C.H.U.G. café reopening and the National Gardens Festival Weekend

The Canals in Hackney User Group are reopening their café for the summer this weekend.
They will also be holding a series of workshops and events during the coming months. All profits from the café and events will go towards the Greening Kingsland Basin project which aims to set up a community orchard and place new plants to attract wildlife back to the canal following the recent redevelopment of the area.

For more information on the café and the upcoming workshops visit the CHUG website.

Also the National Gardens Scheme is holding it's Gardens Open For Charity event this Sunday 16th June as part of the National Gardens Festival Weekend. Details of the gardens in De Beauvoir which are open to view are on their website. Details of the National Gardens Festival are also available.

Colville Estate regeneration – what is going on, and how will it work?

Found just south of the Regents Canal, between Whitmore Road and Gainsborough Studios, Colville Estate is made up of ageing 1940s red brick buildings that have seen better days.

Some years ago, the residents and the Council agreed that they would like the estate to become a regeneration estate which meant that, rather than being included in the decent homes programme, their homes would be rebuilt.

This decision means that across the coming years Colville Estate will be completely rebuilt, and a new Colville will be created containing more than 900 homes. This new community will contain the same number of socially rented homes as at present – about 450 - along with shared ownership and private homes. Due to the absence of alternative funding, the scheme has been designed to be entirely self-funding with the new private homes paying for the new social housing.

The first stage of Colville’s regeneration was started in 2010 and finished last year. Bridport House, on the west side of Bridport Place, is an award-winning building and currently houses 41 families, all of them Hackney Homes tenants.

Phase two of Colville’s regeneration is now underway. The first part of this is ensuring all the current residents of a number of blocks on the west of the estate move out, to allow new homes to be built in their place.

Everyone who currently lives on the estate – except those who rent from privately right-to-buy landlords – has the right to return to the regenerated Colville. We know that not all residents will choose to do so, but for those who do so, we have tried to make the process as fair as possible.

For Colville’s Hackney Homes tenants, each family’s housing needs will be individually assessed in line with a Hackney-wide approach which was agreed after consultation with residents. Each family will have the opportunity to select a home which meets their housing need from those that are being built.

Colville also has a number of leaseholders, homeowners who bought what were former rented properties either directly through right to buy or from a previous owner. As the Council has made very clear, all leaseholders will be paid the market value of their property, and those leaseholders who live on the estate will have the right to buy a new property on the estate if they so wish. Leaseholders will also be compensated with an additional payment of 10% of the value of their home to recognise the disturbance they face. In addition, if for any reason there is a period between moving out of their current property and a new one, Hackney will cover their rental costs.

The Council recognises that the new-build properties will have a significantly higher value than the current properties on the estate, and that leaseholders may not be able to make up the difference. Therefore the Council has put in place a scheme that will allow those leaseholders who want to remain on the estate to purchase part of a new property, up to the value of their existing property. If they choose to do this the Council retaining ownership of the remainder but – unlike normal shared ownership schemes - the leaseholder will not pay rent on the part of the property they do not own.

This shared-equity scheme is designed to both recognise that resident leaseholders are integral to Colville community, and also ensuring that taxpayers money is used fairly – whilst leaseholders are taxpayers themselves, it would not be fair to other taxpayers to gift to resident leaseholders a property of a value greater than the property they currently own.

In order to ensure the regeneration moves forward on schedule and those that have already moved out are able to move back within a reasonable time period, the Council has put in place a compulsory purchase order as a last resort – all Colville residents have been informed about this process. All offers made to leaseholders both within and outside the compulsory purchase process will be set by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, an independent internationally-recognised organisation appointed for this specific purpose.

The regeneration of any area is a difficult process, and asking any resident to move out of their home is not something undertaken lightly. However, Colville residents themselves decided to go ahead with this regeneration, the Colville Tenants and Residents Association remains at the heart of the regeneration process meeting regularly with officers and councillors, and the outcome at the end of this change will be better homes for existing Colville tenants and leaseholders and a new modern community at the heart of Hoxton, built around the people who currently live there.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of the above please just get in contact with us using the contact details on the right hand side of this blog.

The Mill Co Project Activities at Rose Lipman

The Mill Co. Project are kicking off their summer projects at the Rose Lipman Centre here in De Beauvoir. See the posters below for more information. These activities are free to Hackney Homes residents.

For further details on all these projects visit the Mill Co Project website. Or contact the company on hello@themillcoproject.co.uk and 020 7923 3711.

Hoxton Street Market this Saturday

This Saturday Hoxton Street Market is holding what it calls "a bit of a knees up" to welcome its new stalls and celebrate its ever expanding range of traders. If you're in the area why not drop in and take a look?

The Royal Court at the Rose Lipman

As part of their Theatre Local project, the Royal Court Theatre - in association with The Mill Project and Create London -  are staging a new play at the Rose Lipman building here in De Beauvoir during July and August.

The play, written by Annie Baker, is entitled Circle Mirror Transformation and will feature Imelda Staunton and Toby Jones.

Imelda Staunton has starred in many films and television series - including Harry Potter as Professor Umbridge and a BAFTA Award winning performance in Vera Drake - as well as numerous theatre productions. Toby Jones has most recently appeared in the film The Hunger Games as well as providing the voice of Dobby the house elf in the Harry Potter series.

Circle Mirror Transformation runs from the 5th of July to the 3rd of August.

The producers of the play have agreed to provide some complimentary tickets for members of the local community. These tickets are for performances on the 6th and 13th of July.
There could also be some complimentary tickets available for the dress rehearsal of the play, although this is still in discussion, we will provide more information when we have it.

The director of the play Ned Bennet has also agreed to host a workshop on the 13th of July to discuss the production. This will be open at the first instance to residents of De Beauvoir. Depending on demand for places for this there may also be another workshop at a later date.

There will be some front-of-house jobs created for the production run which will be advertised in local job centres.

If you would like to be considered for a place on the workshop or to apply for tickets please get in touch with us via email or call and leave a message on 07722 868937. All of the above activities will be administered by Mill Co and we'll pass your details onto them.

Details on the play are at the Royal Court's website, along with booking details and ticket prices.

De Beauvoir Ward Forum - Monday June 10th - The Rose Lipman Centre

Meet your ward councillors, raise local issues and explore opportunities to improve our community

June's ward forum will be held at the Rose Lipman Centre and will be a chance to find out more about what is going on at the former Hackney archives building which sits at the heart of De Beauvoir, on the corner of De Beauvoir and Downham Roads.

Create and Mill Co Project, an arts charity and a creative-sector social enterprise, have been managing the Rose Lipman Centre on a 'meanwhile' basis for sometime now, and - with the archives now fully moved to Dalston Square - they have recently had their lease confirmed for the next year. They have some really exciting plans for the building over the next twelve months, and they're keen that local residents have the chance to get involved.

Come along and hear about Open School East, Imelda Staunton, The Trial, Bank On It, the community groups that are currently using the community hall, and how to get more involved yourself - whether that be with one of the events, or just how to book the hall.

The forum will be held at the Rose Lipman Centre itself and therefore you'll also have a chance to look around and get a feel for what's happening within the Centre.

You can find out more about Create and Mill Co here:
http://www.createlondon.org/
http://www.themillcoproject.co.uk/


All those who live or work in De Beauvoir ward are welcome to attend our ward forums - we would be grateful if you could publicise this in your community and in any local organisations you are involved with.

The forum will begin at 7pm and we'll be all wrapped up by 8.30 at the latest.

Hope to see you on the 10th!

Hackney Housing Summit - 11th May

Hackney South and Shoreditch MP Meg Hillier will be chairing a Hackney Housing Summit on Saturday 11th May 2013 at Morningside Community Centre, Chatham Place, E9 6LL.

The summit will aim to develop a list of positive and workable policy proposals to improve the local housing situation which will then be put to the national political parties.


Keynote speakers will be:
Deputy Mayor of Hackney, Councillor Karen Alcock who has lead responsibility for housing in the borough.
Dr. Madeleine Davis, Housing Campaigner and Lecturer at Queen Mary University.
A tenants' representative yet to be confirmed will also be speaking.

The summit will consist of plenary sessions and workshops discussing the social rented, private rented and home ownership sectors.

To book places in advance email meghilliermp@parliament.uk giving your full name, postal address and telephone number, ensuring you put 'Hackney Housing Summit' in the subject line.

The summit starts with coffee and registration at 9.30 and closes at 13.00.

Table Top Sale at St. Peter's Church Crypt

The De Beauvoir Association is holding a Table Top Sale in the newly refurbished Crypt at St. Peter's Church.

There will be approximately 30 stalls selling bric-a-brac, household items, jewellery, accessories, toys, clothes, shoes, baby equipment, DVDs and many other interesting items.

Tea and cakes will be on sale and there will also be a raffle.

The sale is taking place on Saturday the 11th of May in the Crypt, St, Peter's Church, Northchurch Terrace from 11am to 3pm and entrance for the public is free.

Tables are available to book, for a £10 fee, for those wishing to sell their own items.

If you would like to join the team of volunteers running the sale and help out, or to book a table for the sale, please contact Kirsty at info@debeauvoir.org.uk

Hackney Council Overview and Scrutiny Board Survey

Hackney Council's Overview and Scrutiny Board are holding their annual residents survey.

The survey is open to anybody who lives, works or studies in our borough and is a chance to highlight the issues which are most important to people.
The information provided in the survey will help to inform the Board of which topics the Scrutiny Commissions will address over the coming year.

A list of the services and policies that the Scrutiny Board Commissions have covered in the past is located on the council website. The more recent reviews have their own webpage with a summary of findings, full reports and recommendations, the response from the Mayor's Cabinet and an updated recommendations tracker.

To contribute your opinion on the topics which most concern you follow this link to open the survey.

If you would like a printed copy of the survey call 020 8356 3029 or email scrutiny@hackney.gov.uk.

For further details on the work of Hackney Council's Overview and Scrutiny Board visit this page.

The survey is open until 30th May.

Golden Age Club - launches Tuesday 30th April

A new club for older people in De Beauvoir is launching next week and the organisers are calling on local residents to get involved.

The Golden Age Club is open to all residents aged 50 or over who live in De Beauvoir ward.

The launch takes place Tuesday 30th April from 12 until 2pm again at the Whitmore Community Centre 2-4 Phillipp Street, N1 5NU (map). There will be free light refreshments on the day and everybody is invited to find out more about this exciting new club.

The club offers a chance to meet new people and enjoy a variety of activities such as bingo, films and day trips.

Weekly activities at the club begin from Tuesday 7th May, 10am to 12pm at the Whitmore Community Centre.

If you are interested in attending the club or know of somebody who might enjoy the weekly activities you can call 020 7739 0685 or 0773 8713920 for more information. Or get in touch via email on whitmoregoldenage@gmail.com.

The club is being supported by funding from Metropolitan Housing Association and De Beauvoir Community First.