On LineYou Can Email
at In this issue A Flume with a View Page
by Page
|
|
. | ||||||
| . | p10 The threat to Stoke Newington Library has been lifted, at least temporarily. A proposal to cut the total number in Hackney by four was rejected by councillors at their meeting on 28 November. This followed representations by the Labour Council leadership to Government. They have managed to obtain a supported loan from central funds of £30 -£50 million, although nothing has yet been signed. Also halted were reductions in the Park Ranger service and the removal of support funding for sports in parks. After-school clubs and play sites have been reprieved, as has the Travellers' Unit. A leading councillor told us that they will continue to oppose the closure of the Clissold Park bowling green, paddling pools and animal park. Some voluntary sector groups will have their grants maintained. Not such good news for people relying on home care visits. These have been reduced to half an hour. The Council is to bid to hold an all postal ballot for the local elections in May 2002 Ace photographer Nicky Dunsire (her work features regularly in this magazine) is currently holding two exhibitions in Church Street. The first is at The Prince with a series of photos on contemporary circus. The second is at the Traffic shoe shop, which displays her series of work in Zanzibar, which she visited in summer 2001. Her work is also at the gallery in Edwards Lane with SNAP (Stoke Newington Arts Project) which features paintings and photographic prints by local artists. Want to upset the neighbours? Then have a nice, noisy all-night party with the music turned way up high. It's unlikely that the authorities will ask you to turn it down, as they will not be around much anymore. The Council intends to cut its noise pollution service. The Clissold Leisure Centre (see page 2) is planned to open on 1 February 2002. The relevant Council department assures us that this is definite. But don't blame us if something goes wrong (again). Bad hair day. José the hairdressers on Church Street, is closing. Another small business victim of rocketing rents at the end of a lease. Northwold Area Residents' Group have launched a free door to door recycling service to collect glass. Local milkman John Graham picks up green, clear and brown glass on different days along with the usual milk bottles from his customers. He then drops them into the bottle bank on his way back to the dairy. John makes no charge for the service, but has doubled the number of customers on his round over the first four months of the scheme. If you live east of the High Street, close to Northwold Road, and would like to sign up, call John on 07976 222637. Yum Yum has changed its menu and wine list. Owner Atique held a tasting on a recent Sunday afternoon and invited various local worthies, including a correspondent from N16, and regular customers to sample the Thai fare. The food was excellent and there was a fine selection of New World wines, supplied in never-ending quantities. We didn't see much 'tasting' occurring and your correspondent wisely decided to leave while he could still remain upright. Stoke Newington will be wiped off the Parliamentary map if Conservative proposals to the Boundaries Commission are accepted. They want to cut N16 in two roughly divided by Nevill Road and cutting Church Street in half - to form two new constituencies. One - north and west Stoke Newington - would be added to part of Islington and called something like' Highbury and Clissold'. The other - south and east would be tagged on to north Hackney to form 'Hackney Central'. Could this be a last desperate attempt to win a seat in north-east London? Tory spokesman Gerry Mander was not available for comment. Update - the 393 bus, which will link Clapton, Stoke Newington Church Street, Highbury & Islington and Holloway, is scheduled to commence on Easter Saturday, 30 March 2002. East Thames Buses has a new single-decker fleet on order, similar to those on the 276 route. Roger Blake, Hackney's transport planner, insists that this magazine fulfil its promise to crack open the champagne when the first bus leaves. No problem, the bubbly has been on ice since we started our campaign to get the new service introduced quickly. A war of words has broken out between a local critic of the gentrification of Stoke Newington and Ballymore Properties, the developers of The Red Square apartments. Local critic (LC) objected to the use of twee, estate agent's language: 'All London's a Hollywood. All London's a location. North London's Bohemian Quarter' etc. He launched a guided missile at the company's website accusing it of 'a property scam' that priced local people out of the housing market. The response was a B52 bombing raid of massive proportions. After referring to cheaper locations, the company said that they were sure 'you would get an excellent deal in more exotic places such as India or Afghanistan. If you choose the latter you may need to invest in substantial military hardware, a fake beard, tanning cream and an updated version of the Koran!!!' Undeterred by this tasteful and sensitive comment, LC replied that he was oppose, to the division of the area into 'wealthy property owners on the one side and poor tenants on the other'. Perhaps one reason why the company reacted in the way it did was because they are already sizing up the possibility of marketing trendy apartment in downtown Kabul or renovating some interesting caves in the surrounding hill: After all, Osama bin Laden is a well-known Arsenal supporter.
|
. | ||||||
