Last Wednesday the North East London candidate for the May elections joined Hackney Living Streets, Transport for All and Disability BackUp in protesting against Transport for London’s plans to remove a vital crossing in Hackney.

The plans to remove a signalised pedestrian crossing in Curtain Road have been opposed by local residents and workers who say that the removal is dangerous, ill thought out and an outrageous waste of money, with potential costs of £80K.

The removal is part of a wider programme of pedestrian crossing removals to ‘smooth traffic flow’ and increase ‘journey time predictability’.

Caroline says "It is clear that the Mayor prioritises car drivers being able to shave a few minutes off their journeys over the safety of the most vulnerable users of our streets. The crossing is used by people walking on a direct route to nearby Moorfields Eye Hospital, many of whom are visually impaired, or blind.

"It is time for a Mayor and Assembly who recognise that our streets are for everyone, that we need a safe street environment to live, work and shop. The prioritisation of cars must stop, for the good of all London residents."

Read Caroline's blog on the topic here.

Caroline Allen and Emma Dixon visit the cafe at Clissold Park 

The Green Party London Assembly candidate for North East London recently visited the newly opened café in Clissold Park in order to see for herself whether concerns raised by local people that the café is not socially inclusive were well-founded.

Clissold House was restored and upgraded as part of an £8.9 million pound project jointed funded by Hackney Council and Heritage Lottery Fund. At the time that the contract for the café was tendered, Hackney Green Party expressed concerns that only allowing companies with a turnover in excess of £1 million would exclude most small, local businesses who might want to run the café. 

Caroline says “We believe a project funded by the Lottery and the Council should be accesible to all of Hackney’s residents, and at the moment this café does not achieve those aims.”

“Hackney has high levels of poverty: as recently reported, child poverty is the 4th highest in the country. Food poverty is likely to also be at very high levels. Yet Hackney also has some very good examples of community food growing initiatives. One of which, Growing Communities, even has a small plot in Clissold Park. “

“The Clissold House café is a missed opportunity to have had a real community cafe, using local produce, providing cooking classes, maybe even getting kids involved in growing and cooking, in the heart of the park. In awarding this contract the Council has shown once again that while it says it is on the side of the more disadvantaged in our community, this is not always matched by what it does. The Council must admit its mistake and endeavour to improve its tendering process and equalities assessments.” 

More discussion and debate on this issue can be found on The Big Smoke blogsite: Clissold cafe and The Toast of Hackney 

Caroline Allen joins protesters at Hackney Town Hall 

Caroline Allen, the Green Party GLA candidate for North East London, is calling for Hackney’s residents to sign up to a new campaign to help tackle the serious issue of fuel poverty.

The ‘Winter Warm Up’ campaign, which last month saw Caroline and supporters protesting on the steps of Hackney Town Hall, identified that the behaviour of the main six energy companies is a major contributing factor to fuel poverty. Now a new campaign ‘End the Big 6 Energy Fix’ is calling on the government to act with 3 clear demands:

1) Impose a levy on the Big Six, with funds raised ring-fenced to help people with their energy costs, prioritising those living in fuel poverty, by making homes more energy efficient.

2) Give the regulator new powers to cap prices and eliminate excess profit.

3) Launch an independent public inquiry into the Big Six so that everyone knows the measures needed to create an energy market that serves the people before profit.

Caroline said “6.3 million homes are in fuel poverty in the UK, and it is estimated that around 2,700 people died last winter as a direct result of being ‘fuel poor’. This is a shocking figure.”

 The new campaign is supported by Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas, who said: "It is completely outrageous that the Big Six are able to rake in eye-watering profits as people up and down the country are forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families.

These companies are delivering a crucial public service, and it is now the Government's responsibility to hold them to account for failing to provide anything close to a fair deal for consumers. We need to see Ofgem taking a far stronger role in regulating this out-of-control industry."

Caroline Allen added “there are other measures that government and Councils could be taking to tackle this issue. It is a scandal that we have failed to properly insulate so many properties; people’s money is literally disappearing out of their windows and roofs. Housing in the UK is some of the most poorly insulated in Europe: 25-35% of the total energy used in a typical family home in the UK is wasted and at least 27% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from homes.  Green councillors have shown that insulation schemes save money and create local jobs”. 

Sign the petition online here 

Read the coverage in the Hackney Gazette 

The analysis shows that Hackney would receive £31m a year if a Financial Transaction Tax was introduced. That sum could:

- Pay for 576 new police officers

- Fund 5,816 apprenticeships

- Launch 105 new Hybrid buses

- Build a new school

- Or reverse all local authority cuts and cut council tax.

Caroline Allen, the Green Party’s candidate for the North East constituency said: “North East London has been hit hard by the cuts, its young people and those on low incomes being affected the most. It is astonishing to see that this simple measure could allow us to offer thousands of apprenticeships to unemployed young people, an investment in the future.”

The tax - which would raise £10 billion a year nationally with a mere 0.05% tax on financial transactions - is expected to be introduced in other EU-countries (except Sweden) by the end of this year. 

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced this week plans to introduce a tax on financial transactions in France. The 0.1% - double the Green parties proposed 0.05% - tax will be introduced in August regardless of whether other EU countries agree to do the same.

Boris Johnson has consistently expressed his opposition to the tax, choosing instead to defend the interests of the City. During his time in office he has met with bankers three times as often as police (6). More than half the funding for his last election campaign came from hedge funds (8). Hedge funds, financiers and private equity make up 27% of Conservative Party funding as a whole. 

Allen said: “There are many areas across North East London where schools and GPs are stretched, investment is needed and yet we're told there is no money. There is only no money because the richest aren't paying their way.”

“With child poverty figures in Hackney the 4th highest in the country, surely no one living here can object to the very richest corporations paying towards better housing, schooling and transport.”

Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones said: “Inequality in London is growing with the economic crisis being used as a poor excuse

“The Robin Hood Tax is a simple measure that would help ensure our city’s richest institutions make a more equitable contribution towards the recovery without scratching the surface of their massive profits.

“The Mayor of London has played a very prominent role in trying to prevent a Robin Hood Tax being implemented. However the tide is turning in this debate and I believe Londoners want a Mayor who is aiming to spread the wealth generated by the financial sector, rather than keeping it all in the hands of a tiny minority in the capital.” 

The Green Party this week gained confirmation from Hackney Council that all residential roads in Hackney would soon
be given 20mph limits.

In response to a question to Full Council from London Assembly candidate Anna Hughes, Cllr
Demirci (Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods) responded that "the Council is on schedule to complete works to
support this scheme by the end of the current financial year i.e. by 31st March 2012"

Anna Hughes said "this is exciting news for Hackney residents who can look forward to safer, quieter and less polluted
streets, which will encourage more walking and cycling. This is great for the community and good for our health."

Caroline Allen, Green Greater London Assembly candidate for North East London, said "Greens have been calling for
20mph on Hackney's roads for a long time, so I'm delighted to hear that the Council have decided to introduce 20mph
limits on all their residential roads. However if they want to make a real difference to the health and well-being of
residents, they should include the main roads, where collisions are concentrated and air pollution is highest. The many
Hackney residents who live, work and shop on the main roads deserve the benefits of 20mph limits too"

This is a significant step forward for Hackney and follows consistent pressure from local Greens, including a motion
introduced by former Hackney Green Councillor Mischa Borris in 2008 calling for 20mph limits across the borough.
Greens welcome the Council's recognition that our policies in this respect benefit all those who live and work in
Hackney.

Benefits of 20mph can be found via National Charity Living Streets and via campaign group 20's Plenty for Us.

Islington was the first London Borough to implement 20mph limits on all residential roads following a proposal from Green Councillor Katie Dawson.

Islington voted recently to implement 20mph limits on all main roads under council control. See Islington Tribune for a report.

"I believe it is now harder to get out of poverty than it has been at any time in recent history.
This is conclusive evidence that the idea of wealth dripping down to the capital’s poorest is a damaging and nonsensical idea."

"Successive governments' policies have just made the rich richer and entrenched poverty.
That the North East London constituency has two of the boroughs in the top four for child poverty levels is shocking, but sadly is not a surprise."

"Islington is known by many for its restaurants and cafe culture and of course as the home of Tony Blair and New Labour. However, there has always been another side to Islington and what we have seen here is inequality spiralling out of control under a Labour government followed now by coalition cuts that are affecting those on low incomes much more severely."

"Loss of the EMA, job insecurity, changes to housing benefits, to name just a few will surely only makes these figures worse next year across London, unless of course those affected are forced out of the City, with all the stress and disruption that brings to families and children."

The figures can be found here: http://endchildpoverty.org.uk/why-end-child-poverty/poverty-in-your-area#london

Hackney’s local Green Party came out in force on Tuesday to hand morning commuters ‘Bank of Boris £250,000 notes’, in order to draw attention to the way the Mayor supports the City of London instead of normal Londoners.

The London Green Party is calling on banks to be more supportive of small businesses by making sure that any part of the Greater London Authority group—including Transport for London—would only deal with banks that could demonstrate they were lending to London’s small businesses.

Caroline Allen, Green Party candidate for Hackney in this year’s GLA elections, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of Hackney's economy. Working myself for a small business I know times are hard and costs are rising.”

The Bank of England's latest quarterly trends show that lending to small businesses actually fell by 5.1% in August last year.

Allen said: “Businesses need to be able to invest but banks care more about creating dodgy investments than supporting the real drivers of the economy.”

Green Party Mayoral Candidate Jenny Jones said: “The Mayor’s support for the City of London comes at the expense of ordinary Londoners, especially at a time when so many of London’s small businesses are finding times hard.

“As the capital, London must lead the way in helping change the culture of banking and lending from casino-style speculation to useful business lending.”

Unfortunately the ill thought out legislation, the Dangerous Dogs Act, has been a complete failure and while there have been small scale projects which have demonstrated some success, such as Brent’s BARK project, there is no cross-London plan and no leadership from the London Mayor on this issue. The risk is that responsible pet owners are penalised by blunt legislation. 

Legislation is slowly passing through parliament that will hopefully replace the dangerous Dog Act with a Dog Control Bill, which would go some way towards improving the situation. However, there is more than can be done at a London level. The Green Party have produced an ‘Action Plan for Animals’ which lays out our policies in this area: sharing best practice across boroughs, expanding education programmes, microchipping of dogs (which we believe should be compulsory) and working with housing providers to ensure that irresponsible pet ownership and breeding is dealt with, while supporting responsible owners. These are just some steps which would surely pay dividends in reducing the financial and welfare cost of this growing problem. 

Signed, Caroline Allen, 
Veterinary Surgeon and Green Party Candidate for GLA elections.

The full Animal Action Plan can be seen at:

http://www.jennyforlondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Action_plan_for_animals.pdf 

Speaking at the Green Sunday event at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney, Green Party London Assembly candidate for Islington, Hackney and Waltham Forest Caroline Allen said:

“It’s great to be able to be involved in a local event like this and the continued popularity of Green Sunday events demonstrates the growing appetite for green politics across the city.

“As a Green Party candidate I’m pleased to see my organisation supporting campaigning initiatives across the capital, whether it’s the successes of the 20s Plenty campaign in Islington or our Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones staying at the St Pauls’ protests and publically defending the right to protest.

“Increasingly, Londoners are reaching out to a political alternative that focuses on improving their own communities and enriching their own lives rather than just the established political cliques of town halls and Westminster.

"The Green Party is very proud to be playing a role in that alternative vision of a Greener, cleaner, fairer, safer London.”

Green Sundays are held at the Arcola Theatre every three months. More information can be found here. 

Jenny Jones and Caroline Allen outside Hackney Town Hall 

A call for Hackney to follow the lead of neighbouring Islington and adopt a borough-wide 20mph speed limit on residential roads was made by London Green Party candidates last week. "If its good enough for Islington, it's good enough for Hackney," said Jenny Jones, the Green's candidate for London Mayor.

The sentiments were echoed by London North East constituency candidate Caroline Allen and fellow London Assembly candidate, Anna Hughes.

The three of them came to the steps of the town hall in Mare Street to argue that 20mph limits in Hackney would save lives, decrease pollution and improve quality of life.

Islington introduced 20mph limits last month.

Anna Hughes outside Homerton, one of the stations threatened with ticket office closure

Hackney Green Party is supporting a Together for Transport meeting on Monday 12th December to publicise how cuts to staff at our local stations will damage the local community. Anna Hughes joins three other speakers from Disability Backup, the rail worker's union TSSA and the Labour Party.

The government's McNulty Report has recommended that six of the boroughs ticket offices will close and there will be reduced staff numbers at a further three. The meeting will highlight the problems for disabled and vulnerable people, and how reducing staff or getting rid of them altogether will mean our public transport system will become less safe and less accesible for all.

The event is here on facebook.

‪Shockingly evidence shows that air pollution in London is causing over 4000 deaths per year; that's more than alcohol and obesity, and yet because this is an 'invisible killer' many people are unaware of the damage being done to their health as they go about their lives in the Borough. ‬

‪Evidence also shows that those on low incomes and from ethnic minorities are being exposed to 50% more nitrogen dioxide than the richest residents of London, making this a serious equality issue, and Hackney residents suffer worse health than residents in wealthier areas.‬

‪There are solutions out there - we need to drive less and promote more walking and cycling, tackle the most polluting vehicles with improved Low Emission Zones and promote the use of biomethane from food waste to name just a few. Berlin and other European cities can show us the way. I've been working with concerned residents in North London to draw up an action plan on air quality, which when complete will be a call to action for the Council. Greens on the London Assembly have been highlighting Mayor Johnson's scandalous failures; unbelievably these include using adhesives to make pollution stick to the roads near the monitors to try and avoid a £300 million EU fine.  This is an insult to every Londoner - we all breathe in this filthy air, and maybe you, like myself, can recognise a 'bad air day' with an unpleasant tightness in the chest.‬
‪ ‬
‪Caroline Allen‬
‪Green Party Candidate for North East Constituency London Assembly Elections 2012.‬

Green Assembly member, Darren Johnson, previously raised the issue at Mayor’s question time with this question:

‘Are you concerned that LOCOG’s decision to appoint Dow Chemicals to provide the wrap for the Olympic Stadium is incompatible with the Olympic spirit and sustainability standards, and that by providing the company with 336 large advertising panels on the iconic building it may damage the reputation of the London 2012 Games?

A wholly owned subsidiary of Dow is in the US courts over contamination of land and a groundwater aquifer in Bhopal, India, a matter separate to the better known 1984 gas disaster.

Dow Chemicals was also fined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007, and another subsidiary was blacklisted by the Indian Government last year over charges of bribery. Will you therefore press LOCOG in your capacity on the Olympic Board to review this decision?’

As usual the response from Boris Johnson was both inadequate and incomplete and the Olympic stadium will end up with a wrap provided by Dow and massive advertising opportunities for them. 

Caroline Allen, Green Party candidate for next year’s London Assembly elections said, ‘This is another case of depressingly low standards when it comes to sponsors of the games: so much for Olympic ideals. We have fast food companies such as Macdonalds with appalling records over the health standards of their food and animal welfare dominating the food supply, and now this’. 

Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones has long been pressing for better food standards at the Olympics and highlighting the mismatch between the positive messages about sport and fitness associated with the Olympics and the type of food available. The Green Party believe that there must be high levels of healthy, organic and local food, as well as opportunities made available for local businesses, not just multinationals.

Hackney Green Anna Hughes joined in the ride, and said about the event: 
The ride had a sombre undertone despite the positive atmosphere, with the recent fatality at Bow Road adding to the seriousness of the message. And even though it was brilliant to be touring the streets with such a large group of cyclists, I imagine that the ride was very different to how it was originally intended to be - I've never felt so safe on those roundabouts! Perhaps surrounding yourself by a large group of cyclists every time you hit London's streets is the answer. And that's what the protest was really about - making cyclists feel safer on the roads, and the more cyclists there are, the safer it is for them - it really is a case of safety in numbers as car drivers become more aware and are forced to give cyclists road space. But the danger of the commute, perceived or otherwise, means that many people are just not willing to become cyclists, making it harder to reach that critical mass. And who can blame them when the roads are so obviously engineered in favour of the motor car. 
I spoke to Mark Ames, author of the ibikelondon blog, who said that no one deserves to fight their way to work, and the protest was to send a message to TfL that more needs to be done to increase cycle safety. I really hope it works and that TfL take on the recommendations from LCC and other organisations about street redesign to make it easier for people to take to two wheels, making London safer, cleaner and greener. 



In the absence of the Mayor, it was answered by Cllr Samantha Lloyd, Cabinet Member for Finance. She confirmed that LB Hackney's future investment in services will be badly affected by the cuts in grant, worst of all in Housing, with extremely limited investment in other areas. She pointed to the Budget Book, Hackney Today and Council Tax booklet as being available to the public and giving information about services.



Ms Borris commented, "Unfortunately Cllr Lloyd did not answer my question properly. Hackney Council has made a commitment to preserving front line services, but as the Member agreed, there will be a big impact from the cuts and I don't think it is clear to people where these will fall. The Budget Book is far from understandable for non-accountants, and I disagree that the other publications give a clear breakdown."



At the meeting, Ms Borris then went on to ask a supplementary question about how the same level of service could be maintained if there were staff reductions without an unacceptable additional burden on staff. Cllr Lloyd replied that they would make efficiency savings, for example by introducing self-service to the Library Service, but they take their responsibility as good employers very seriously. Ms Borris commented, "I just used the Libraries Service as an example of a service where we have heard of staff reductions. But the question remains pertinent for the whole of Hackney's employees - fewer staff may end up having to do more work, in an
 atmosphere where they may be concerned about their own futures. That can't be healthy for them."



Hackney Green Party, in submitting its comments on the Hackney Biodiversity Action Plan, welcomes the Councils' recognition of the importance of biodiversity, not just for its innate value but also the many other benefits its provides to the Borough and its residents, including important health benefits.

The document is a comprehensive one and the authors must be congratulated on their work. However it is clear that some of the recommendations will require a real change in emphasis for the council and we must ensure that they deliver.

With regards to the built environment, the call to ensure that green space is provided for within new developments through private gardens and public/shared green space, ecological landscaping and habitat creation with living roofs and walls, and creating artificial nesting and roosting sites, is very important. This is also an area where the council has a bad track record, meaning we have many new developments with very poor ecological standards. We must see an immediate improvement in this area.

Recent developments along the canal are of particular concern, where the presence of green corridors and the effects of large blocks overhanging and blocking the sun do not seem to have been considered.

Whilst living roofs and walls are an excellent innovation to help biodiversity thrive in built environments, and should be supported, we do not believe that they are an adequate replacement for loss of ground level green space, which must be preserved. Whilst many species are happy living in buildings, many are not, and maintaining a diversity of habitats is critical to maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

Sustainable urban drainage systems have been recognised as vitally important by councils to reduce flooding risk, and we are pleased to see mention of them in the draft BAP. In response to a Green Party campaign, Islington council has introduced a rule for no net loss of sustainable drainage in all developments, and Hackney Council should follow suit.

In addition we are concerned that there is no mention of working alongside neighbouring boroughs and organisations within those boroughs. Wildlife corridors do not stop at the borough boundaries and the strategy will be much less effective if we fail to link up with our neighbours.

Hackney Green Party demanded action on air quality today, claiming that high levels of road traffic near local schools could be increasing child asthma and even leading to more deaths.

Gathering at Lea Bridge Roundabout, Hackney Greens—including Caroline Allen, the party’s candidate for Hackney and the North East London Constituency in the forthcoming elections—launched their campaign to improve air quality and residents’ health in the area.  

Recent research has shown that 18 (15 Primary and 3 Secondary) Hackney schools are now within 150m of roads carrying 10,000 or more vehicles a day, causing up to 30% of new cases of asthma in local children.

At the demo, Caroline Allen said she hopes the party’s demonstration will lead to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and Hackney Council doing more to tackle this “silent killer.”

“Boris Johnson and our Labour council have failed to tackle air pollution. Both have only taken backwards steps,” Allen said.

“Unbelievably, the Mayor is trying to avoid hundreds of millions of pounds of EU fines for our dangerously high pollution levels by attempting to stick the pollution to the pavements around monitoring stations, rather than taking real action to protect people’s health”.

“There are many initiatives that can be taken across London to reduce pollution. The Green Party is calling for a raft of measures to reduce traffic and improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists”.

“In particular we would like to see Hackney follow the example of Islington by introducing 20mph on all residential streets and go further to include the borough’s main roads”.

“In addition the council should ensure its vehicles and those of its contractors are as clean as possible and that vehicle journeys are minimised. They should review planning policy to ensure that only air quality-neutral developments are encouraged”

Across London buses should be replaced so the entire fleet meets high “Euro 5” air quality standards by 2016 at the latest. A tougher “Very Low Emission Zone” should be introduced in central London, and a scrappage scheme should be set up to take dirty vans and taxis off the roads. Traffic should be reduced by lowering fares and by investing in walking and cycling.

The Council argues that this is to ensure that the eventual winner is sustainable.  But this high threshold will make it impossible for many local caterers to bid and makes it more likely that a chain would take it over, despite the Council's stated commitment to local businesses.

Anna Hughes on behalf of Hackney Green Party, commented:

"The Council is looking at this in the wrong way. Having a £1m turnover doesn't prevent a company from going bust.  This policy will mean that the Council is missing an opportunity to encourage business diversity, especially from Hackney's wide range of caterers.  Small caterers (who may have traded successfully for many years and know what they are doing) are more able to respond to customers' demands than a large outfit or a chain. The distinctive venue of Clissold Mansion merits a distinctive cafe, not a clone catering operation."

Hackney bucked the national trend with 60.68% saying yes - the highest in the country. What this shows is that Hackney people are more progressive than many in the rest of the country, are open to new ideas and do want an end to our current unfair system.  That progressiveness is something to be very proud of - there's nowhere quite like Hackney!  

Voting reform has taken a big knock-back but those of us committed to a fairer political system will continue to fight for reform. It wasn't just Hackney who voted Yes - so did five other London boroughs as well as Oxford, Cambridge, and two seats in Edinburgh and Glasgow.  The Green Party and other progressives will continue to campaign for a fairer, more proportional electoral system. In the meantime, what a shame that those boroughs which voted for reform can't implement it for themselves!