East London Life

IT WAS revealed this week that Havering is set to be the site for a huge new prison - the biggest in Britain.

Residents, councillors and action groups are furious at the Government’s plan to build the 1,500 prisoner Category B jail, on the BeamReach site close to the A13 in Rainham.

It would go some way in helping deal with the 8,000 extra prison spaces needed nationwide, accor-ding to the Home Office.

But it is another blow for beleaguered Rainham residents, who have long regarded their area - with good reason - as the dumping ground of East London.

Havering Coun- cil has stated its opposition to the decision, but would appear to be powerless to turn it down.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Council Leader Michael White vowed: “I can promise I will fight it tooth and nail.”

Alby Tebbutt, Conservative councillor for Pettits ward in Havering, has stated that he would love to ‘have a go at Ken’ for the Mayoral office this June.

Tebbutt is famous for his brusque, direct manner, which has gotten him in trouble in the past, and was recently voted off the Havering Council after 24 years in that body.

MP Galloway spoke at the Eton Community Centre for the official launch of Respect Against Racism In Barking & Dagenham today, pulling no punches in his stated goal to rid the borough of ‘jack-booted Holocaust deniers.’
Galloway told the assembled crowd of around 100:

“White working class people who are angry about their position in life have transferred that onto black people and other minorities.

“Once upon a time they had good wages, good quality council housing, and good public services.

“But now there’s a huge housing problem in Barking and Dagenham, with too many people living in run-down council houses, and thousands on the waiting list.

“When that happens and suddenly a number of foreigners appear on the same street, the consequences are not surprising.

“But we mustn’t blame those who are taken in by the jack-booted Holocaust deniers with their Hitler packs under their covers at night. We must win them over.”

The Tower Hamlets MP cited the success of his party in the East London borough, saying: “Ten years ago, the BNP had a councillor in Tower Hamlets, now it’s a no-go zone for them.

“Respect is here in Barking and Dagenham because we feel there’s no way the core Labour vote is going to stop the rise of the BNP - we have to fill that gap.”

According to the Telegraph, the mosque, with room for 70,000 worshipers, was thought to have unanimous support, but it comes out that it may not be going to happen at all.

A senior security source said that he was concerned about the proposed mosque, and expected ministers to use their powers to call in, and turn down, the planning application.

The move was confirmed by a senior Government source, who said there were fears that the giant mosque could damage community relations in the area, and added: “We are going to stop it.”

Until now, it was thought that the support of Newham Council (which agreed in principle in 2001), The London Thames Gateway Unitary Development Corporation, and the London Development Agency would be enough to guarantee that planners would rubber-stamp the proposed mosque.

After submitting the largest planning application in European history, the Olympic Delivery Authority has now opened the application to public consultation, timed to coincide with the end of the appeals period for Compulsory Purchase Orders relating to the games.

The first criticisms of the plans are starting to roll in as well:

The Green Party said the plans failed to break new ground in terms of sustainability, while the athletes’ village fell short of existing standards.

Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch said there were not enough details or concrete improvements for public transport.

The plans will be on show at Stratford shopping centre from 2pm to 7pm on Friday, February 23 and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, February 24.

Comments can be posted to Head of Development Control, Olympic Delivery Authority Planning Decisions Team, Mailpoint 32B, 23rd Floor, 1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5LN.

They can also be sent via planning.enquiries@pdt.oda.gov.uk, london2012.com/planning or fax 020 8430 6021 before March 19.

Technorati Tags: olympics, planning, London, Green Party

Hackney Council confirmed recently that a planning meeting which was to decide whether travellers could be moved to 2 new sites in Homerton Road and Wallis Road, Hackney Wick, had to be put back by them because they want more time to consider the responses they have received.

I previously covered the planned move, which had angered local residents because the planning notices had been “accidentally” hidden from view. Hackney Marshes User Group’s (HMUG) Paul Hodge said:

“We had no knowledge from the council about two meetings held in December specifically about Hackney Marshes site.”

“We organised a hunt by 14 people to find the notices the council said they had put up, and when we finally found them, they were dated December 4, the day of the first meeting.”

“There are loads of notice boards around the Marshes, but these were almost hidden and one was at least 100 metres away from the site.”

“They also put the notice in Hackney Today under the wrong postcode. It’s embarrassing that the council has made such a pig’s ear of this.”

Hackney Council said, rather as we would expect, that it has fulfilled the requirements of the planning consultation hence it will not be starting the planning process again.

At London Footprints there is a nice selection of DIY walking tours of east London. One in particular caught my eye: a route that passes through three parks in one walk - the splendid (and large!) Victoria Park, the linear Mile End Park with new landscaping & features and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park now a nature reserve with a numbered trail.

Well laid out and lovingly researched, the directions (suitable for printing before your outing) feature turn by turn commentary on the features and history of almost everything you come across on the walk.

So, next time you find yourself near Limehouse DLR with some time to spare, or if you fancy a nice stroll through interesting green spaces, take a walk through the park(s).

Despite vigorous protestations by concerned locals and cautions from English Heritage, TfL’s propert consultants, and even their own environmental consultants, Hackney Council has decided to go ahead and demolish the historic Dalston Theatre, among other landmarks, in order to cash in on Olympic fever by selling the land off to developers to pay for the £39 million new bus station which is to be built over Dalston station.

I think we will be seeing a lot more of this in the run up to the Olympics. Even if Dalston was run-down, couldn’t it be ‘restored’ instead of ‘redeveloped’? Is it necessary to bulldoze every damned thing and put up Ballardian flat blocks and office towers?

Of course, now there are charges of corruption in the Hackney Council that the Metropolitan Police are looking in to, not that Hackney Council being corrupt is a new idea…

Over at Derelict London, Paul has put up an excellent photo essay looking around the Lower Lea Valley, otherwise known as the future home of the Olympic park. It is not a pretty picture…
There are two sides to every story, and while I am no fan of the Olympics coming to east London, there will be some positives that come of it, even if only to galvanize locals to change their complacent ways and fight for (and clean up) what is theirs before it is sold out from under them, of simply taken away by the Councils…

Newham Council, with the help of local walking group Newham Striders, has restarted group walking tours of the future Olympic Park, which is being touted as a Sunday stroll through the lower Lea Valley with a chance to learn more about the Olympic developments.

The group walks aim to give visitor’s a bird’s eye view of where the Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Centre will be, as well as local points of interest, including the Abbey Mills Pumping Station and old Bryant and May match factory.

The free walks, which last for around two hours, start from Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow, at 11am and 1pm every Sunday. Details 0208 430 2012.