London Marathon

A local Shoreditch resident has been in training to run the London Marathon which will take place in 3 weeks time. He is hoping to raise £1,000 for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, a registered charity. So far he has raised £460 on the Just Giving website so is short a bob or two.

Why not help him reach his goal and sponsor him here.

Hoxton Councillors Now on Twitter

Councillors traditionally keep in contact with local residents through regular public advice surgeries and letters. With the advent of emails, local residents have been able to have almost 24 hour access to councillors - well, as long as we are logged onto our accounts.

To that list we can now add Facebook, Blogger and Twitter, making us even more accountable to you and Hoxton Councillors have not shied away from any of them. If you are reading this blog post, you have already found us on blogger. Now you can access regular updates here.

If you are not on Twitter yourself but would still like to follow our posts, we will also be putting up an rss feed in the sidebar of this blog for quick and easy access.

changes to parking restrictions

The council will be holding a consultation meeting on Tuesday 10 March at Provost Community Hall.

This will be an opportunity for local residents to help determine parking restrictions. Over the past year Ward Councillors have been lobbying the council to ensure that changes do not result in the loss of parking spaces particularly at weekends, when family are more likely to visit. We have lobbied hard to ensure that roads remain safe while giving residents the maximum opportunity to park legally and a minimal costs. We have also lobbied hard to ensure that your voices and your choices are heard.

In total 200 additional parking spaces will be provided but there will also be a significant loss of spaces. We will continue to fight for more parking but hope that you will add your voice to ours at the upcoming meeting.

Murray Grove Post Office Victory

Last night the Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, announced that the London Borough of Hackney will be working with partners to re-open the Murray Grove Post Office as a social enterprise. More news will be posted on this blog as it emerges.

A big thank you to everyone who joined our campaign and who signed our petition. Victory is ours!

A Night Less Ordinary

Even more opportunities for young people! Go to A Night Less Ordinary website for more information

Council Scrutiny Survey

If you would like to help shape the council's scrutiny commissions agenda for next year, please take the time to fill out our questionnaire here.

Hackney Homes Receives Two Stars

The Audit Commission has awarded Hackney Homes two star rating and so will benefit
a £225m funding injection to continue the Decent Homes programme and the renewal of windows kitchens and bathrooms in properties across Hoxton. It will continue the extensive programme of the last few years so that even more homes will be improved.

Year 3 Decent Homes External Works Programme have also been announced. Consultation will shortly begin for estates across Hoxton including:

1. 1-20 & 41-82 Shaftesbury Court, 121-136 & 157-172 Bracklyn Court
Wednesday 18 February 3pm - 6.30pm Napier Grove Community Hall

2. 200-242 Crondall Street, Arden Estate,
Wednesday 11 February, 4.30pm-7.30pm, Regen Way Community Hall, Regan Way

3. 1-50 Marshall House, 1-24 Daniel House, 1-20 Kinder House, Cranston Estate
Tuesday 24 February, 4.00pm - 6.30pm, Carole Young Community Centre, Cranston Estate

4. 1-12 & 29-52 Micawber Court, Windsor Terrace
Wednesday 18 February 3pm - 6.30pm Napier Grove Community Hall

For more information on the Decent Home programme please see the Hackney Homes website.

Enhanced TRA

There will be an ETRA conference on 9 and 10 June to review progress and to discuss issues to ensure continued improvements of the stucture. All TRA Chairs have been invited as have Service providers from Hackney Homes, neighbourhood partners and Resident Participation Officers who will provide their feedback on what they think of the process so far.

The conference will take place at Morley Hall, Mare Street. London E8 but each night will be limited to a maximum of 50 people.

East London Line Extension

Anyone travelling down Shoreditch High Street today will notice a marked difference. There is a new bridge in place that was not there yesterday. The road was closed at 4am when the country's largest mobile crane dropped into place this new section of the East London Line Extension. The work will go on until 5am on 31 March. The action can be viewed live on the Transport for London webcam here.