Area Action Plan for Clapton - new A5 leaflet

(click on the leaflet above to see it full size - bit bigger than A4)

•

The leafet above is also available to download

in various sizes on my Flickr stream

 including this 2-up on A4
 version below on Flickr 
ready to print out on inkjet
then cut in half...

...to produce 2 x A5 leaflets

•

  The main "How to"

Demand an AREA ACTION PLAN for Clapton 

with letter to copy & paste

 plus petition link,
posters, notes & background material  
 is three or four posts down

 Scroll down or click:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/demand-area-action-plan-for-clapton-now.html

•

Please make sure you

 sign the petition:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/33470.html

•

Next enhanced Beecholme TRA meeting Wed 17th Feb '10 at 7pm + Grounds project

Poster for the meeting

Featuring the B&C TRA chair, vice-chair, secretary & treasurer.

 

There's a much larger version on my Flickr stream 

This is the first of our quarterly "Enhanced" meetings

of the

Beecholme & Casimir

Tenants & Residents Association

for 2010.

Wed 17th Feb @ 7pm

in the "Alf Partridge Community Hall"

on the corner of Prout Road & Casimir Road

"Enhanced" refers to the fact that our estate manager is present - and usually hackney Homes officers and cllr Linda kelly.

• 

 GROUNDS PROJECT - Phase 1: planting

We will be deciding which planting proposal for the beds we prefer at the meeting.

 Have your say as a Beecholme resident.

After all, you'll be living with the view all year!

We have varying proposals, from informal to formal, all with photos of

the plants they intend to use and the number of

beds each gardening company can do within budget.

 You will be leafleted in the next few days:

•

£2,500 is from our estate Environmental Improvement Budget '09 from Hackney Homes

and £5,000 is the grant we successfully applied for last year from HCVS

•

 Check back for updates

There will be photos of the proposed planting

here as soon as I get them all in as well.

•

Please do come along and participate if you are a local Hackney Homes resident.

David White (Sec. B&C TRA)

Report of the TRAM DEPOT meeting at B6 college

updated 1st Feb -19:00 hrs
 ....

 Looking for AREA ACTION PLAN for Clapton?
 Just scroll down or click this link below - direct to just that post:
  http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/demand-area-action-plan-for-clapton-now.html 

....

Meeting on the19th Jan 2010

(more photos below)

At the meeting

From right to left in the photo above:

Cllrs Deniz Oguzkanli, Linda Kelly and Ian Rathbone 

plus Fred Raphael from Highways and Ian Bailey from planning

with about 50(+) people attending.

The Hackney Society was represented by Tony Gillett with Julia Lafferty.

The developer was invited but didn't attend.

>><< 

 Ian Bailey will accept further objections until the app is decided,

which may be anytime in the next few days up to early March.

So keep spreading the word and get those objections in now

 
If it goes to the planning committee it can not be dealt with before March.
Of course, the application (2009/2490) may not go to committee.
 
>><<

 
Objections sent in so far
There have been 70 letters sent in along with
(I'm not sure if that includes emails)
186 signatures on the electronic petition and
326 signatures on the written petition. 

 That is total of 582 objections to Jan 16 alone.

 Thank you to everyone who'se sent an objection in

  and especially to Christine Williamson (vice-chair B&C TRA)

who collected the written petition

and who has done a lot of work behind the scenes.

>><<

 
If you haven't sent an objection in yet, do it right now!

just scroll down or click

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/12/claptons-old-tram-depot-under-threat.html

  BTW, The electronic petition IS STILL ACTIVE and taking signatures  
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-tram-depot-workshops.htm

>><<

Here are some shots I took before the meeting started:

 

 ....

The poster for the meeting

(click on it to see it full size or just scroll down the full blog)

...

If you haven't seen it already, don't miss

 The Hackney Society's considered objection to the planning app

in the  "tram depot under threat"  post.

Just scroll down or click:

claptons-old-tram-depot-under-threat

 ....

 1st Feb

  

 new story by the Hackney Citizen

 "Residents continue fight to save Clapton Tram Sheds" 

Locals-remain-opposed-despite-developer’s-efforts

....

 21st Jan

 "Locals protest against Tram Depot demolition"

 Is the (corrected) title of a report by eastlondonlines.co.uk on the meeting with info about the Depot and a variety of quotes at this link:

  

   eastlondonlines.co.uk 

...

other links to editorials and Gazette article further down or click:

tramdeponewsstoriespost

more to come, so check back later.

Park safety - We need Park Wardens & Play Area Supervisors

Don't sit on the Fence, have your say!

Complete the Safe Park Survey Now.


NOTE: See the slider at the bottom of the form as well as right side

Please do fill in survey above.

Wouldn't It be nice to be able to take your children to your local parks play area in the knowledge not only that they'll be safe but that qualiffied help is at hand for any minor accidents and that any changing rooms or toilets will be open!

•
  
You can see the responses at
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tm4sfwVQvSid1fG0Oyv1QRA&output=html

•
  

Here's a short link direct to just to the survey form above

Please do copy it to forward to your friends

http://tiny.cc/SafeParks

Demand an Area Action Plan for Clapton NOW - as promised in 2005

Update Mon 8th Feb  

 

Demand one now!

  ....

....


The fight against badly designed, ugly or inappropriate buildings and redevelopment is currently left for residents to object to at the planning stage.

The recent series of campaigns to try and save our unique heritage
might not have been needed if we had one!

Clapton needs an "AREA ACTION PLAN"

 Please sign our Petition below 
(with standard letter to copy & paste)
sponsored by Cllrs Linda Kelly, Ian Rathbone & Deniz Oguzkanli
and
fully supported by The Hackney Society 

and Diane Abbott MP

It's not just about saving old buildings though, it's about creating a vision for the future, creating a balanced community and an attractive visual environment.

With the Olympics coming we need to curb the worst excesses of developers trying to cash in on high rents. We need to specify streets in which houses cannot be sub-divided into flats by developers for example. 

We need to specify things that impact on our visual environment like signs but more than that, we need to have something we can aim for - an "ideal" Clapton that we can work towards.


We need to lower population density in some areas, increase the number of real homes with gardens, give a higher priority to parks and recreation.

That is, set standards and give guidance
specifically for
and relevant to Clapton.


Some developers, driven soley by greed and with the Olympics in mind, have put in applications with a density of well over 600 hr/ha (habitable residences per hectare), with one a shocking 800hr/ha, when the norm is around 200hr/ha.
(as per Unitary Devel' Plan).

An Area Action Plan would give us, the citizens a vital tool, one that gives us a chance to formulate exactly what our vision for the future is and make sure it comes about.

Both Homerton and Dalston (among many others) already have Action Plans.
Clapton was promised one in 2005!!


Isn't it about time we caught up?

Clapton has it's own unique community which need to be dealt with separately, rather than within the Hackney wide Unitary development plan alone. What might be good for one area may not be in another.

 The online PETITION

The petition is for an Area Action Plan and is

to be given to Cllr Guy Nicholson, Cabinet member for Regeneration

and to Graham Loveland, Assistant Director for Planning & Regeneration.

click the blue box above or this link:

http://www.gopetition.com/online/33470.html

or

http://tiny.cc/ClaptonAreaPlanPetition

>><<

Demand an Area Action Plan personally now!

You can write, phone or email as well:

Write to:

Councillor Guy Nicholson,
Cabinet member for Regeneration.,
c/o Hackney Town Hall,
Mare Street,
Hackney E8 1EA

+

Graham Loveland,
Assistant Director for Planning & Regeneration.,
c/o Hackney Town Hall,
Mare Street,
Hackney E8 1EA

•

or phone them on

020 8356 500 (switchboard)

•

or email them at

guy.nicholson@hackney.gov.uk
+
graham.loveland@hackney.gov.uk

•

 The petition reads:

Dear Cllr Nicholson and Mr Loveland,

We demand an Area Action Plan for Clapton now, in 2010, as we were promised in 2005. Unlike Homerton & Dalston for example, Clapton has no AREA ACTION PLAN.

Consequently, future planning is in the hands of developers by default with only objectors to bad planning applications standing in their way.

In very many cases the planning dept. can't protect our heritage - those unlisted (even listed) older buildings that fall into the hands of developers, nor can they refuse the sub-division of houses into flats.
We desperatly need a guiding area plan for Clapton, as witnessed by several recent high profile campaigns to save buildings, jobs and residents quality of life.

We need to set local standards and create a vision for Clapton.

We request you urgently look at the creation of Clapton's own Area Action Plan and make it a reality as soon as possible.

•

 There is a space for your further comments at the bottom of the petition
 (to a max of characters 500)

You may want to copy and paste this or make your own comment:

There is an urgent need for an Area Action Plan with developers hoping to cash in on high Olymics rents, snapping up every house that comes onto the market and sub-dividing it. Often adding another building with flats in what was the garden!

Then there's the recent campaigns to save buildings mentioned in the petition text.

The Old Tram Depot development has had 582 objections registered up to 16th Jan alone.

That gives you an idea of local opinion and the desperate need for the plan.

•

 If you've already signed and want to edit your comments you can do so at any time - just "sign the petition" again -  your originally entered form will appear
•

Standard letter to copy & paste for email or letter:

Dear Cllr Nicholson and Mr Loveland,

I demand an Area Action Plan for Clapton now, as we were promised in 2005.

I'm sure you are aware that unlike Homerton & Dalston for example, Clapton has no AREA ACTION PLAN.

Consequently, future planning is in the hands of developers by default with only objectors to bad planning applications standing in their way.

In very many cases the planning dept. can't protect our heritage - those unlisted (even listed) older buildings that fall into the hands of developers, nor can they always refuse the sub-division of houses into flats.
With developers hoping to cash in on high Olymics rents, they are snapping up every house that comes onto the market and sub-dividing it, often adding another building with 3 or 4 flats in what was the garden!
We desperatly need a guiding area plan for Clapton, as witnessed by several recent high profile campaigns to save buildings, jobs and residents quality of life.

The Old Tram Depot being the most recent example. There have been 582 objections to the proposed development registered with planning up to 16th Jan alone.
That gives you an indication of the strength of local opinion and just how badly an action plan is needed.

We need to set the standard and create a vision for Clapton.

I request you urgently look into the creation of Clapton's own Area Action Plan and make it a reality as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

your name

your address

your email

>><<

poster 1 variation

Also up on my Flickr stream

as are all the posters

(click on any poster to see it full size and to download it)

Poster No1.

all posters available to download in a variety of sizes at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/

>><<

We need your help to preserve Clapton's unique heritage and curb

what is tantamount to a developers free4all

by demanding

Clapton's own "AREA ACTION PLAN"

>><<

Background & Reference

 

The Hackney Society 

The Hackney Society works to preserve Hackney's unique heritage and make the area a better place in which to live and work.
The Society was formed in 1967 to involve and support local people in the conservation and regeneration of Hackney's built environment and public spaces.

 

http://www.hackneysociety.org/

>><<

 The quality of our visual environment

These are the sorts of things an AREA ACTION PLAN might take into account

 in order to avoid  this sort of thing

 The above is from "Living Places: Caring for Quality" 2004

from the Office of the deputy prime minister

  

Living Places - Caring for quality

Well worth taking a look at, as is the pdf to download at

How to improve residential areas

Here's a quote from it:

"One of the most important factors affecting
the quality of life in any neighbourhood is
how well its public spaces are managed and
maintained. And by public spaces, we mean
not only streets, pavements, car parks, play
areas and green spaces but also houses,
shop frontages and private gardens."

>><<

Interim poster no.3

"Ink miser version"

Still working on it, so do check back.

but if you need something to print out on inkjet straight away

this has the essential info...

Poster No3.

 

new header

All posters/leafets and artwork here
is available to download (in all sizes) at
my Flickr stream

....

There's more to come over the next few days

...so please do check back.

Old Tram Depot (38-40 Upp Clapton Rd) - re-development object! COMIC & POSTERS

UPDATED Wed 3rd Feb
Objections still being taken - no decision yet

>><<

REPORT of the B6 meeting with photo
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/report-of-tram-depot-meeting-at-b6.html

>><<

STOP PRESS - 3rd Feb

Objection deadline effectively extended *
"comments" still being accepted

*Ian Bailey will accept further objections until the app is decided, 

which, if it goes to the planning committee

can not be before early March.

Of course, the application (2009/2490) may be decided without going to committee.

In the meantime keep spreading the word
and getting those objections in. 

Up to 16th Jan there have been 70 letters of objection sent in
and 186 on the electronic petition and 326 on a written petition
= total of 582 objection up to 16 Jan alone.

(click on the leaflets to see them full size)

 ..

....
b/w version with less coverage for you ink misers out there
(click on the leaflet to see it full size A5)
....

>><<



How to
OBJECT ONLINE (NOW) 
with objection letter to cut & paste 

 just scroll further down this blog

or click:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/12/claptons-old-tram-depot-under-threat.html 

>><<

Alternatively
Go direct to the planning depts
online "Comment" form:
 
 hackney.gov.ukCommentPLANNING&appNumber=2009/2490


>><<


 NEWS STORIES 

New article in the Gazette and the Hackney Citizen

(click on the article to see it full size)

.... 

 1st Feb

  

 Hackney Citizen

 "Residents continue fight to save Clapton Tram Sheds" 

 Locals-remain-opposed-despite-developer’s-efforts

....

 21st Jan

"Clapton Tram Sheds under threat"


see the whole page article at:

http://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/?p=6931  





....

 "eastlondonlines.co.uk"

Have a report "Locals protest against Tram Depot demolition" 
on the B6 meeting
with quotes from a variety of

relevant sources and info about the depot at:

 

Locals-protest-demolition

....  
"myhackney.co.uk"

 also has a report with links

http://www.myhackney.co.uk/news/clapton-tram-sheds-under-threat



....

Nothing directly about the Tram Depot campaign, but

there's an article about Vulpus Vulpus aka Purge Projects in the Prout Road Depot units:

nature-and-art-cross-boundaries 

 

....

 

New 4 page Tram Depot "OBJECT" comic

To get this 4 page comic as separate pages (pngs) just click on the comic name bottom left corner of the slideshow window - to get to the picassa album.

also available at my Flickr set "The Old Tram Depot":

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157623124247194/


>><<

Don't forget, just scroll down further or click

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/12/claptons-old-tram-depot-under-threat.html 

 to object online

or get the planners contact info

to email or write. 

>><<

What the professionals think

 

The architects journal tram depot article is no longer avalable on their site but it did include this pole and comment:

 

more/updates to come...

My 2009 Christmas card

(Scroll down for the OLD TRAM DEPOT info and how to object to the re-development)

Click on the card above to see it full size - A5 landscape

VULPUS new exhibition CHANGING NATURE (PLUS Tram Depot objection + Millfields Play Area notes)

STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS

STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS • STOP PRESS

....   


21st Jan update
.... 
At VULPUS - new exhibit - to 31st Jan
"Changing the Nature"

....

1. How to object to the Old Tram Depot re-development

planning application 2009/2490

 see post below or click:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/12/claptons-old-tram-depot-under-threat.html

NEW GoPetition:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-tram-depot-workshops.html

STOP PRESS (21st Jan):

Objection deadline effectively extended...
as the planning dept will consider comments  proir to its determination, which could be anytime up to early March - petition still active.

 

.... 

2. Result of 2nd Millfields Park Play Area meeting:
Update 17th Dec - NEW PLANNING APPLICATION WILL BE SOUGHT

including

"The view of residents - one residents persective"

and

• Play Area & Park comment form - your views will make a difference

Please do add a comment, even if it's only a few words

see three posts below or click:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/11/millfields-pk-nth-play-area-meeting-on.html

....

NOTE: next Millfields Park Users Group meeting

is at the Beecholme Hall (bottom corner of Prout Road)

on 23rd Jan at 1pm

• see the new Millfields Park Master Plan •

....

3. Demand an "AREA ACTION PLAN" for Clapton
Write, phone or email + petition at:
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/demand-area-action-plan-for-clapton-now.html

....

END STOP PRESS • END STOP PRESS • END STOP PRESS • END STOP

END STOP PRESS • END STOP PRESS • END STOP PRESS • END STOP

...

 15 January – 31st January, 2010 

 

Artists:
Ann-Marie James, Anna Chrystal, Ally Mellor, Iain S. Hales, James Page, Robert Fearns, Scott Massey, Yolande Kenny
....
The Arts provide us with the opportunity to re-evaluate the borders and definitions of the culture we find ourselves in.

This exhibition will look at interpretations of nature and the linguistic and visual systems of codes that permeate our understanding of nature. The materials that artworks are made of are significant in the way we understand and contextualise a piece. Through exploring these definitions we aim to challenge, not only the categorisations of nature and materiality, but also artworks themselves.  The way we seek to understand ideas and objects in relation to semantic structures provides a secure world-view but limits the terms in! which we process information.

Changing The Nature includes work which, either consciously or sub-consciously, taps into our growing concern with an environmental, necessarily global approach to nature as a wider, interlinked, ecological system.  A system that is not outside culture, but inextricably linked to it via phenomenon such as climate change, sustainability and a new consciousness of how we use the materials in the world around us.


V U L P U S    V U L P U S
4 / 5  P r o u t  R o a d  C l a p t o n
http://vulpesvulpes.org/index.html 

...

...

Last exhibition (Arctic Fox)

Vulpes Vulpes presents Arctic Fox


  

12/12/09  – 10/01/09

Open Sat/Sun 11am 6pm (or by appointment)

 
An exhibition of new work from eleven emerging artists selected by Vulpes Vulpes.

 

We have selected work which we feel is of interest both visually and conceptually and displays a concise and considered approach in all aspects of the art making process.  The show comprises a range of media and methodologies including sculpture, painting, video, site specific installation, drawing, text and animation.

 

The artists exhibiting are: Aaron Head, Dermot Punnett, Gary Colclough, Guy Bigland, Hannah Brown, Kevin Hunt, Louisa Durose, Matthew Hahn, Michael Lawton, Siobhan Wall, and Shona Davies & David Monaghan.

 

Vulpes Vulpes is an artist run gallery and project space in Hackney.

 

Email: information@vulpesvulpes.org

  

http://www.vulpesvulpes.org/forthcoming_events.html

 

Clapton's "Old Tram Depot" UNDER THREAT AGAIN

UPDATE Wed 3rd Feb
Objections to app 2009/2490 are still being taken
If you haven't objected yet, do so now

Ian Bailey will accept further objections until the app is decided

 which could be anytime in the next few days up until early March

if it goes to the planning committee

We'll keep you informed

in the meantime keep spreading the word

and getting those objections in.

>><<

Report on the Public meeting at B6 college (posted 19th Jan + updates)

Tram Depot Public Meeting

>><<

   

 

  HOW TO OBJECT

TO THE DEMOLITION & RE-DEVELOPMENT 

SEE my long standard letter a few inches below to copy & paste or
see the new short letter (plus info) at

http://tramdepot.wikispot.org/Front_Page

now with my 4 page comic about the depot as well.
Download the comic at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157623124247194/
 
NEW GoPetition:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-tram-depot-workshops.html

Below is a small poster (approx A5) you may want to download

Right click & select "Save as" or "Open link in new window" to see it full size then "Save as".

HOW TO OBJECT

1. ONLINE

The easiest way to object or comment is online at this link:

OBJECT or comment on Planning App 2009/2490

see the standard letter below to cut & paste 

.....

Just to confirm, the application no. is 2009/2490

The planning officer is Ian Bailey

Phone: 020 8356 8442 • Fax: 020 8356 8087

Email: ian.bailey@hackney.gov.uk

NB: When you object make sure you leave your name and contact details.

Without both your comments/objections will not be registered.

.....

2. WRITE 

You can write to Ian Bailey at:

Ian Bailey

Hackney Neighbourhoods & Regeneration,

Planning Service,

2 Hillman St, Hackney E8 1FB.

OR


Ian Bailey

Hackney Neighbourhoods & Regeneration,

 Planning Service,

 Planning Duty Desk

 275 Mare Street

 E8 1GR

(Ian is in the process of moving to the main offices on Mare St so you can also write to him via the duty desk)

Make sure you give

1. Your name

2. Your address (ideally give your ph or email as well)

NB. You should get a recipt for all letters and emails in due course. If you drop in your letter in person to the Town Hall or planning office you should get a receipt there and then.
 .......

3. EMAIL

-->
ian.bailey@hackney.gov.uk  

again, make sure you give your name and address 

I recommend you start with something along the lines of 

"Re: 38-40 Upper Clapton Rd

(The Old Tram Depot)

Application No. 2009/2490

Dear Mr Bailey, I object to this planning application (2009/2490) because...."

 .......

SEE THE STANDARD LETTER BELOW

You can copy and paste part or all of it.

 .......

You'll find all the planning documents submitted in support of the application at this link:

2009/2490 supporting documents & plans 

 .......

There's a lot there and some quite big files so I've compressed the most revealing and bound them together in one med size pdf and one single document pdf which you can download here at this link:

Additional info Planning app doc 28737.pdf 

and the binder with several documents at this link:

Binder 1 Tram Depot planning app docs.pdf

 .......

STANDARD LETTER 1.

to copy and paste, in part or full: 

See a short letter along with the one below at

http://tramdepot.wikispot.org/Front_Page 

Dear Mr Bailey,

I am writing to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposed demolition of the
Tram Depot site,
38-40 Upper Clapton Rd
Application no 2009/2490.

These are the principle objections:

1. The demolition will lose Hackney people their jobs (over 100)

The current site is a busy and active working site, with every single space used. Such spaces that have all but disappeared in Hackney, and as a result of compulsory Olympic purchases, in East London generally, which is a loss both for small businesses and residents as a whole as they are perfect for a wide range of manufacturing industries.

The proposals completely underestimate the number of people employed on the site, which has numbered well over a hundred for some time - most businesses have been there between 10 - 20 years!
The kind of work they do cannot take place in the proposed mix of B1 office and light industrial usage spaces envisaged in the application and there are no guarantees
of occupancy in the proposed mix.
The closure of such businesses would have a huge knock-on effect and cause substantial direct and indirect job losses. Furthermore, the plan's inclusion of the ubiquitous 'local store' to be run by one of the big players will ruin local shopkeepers.

The proposal has failed to take into account the need for space of existing businesses (mechanics, joiners, mould makers.), and based its (questionable ) assumptions on space needed for office workers.
Even those units that would have been suitable have had their usefulness designed out by having residential flats either directly above or directly adjacent.


2. The loss of artists to the community

The site houses the only remaining active group of artists and designers left in North Hackney—the rest have already been evicted from nearby sites to make way for new build housing. Artists and creative industries are important to communities. There are over 30 active artists who use the units as their studios and one space, the Tram Depot gallery has a successful track record of innovative exhibitions open to the public as well as art-specialist community. The loss of the art galleries, sculptors, designers and artists as well as the craftspeople is something we don't want to see.
For example, Vulpus Vulpus art gallery and artwork space has numerous and frequent exhibits, projects and events and supports a large number of young artists  - on a shoe string - and would inevitably be forced to close.


3. Light blockage and overlooking

The proposed build will set a poor precedent physically, in terms of its height.
Many homes and gardens in adjacent roads would be overlooked, depriving those residents of their privacy.
The seven & six storey blocks are especially too high and would cast a huge shadow.



4. Density too high

Leabridge already has 3 new local large scale developments, increasing local population density way above the London average.
The proposal represents the highest level of mixed-use density being developed in Hackney, setting a dangerous precedent for future development in the rest of the borough.

Being the nearest estate Beecholme is likely to end up with the kids overflow and increased anti-social behaviour but the whole neighbourhood will be affected.

 Hackney Strategy, Policy & Research's "Index of Multiple Deprivation" already gauges Leabridge as the 42nd most deprived ward in London and among the 20% most deprived in the country with much less green space and far more domestic buildings than Hackney and London as a whole. 
The very last thing we need is higher local population density.


5. Local amenities stretched to breaking point

Our local badly stretched amenities such as nurseries, schools and doctors surgeries in the area would be stretched even more.
How long would these est. 334 new residents (92 new 1 to 4 bed flats) have to wait (or how far would they have to go) to find a GP or a school place?

6. Traffic and car parking

Such a large development with the introduction of 50 car parking sites with additional commercial vehicles using the padestrian trip so close to the Lea Bridge Roundabout is also a recipe for even worse traffic congestion on one of the most important outward hub to the East and the M12.

Reports cited on the impact to existing traffic conditions are based on dissimilar areas and fail to take account of local conditions (commuter parking for Clapton Station, local congestion on Upper Clapton Rd.). The increase of traffic on our local narrow residential Prout, Casimir, Cleveleys and Gunton Roads. Will bring noise, danger and even more congestion to already congested roads. 
The proposed entrance to the development is on a blind spot and near a bus stop on one of
Transport For London's designated arterial routes, the A107 (Upper Clapton Rd).
The 92 proposed 1-4 bed flats will significantly increase the number of car-trips coming from the site. The developer contends that the number of these car-trips by the new residents can
be reduced by encouraging non-car dependent transport such as buses, train, cycling and
walking, simply through the provision of information boards on the new site! His consultants
suggest that a reduction of 5-15% of trips can be made between 2 and 10 years !! Thus they
accept that the increased car-trips emanating from the site will significantly add to congestion to this already busy arterial route.



7. Loss of our heritage and historic buildings

The Tram Depot is one of the few historic building left in the local area and worth saving.
The retention of barely three of the original walls is cynical at best – The proposal suggests that the retention of the two distinctive gabled outer walls of the Tram Depot demonstrates
sensitivity to the loss of Clapton's heritage! The retention of the walls is meaningless and another crass example of facadism!!
This part of the Tram Depot will be gutted!, with a six storey building rising up through its roof! and running the whole length of the building as seen from Prout Rd. All the rest will be demolished!in the process completely altering the nature of the internal spaces, making them no longer fit for the purpose they now enjoy.


The Tram Depot is part of Hackney’s working heritage. The Building itself is a Horse Drawn Tram Depot from 1873 and a Clapton Horse drawn Tram and its nameplate from this Tram Station features at the Transport Museum!


8. No Environmental study
No environmental study has been carried out on the possibility of ground pollution and possible decontamination on a site that has been used by various industries in the last century. 

9. White Elephant
Due to present economic conditions (credit crisis and reduced availability of mortgages) the possibility of local people being able to afford the housing part of the development is unlikely.
The need in Clapton is for 3 and 4 bedroom houses with gardens, not 3 & 4 bedroom flats which inevitable forces kids onto the streets. Living on top of each other in tiny flats is a recipe for family stress and one of the reasons our society has changed for the worst as it has over the last 50 years.
Remember, this proposal is similar to at least 3 other large scale new build housing developments in the close vicinity, including the old Latham's Timber Yard site, and other adjacent sites on the canal. Both are no more than half a mile away and many of the commercial units provided remain empty. 

To summarise, this application should be rejected.

It will add nothing to the community, cause only problems, and is fuelled purely by a get rich quick mentality rather than any sensitivity to the needs of the people that live and work in the area. 

It will destroy established local businesses and put dangerous pressure on roads and services.


The depot should be restored or renovated, either as a whole or in part with a small percentage given over to real houses with gardens, even if they are only town houses with small gardens of the type CABE (The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) recommend (and with gardens not overlooked to any real extent).


At the very least I'd like to see the development belonging to (or getting advise from) an
organization like
http://www.openhouse.org.uk/ 

or
http://www.cabe.org.uk 

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
The government's advisor on architecture, urban design and public space.

which should be mandatory for all planners and architects.



Regards,
your name,
your address
email

....

STANDARD LETTER 2.

(variation)

to copy and paste, in part or full: 

I wish to voice my objections to the above planning application, which proposes the demolition of the Tram Depot at 38-40 Upper Clapton Rd, E5. I object on the following grounds:

1.   This is an important employment site for the north east of the borough and the planning application,if implemented, would result in significant job loss for the people currently employed in the diverse range of businesses operating from the site at present, many of which require a substantial area in which to operate. This would not be compensated for by the very limited and restricted space  proposed for business purposes in the planning application which would effectively exclude most, if not all, of the businesses operating there at the present time. I would contend that this runs counter to Hackney Council policies to protect and encourage employment opportunities in the borough. This is especially important during one of the worst recessions known in modern times.


    •    The current site is a busy and active working site,  and provides a type of reasonably priced business accommodation which is not easy to come by in the borough and is always much in demand. The vast majority of business at the Tram Depot are long established, and an estimated 100+ jobs, both full- and part-time, directly depend on the site. The kind of workplace provided by the Tram Depot have all but disappeared in Hackney and in East London generally, as compulsory purchase by the Olympic authority has swallowed up much of the original light industrial sites.
    •    The proposed development underestimates the number of livelihoods that depend on the site and the business opportunities which will be affected. The type of employment currently provided will no longer be available in the proposed mix of B1 office and light industrial usage spaces envisaged in the application, and, given the current recession, there are no guarantees of occupancy at this location.
    •    The closure of such businesses would have a very considerable knock-on effect and cause substantial direct and indirect job losses.
    •    The inclusion in the plan of a 'local store' would be threat to the viability of existing shopkeepers in the surrounding area, as both Lower and Upper Clapton Roads are well supplied with local stores who would regard further competition as undermining their livelihoods. 
    •    Similar commercial units to those proposed have recently been built as part of the Lathams development on the River Lea. In a period of recession, when such commercial property is being left vacant, it would seem folly to destroy viable businesses and substitute this.

2.   The proposed development would significantly increases traffic congestion and demands upon public transport:

    •    The proposed entrance to the development is on a blind spot and near a bus stop on one of 
Transport For London's designated arterial routes, the A107 (Upper Clapton Rd).
    •    The proposed development would create traffic and parking problems for the surrounding narrow residential streets such as Prout, Casimir, Cleveleys and Gunton Roads
    •    The 92 proposed 1-4 bed apartments would significantly increase the number of vehicle movements to and from the site. The developer contends that the number of vehicle movements generated by new residents could be reduced by encouraging non-car dependent transport such as buses, train, cycling and walking, through the provision of information boards on the new site! This view is not supported by any evidence and is contrary to current trends .The consultancy employed by the developer has put forward the view that a reduction of 5-15% of vehicle movements could be anticipated between 2 and 10 years !! Thus they accept that the increased vehicle movements emanating from the site will significantly add to congestion to this already busy arterial route.
    •    Recent large scale residential developments at the former Lathams site, Lea Bridge and Riverside House have resulted in a very substantial increase in population within one square mile of the Tram Depot. This is already having a detrimental effect upon traffic congestion along Upper and Lower Clapton Roads and increased passenger demand upon the trains serving Clapton Station resulting in over-crowded trains at peak periods.

3.   Loss of workspace for the creative industries in Hackney:

    •    The Team Depot accommodates a unique collection of artists, craftsmen and designers and makes a very special contribution to the creative industries in North and East London. Many such enterprises have already been evicted from nearby sites to make way for new build housing developments.
    •    The creative enterprises in the Tram Depot have successfully made cultural  opportunities accessible to the local community over a long period. Over 30 active artists who use the units as their studios, and two gallery spaces, the Tram Depot Gallery and Vulpes Vulpes, have successful track records of innovative exhibitions open to the local as well as art-specialist community.

4.   The proposed development is inappropriate for the area and does meet the real housing needs of this part of Hackney.

    •    The proposed development is inappropriate for this  area of Upper Clapton. Such a large residential  
fronted by six and seven storey elevations will dramatically affect the aspect and light levels for the Beaumont Court, the Beecholme Estate, and Casimir Road residential areas. Issues of privacy are also raised as a large part of the proposed development overlooks much of this existing housing.
    •    The real housing need in this part of Hackney is for housing for families which is not served by the creation of yet more small and densely packed apartment blocks with no gardens and outside play space for children. Upper Clapton already has an over-supply of these.

5.   The proposed development does not respect the heritage of Hackney:

    •    By retaining the two distinctive gabled outer walls of the Tram Depot it is suggested by the developer that this demonstrates sensitivity to Clapton's heritage! The majority of the original Tram Depot will be gutted and and replaced by buildings of up to six storeys of indifferent modern design and of the kind which threatens to convert many parts of London into a "Clone Town" environment and remove the distinctiveness and character of Upper Clapton as a Victorian suburb. This has been acknowledged by the London Borough of Hackney in the designation in November 2009 of the  Northwold and Evering Conservation Area which faces the Tram Depot across Upper Clapton Road. The report presented to full Council giving the rationale for the creation of the Conservation Area acknowledged the impetus given by the creation of the tram depot and train station in Upper Clapton in the 1870s for the building of the Victorian villas to house city workers which give the Conservation Area its special and historic character. There is therefore a strong link between the Tram Depot and the nearby Conservation Area which the proposed development would destroy. The significance of the Tram Depot for the industrial heritage of the London Borough of Hackney has also been acknowledged in a report on the Tram Depot by English Heritage .

 6.      There is the possibility of site contamination arising from one hundred and forty years of industrial uses which have not been investigated.

I would ask that the planning application be rejected for the reasons given above.



Yours sincerely


....

Here's the Hackney Society's considered objection
(You may want to copy some of it)

38-40 Upper Clapton Road, E5
Planning application reference 2009/2490

The Hackney Society would like to strongly object to the partial demolition of the former Tram Depot at 38-40 Upper Clapton Road in E5, and to the proposed new mixed-use development on the site.
 
Background
 
In the Hackney Unitary Development Plan it states: “The Council will take appropriate action to secure the retention and enhancement of buildings and structures of local significance which are not on the statutory list.” (Policy ‘EQ20: buildings of local significance’, Hackney UDP, 1995).
 
It also states: “There are a number of exceptional buildings in Hackney … which are not on the Statutory List …These buildings are considered to be of local significance because of their architectural/industrial, archeological merit and/or townscape importance, local historic associations, and value to the community as cherished landmarks.”

The former Lea Bridge Tramway Depot at 38-40 Upper Clapton Road is one of the few remaining examples of a Victorian horse-drawn tram depot in London. Other examples include an Edwardian tramway office and depot in Walthamstow and the former electricity transformer station and tram depot in Islington (both listed). Opened on 12 July 1873 by the North Metropolitan Tramways Company the former Lea Bridge Tramway Depot retains many original features – granite setts in the yard, tramlines running through the ground floor of the central tram shed building, cast iron colonnades, and stable flooring on the first floor where the horses were originally housed.
 
The building also gives clues to why Clapton evolved into a busy Victorian suburb. Following its construction, Clapton benefited from a regular and cheap tram service. From 1872 to 1907 it took commuters to and from the City and West End. One of the horse-trams, which operated from here, is currently displayed in the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.
 
The site comprises of a U-shaped range of late 19th century gabled tram sheds and horse stables, and a two-storey extension of a similar period (presently used as a car showroom). The buildings are constructed of stock brick with some windows and doorways edged with blue engineering bricks.
 
In English Heritage’s Advice Report for Listing it states: “There is a claim to local interest at this site, as the setted yard, gabled ranges, and visible tram tracks at the entrance together reflect the history of Clapton, and the surviving components of the 1870s tramshed are notable for their earliness in London's transport history.” So, while the buildings were not deemed worthy of statutory listing by English Heritage in 2005 the buildings were said by the inspector to be of local significance. The former Tramway Depot is a well-loved local landmark that supports many light industrial businesses.
 
The site also lies opposite Brooke Road, which is on the border of the Northwold and Evering Conservation Area. It is clear that the development of this Victorian suburb owed much to the tram and rail links, which came to the area in the early 1870s. It would be ironic if a key catalyst for the development of this area was now to be partially demolished as well as unsympathetically developed.
 
If restored and ingeniously converted, the former tramway buildings could provide both historic and contemporary architectural interest in an area that has been deprived of any clear master planning or quality new development in recent years. During the last 50 years many historic buildings in this area have been demolished and replaced with insensitive development – the demolition of 19th century buildings facing what is now the Lea Bridge roundabout, the demolition of the Tudor building Brooke House, the cheap conversion of the former pub on the corner of Upper Clapton Road and Prout Road to name but a few.
 
The Hackney Society would like to see the retention and sympathetic refurbishment of all the ranges that form the tram depot. The Hackney Society does not support this proposed development on a number of grounds. These are detailed below:

DESIGN
 
The Hackney Society feels that the position, heights and massing of the various new blocks (A, B, C, D, and F) to be over-complicated and out of keeping with the surrounding domestic scale of the residential and industrial buildings in the area.
 
Conversion of historic tram shed building ‘Block E’

While the Hackney Society supports the retention of the central former tram shed building (‘Block E’) we feel that the design of the roof extension and the conversion of the interior space clumsy and inappropriate. The roofline, massing and materials of the extension fail to relate to the delicate gabled roofline and brickwork of the former tram shed. The grey ship-lapped fibre cement cladding jars with the colour of the original stock brick. The rhythm of the private roof terraces from the roof extension and the gabled roofline below them clash creating a dissonant visual effect. This is made worse by the ‘new openings in the brickwork wall’. They create yet more visual confusion by revealing further window openings in the new roof extension each with a different pattern or size. The impact of ‘Block E’ and ‘Block A’ when viewed from Upper Clapton Road is ugly and completely out of scale with the surrounding buildings. Also, the conversion of the existing workspaces into smaller units limits the types of business that can use the spaces. Most of the current occupiers will find these units inadequate. The demolition of part of the current Jaguar car showroom to reveal the gables of the tram shed is supported and with an architecturally suitable scheme would improve the attractiveness and visual impact of the surviving tram-shed buildings.
 
The skill of working with heritage buildings is to achieve a unity between old and new. This has not been achieved with this proposal. The architect has failed to create a convincing visual language that links the old and new in both functional and aesthetic ways. Instead the scale and shape of the proposed new blocks hugely reduces the presence of the historic tram sheds thus weakening their simple and aesthetic form.

‘Block A’

We oppose ‘Block A’ which faces onto Upper Clapton Road. At 7-storeys this building is out of proportion with its surroundings – it is too high and set too far forward – dominating the streetscape. Both Beaumont Court, to the north, and the Beecholme Estate to the south-east, only extend to 5-storeys. We would like to see this height matched in any new developments on the site. Also, for such a prominent position, ‘Block A’ does not deliver a high quality design. The ‘smorgasbord’ of materials (Cor-ten steel panels, grey stock brick finish, perforated zinc and Telford smooth brown brick finish) while trying to add interest, just produce an incoherent design that detracts from the historic fabric of the tram shed. ‘Block A’ is an aggressive addition creating a crowded feeling along the road.
 
‘Blocks B, C, D and F’
 
These blocks result in the demolition of the north stable/tram buildings, which we do not support. Many homes and gardens in adjacent roads will also be overlooked, depriving those residents of privacy. The six and seven storey blocks are especially too high, casting a huge shadow. In a recent poll in the Architect’s Journal entitled ‘Do you like the look of this project on Upper Clapton Road, London by Stephen Davy Peter Smith Architects?’ Seventy four per cent had said ‘no’ in the poll (13.1.10).
 
Housing
 
We consider that both points 7.30 and 7.34 in ‘Design and Sustainability’ (Providing Better Homes, Draft Core Strategy, Local Development Framework, June 2009) have not been adequately met in this proposed development. We feel that the scheme is not “high-quality housing and in line with identified needs in places where people want to live.” Clapton currently has a lack of 3 to 4 bedroom houses with gardens for large families. The proposal of 3 to 4 bedroom flats is a poor solution.
 
Density
 
Leabridge Ward already has three new large-scale developments, increasing local population density way above the London average. The proposal represents the highest level of mixed-use density currently being developed in Hackney, setting a dangerous precedent for future development in the rest of the borough.
 
At present the Beecholme Estate and Casimir Road enjoy a quiet neighbourhood with the tram sheds shielding them from the worst of anti-social behaviour and noise from the Upper Clapton Road. By creating such a dense development and opening up the site by forming a new pedestrian route this neighbourhood will be transformed for the worse.
 
Loss of light industrial units and associated jobs
 
“Hackney’s location on the city fringe is ideal for companies who need to be close to the Central London and City market but require light industrial space.”

The Hackney Society strongly disagrees with the assessment in the Planning Statement that the “active” planning history of the site is an “indication that the current run down and low grade commercial buildings are inadequate for modern-day purposes, and are in need of investment for sustained employment use.” The existing tram shed, contrary to that opinion, is a successful example of reuse and provides Hackney with essential light industrial units for artists, craftspeople, manufacturers and mechanics. The tram sheds are run down, but with refurbishment provide ideal workshops for manufacturing. The site also houses the only remaining active group of artists and designers left in north-east Hackney. Artists and creative industries are important to the economy of the area as well as creating an interesting and diverse community.
 
The proposals also completely underestimate the number of people employed on the site, and the kind of work they do cannot take place in the proposed light usage spaces envisaged in the application. The closure of such business would have a knock-on effect and cause substantial direct and indirect job losses. The proposal has failed to take into account the need for space of existing businesses (mechanics, joiners, mould makers) and bases its assumptions on space needed for office workers.
 
The current site is a busy and active working site, with every unit rented. Such light industrial spaces have all but disappeared in Hackney, as a result of warehouses being converted into housing, and industrial units being demolished for new housing developments. This site is perfect for what Invest in Hackney says makes Hackney unique:
 
“Hackney has a long tradition of manufacturing, but as in other areas of the country, this has seen a decline over the years. This has, however, left Hackney with an interesting legacy of old industrial property. These empty spaces have been taken on by creative and design businesses, and from this a new High Value Manufacturing sector has developed. This sector of the manufacturing industry often sees the whole production process from design and development, through manufacture and on to the point of sale, housed under one roof. The products of this industry are often hand crafted and one-off pieces, with the value of the finished product arising as much from the design as the function. This is particularly true of sub sectors such as furniture, fashion and jewellery production, which have all developed into prominent industries in Hackney’s economy. The growth in this sector has also added to the borough’s particular retail offer, and complements the artistic and creative industries that also flourish in the borough.”
 
Impact on local amenities and services

Local amenities such as nurseries, schools and doctors surgeries are already overstretched with the impact of recent residential developments on the Latham’s Yard site still to be calculated. The Hackney Society thinks that this proposed development will have an adverse impact on services.
 
Environmental impact: traffic and car parking

Such a large development with the introduction of 50 car-parking sites will create even worse traffic congestion on one of the most important outward routes to the North and East of the City. Reports cited on the impact to existing traffic conditions are based on dissimilar areas and fail to take account of local conditions (commuter parking for Clapton Station, local congestion on Upper Clapton Road.). The increase of traffic on the narrow residential roads (Prout, Casimir, Cleveleys and Gunton Roads) will bring noise, danger and even more congestion to already congested roads. Also, no environmental study has been carried out on the possibility of ground pollution and possible decontamination on a site that has been used by various industries in the last century.
 
Conclusion
 
The Hackney Society thinks that the development is seriously flawed and does not meet high standards of design. We would like to see a smaller development that retains the U-shaped range, colonnades granite setts and some of the double-height spaces of the existing industrial buildings.

Please can you confirm receipt of this objection.

Yours sincerely

Lisa
--
Lisa Rigg
Development Officer – Community Planning

At the heart of Hackney since 1967

The Hackney Society
The Round Chapel
1d Glenarm Road
London E5 0LY

T: 020 8806 4003
M: 07946 399430
E: planning@hackneysociety.org

Why not join us? £15 a year gives you free entry
to events and a copy of Spaces – our quarterly newsletter
To find out more log on to www.hackneysociety.org 

....

NOTE: The Depot was on “London Heritage at Risk” radar last year but coincidentally as the last planning app was refused, there was a change of senior staff plus some IT changes and the depot’s updated details were not processed. I’m currently trying to clarify the situation.

......

NEW POSTER variation

 ....... 

THIS WAS LAST OCTOBER:

NOTHING MUCH HAS CHANGED IN THE CRITICAL AREAS OF HEIGHT OR NO. OF FLATS

In fact, this year the Upper Clapton Road end has gone up from 6 to 7 storeys! .
...

If you scroll down http://beecholme.blogspot.com you'll see all the Tram Depot objections from last year and the year before.

,,,

 .......

Mon 21st Dec - just added quite a bit to the "Standard letter" above.
No harm sending in a second objection saying you missed a couple of points last time....


....


Jan 4th
If you've come just to this post and not the full http://beecholme.blogspot.com
blog you might be interested in seeing my more recent post about the Tram Depot at:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/12/old-tram-depot-38-40-upp-clapton-rd-re.html

which includes the comic as a slide show and a couple of "comic" style A4 posters.

....

Don't forget to check out: http://tramdepot.wikispot.org/Front_Page

and the petition at:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-tram-depot-workshops.html

....

12th Jan  
 

see Hackney Gazette online article:

Tram depot under threat

also Hackney Citizen

http://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/?p=6931 


and The Hackney Society Tram Depot page:

http://www.hackneysociety.org/page_id__119_path__.aspx 




  The Architects Journal story is no longer available to non-members
but I have a snap from the article on my Dec 31st post:

Architects-Journal-survey 


...

....

NEXT YEAR???

Assuming we are successful and this 3rd application is refused, we may
well have to fight another over-dense application next year!

UNLESS we have an AREA ACTION PLAN for Clapton  

Full details and supporters:

http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/demand-area-action-plan-for-clapton-now.html  


>><<


REPORT of the B6 meeting with photos
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/report-of-tram-depot-meeting-at-b6.html

To the 19th Jan there have been 70 letters of objection sent in and 186 on the electronic petition and 326 on a written petition = total of 582 objection to 19th Jan.

...

ELFA £3 a week box of FRUIT and VEG to your door offer

UPDATE 24th DEC

Most of you should have had the leaflet below delivered with Hackney Homes News. Non Hackney Homes residents should get then in the new year.
The website for the programme is now up and running:

http://www.elfaweb.org.uk/seniors

(my graphics & artwork)

>><<

I've just finished the leaflet below, meant to be a "Z" fold.

If you're over 50, the ELFA (East London Food Access) is

offering to deliver a box or fruit and veg to your door for as little as £3 aweek.

The offer covers virtually all of NE Hackney
(see the back spread below for details - click on the image(s) to see it full size)


That is to say, £3 worth is the minimum order.

Here's the front cover:

and the back cover
(with the leaflet the front and back covers match up as 1 pic):

Here's the inside spread:




and finally the back spread:





I arranged the fruit and veg in the photo on and in the leaflet.
I just grabbed the produce from their stand at the Nightingale estate that was for sale so I can vouch for the quality.

Millfields Pk Nth Play Area + UPDATE 17 Dec: Result of 2nd meeting + 1 residents "letter"

UPDATE 17th Jan 2010

See the new SAFE PARKS survey

Please tell our councillors we need full time park wardens and play area supervisors

 http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2010/01/park-safety-we-need-park-wardens-play.html

or direct to the survey form

http://tiny.cc/SafeParks

•

NOTE: The next

Millfields Park Users Group meeting

is at the Beecholme Hall

(bottom corner of Prout Road)

on 23rd Jan 2010 at 1pm

• See the new Millfields Park Master Plan •

>><<


Please, please do fill in the picture survey form

"Comment on the Millfields Park Play Area" below

.....

UPDATE

The planners have listened to residents and have

REFUSED PLANNING PERMISSION at the top corner of Casimir Road. 

However at the 2nd meeting

with the designer, our councillors, police and local residents

it was suggested that moving the site 75 yards along the footpath to the bottom of Prout Road would solve some issues because it was less well lit.

Residents did not agree and with the strong support of cllr Linda Kelly recomended the only suitable site to be adjacent to the current play area further along Casimir Road.

Nathan from Theories Landscapes will be working all hours to try and get a modified design approved, the local residents consulted and a new planning application in with time for it to be build and invoiced this financial year.

 ....

The residents position as expressed at the 16 Dec meeting at Beecholme – one residents view.

I’ve been thinking about some of questions asked about play when we were children and I must say, I don’t think I ever used a community play area without at least my mother sitting on a bench within sight or my father sitting in the car within sight.

The sort of adventurous play wished to be enabled I did experience either alone , with my 2 brothers or with one or two close friends but in Somerset in what was a small village and in open country. The equivalent play learning in an inner city “on the streets” with absolutely no supervision is all about gangs, drugs, knives and learning how to either defend yourself or join in. At the very least learning how not to get bullied by the older or bigger kids.
In London the worst boroughs for this are Hackney and Lambeth.
The figures recently are that around 10% of kids as young as 10 & 11 were carrying knives, primarily for self defense.
See FEAR & FASHION WEAPONS REPORT – download as a pdf here:

FearAndFashionReport.pdf

This is a summary page from the report:

(click on it to see it full size)

...

Here's an article from a local teenager:

Believe me, there are some really hard, street wise kids around here, the very ones these kids are scared enough on the streets to feel they must defend themselves against. The sort of thing I did not ever come in contact with as a child because my parents were always either with me or close by in public & communal areas.

Of course it's not all kids and not all the time, but a 10% risk is too much for a parent and believe me, the risk of introduction to drugs or bullying is a lot more.
The very reason parents on Beecholme will not allow their kids onto the park alone.

The proof is high incidents of recorded crime, which is of course just the tip of the ice burgh. Most asb cases on Hackney Homes estates don't go to the police but to the Hackney Homes asb team or go unreported. Only the most serious then get police crime numbers.

Honestly, no matter how much you believe in the design of the play area, would you actually allow your 8 year old to go to it alone, knowing there was the chance there may be no adults about -  and even if there are, without knowing who they are?

We do know from experience that at different times of the day and week it will be used by different groups.

The picture painted of happy families playing and so discouraging asb will certainly be true from 3.45 pm to about 5 pm on weekdays and for several hours on sunny weekend afternoons.
What concerns us is the 2 hours from about 7.30pm to 9.30pm when the teenages will be smoking dope and selling crack as they used to right under the cameras during the afternoon, sitting on our back garden's low wall (until we spent over £10,000 of our 184 money on railings on top of the low wall) - if they got there first then the kids would avoid the area until they left.
For three or four (+) months of the year this was from two days to 5 days a week.
Then there's from about 11.30pm on when the drunks will use it, as they used to use the low wall.
Friday night on a warm evening it would be occasionally 18 to 25 yr old revellers drinking and smoking, joking and laughing and sometimes fighting - 6 feet from my son's bedroom window and 12 feet from my back door and lounge room - from around 9.30 to sometimes 1 or 2 am.

It never used to be the case because there were 35 park wardens with Millfields having not just a live-in warden but a play area nurse.
That level of safety and security should be ours by right today.

By David White, Seeretary of the Beecholme & Casimir TRA.

...

POSTSCRIPT
As I've noted elsewhere, Leabridge is the 42nd most deprived ward in London and 2 of the indicators are to do with the comparative lack of green space and high domestic population density relative to London as a whole.

Leabridge Ward profile.pdf

In fact the need for better parks with full time wardens is greater than ever as the population density goes up and the number of family homes with gardens goes down and families are forced into 3 & 4 bed flats.

See: http://davehill.typepad.com/claptonian/2009/09/index.html

Here's a taste: "The problem we have been finding is lots of the houses that do come up for sale are very quickly snapped up by developers and carved up into flats. This is frustrating us beyond belief - we have a our son at Millfields and don't want to leave the area."
.....

Please do leave your comments and opinion about play areas in parks and Park Wardens or the lack of them or anything else you'd like our local councillors to see in the picture form below.

Your views are very important!!

You can view your comments along with everyone else's at:

SURVEY RESULTS

 >><<


 Millfields Park Master Plan Map
Here is version 4 of the map with an additional note I've added to give an indication where the play area may go. Even though it may change, it does give you an idea of the scope of the proposed transformation. The final version should be ready by early Feb.

Check back here or the council website for updates. 

Just click on the map to see it full size.

..

..
>><<

..

  ..

  ..

POSTER for WED 16th DEC:

...

Below - about previous meeting & background info


THE MEETING
is about the proposed play area (pictured above) for Millfields Park Nth
top corner of Casimir Rd & the Beecholme estate.

All interested parties will be there including:
The Millfields Park Users Group rep, Hackney Parks Dept rep, the Play Area designer/architect, our councillors and residents.

The meeting was called to see if together we might address concerns about anti-social behaviour and security at the play area, being without supervision or the ability to be secured at night.
Due to the steep banking, much of the area is out of sight and the fact that there are dens to get out of sight may well attract drug & drink users.

NOTE: There's a lot more about the play area about 5 or 6 articles below

My thoughts on the subject

It is an unfortunate fact that virtually all of the states children are not allowed onto the park alone. Their parents prefer to be able to see them from their windows.

Except for the sunniest days when the park is well used, the only unaccompanied youngsters you do see there are some of the worst elements of our youth.
The fact these kids are the product of irresponsible or incapable parents is beside the point.

The threat or fear of being bullied, threatened or abused at best and being offered drugs, mugged or stabbed at worst is enough to make the park off limits most of the time for most children.
For young people between 12 and 18 the threat is real as well. My son has been mugged twice just walking through the park in the evening in the last 3 years. There was a child stabbed by another at the lower park play area last year.

For youger kids, even accompanied by parents there's the problem of dog dirt as well. Parents want to make sure the ground is relatively clear of such mess and the long grass proposed could hide a multitude of sins.

All that said, I think the play area design is great and kids would love if they knew they could play there in an air of safety.

That means full time supervision.

At the very least the are needs to be able to be locked up at night.
Why was it fine for Parks to have a full time staff of 35 including a live in warden for Millfields up until a few years ago but now we have one overstretched warden for 2 whole parks? and a total park warden staff of 5 or 7?

With higher population density the need for good parks is even greater, so why haven't they been afforded the priority they deserve?

It beats me - it's crazy.
There's even a Park Wardens House on Millfields left empty.

 Why not come to the meeting and have your say.
Leave a comment here as well.

.....

New exhibits at VULPUS, the Community Cafe , Lwr Clapton Rd and Hackney Lib

...

...
The exhibition will run from 19th to 22nd November
open 11 - 6 each day
...
Vulpes Vulpes, Unit 4, Prout Road, Clapton, London. E5 9NP.
..
You are invited to Vulpes Vulpes for a Ceylan Projects event
on Wednesday the 18th of November, 6 - 9 pm.
...
Ceylan Projects is pleased to present Magic & Happiness, a group show curated by Aliina Astrova around an essay by Giorgio Agamben.
...
'Whatever we can achieve through merit and effort, cannot make us truly happy. <...> What a disaster if a woman loved you because you deserved it! <...> [T]here is only one way of achieving happiness on this earth: to believe in the divine and not to aspire to reach it (there is an ironic variation of this in a conversation between Franz Kafka and Gustav Janouch, when Kafka affirms that there is plenty of hope - but not for us). That apparently ascetic thesis becomes intelligible only if we understand the meaning of this "not for us". It means not that happiness is reserved only for others (happiness is, precisely, for us) but that it awaits us only at the point where it was not destined for us. That is: happiness can be ours only though magic.'

- Giorgio Agamben,
...
Magic and Happiness Famous for his original readings and interpretation of texts, Giorgio Agamben is a contemporary Italian philosopher. His work, be it political theory or his early essays on art, stems from an interest in the relationship between the notions of work and happiness. Magic and Happiness, from which this exhibition takes its name and vocation, is an essay that brings Agamben's thought to its very roots and now more than ever appears as a strikingly accurate criticism of the modern condition. In a moment where currencies like merit and effort are devalued precisely because they no longer stand as guarantee for the Western ideal of happiness, we are once again to reconsider what happiness is and how to achieve it.
...

Magic & Happiness group show showcases new work by seven artists - Ben Caton, Stan Iordanov, Ed Lehan, Roy Nnawuchi, Anna Margrethe Pedersen, Ben Schumacher, Emma Sheridan, who have challenged mainstream perception of happiness through different mediums including sculpture, installation, painting and sound. The work is as naive as it is cynical expressing both fascination and distrust towards the decadence of contemporary culture.
... ...


... ...
...
exhibition VIBRANT!
...
...
.. Thursday, 01 October 2009 - Tuesday, 01 December 2009
.. which focuses on natural beauty designed to lift the spirits and warm the heart!! This event is part of Photomonth sponsored by Alternative Arts It's being hosted
at
the Community Cafe, Salvation Army building,
122-124 Lower Clapton Road E5 OQR
...

020 8985 3902 c/o Ruth Gray.
It is free and very colourful
...
<<>>
...


... ...
...
;;;
The exhibition is entitled

"THROUGH MY EYES"

As part of the East London Photomonth festival
...
photos at Hackney Central Library from 2nd - 28th November 2009.
...
...
The images portray some of the emotions of entrapment, fear and isolation and also question what the law makers in this country are doing to tackle it! This exhibition aims to raise public awareness and reassure those who are experiencing it that they are not alone.
...
As part of the exhibition the Library will host an information day on Wednesday November 11th to raise public awareness about domestic violence from 2-4pm, followed by a private view from 6-7pm to which we would like to invite you, friend, family, colleagues and sister agencies!
...
..
..
Tel: 020 8356 3000
info@hackney.gov.uk
..
http://www.hackney.gov.uk/cl-hackney-central-main.htm
...
...

...

The design process + Download my new Adobe Acrobat 9 PORTFOLIO

...
The Design Process
(as with all pics, right click and select Open link in new tab/window to see it full size)

...

...
My new portfolio - Acrobat 9 pro

...
click on the image above or this link:
...
PRO PORTFOLIO
...
...
NOTE: Just download it from the site - it will not open to view there.

NOV 29th - I've just updated this with my latest work - now 3.37mb 
..

...
...
Once you have downloaded it to your desktop
...
If you don't have Adobe Acrobat 9, the portfolio's first page will give the opportunity to download one free.
...
To see a piece full size first click on the centre thumbnail, then the "Page" symbol (indicated in the inset above, which will have turned dark blue).
...
To return to the revolving thumbnail view simply click on the "Home" symbol
(indicated in the inset - top left).
...
I hope you enjoy using this rather better portfolio than is avialable online.
...

eTRA meeting 19th Nov '09 + Estate notes + new play area UPDATED 7th Nov

PLEASE COMMENT or OBJECT
TO THE PROPOSED PLAY AREA PLANNING APPLICATION
FULL DETAILS BELOW
DEADLINE WED 11 NOV.
....


The poster artwork above is A3 - if you open it in another window then click on it, it will come up full size.


The meeting is at the "Alf Partridge Community Hall" on the corner of Prout Rd at 7pm on the 19th Nov '09.

This one is an "Enhanced" TRA meeting Meaning our Pinnacle estate manager, Hackney Homes officers and cllr Linda Kelly will be there. I look forward to the TRA welcoming our new estate manager Marcia Campbell.

<<>>

Don't forget to check The Clapton Residents Panel website's 10 pages full of news
useful info, contacts & links for all your housing issues
plus a selection of over 100 desktop images - now "DOWNLOADS" has Best FREE applications & Web Resources plus Essential FREE Software as well:

THE CLAPTON PANEL

(constructed and edited by yours truly)

<<>>

Estate Notes

The wardens will no longer be holding a Wed surgery at Beecholme.

Wardens:
Nowell Bell: 0777 222 7424
Kester Benjamin 0777 222 7524

<<>>

THE LIFT LOBBY

The lift lobby will be getting a floor covering very soon. We have the grant so funds are in place. It's just a matter of actually making the final decision of type of covering, then ordering it.
Not as straightforward as you might think. I have a dozen samples of vinyl and carpet tiles.
Both run the risk of damage by cigarette burns and spills of everything from paint to cooking oil, hence tiles as they can be cheap enough to replace again and again.

I've talked to the cleaning staff and the depot manager and personally tend towards a patterned stain resistant carpet tile with possible a carpet protection strip running just between the entrance and the lift door. It might be easier to just replace the tiles when damaged.

The one thing no one has advised me on yet is the public liability insurance and whether carpeting in the lobby is covered. As soon as I find out I'll make the decision and go ahead.
See other lift lobby posts below.

I'm currently waiting for confirmation of the flame resisitance code the carpet has to meet - EN 13501-2002 or a newer or higher spec one (if one exists).

If you have an opinion please do contact me:
David White (Sec B&C TRA)
at the meeting or email:
david@davidwhitedesign.co.uk

<<>>

THE BIN ARTWORK

The bin artwork - the backs now uncovered will be covered as soon as I get a chance to apply it. I am still waiting for the cactus design with the brickwork backgrounds to be printed but I do have all the leaves on grass ones. I'll need a hand so might ask you to help if you're a resident.

<<>>

THE NEW PLAY AREA

The new play area on the corner Millfields Park Nth, opposite stairwell to no 10-15 - should be going to planning very soon as it needs to be built by March next year.
It's the first of many proposed projects for Millfields as a whole - the Millfields Master Plan consultations have had 2 meetings so far and there will be more.
I missed the 2nd but will try and keep you informed. Come to the next eTRA meeting for more info.
The play area plan - managed risk - for 8 to 13 year olds (+- 3 or more years):

As you can see, it's a ramp some feet off the ground with a gap or two, with dens and play areas underneath. The ground underneath to be left with lots of tall grass and the boggy area left with just small sections being grassed over as places to sit with the family.

Very naturalistic and almost sculptural - the modern uptake on the adventure playground - on a limited budget.



As residents we warned the architects and planners that the risk of vandalism and anti-social behaviour, with teenagers taking over, possibly drug dealing and drinking is high but we were told it will get enough use by families to negate the possibility.

I have a feeling that anywhere else (with 1 or 2 exceptions) that may be true but in Hackney it has not been the case. Just take a look at other play areas. If you have an opinion please do go to the advertised consultation meetings for Millfields and check the Hackney council website.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting it shouldn't go ahead, just that a full time park warden or some sort of supervision is needed.

....

PLEASE OBJECT OR COMMENT
on this planning application - full details and links below
(Must be in by Wed 11 Nov)

I suggest something along the lines of (or copy this):


"ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND Planning application:
ref: 2009/2291
Planning officer: Evie Learman
Planning app address: Millfields Park North - Play Pathfinder

I believe the planned adventure playground should not go ahead without provision for a daytime supervisor and/or the ability for the playground to be secured at night.
 Our worry as residents is that it will be "taken over" by the worst elements of our youth at best or used by drug dealers/users and street drinkers at worst as they can use the ramp and "dens" (& undergrowth) as cover from both rain and prying eyes. This view is supported by the police as stated at the last ward CAP meeting - as reported by David White (Sec. of the Beecholme TRA and CAP member)
Sincerely, (your name, address & phone or email)."

....

4 ways to register your objection or comment:

1. Email your objection or comment to
evie.learman@hackney.gov.uk

2. or comment/object online at this link:

Comment/Object

3. or phone Evie Learman on 0208 356 8245. Fax: 0208 356 8087

4. or drop it in/post to

Planning Officer Evie Learman
Planning Service,
263 Mare St,
London E8 3HT

NB: Make sure you leave your name, address & contact details or your comment will NOT be counted

....

link to the planning application on the Hackney Council website:

Playground Application



<<>>



Millfields Park
MASTERPLAN PRESENTATION


The meetings have finished but you can get more info by contacting Bruce Irving (see poster above)
on 020 8356 4958 email bruce.irving@hackney.gov.uk
....

click on the poster above to see it full size

<<>>

Vulpes Vulpes exhibition "Views from Afar" 17th Oct - 8th Nov

Vulpes Vulpes exhibition
"Views from Afar"

with the launch of Simon Liddiment s Kaavous-Bhoyroo Quarterly Edition


Exhibition open:
17 October 8 November, Saturdays and Sundays, 11am 6pm
Exhibition party Saturday 17 October 6pm 9pm

Views from Afar, is a testing ground for a speculative hypothesis rather than a statement of fact and presentation of proof. Is there a discernible character to the work of those artists operating outside the main metropolitan centres of contemporary art production? Can a defining approach be discovered amongst groups of artists who work out of the same location, whether they are exploring similar themes or not?

Works on show include; Coco Crampton s upholstered hybrid art and craft object based on Marcel Breuer s Lattenstuhl; Nils el Grube s chain-sawn wooden figures and sliced man on an operating table; Robin Webb s self-mocking cartoonesque paintings; RJ Hinrichsen s film of an unfeasibly slow and deliberate walk along a dark street; Robert Filby s A0 photocopies that spatially reconfigure a single source photograph of a modern flint wall and Simon Davenport s painted and engraved plaster ingots and cardboard tube (Simon Davenport is also choreographing an event for the exhibition party).
...

Alongside the exhibition, Vulpes Vulpes will also host the launch of Simon Liddiment s Kaavous-Bhoyroo Quarterly Edition. Kaavous-Bhoyroo is an arts agency that curates events and commissions artists to produce limited editions.

...

Concurrently, Robert Filby has a solo exhibition mood boards at The Two Jonny s project space in Bethnal Green that runs until 24 October, while OUTPOST will be showcasing works by Coco Crampton, Simon Davenport, Simon Liddiment and Robert Filby at Zoo 2009, 16 19 October. Coco Crampton, Simon Davenport, Simon Liddiment, Robert Filby, Robin Webb and Kaavous Clayton have all had solo shows at OUTPOST.
www.kaavous-bhoyroo.com
www.norwichoutpost.org
www.elgrube.de
www.fil.by
www.simondavenport.info


Vulpes Vulpes
Unit 4,
Prout Road,
Clapton,
London.
E5 9NP
...

www.vulpesvulpes.org


Nearest overground stations - Clapton, Hackney Central
Buses - 55, 359, 254, 253, 38, 48, 106, 56, 488, 425, 393

<<>>

Tenants Levy Special Projects fund new floor covering for the lift lobby - see POLL on left

This year we applied to the Tenants Levy Special Projects fund to finance
floor covering for the lift lobby
(and to get the backs of the big estate bins covered with artwork)

It's part of the final stage of our refurbishment of the lift lobby - the one communal area virtually everyone living in the tall block has to go through every day - now that all the wiring is boxed in and the walls have been painted.

Our grant application successful so have the money and are ready to go ahead.

A big "thank you" goes to the special projects panel!

The decision now is whether to get carpet tiles or vinyl tiles.
The grant application we made said "either carpet or vinyl".


Carpet

The lobby is rather an echo chamber so on those grounds carpet is the winner. Getting carpet tiles means they can easily be replaced when needed - and they will be!

I've spoken to the cleaning dept and spills are not uncommon.
The main con for carpet is that to maintain the new look, quite a few tiles will need to be replaced fairly regularly.

Vinyl

Can be cleaned fairly easily of spills and will stand up to cigarette burns a little better than carpet.
Mind you, spills can seep underneath vinyl so cleaning may not be straight forward in all cases. Hackney Homes is looking at covering vinyl tiles with a rubberized coating to seal the seams.
Vinyl won't help muffle sounds either.

My choice

Fortunately, we did apply for enough to be able to buy up to 3 times the number of carpet tiles just to cover the floor. One of the advantages of a grant is that you can buy from the warehouse and not through an approved supplier, saving a huge percentage.
That means that we can buy enough tiles so that even replacing all the tiles with wear (from the door to the lift) as soon as they are "worn" or have the odd spill, it should stay looking pretty good for at least 3 or 4 years - not bad value for money, at a cost of perhaps £20 a year....

Let us know what you'd like to see - take the poll top left.

You have until 5pm on the 21st to take the poll - we'll make the final decision soon after.

This link will take you to an earlier post with photos of the carpet tiles I placed in our communal stairwell. There's only 6 flats on the stairwell, not the 5 floors of flats the lift lobby services so the rate of wear is different but this photo might help:

Entrance carpet tiles

I'll keep you updated - check back here.

<<>>

We have our next enhanced TRA meeting on
Thur 19th Nov @ 7pm

New Hackney Homes ASB reporting website IS UP

UPDATE

The NEW

“Report Anti-Social Behaviour online” website

…is now working.

“Report anti social behaviour online by clicking on the link below. All information will be treated confidentially. Information will not be disclosed to a third party without your consent. You may complete the form anonymously is you wish to do so.”

The “REPORT ASB NOW” button above

will take you directly to the Hackney Homes “Report anti-social behaviour website”

<<>>

If you have an ASB case to report and want to speak to someone, contact your Neighbourhood Office.

NE Neighbourhood Office (Clock Hse) 020 8356 6500 – 9am to 5pm.

From 7pm to 5am call 020 8356 3310 - seven days week.

You can also text: 0752 7385 603

<<>>

There is a General “Anti Social Behaviour page” which includes:
• Your enquiry
• What is anti social behaviour?
• What can be done
• Drug dealing and harassment offences
• Report anti social behaviour online
• Anti social behaviour text messaging service
• Anti social behaviour out of hours helpline

is at this link:
http://www.hackneyhomes.org.uk/hcs-antisocial-behaviour.htm#asbonline

....

Until a Report number is generated automatically I recommend making a note of exactly when you made the report(s), especially if you didn’t leave your name or have sent in details on more than one report.

When making a report...

If you think there’s CCTV footage say so and give the camera positions – it should save time in getting someone to view the footage.

If it’s part of an ongoing problem or reports have previously been made about the same perpetrator, say so and give the “Case number” if you know it.

>><<
Sun 4th Oct

Next week (from Monday 5th Oct) a new Hackney wide

“ASB reporting website”

will be up for you to comment on.

It won’t go “live” until comments and suggestions have been taken from panels and residents.

The draft I’ve contributed towards offers the opportunity to remain completely anonymous or remain anonymous and still get an acknowledgement to the report and updates by leaving just an email address or mobile phone number, both of which could easily be disposable.

I hope the idea persists because I think it will encourage those residents who would like to know that something is being done but are concerned about giving their names, even with assurances of confidentiality.

The draft also had a “What to expect” link button on the first & last pages going to

new Service Standards for

(1.) time to acknowledement of the report

(2.) time to CCTV being viewed and

(3.) time to a “Case number” and officer being assigned.

...

The first page of the draft also had this graphic:

Although the web button almost certainly won’t look quite like the above

I hope it’s still there as a large link button.

Next week you can see if it’s content is the same as the above draft.

I am assured that each report will generate a unique “Report Number” so that you can easily refer to your report and chase it up if the service standards aren’t met.

This site is being built by Hackney Homes so that later on it can be fully incorporated into the new “Universal Housing” software from Civica. It doesn’t has all the features of “ASBnet” that we had hoped would be introduced and which had the backing of at least one councillor and some senior Hackney Homes staff but it should suffice as long as the associated new service standards are met.

…..

As soon as the website is up for comments

I’ll post the link here, so check back

next week, starting on Monday 5th October

<<>>

Next TRA meeting poster - Tue 22nd Sept at 7.30pm + this site has nearly 12,000 visits

Rather rushed - without even pencil mini layout roughs - but it will have to do.

>><<

Over 12,000 visits!

Thank you for your interest and support for this site.

The number of hits is just coming up to 12 thousand (UPDATE: is now over 12k) - since the 1st of May 2007 - far more than I ever expected in the 2 years 5 months it's been up.

That's an average of 300 hits a week, every week.

Actually, the first year was closer to 150 a week at most - for the last few weeks it's been getting well over 500 hits a week.

I hadn't checked for a long time so found this a bit of a surprise.

It's so encouraging I will increase my efforts updating it and adding new posts.

So please do keep visiting - it's going to get even better.

Best wishes, David White (Sec. B&C TRA).

Beecholme Estate's Fun Day photos - 2009

Beecholme's Fun Day

These photos and more are up on Flickr and available to download at a variety of sizes, from thumbnail up to the large size around 1,000 x 1,500 pixels (bigger than A3).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157622311026325/

the pic below the same as the top most but with a magazine look effect added

Face painting by Anna - http://annachrystal.com/

from Vulpes Vulpes - http://www.vulpesvulpes.org/

Fun Day 5th Sept photos - Milfields Park

These and many more photos on my Flickr "Clapton Panel Fun Day" stream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157622350251576/

The 2 pics above are of WackyRymel’s EscenTrick dancers

”EscenTrick” email: wacky-lawrence@hotmail.com

...

Below is Felix Joseph’s NEWHAM STEEL BAND

email: felixsteelpan@yahoo.co.uk

The Clapton Panel Community FUN DAY - Sept 5th on Millfields Park North.

Here's the first. Most of the people are on the tree line behind the pop up.
If you click on the photo and bring it up full size you'll get a better idea.
This is 3 stitched together from my small digital camera.

Most photos I shot on 35mm film and will have them developed in the next day or two.
I'll post them here and/or Flickr and put the direct link here.

<<>>

See more of my recent photos and artwork on a single page portfolio at:

http://www.ideastap.com/portfolio.aspx?furl=7e686b4be80ad4b2

<<>>

New exhibition + Call for submissions for VULPES open exhibition - by 1st Nov

Vulpes Vulpes,
1d, Prout Road, Clapton, London. E5 9NP


SUICIDE ROMANCE


Chris Wraith
Ian Liddle
Matthew Brotherhood
Jack Duplock

18th September - 14th October

Preview: Friday 18th September 6-9

"The title Suicide Romance refers to the post punk band Suicide and the pop appropriation of romanticism. The artists in Suicide Romance all directly reference imagery from various themes including popular culture, the figure and modernist abstraction. They are brought together for this exhibition because of a collective interest in the art of making."

Vulpes Vulpes
Open Exhibition 2009 - Call for submissions


Vulpes Vulpes is holding its first annual open submission exhibition.
They are seeking artists from across the UK and worldwide working in all media to submit work.

Deadline for submissions: 1st November 2009 at 12 midnight
Submission fee: £5 for up to 3 artworks
Notification: 10th November 2009
Exhibition dates: 11th December 2009 - 10th January 2010

To apply: please send up to 3 images of the work(s) you would like to submit, a 100 word statement about the work, and a CV.
Video, performance, and sonic artists can submit work online or on DVD (a high quality copy of the work will be required if selected).

Vulpes Vulpes is a not-for-profit arts organisation and unfortunately we have limited funding available. Transportation of artworks to and from the gallery is the artist’s responsibility. Selected work must be delivered to the gallery on the 4th, 5th, or 6th December 2009 between 10am and 5pm, and the collection dates are from Monday 11th - Sunday 17 January 2010 between 10am and 5pm.

Please email your application to information@vulpesvulpes.org with the subject heading: Open Exhibition 2009 and pay the submission fee via paypal to this email address. Alternatively, for DVD submissions and if you would like to pay by cheque please send it using recorded delivery to:
Vulpes Vulpes,
1d, Prout Road, Clapton, London. E5 9NP

Images should be no bigger than 300 kb and in .jpg or .tif formats.

Final Clapton Panel FUN DAY festival poster

(click on the poster to see it full size)

The day is especially for Hackney Homes residents but is open to all.

The list of attractions is still being finalized but there'll be 3 or 4 workshops ranging from t-shirt printing to clay modelling to possibly kite making. There'll be a tom-bola and apple bobbing as well as a magician or balloon manipulator. There's a barbecue and chicken or veg wraps. There'll be a cafe area as well.

On stage there's the Nemesis street dancers and the Irish dancers.
There'll be a stell band to boot.

There'll be free bulbs and possibly herbs for the window box supplied by Hackney Homes Estate environment as well as stands with give-aways fro everyone from Pinnacle to Crispin & Borst to safer neighbourhoods and a lot more...

....check back here closer to the day for the complete list.

Hope to see you there - Millfields Park North, adjacent to the play area.

Creative play for 8-12 yrs old (free) at "Hothouse"

Leeds Castle day trip photos

Here is the link to around 100+ photos I took on
the trip to Leeds Castle on July 26th.

About 75 were taken on 35mm film, the rest on a small digital camera.
They are numbered & named either with or without "digital".
A very few have "crop" in the name which is self explanatory.
Otherwise they are as taken - just quickly through Adobe Lightroom to de-vignette
and give an over-all colour adjust.

When I have time I'll give the best a Photoshop treatment to clean up any areas within the frame that need it. The sort of thing Lightroom just can't do.

This is the link to the "Leeds Castle" set of photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157621946949738/

You can download any photos you like from Flickr.
Click on the photo you want, then click on "all sizes".
The largest for nearly all of them is well over A3.

Hope you like them - here's a taste

Below is the above shot retouched in Photoshop - with a mild effect added.

There's a few more in the "Flickr" panel on the left column here
which you can also click on to get to the full set of 100 photos.

(All retouched photos do have "retouch" in the name)

Another "retouch" shot:



>><<

Clapton Panel FUN DAY Sat Sept 5th on Millfields

(click on the “Teaser” poster above to see it larger)

The full list of attractions is being finalized right now

so don’t forget to check back here in a few days.

…

This “FUNFEST” is especially for you…

…if you are a Hackney Homes resident living in or around Clapton

you will be getting a leaflet with the final version of the poster in the mail sometime over the next two or three weeks.

The day is especially for residents, with loads of entertainment, activities and great food. There’s a few local organizations you may well want to access at some stage like access2sport, community-links, safer neighbourhoods and others as well.

There will also be stands from organizations you definitely either have or will access such as Hackney Homes, Pinnacle, Connaught, Crispin & Borst, Davies & Davies – and more.

If you live on an estate without a TRA we hope the contributors showcase will give you a taste of what is available for TRAs and so inspire you to form one – with help and support from specialist resident support officers from Hackney Homes – also there on the day.

Don’t miss out – form a TRA – take the first step and find out all about it on the day:

Sat 5th Sept at Millfields Park North.

…and have fun at the same time.

"OF THE LAND" a new VULPUS exhibition 30 JULY to 30 AUGUST

V U L P U S V U L P U S

4 / 5 P r o u t R o a d C l a p t o n

http://vulpesvulpes.org/index.html

"OF THE LAND"

30 JULY – 30 AUGUST 2009

Private View – 6-9 Thursday 30th July

Email: information@vulpesvulpes.org

OF THE LAND brings together a series of contemporary images from a select group of current practising artists and recent graduates from the Royal College of Art MA and Wimbledon BA courses. The artists include Rachel Potts, Mette Juul, Robin Friend and Oliver Fuke.

Rob Eagle, a graduate of the Royal College of Art sculpture MA, has curated the show based on his outlook of the everyday world and the peculiarities of culture that affect us all, whether knowingly or otherwise. This is a body of work by artists that have achieved recognition through their descriptive narrative of the landscapes and cultural material that inform our understanding of the world we inhabit, a celluloid-inflected land of pictures.

The work has developed through the artists’ journeys and represents the emergence of each of their personal endeavours. The humorous, the banal, the inquisitive and even the exotic are identified in the work, providing encouraging and uplifting perspectives to be experienced by all who view them.

11-6 (Sat/Sun only) or by appointment

VULPES VULPES GALLERY
Unit 4, Prout Road
Clapton
London
E5 9NP

Email: information@vulpesvulpes.org

Website links:

http://www.vulpesvulpes.org/forthcoming_events.html

http://www.vulpesvulpes.org/

Day trip to LEEDS CASTLE in Kent - Sun 26 July (+update)

Free coach trip and free entrance for residents & members of the B&C TRA.
Leaving from the Beecholme estate at 9.30am

(click on the poster to see it full size)

To find out more about Leeds Castle click on this link:

http://www.leeds-castle.com

It should be a great day. If you haven't booked a seat yet there's still time.

Phone Michael on 0208 806 7539

>><<

UPDATE
Well we had a great day. I took 3 x 36 shot rolls of 35mm film and should have it back tomorrow, Monday 3rd August. As soon as I've processed a few in Photoshop I'll post them here.

>><<

Enhanced TRA meeting 28th July

(click on the poster below to see it full size - about A3)

New (1 hr) play at VULPUS "All the world's a ..."

V U L P U S V U L P U S

4 / 5 P r o u t R o a d C l a p t o n

8pm on the 16 – 19 July 2009
Tickets – £5 (cash only)

The performance will last approximately one hour.

There will be a bar at the gallery open before and after the performance.

A new piece for performance scripted, devised and improvised by the cast and crew.

Initiated by a mistranslation of Dante, this performance stages an epic journey of the brother and sister protagonists of a forgotten nineties American pre-teen movie through the supermarket part of a Chinese sex theme park on the dawn of its demolition, which culminates in a life-or-death game of Deal or No Deal.

Performed by

ED RICE, KATE O’CONNOR, PABLO NAVARRO-MACLOCHLAINN and IAIN MAITLAND

With a live and original soundtrack by:

MAX ERLE, of restlesslist

http://www.myspace.com/restlesslist
and

TOM DOUGALL, guitarist for Rose Elinor Dougall

http://www.myspace.com/roseelinordougallmusic

Designed by

PALOMA GORMLEY

Co-ordinated by

ORLANDO READE and OLLIE JORDAN
…..

http://www.vulpesvulpes.org/forthcoming_events.html

VULPUS new exhibit & CCTV new policy + WARDENS

V U L P U S V U L P U S

4 / 5 P r o u t R o a d C l a p t o n

4th - 12th July

V U L P U S V U L P U S

4 / 5 P r o u t R o a d C l a p t o n

http://vulpesvulpes.org/index.html

4th – 12th July 2009

“this,then, that and because of that, this”

an exhibition

by Ben Garrod & Scott Massey

--------------<<>>-------------

CCTV & ASB

Yesterday evening at the Residents Liaison Group meeting, Wayne Hylton announced that estate mangers will now be allowed access to recorded footage in order to investigate and collect evidence of all types of ASB including so called “low-level” ASB incidents that may not interest the police.

This change of policy is as a direct result of research I did into "data protection" the consequent clarification I received from the ICO about “data protection”.

Cllr. Linda Kelly was instrumental in making sure our arguments and info got to the right desks, then was heard & acted upon. Her help & support throughout is greatly appreciated.

Hackney Homes & Pinnacle deserve thanks for listening and then implementing these changes as well.

The new policy has yet to be published, but as soon as we have anything further, it will be posted here.

There's more on this on the NEWS page of the Clapton Panel's website:
http://claptonpanel.wordpress.com/news/





click on the image above to see it full size

TRA NEWSLETTER - Summer 2009 & Tram Depot news

click on the images below
to see them full size

Designed & written & illustrated by David White Design 0208 806 3731


The Old Tram Depot
38-40 Upper Clapton Road

Last year’s application was refused largely on the grounds of high density and tiny box like accommodation.
Much of the new design is even higher density.

Leabridge is the 41st most deprived ward in London, so increasing population density places more pressure on facilities, services and green spaces – and at a time when huge cuts are being made.

----

LOCAL STATS & FACTS

In fact, much of Hackney falls into the Multiple Index as being among the 20% most deprived in the country, with Leabridge itself being, as I say, ranked as the 41st most deprived in London.

That is, just about the most deprived of the most deprived - nationally!

LESS GREEN SPACE:

Leabridge has approx 23% green space – London as a whole has over 38%.

MORE DOMESTIC BUILDINGS:

Leabridge has over 16% domestic buildings, London has just over 8%.

----

But we do have a

YOUNGER than nationally average population
and a
BETTER EDUCATED population

with at least 31% of people having at least a first degree (level4/5)
compared with less than 20% nationally.

<<>>

Beecholme 's Visual Environment Project

To take in all the grounds, with 2 sides to the project: 1. to create a consistent landscape and horticultural design based around 2. three or more sculptural elements commissioned specifically for Beecholme.

Two of the sculptural elements to be more architectural in nature with seating.
One at least to be a pure sculpture.

<<>>
(see "Our Visual Environment & Quality of Life" presentation further below for our initial terms of reference)
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/04/updated-design-protocols-with-gold.html
<<>>

The planting and overall horticultural design will probably be done by "The Grass Roof Company" who have done some of the better squares and parks.

We have been lucky to commission Tim Norris
the sculptor who created this hillside sculptural stair & seating:

Tim will produce drawings of installations specifically taillored for Beecholme's grounds.

Side 1 - grounds & side 2 - sculptures will be co-ordinated by the TRA under the overall facilitating work of the specialist community art organisation "Arts Express".

Tim Norris and Damien of Arts Express have already had a preliminary look at the estate and are both enthusiastic and confident that we can make a huge improvement to our visual environment and our quality of life.

We have some £8,000 in 2 grants currently and we are applying for a further £22,000.

The architectural seating and planting designs will be based on the two squares although no area or view on the estate will be missed.
The pure sculpture will probably go at the park end of Prout Road and be visible from all directions including from Millfields Park.

See the photos below (click on it to see it full size):

A note about the Beecholme Estate

Beecholme Estate's architect was Sir Frederick Gibberd 1908-1984
(working with Borough engineer G L Downing), one of Britain’s most respected architects.

His work has been an influence on generations of post-war designers.
Gibberd was particularly interested in design as enclosure of space rather than arrangement
of mass, as evident at Beecholme -- combining architecture, town planning and landscape.

Gibberd described mixed development as
"planning the complete area as a whole series of pictures with variety in each, and unity within the whole."

We wish to remain true his vision for Beecholme and return it to a unified whole.
One that enhances peoples lives every day.

-----------<<>>----------

(see the "HCVS GrassRoots grants" post below for more details)

-----------<<>>----------

Bin artwork in last stage (please be patient)

click on the above to see it full size.

The remaining 5 bins should be covered within the next week or two at most.

Timeless British values to live by

Timeless values Briton's hold that should never go out of fashion:

• Tolerance - this does not mean accept intolerant action by others but does mean tolerating intolerant beliefs and beliefs contrary to your own others hold as true.
• Consideration - for your fellow man "Do as you would be done by".
• Fairness - equity and impartiality before the law and in everyday dealings with others.
• Moderation - in all things.
• Honesty - and integrity.
• Cleanliness - both personal and environmental (no spitting or littering)
• Civic Responsibility - volunteering a minimum of time to help your community.
• Charity - towards others in thought and action "there, by the grace of God go I" is one to keep in mind.
  

Is there anything I've missed?
Leave a comment or email me - david@davidwhitedesign.co.uk

This shouldn't need saying but I'm afraid it does - all to often.

"ANTIGONE" at Vulpus Vulpus

t o J u n e 1 4

4 / 5 P r o u t R o a d .

c h e c k i t o u t !

HCVS "Grassroots Grant" for Beecholme APPROVED

I have the very great pleasure of announcing that
our £5,000 grant application to the
HCVS East End and City "Grassroots Grants"
has been approved.

The project is to make the whole estate's grounds look as good as the best
squares and public gardens in Hackney.

We plan to do a lot more than simply planting.
Along with a sculptural element in the form of seating via a separate grant, the
overall effect should be that of a coordinated landscape design.


We have already spoken to The Grass Roof Company and will follow up with landscape, bedding and planting schemes & designs that will encourage the wildlife we want (discourage those we don't) and be sustained throughout the year.

http://www.grassroofcompany.co.uk/

We intend to add enough funds from our EIB, year by year to ensure constant maintenance of the new grounds.

This means weeding, pruning and seasonal re-planting.
In fact, everything needs to keep the grounds looking great year round.

As we have leaseholders with front gardens we currently have a garden of concrete slabs next to one full of flower pots next to one of hedges. We will add elements to each in order to tie everything together and, with the leaseholders permission, change whatever would otherwise stand out as uncoordinated. Fortunately this last job just means a bit of manual labour which we will do ourselves and not use grant funds for.

I'll post more here very soon, I just wanted to get the news to you that the grant has been approved.

Brilliant - thank you HCVS

from Sec. B&C TRA

Poster/artwork offer and my slide show PORTFOLIO

NEW
Includes all design:
Roughs, visuals & finished artwork for print.

<<>>

2,500 full colour letterheads £269 inclusive
(inc. VAT & p&p)

Printed best quality by offset press on 100gm bond
(other paper stock & run size prices on request)

<<>>

email: info@davidwhitedesign.co.uk

Phone/Fax: 020 8806 3731

<<>>

Here's our latest example
with a standard written letter indicated with "lorum ipsum" text:

You can see the full design process from roughs to finished art at:
https://sites.google.com/a/davidwhitedesign.co.uk/current/

<<>>

INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL OFFER
Poster and advertising design & artwork

link to see the above full size: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3516631377_4151f4275c_o.png

link to see the above full size: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/3516632423_28cfd90d11_o.png

"Special offer"
Print or web ready artwork for the introductory price of £20
For anything from a poster (CMYK @ 300dpi) to a webpage (RGB @ 72dpi)

To make this fair the offer is open to everyone, including existing clients

email: offer@davidwhitedesign.co.uk

<<>>



Gallery 1. GRAPHICS & ADVERTISING

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carpet tiles In Beecholme entranceway

They make a big difference, don't they!

I got these carpet tiles from Hackney FreeCycle and still have enough
to do the upper landings and the stairs - and keep
a few aside to replace any that get damaged.

There's only 6 flats in the stairwell and we all know each other so
I do not expect any purposeful damage.

(click on the picture to see it full size)

I haven't quite finished yet but when I do I'll give them a good cleaning.
They'll come up like new and look and feel great.
They're so much better than bare concrete - it makes you feel like
you're home as soon as you open the main entrance.

The only expense was a £1 can of spray glue (from a £1 shop) and
some blades for a stanley knife to cut the tiles.

I hope this will tip the scales in favour of carpet tiles for the lift lobby
in the single 5 storey block on the estate.
It's the single lift lobby that everyone has to go through as well
as their guests, of course.

The obvious beauty of tiles is their ability to be easily replaced if damaged
as well their ability to form patterns and designs.

The lift lobby would look great as a simple checkerboard.

Just for fun (3) - Euro election 2009 quick guide - Beecholme photos

(I took these on my mobile phone a couple of days ago.
They're a bit of a cheat really because i took them very close to & from behind plants
so they make the estate look a lot greener than it actually is)

As with all the photos, artwork and documents on the site, if you
click on them or better yet, right click and select
"open in new tab or window" they will come up full size.
In this case that means A4 for the "views" and the "panorama"
about 5 inches high by 2 foot wide.

Flats 10-21 and 22-33 Beecholme are top left, overlooking Millfields park.

...................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................

SEE the UPDATE below about the
EIB sculptural seating
Fri May 15th post: "UPDATE MAY 28"
.
...................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................

"Just for fun" star trek animations:

To see No3
http://content.oddcast.com/host/trek_yourself/swf/mySpace.swf?doorId=365&clientId=184&mId=30216899.1

To see No.2
The Star Fleet captain:
http://content.oddcast.com/host/trek_yourself/swf/mySpace.swf?doorId=365&clientId=184&mId=30216733.1

...and your mission is to go to:
http://www.claptonpanel.wordpress.com

To see No.1
The Romulan:
http://content.oddcast.com/host/trek_yourself/swf/mySpace.swf?doorId=365&clientId=184&mId=30211846.1

..................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................

Having trouble figuring out who on earth
some the candidates (and parties) are and what they stand for?

I hadn’t even heard of some of the parties so spent half an hour searching for the information I needed to be able to vote sensibly. I found all the info on London’s Euro election candidates on a concise and easy to follow page and figured I could save you the time & trouble
of having to search as well…

A summary of all London candidates and quick guide to their policies:

http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2009/05/london_european_election_candidates.php

Three Parties with London candidates I wanted to find out more about:

http://www.juryteam.org/blog/?p=595

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/

http://www.yes2europe.co.uk/


...or if you're really serious - the British Library:


http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/offpubs/eudoc/euelections/euelections.html

2004 results for London Euros:

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/london-european-elections


To register to vote online (for all elections held in the UK)
or to find out if you already are registered:

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/Default.aspx

TRA AGM 2009 results - plus NEWS

Our Beecholme & Casimir Tenants & Residents
Annual General Meeting

Was held as scheduled with Coralie Francis
our Resident Participation Officer attending to officiate.

All TRA officers were re-elected, however the
number of committee members has now dwindled to four.

....................................................................


The next TRA meeting is
Tuesday the 28th of July
at 7pm
in the hall

....................................................................


Other news

The new EIB process for 2009
This year we are to put forward 3 projects in preferential order.
If there is the time and money to do all three, all three will be done.
With luck this should avoid the huge underspend
of the last two years.

Our 3 projects will probably be:
1. Depending on whether we get the £5,000 grant from Grass Roots
(HSCV) for grounds/planting, add £3,000 for 3 years continuous maintenance
(weeding, pruning, seasonal replanting etc)
2. A sculptural seat not too dissimilar to the one illustrated below.
3. Floor covering for the lift lobby - perhaps lino or carpet tiles so any wear or burns
or spillages can be easily gotten rid of by replacing a tile.

If you have an idea for the EIB, let me know, it's not too late!
David White (sec. B&C TRA) email me at:
david@davidwhitedesign.co.uk

We will register the 3 projects at the next ETRA on
Tue 28th July at 7pm

....................................................................

This year's TRA outing
is to Leeds Castle, just outside London
on Sunday 26th of July.

You'll get a pamphlet through your door closer to the date.

that's all for now.

Have a good long weekend!

....................................................................

Beecholme and Casimir TRA AGM 20th May 09

Wednesday 2oth at 7.30pm in the hall

I hope to see you there!

Click on the poster to bring it up full size which is A3
(but 200dpi for print so may come up about A2)

Sculpture eg's for estate EIB project + HCVS grant + Dog litter fines

.....

UPDATE (May 28)
Arts-express manager and sculptor Tim Norris
http://www.timnorris.co.uk/
(Tim did the curved seating in the photo directly below)
will be coming to the estate as the first stage
of our sculpture/sculptural seating project.

From Tim's website:

Tim specialises in large-scale Sculptural Furniture, his work draws its inspiration
from the surrounding landscape and where possible uses
indigenous natural materials, in combination with recycled or engineered parts.

Tim has a range of experience in both exhibiting and constructing commissioned work in the landscape.

A proven track record of Commissions and Residencies, Including, Artist in Residence at The Irwell Sculpture Trail, The Grizedale Forest, and The National Cycle Network.

Rather than produce solely Furniture or Sculpture he creates inspirational environments
for the public to relax, chat and enjoy.

More updates to come.

.....

Here are 11 sculptures
as examples suitable for an EIB or other
grant funded project on your estate.

Of course, you will almost certainly commission a work that will have a relevance to and sit well with
the style of architecture on your estate.
Many of the examples I've chosen would sit particularly well in a post war, post modern estate.

The full stream of 42 sculptures can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidandseb/sets/72157618200513186/

...which includes sculptures currently on housing estates in London and elsewhere in the UK

"I hope you will pursue a sculpture project because
it will, I promise, make a huge difference
to your visual environment and affect
your quality of life."

Some residents at Beecholme and some Hackney Homes officers were initially resistant to proposals to paint the galvanized Gerda gates as well as to proposals to
cover the big estate bins with artwork. Fortunately cllr Linda Kelly had the vision to appreciate the possibilities and supported the project.

(Bin artwork see below or click: http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/03/next-etra-meeting-first-bin-with.html
and
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-bin-artwork-visuals.html
and
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-bin-artwork-approved.html)

"The projects went through mainly because no-one else had a project for
the 2008 EIB... ...and I was persistent."

The estate signs were due to be replaced after the Decent Homes internals had been done as they were still Hackney council signs instead of Hackney Homes ones. I was luckily in the right place at the right time and managed to jump in and supply the artwork using predominantly Hackney Homes corporate colours but with my own 50's style Beecholme logo.

(Gates & signage see below or click: http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-signage-up-galvanized-gates-painted.html
and
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-big-estate-sign-for-casimir-rd.html
and
http://beecholme.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-estate-signs-are-up.html)

Since these projects have been now completed, they are
widely appreciated and commented on.

"I know some officers (and expect some residents) will again
be resistant
to the idea of estate sculpture . . .

. . . I hope I can convince them that a sculpture will be as effective as
the bin artwork, the signage and the gates, perhaps even more so."

As long as the sculptures are made of stainless steel or stone resin (or similar) and are
fixed to the ground by a (an unseen underground) concrete footing they
will be vandal proof and easily cleaned.

Placement is critical to get the full impact.
To ensure that your eyes are drawn towards it, its background needs to be
either a contrasting or visually flat surface. You can use this to make passers look in a certain direction, perhaps away from a less attractive view.
For example, you wouldn't want to place a sculpture within view of bins or someones window.

As all these projects make an impact on the estate and our visual environment
and the overall effect is starting to mount up.
Residents are rightfully becoming more respectful of and care
more for both the estate and themselves.

It's hardly surprising as the estate is now more worth taking care of.
It shows a respect for residents and their environment that is returned in kind.

..................................................................

Need help accessing funds?

If anyone without an estate TRA wants help accessing EIB funds or applying
for grants elsewhere, please contact me in my position as sec. of the Clapton Panel at

claptonpanel@googlemail.com
...................................................

"If and when a Beecholme sculpture project is completed, I'm confident
it will be hailed as a big success.
As a designer and visual media professional who has lived on three continents I have seen
these sorts of measures work all over the world, time and time again."


It's a matter of creating well designed and aesthetically pleasing focal points while at the same time getting rid of any eyesores. The overall impression is then one of coordinated good design that naturally calms and uplifts the viewer.

-----------------------------

£5,000 Grass Roots Grant from HCVS

We are currently waiting for to find out if we've got the East End & City Grass Roots grant of £5,000 we (the TRA) applied for some 6 weeks ago to employ the Grass Roof Co to replant and do minor landscaping to all the estates grounds and gardens. You can use the grant for any communal environmental improvement.
We should know within the next fortnight or so.

http://www.grassroofcompany.co.uk/

News about the Grass Roots grants program:

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/090305_grassroots.aspx

and the HCVS site,the place to apply for a Grass Roots Grant

http://www.hcvs.org.uk/en/pages/funding-grants/grassroots.aspx


-----------------------------


Fines for dog dirt litter

Last year I suggested that heavy fines should be handed out for dog dirt & littering and noted that Perth in West Australia had the same problem until a few years ago when $2,000 fines were introduced
and bins placed everywhere.
I was told in no uncertain terms "we're not Australian" and "it would never work here".

I am gratified to see that Hackney council is now initiation a £1000 fine for dog dirt littering and that
the by-laws are in place and the signs will be going up in Hackney very soon.

It is nice to be proved right sometimes.

-------------------------------