News December 2006
Please see the downloads on the right for information on services over the holiday period and the recycling at Christmas page for information on waste collections and recycling.
Mayor's Christmas message
I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and happy Hanukah.
You may have read ridiculous stories in the national press recently about local Councils ‘banning’ Christmas, and those about Hackney are untrue. We’re very proud to celebrate Christmas, and as a borough of many diverse nationalities and religions we’re proud to mark other major religious festivals celebrated by our residents.
Hackney’s residents are united by the borough’s vibrancy, creativity and diverse communities. That’s why the Council’s Christmas card and banners bear the ‘I Love Hackney’ message.
It’s been an exciting year in Hackney. We re-opened the London Fields Lido, the capital’s only 50m heated outdoor pool. We won a landmark legal victory against Nike for £300,000. Education results continued to improve. We took the first steps in making recycling compulsory in parts of Hackney, resulting in massive increases in recycling tonnage. Council services such as street cleaning and benefits processing are still improving. And of course we launched the ‘I Love Hackney campaign’, which thousands of local people have joined in with.
It’s important not to forget for some people this will be a sad Christmas. There are residents who have lost family and friends to violent crime on our streets, such as the family of Stevens Nyembo-Ya-Muteba who was killed on the Holly St Estate earlier this year. Incidents like this still affect our borough. Things are undeniably getting better in many ways, but we know there’s a huge amount to do to tackle gang violence, guns and knives, and particularly around Christmas when crimes such as burglary, domestic violence and drink driving do go up.
With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
Jules Pipe
Mayor of Hackney
Page updated: 1 Apr 2008