OK. The Town Hall and Assembly Rooms on Church Street? 
With all rooms now used in the Town Hall, 'there is absolutely no question of a sell-off of the Assembly Rooms', and £1.4 million has been allocated to bring the Assembly Rooms back into public use by May 2006. He sees the Town Hall as becoming a 'public meeting space', and he intends to alternate full Council meetings between the Town Hall and Mare Street, spending £4.3 million on renovations. He also told me he is looking at plans to move all Hackney Call Services into the buildings, which will result in 'a revitalisation of the Stoke Newington daytime economy', welcome news for local traders, if it happens.

The Sea Scouts building, again on Church Street, has been the subject of local speculation. If you remember, the Scouts were paying an agreed peppercorn rent, but were kicked out over a year ago after a massive rent hike. They have subsequently disbanded, something of an irony when one considers Hackney's professed aim of improving the quality of life of kids in the Borough. The building was squatted almost from day one, and remains so. The Scouts were unfortunate, says Jules, because they were 'occupying a valuable building when the Council hit its financial crisis'. The Council 'had a legal duty to plug the budget gap' and had to secure what the District Auditor insisted was 'a fair market value'.

So what's going to happen? 'If it was to be sold off, I would be hoping for a socially useful
project, like a surgery or health centre'. The Council are currently discussing potential occupancy with the Primary Care Trust and have 'no intention to seek a private developer '. So no Starbucks, then? 'However, if no socially useful body comes forward - and no viable plan comes forward - it could be considered for development.'

The Mayor stated that they are investing in the Old Fire Station in Leswin Road, and therefore why does Stoke Newington need another community centre (the Scout hut)? But surely all areas need as much community space as they can get? And the existence of one such amenity should not necessarily negate the encouragement of another.

We talked about other issues, such as flyposting - Hackney appear to be taking the Camden line and considering issuing ASBOs against offenders ('gently pushing the boundaries') - and the possibility of a re-emergence of the Street Festival - 'I wouldn't want to give false hope' - but time was against us. We also discussed the issue of music and alcohol licensing - 'we want to encourage badly-run pubs to improve' - although licensing is a quasi-judicial function, controlled by the elected councillors and not in Jules's mandate.

In the next issue of N16, we will be devoting space to this contentious matter. I am aware that our discussions were only the tip of an iceberg - and we didn't touch on important areas such as housing, education and transport - but at least it's a start. I did, however, leave the Town Hall impressed by the Mayor's seemingly burning conviction that his vision and efforts are going to eradicate the legacy of the incompetence and corruption of past administrations in the Borough. It remains to be seen whether Hackney is a hopeless basket case or whether, this time around, a change for the better - for all inhabitants of the Borough - is in the gift of New Labour.

N16 hopes to visit Hackney Town Hall and talk to the Mayor again before our next (March) issue. We would be grateful if readers could send us questions which we could put to the Mayor on your behalf.