News in Brief August 2008
Crushing shame for untaxed cars
Car tax dodgers are being told to get legal or face having their motors crushed, cubed and recycled.
Sophisticated technology is being used to target tax evaders. In partnership with the police and DVLA, Hackney’s parking team uses automatic number plate recognition to identify vehicles that are untaxed. Last year, 884 untaxed vehicles were taken away and almost half were stripped of polluting materials and recycled.
Residents are also being urged to contact the Council if they need an unwanted vehicle collected for free, or see an abandoned one. Almost 2,000 vehicles were investigated within 24 hours of being reported abandoned last year.
Cllr Alan Laing, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “If you don’t want your vehicle turned into recycled metal, make sure the tax is up to date. Or if you don’t want it, let us know and we’ll take it away for free.”
For more info, call: 020 8356 3000; email: abandoned.vehicles@hackney.gov.uk; or visit: the Transports and Streets page.
Good news for big readers
Bookworms will soon have access to even more resources thanks to a series of improvements by Hackney’s Library Service.
From September, the borough will be joining 10 others to form the London Libraries Consortium. This means Hackney library cards can be used to borrow books, CDs, DVDs, and use resources such as online directories, through the catalogues of Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Enfield, Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Wandsworth.
Users can also now sign up to get reminders and updates by e-mail, making it easier to avoid fines and reserve items. Later in the year, a new self-service system will also be introduced, allowing users to check books in and out themselves.
The Library Service will offer coaching sessions on how to use the new systems and staff will be on hand to answer questions. For more info visit the Libraries page.
Home not alone
A Hackney housing scheme is set to benefit from £3.5million of Government funding to help older people live in their own homes for longer.
Mount Pleasant Court, in Upper Clapton, will be knocked down and rebuilt with new self-contained flats for residents who need care and support services.
The 20 existing flats are outdated and unsuitable for the new scheme, which will also provide an extra 42 new homes.
The Government is investing £80million in 25 such sites across the country to allow people with long-term conditions to stay independent, instead of moving into a care home where couples cannot live together.
Mount Pleasant Court is owned and managed by Newlon Housing Association, which applied for the Department of Health funding in partnership with the Council.
Cllr Nargis Khan, Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “This means more choice for residents about where and how they live in later life, as well as more independence, and I am delighted that Hackney is to benefit from this new service.”
Mounting up
The opening of a new community hall in Upper Clapton was celebrated with a family fun day.
Cllr Ian Rathbone, Speaker of Hackney, formally opened the new venue at The Mount, in Mount Pleasant Lane, on 2 August.
He said: “This is a great example of what can be achieved when residents work together with the Council and housing associations to provide much needed communal facilities.
“The Mount’s new hall will provide a valuable hub for the community, and I look forward to visiting again to see some of the activities and events.”
He also thanked members of The Mount’s Tenants and Residents’ Association for their hard work and determination in tackling the commissioning and planning stages of the hall through to final construction with housing association Mosaic.
No laughing matter
Comedian Richard Blackwood came to Hackney to help raise awareness of the fight against knife and gun crime in London.
The TV presenter was the star attraction at a day that featured catwalk shows, dance displays and a play with an anti-violence message. The event on 16 July at the Hackney Road offices of A4e, a company that helps the unemployed into work, also raised funds for the NSPCC.
Water baby boom
The summer holidays have seen nearly 400 Hackney youngsters improve their swimming skills.
Primary school aged pupils have taken advantage of the Top Up Swimming scheme, run by GLL, to improve their skills. The youngsters, who were all identified as being unable to swim by the Hackney School Sports Partnership, can now swim a minimum of five metres unaided. This is vital, when drowning is the third most common cause of accidental death in the UK’s under 16s.
Pupils were awarded certificates and free family swims, in recognition of their achievements. Marnie Collins, swimming co-ordinator, said: “These young people have achieved so much in two months when you think that most of them were non swimmers. Being able to swim independently and safely is a life saving skill.”
There are numerous swimming courses available throughout Hackney during the summer, for all ages and abilities, through the London Swim School. In addition, there’s free swimming for under 18s on offer at five swimming pools in the borough, including London Fields Lido. For more info visit: www.londonswimschool.org.
Mayor on the run
Council staff cut a dash while raising more than £2,500 for one of the Speaker of Hackney’s charities.
Twenty-seven people including Mayor Jules Pipe took part in the five-kilometre Great City Run on 17 July, joining thousands of City workers to raise money for charity.
Laburnum Boat Club, one of the Speaker, Cllr Ian Rathbone’s chosen charities, is set to benefit from more than £2,500 raised. He said: “A big thank you to all who took part in the Great City Run and their sponsors for their effots in raising this outstanding sum."
Builders for 2012 media hub
The Hackney Wick media centres for the 2012 Games will be built by two leading developers.
A consortium of Carillion and Igloo will deliver the 1.3million square feet media hub that will house around 20,000 journalists during the Games, the Olympic Delivery Authority has announced. They will then transform the centres into quality mixed-use office and business space after 2012, providing a legacy of more than 8,000 jobs.
Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, said: “The Council’s top priority from the 2012 Games is securing the best possible legacy for our residents. The media centres in Hackney Wick offer the opportunity to draw in media, digital and creative industries and create a new employment hub for East London, offering high quality jobs to local people.”
Bring your script to life
Aspiring filmmakers are invited to apply for a course that could help them win a £1,500 bursary to develop their project. There are 15 places available on the New Pathways Tri-Borough Film Fund course, which is open to applicants from Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.
It offers help with script development techniques, as well as routes to exhibition and distribution.
Applicants should have original stories to tell and, where possible, these should be based in the three boroughs.
After the course, the 15 participants will be invited to pitch a script developed through the scheme to a panel of judges who will award six bursaries.
Applications close on 5 September. For further details and an application contact Stephanie Turnbull at Tower Hamlets Films Office: 020 7364 7920; or email: filmsoffice@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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