Congratulations to Hackney Council. There, I've said it at last, well done indeed. For a long time I've campaigned about the slowness and then the complete disappearance of Hackney's planning applications website - a huge font of knowledge when you realise that a stonking great development is under consideration for the house/ houses opposite you.

The old site, when first running, was very slow and you needed to download a special viewer, but it was one, if not the first, of local council web sites that allowed you such a luxury. And for that reason you could forgive the slowness of the system. Unfortunately, when the system was moved to a new location, it finally gave up the ghost. 

In many ways I have to say that it was worth the temporary loss of the site for several months,  because it forced the team to set up a new, much faster, more elegant arrangement for handling online inquires. On the downside, it is not the easiest of links on the site to find. The standard search engine does not find the link, but you can find it on the council website at www.hackney.gov.uk/index/council/departments/environment/env-plan/planning.htm.  
A link is available from the council website front page in the righthand sidebar. 
www.hackney.gov.uk 

You can find information through a range of options: by street name, by weekly and monthly lists, by postcode or, if you have it, by application case reference number. To view the files on any particular application you do need Adobe Acrobat but most people seem to have a copy on board their machines these days. The site offers much more, for instance you can download application forms including a Full Planning Permission Application Form and all the supporting details.

Be honest, when was the last time you said I'll have a quick look for some information online and then several hours later you were still online? I only ask. Having visited the planning site, it reminded me that Emily Ovenden had been in touch with a note about Abney Public Hall's new web site. So off I trotted to take a look. There is plenty of information about the hall, including how to rent the space and how to apply for a table at the highly successful flea market and new design fair and a good diary of other events. www.abneypublichall.com 

Having checked out the calendar, I was intrigued by a meeting for SANDS on the first Tuesday of the month. So venturing ever onward, I clicked the link on to discover that SANDS stands for Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society. Having children of my own, I had a look around the site. I found it moving and yet with plenty of information and support for parents and families (and friends) whose baby is stillborn or dies soon after birth. I can thoroughly recommend this site. www.uk-sands.org 

And still on Abney Hall, Emily who is the manager, had also mentioned that she had a small site of her own. So onward ever onward, I traveled and visited her site. Well, blow me down with a feather! I hadn't known anything about Emily, but I sure did by the time I left. Not only is she an accomplished writer, with her first novel The Ice Room gaining critical acclaim, she is about to publish her short story Vuples Vuples illustrated by her mother, Ruralist Artist, Annie Ovenden. She also sings with The Mediaeval Babes and performs with her rock band Supervia. 

Thanks to the many links on her site I include the brief biog to be found on the Supervia 
site. Emily One is the daughter of artist Graham Ovenden and grew up with the likes of Ian Dury and Peter Blake. She started singing at an early age and quickly became interested in song writing. She has had a varied career which has included modelling, writing for Penthouse magazine and working as a nanny (for one day). My only regret about her site is that there are no sample extracts from either The Ice Room or Vuples Vuples. It would round the site off nicely.
www.emilyovenden.co.uk  

Which brings me to journey's end in more ways than one. My hat off to Sam Horley and her brother who have launched a great campaigning website. Save The 73 (see page 7). As a lover of the old Routemaster, I have to say a big thank you. This a well set out site with loads of good quality information including pdf files to download with even more info. Although it looks like a very hard battle to save the Routemaster, it has to be worth the effort. So get online and join the nearly 900 others who already have. 
www.savethe73.com 

Finally, this column has in the past recommended making sure that your anti-virus and spam software is regularly updated. I bring this up again because over the past few weeks a number of people have been complaining about the sheer weight of junk mail reaching their machines. I know that on one machine one particular Spam type has slipped through a number of safeguards. It looks authentic, with a brief note, and an attachment which might at first glance be a Word doc but is an executable pif programme. 

Please, please, please, if something like this arrives just bin it at once; do not open it if you value your computer. The major clues to this nasty piece of work are that the subject will almost always start 'Re', followed by a variety of comments like 'Your document', 'Word file', or 'My details'. And the body copy states 'Please have a look at the attached file'. Just don't.