New Ward Forum to Replace Neighbourhood Committee

The Shoreditch Neighbourhood Committee, which cut across, Hoxton, Haggerston, De Beauvoir and Queensbridge wards, held its last meeting on Thursday 19 April and will be replace by 19 new ward forums.

The new ward forums will focus on local issues and improvement plans for the ward will be developed and will provide a starting point for setting the agenda.  These improvement plans will also become the vehicle through which residents and councillors can work together to focus efforts to make a difference in the area.

The date of the first meeting of the new Hoxton ward forum is yet to be announced but full details will be published in Hackney Today, on the Council's website.  We will also use emails to inform residents of the first meeting where appropriate.

Also keep checking our blog and twitter stream for more news.

2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games - Get Involved

If you still haven't applied for tickets for the 2012 Olympic Games, there is still time.  Tickets went on sale again on 11 May and will close again today, 17 May.  If you don't manage to submit an application, don't worry, there will be three more rounds before the Games start.  For more information go to the London 2012 website here.

If you're not successful at getting tickets for the Olympic and Paralympics Games, there are still lots of ways that you can get involved as there are still a number of events taking place in Hackney and around London.

Just a few are listed below.  For full details, click the links.

• To see how Hackney has changed  in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, see the Mapping the Change exhibition at Hackney Museum. 
• The 5th Field Day celebration will take place at Victoria Park on 2 June.  Find out how you can get tickets on the website here. 
• The Shoreditch Fringe will be a seven week festival taking place around Shoreditch between 6 July and 27 August.  Find out more on their website here.
• See four new films premiering at the Hackney Picturehouse.  The films will be simulcast to 50 cinemas across the UK. For info click here.
• There will be a range of Big Dance events both in Hackney and across London.  More information is on the Big Dance website here. 
• To mark 50 years of Jamaican independence, join the celebration of Jamaican music and culture at Mabley Green on 15 July.
• The Scipmylo Festival will take place between 27 July and 12 August on Hackney Marshes.  There will be a celebration of music, theatre, comedy and food.  Shows are ticketed by access to the site is free.  See the Scipmylo website for more information.
• One Hackney Festival will take place on 21 July to welcome the Olympic flame to the borough.  There will be a street parade culminating with an event in Clissold Park with special guests from Rio, Liverpool and Glasgow.  More information is available on the council website. 

For more information on events taking place in Hackney, visit the Hackney website or email the Olympic unit. You can also download 'Eveyone's Games', the Guide to the 2012 Olympic and Paralymic Games.

But most of all, have have fun and enjoy and let Hoxton Councillors know what you'll be up to through out the Games. You can tweet us at @welovehoxton. 

Space and Place Shaping Plan for Shoreditch

Hackney council is proposing a plan to shape Shoreditch and they are inviting your views and comments.

The council wants to know what Shoreditch residents, and people who work in Shoreditch, think about the design and character of the area. What should the balance be between the needs of pedestrians, cyclists an vehicles? Should more trees to planted,or should vehicle speed be reduced? What about parking and cycle schemes?

If you have views on a vision for Shoreditch why not have your say?

You can complete the survey online www.surveymonkey.com/spsps or call 020 8356 3468 for more information.
The deadline for comments is 27 April.

Sainsbury's Granted a Premises Licence

Wednesday, 4th April, 2012, Licensing Sub Committee D took a decision to grant a Premises Licence to Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd at 245 Old Street, EC1V 9EY.

You can see all the details on the council website.

Deadline for Expressions of Interested for Hackney Weekend Catering Concessions is Approaching

Hackney Weekend will take place on 23 and 24 June.

It will be the largest event to ever take place in Hackney, with 50,000 people in attendance. There will also be an all star line-up which include With an all-star line-up, including international superstar Riahnnam, Plan B, Labrinth, Professor Green and Jay-Z.

It will also be a fantistic opportunity for catering businesses in Hackney as Central Catering Services, which has been awarded the tender for the provision of concessions, has reserved 20% of the tenders for Hackney-based businesses.

Local businesses interested in this opportunity can submit an expression of interest from local traders for one of the 10 pitches that are available, with a combined frontage of no more than 76m.

As is usual for a major event like this, all traders will need to satisfy stringent criteria with regard to environmental health and food safety, as well as complying fully with the event specification. Interested parties should visit the council website and complete the correct form, returning it to address detailed.
Click here for more details.

The deadline is 12 noon on Wednesday, 4 April.

Greener Hackney

The next Greener Hackney event, will take place between 10:30am and 2pm on 12th May in the Attic at the Hackney Picturehouse.

This will be a chance for green fingered residents to hear what the council and others have been up to on the sustainability front, to meet like minded people and share your thoughts and ideas about how we could better work together to make Hackney a greener place.

Please put the date in your diaries and others know about the event.

Come and Talk to the Met Police Commissioner

If you have questions, comments or concerns that you have about policing in Hoxton, you can now speak directly to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, who will be in Hackney on Monday 28 March.  He will be speaking at Stoke Newington School between 7 and 8pm and Hackney residents are invited to share your views.

Places will be limited and allocated on a first come first served basis so if you would like to go, you will need to arrive in plenty of time.

To get there from Hoxton, take route 141 from New North Road.  Other buses routes from other parts of Hackney include route 393, 476 and 341.