues related to general tidiness of the estate and we will continue to monitor this.

Hackney school success

A new report from the Centre Forum think tank highlighted that Hackney was now one of higher achieving authorities in the country. On measures related to closing the achievement gap and overall attainment, we were in the top ten in London. London LEAs overall were found to be out-performing those in the rest of the country.

Brownswood Councillors

Monday, January 30, 2012

February Councillors Report

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Planning application for new 108 bed hostel at Royal Park Hotel, 350 - 356 Seven Sisters Road