The Lea Valley Federation is a coalition of community and environmental groups and individuals concerned to protect the character of the Lee Valley Regional Park.
Monday, 6 October 2014
National Park for London?
National Park for London
47 per cent of London is green space: Is it time for our capital to become a national park?
Daniel Raven-Ellison: 'We have eight million trees in London; the world’s largest urban forest'
Simon Usborne
Thursday 25 September 2014
High up on a grassy hillock alive with wild flowers, a man wearing a beard and sturdy shoes addresses more than 100 young explorers.
The sun strikes their faces and the surrounding landscape. It would be a scene of bucolic wonder were it not for the bottle tops and fag ends at their feet, the concrete and glass blocks that dominate the skyline, and the rumble of flight paths, railways and the frantic Mile End road.
Yet former geography teacher Daniel Raven-Ellison, who has to shout to be heard, has come to an oasis of green in what feels like East London’s grey desert to present a radical vision for the capital. He believes passionately that the eight million people inside the city – and everyone outside it – should change the way they see it. As part of an unlikely but rapidly growing new campaign that is as simple as it is ambitious, he is trying to turn London into Britain’s newest national park.
“We have eight million trees in London; the world’s largest urban forest,” he tells geography students from Queen Mary University, which sits just across the Regent’s Canal. They wear lanyards that mark them out as the first Greater London National Park rangers. “A few weeks ago I walked from Croydon to High Barnet, south to north, through as much woodland as I could. I saw foxes, I saw deer, grass snakes and woodpeckers. Guess how many children I saw?”
The first-year students, who are mostly strangers to each other, are quiet. A few suggest low numbers. “Zero!” Raven-Ellison answers.
“It was the Friday of half-term and I did not see a single child.” He adds, plaintively: “Did you know that in High Barnet there is a tree that’s 2,000 years old?”
As the 34-year-old makes his case for the world’s first urban national park, where children would not only play in the woods but also reimagine them, the initially bemused students almost visibly lean towards his argument. They then range out from Mile End Park across the city’s 33 boroughs. Their mission: to explore and photograph London’s great outdoors, to create an exhibition that will be displayed next month inside City Hall. Statistics that reveal the startling extent of London’s greenness feature heavily in Raven-Ellison’s campaign, which he started quietly in April with a Greater London National Park website (only a footnote points out that it is, for now, “officially a Notional Park”). The city covers more than 1,500 square kilometres, an area about the size of Surrey or South Yorkshire. More than 13,000 species, including humans, inhabit 3,000 parks, 30,000 allotments, three million gardens and two National Nature Reserves. Overall, 47 per cent of London is green space, and 60 per cent is classified as open space.
That green comes into glorious focus in a new map of the city made for the campaign by Greenspace Information for Greater London, a group that keeps environmental records. It excludes what we expect in a city map – roads, buildings, car parks, railways. The only things marked against a white background, apart from the Thames and its tributaries, are the green spaces. Yet thanks to their great spread, the map looks exactly like the London we think we know.
“Lots of us take the same routes through cities, day-in day-out,” Raven-Ellison says as he walks along the busy A11 to Mile End station. After a look around the park with the students assigned to this borough (Tower Hamlets) we are heading west to the City of London with Catherine Nash, professor of human geography at Queen Mary, to document green spaces there. “You’re alienated because you are surrounded by concrete, but that’s not the experience of the majority of life in the city.”
The daily view most of us have, of buildings and ways to get between them, dramatically skews our perceptions of geography. In 2011, the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, the first comprehensive study of its kind, revealed that just 6.8 per cent of the UK’s land area is urban, including roads and rural development. But, as the 47 per cent figure shows in London, not all that land is built on. In England, the proportion of land that has been covered by concrete, asphalt or anything that can be classified as “built” is, wait for it... 2.27 per cent.
After an itinerant upbringing (his father was in the Royal Logistic Corps) Raven-Ellison settled in London to study and then teach geography. He is never happier than when exploring the other 97.73 per cent of England, not least inside city limits. His favourite green space? Boston Manor Park, a former country estate near his home in Northfields that is now constrained by offices, housing and the M4 flyover. “You come down the motorway and see treetops but your vision is of concrete and signage,” he says. “But just beneath you there is this hive of wilder space, a wilderness where kingfishers and herons hang out. I love that mix.”
Raven-Ellison escaped the confines of the classroom three years ago. He is now part of the Geography Collective of “guerrilla geographers” who want us all to reimagine the space around us. Last year, as part of a project for National Geographic, he and his now 11-year-old son visited all 15 national parks in the UK, from the Cairngorms in Scotland to Dartmoor in south-west England. The experience partly inspired his latest big idea.
“A city park or garden can be more ecologically diverse and rich, and provide more pleasure to a community, than a much wider area of land somewhere more remote,” he says. “What is it about our prejudice that means we value that space less, despite the fact we know it is even more important because of the benefits to our health and productivity, as well as the economy and business? Why would we deprive a major city of those benefits?”
National parks, which are managed by independent park authorities using central government funds, were a late arrival in Britain. Not long after Wordsworth described the Lake District as “a sort of national property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy”, the US led the way by establishing Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. It was not until 1951 that the Peak District became Britain’s first national park, thanks to post-war legislation.
Their popular image has become, perhaps, one of mountains, moors, forest or heath. But Britain’s 15 designated national parks already take in towns, villages and houses that are home to almost 450,000 people, about the population of Cardiff. Ever wandered the bustling streets of Lewes in East Sussex? You were in the South Downs, home to 120,000 people and, since 2010, the latest addition to the parks family.
According to National Parks UK, the government’s umbrella body, their purpose is “to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage; and promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of [their] special qualities”. Raven-Ellison sees no reason why this could not apply in a city. “A national park is a social construct,” he explains. “It’s traditionally applied to remote or rural settings but what if we flipped it and applied it to an urban setting… you can say that nature might be a smaller concern but that raises the question, what is nature, and the boundaries between it and people?”
We emerge from St Paul’s underground station to a familiar scene of traffic and stone. In front of the cathedral, London doesn’t feel very green. Five plane trees are reaching maturity as part of a new development. An older tree peeks out from down a side road, between branches of Strada and Yo Sushi. But that’s it for nature, at least to my eyes. “Look at these pigeons,” Raven-Ellison says. “We talk about them being feral but as far as they’re concerned they’re wild. Their distant relative is the rock dove, which lives on cliffs. Well, look around you. London is a cliff landscape, and that’s why these pigeons are really awesome at living here.”
These are the kinds of small shifts in focus that Raven-Ellison wants to inspire. And while he can come across as a geographical evangelist – an idealist with a fancy website – he’s serious about making the park real. In November, he will take the campaign to Sydney for the once-a-decade World Parks Congress. Official supporters at home include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the London Wildlife Trust. An online petition is gathering pace, and has already earned a response from the Mayor. Boris Johnson “welcomes the call for more recognition of the importance and value of London’s... natural environment” and “commends the campaign organisers for their inventiveness”. Sir Terry Farrell, the architect and a key design advisor to Boris, says the park “could be a powerful vision that could spawn a million projects”. He adds: “I intend to make the case to the Mayor.”
Natural England is the body that designates parks under the law passed after the war. A spokesperson says it is “supportive of the principle” of a London park, adding in a statement: “We note that the proposition would have the ethos, but not the traditional legal designation, of existing national parks.” The Mayor added doubt about the law in his response, but Raven-Ellison insists he or his successor could make it work. “We’ve had a very clear steer that because the idea of a city national park doesn’t exist yet, it’s something we can just do,” he explains. “And if we create a blueprint that works, the legislation could come later.”
As we approach Christ Church Greyfriars, a dazzling public garden planted in the ruin of a Sir Christopher Wren church that was destroyed in the Blitz, Raven-Ellison adds: “The point is, we wouldn’t want the park city to be the same as a national park anyway. Clearly it wouldn’t have the same planning regulations, for example.”
So what would it actually do?
“It’s about inspiring individuals to do small things, from the top down and the bottom up,” he says. “Imagine if Transport for London worked with the Greater London National Park and gave 5 per cent of advertising to a specific campaign each month looking at, say, song birds. Simple, strategic campaigns that could make an enormous difference to wildlife but also people’s consciousness of the benefits of green space.
“Forget HS2, let’s have HS3, a high-speed network for hedgehogs,” he adds. “They need about six gardens as territory. If we all put hedgehog-size holes in our fences, we’d have more in our gardens, and they’d eat the slugs and snails so many people dislike.”
Raven-Ellison says the park would be a “no-brainer” for corporations. The benefits to tourism are even clearer. He hopes also to talk to the group, led by Joanna Lumley and the designer Thomas Heatherwick, which is planning a “garden bridge” across the Thames between the South Bank and Temple. “The northern end has been calculated as the new geographic centre of London,” he says. “You could cross this urban gateway into the middle of the world’s first national park city.”
We walk down the aisle of what was the nave at Greyfriars. On either side, beds burst with roses, hydrangeas and purple penstemons. Besuited city workers sit on benches in the sun, juggling their phones and salad boxes. Raven-Ellison turns to his own phone to check the photos he has asked his student rangers to share as they explore his vision of the city. There are parks, canals, woods. Many could be mistaken for scenes of existing national parks.
“What really excites me is to think about children born in London now,” he says. “In five years’ time when they start school, imagine their teachers know that they’re in a Greater London National Park, and teach them differently about green space and nature. Then imagine them in 20 years, as they grow up to become architects or designers or planners. What ideas and solutions might they have to make us even healthier, even happier, and make this city even better?”
“To so support or find out more about the Greater London National Park campaign, go to http://www.greaterlondonnationalpark.org. uk/
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Development on Hackney Marshes
Hackney Gazette
Save Lea Marshes
Save Lea Marshes
Please read to the end of this update to be informed of important news and vital suggested actions to help protect the marshes! Our hotmail account is currently out of action - we hope to have it back soon!
We have really good news to report. The Planning Inspectorate yesterday notified everyone who made an objection about the proposals for building on Hackney Marshes that there will be a public enquiry into the plans. This is recognition that the plans need further examination and may not be approved due to their impact on common land.
Public enquiries are held when:
· a lot of objections have been received in response to the application;
· the issues of the case are particularly complex;
· it appears to be the only way to obtain the information needed to decide the
application.
There is no doubt that the petition and the objections the Planning Inspectorate received have helped lead to this decision to hold an enquiry, so thank you for everything you have done up to now.
The enquiry will be an opportunity for the applicant to explain their proposals but also for witnesses to explain their objections. If you were someone who kindly took the time to make an objection, please check that you received a notification of the decision. We strongly urge everyone who possibly can toregister to attend the enquiry. If you attend, you can explain how the proposals will adversely affect you as a user of the common land of Hackney Marshes. We will notify everyone of how to go about registering soon and will include this information on our website: www.saveleamarshes.org.uk
We realise that many of you will not have attended such an event before, however we will provide support and guidance to everyone who wishes to attend, outlining how to go about giving your evidence.
Even if as a result of the enquiry, the plans are given Planning Inspectorate approval, Hackney Council Planning Committee will still need to approve the plans. For this reason, we are asking that people alsoobject to Hackney Council about the proposals NOW.
Thanks everyone for what you've helped achieve - let's keep up the pressure to save Hackney Marshes from unnecessary car parks!
Caroline
Save Lea Marshes
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Save UK Parks
SAVE OUR PARKS
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF PARKS AND GREEN SPACESThe umbrella organisation for the UK's Friends of Parks Forums and the Friends Groups movement www.natfedparks.org.uk
Please forward to all your members...
Green Spaces Campaigning - Autumn UpdateSept 20th - World Parks Day 2014
Save and protect the UK's Parks!Sign and promote the 'Save Our Parks' petition: http://chn.ge/TXdqhj
More and more people call for action to address the underfunding crisisWorld Parks Day 2014, September 20th, is a prompt for us all to renew our determination to stand up for the UK's public parks and green spaces. Over the last few months there's has been a rising level of concern for the future of such spaces. Here are some of the significant things happening.
- CUTS CONTROVERSIES: Thousands of parks' officers and members of local Friends Groups will be expressing alarm, speaking out and lobbying their Local Authorities to protect next year's parks budgets. The underfunding crisis for our wonderful green spaces deepens as Councils face further, heavy, general budget cuts throughout the UK. Parks services are particularly under threat as, incredibly, they are not a statutory obligation for Councils.
- GREENER BRITAIN: UK Environmental organisations representing 7 million members call for action to halt the crisis facing our green spaces. The 10 organisations - including National Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Friends of The Earth - have produced a special 'Greener Britain' Report which warns that 'funding for public parks and green spaces is in crisis. Local authorities are facing reductions in revenue spending of around 40 per cent by May 2015 compared to 2010 budgets, predicted to drop by about 60 per cent by 2020. In the largest cities, the impact is likely to be even more severe, with the probability that there will be little or no money left for parks by 2020. Our parks, green corridors and waterways are critical to the attractiveness of our towns and cities, and to the well-being of the millions who live in them. Given that strategic funding is now being channelled through local growth funds, and the critical role natural infrastructure plays in people’s lives, it should qualify for funding just as local transport schemes do.' Greener Britain report:http://www.green-alliance.org.
- CAMPAIGNS TO PROTECT PUBLIC OPEN SPACES: There are many determined local campaigns around the UK to protect green space from inappropriate development. One of these has gone further than most. A recent legal case at the High Court in London saw a community campaign - Protect Dundonald Rec - challenge Merton Council's scheme to build on Dundonald Rec in defiance of the views of a Planning Inspector. The campaign and legal case has tried, so far unsuccessfully, to establish greater protection rights for all the UK's green spaces. Now the local campaigners, backed by the London Green Spaces Friends Groups Network, are calling on people to sign a petition calling on the Secretary of State to intervene. Please sign the petition: http://www.change.org/p/eric-
- LOVE PARKS CAMPAIGN: Love Parks Week is now being expanded to become an all year round programme, “Love Parks”. 'The Love Parks Week aim has always been to raise awareness of the importance of parks and green spaces, showcasing the benefits they bring and highlighting the need for continual investment and engagement. Sadly, as the nation comes to realise the benefits green spaces bring to our lives and communities, funding is being dramatically reduced. This year Love Parks Week will be ramping up its fight for parks and encouraging the creation of a year round movement with a launch of a new brand - ‘Love Parks’, after all a park is for life not just for summer.' Love Parks is managed by Keep Britain Tidy, working with the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces and other key organisations. More info:www.loveparksweek.org and www.facebook.com/LoveParksWeek
Promote the Save Our Parks petitionThe Government's cuts to Local Authorities for our local public services, combined with the lack of statutory protection for open spaces, are causing the most of the problems we are facing. So please sign and promote the UK 'Save Our Parks' petition to step up the pressure on the Government and all political parties to take seriously the future funding and protection of our vital green spaces.
1. Sign the petition: http://chn.ge/TXdqhj
2. Spread the news via Twitter: @LoveParks_Week #LoveParks
3. Spread the news via Facebook: www.facebook.com/
4. Refer to the Parks Petition webpage: www.natfedparks.org.uk/parks-
Dave Morris
NFPGS Campaigns Officer
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Greener Britain Report: Extracts re Green SpacesThe Natural Environment White Paper, published in 2011, recognised that our collective ambition for lasting prosperity and well-being relies on a healthy, restored natural environment, the benefits of which are accessible to all. Over the past 50 years we have seen a significant decline in the extent and variety of habitats and species, leaving both our economy and our society poorer. We need to reverse these declines, by planning now for nature’s recovery.
A country rich in accessible natural places to exercise, socialise, study or relax makes us healthier and happier.Manifestos that commit to restore nature will help to address the decline in wildlife, improve the quality of people’s lives and support a more resilient economy in the future. In England, all parties should commit to a Nature and Well-being Act, setting out the long term plan for nature’s recovery and recognising its fundamental importance to our economy, sense of place and well-being.
Plan for nature’s recoveryCreating a more wildlife-rich future, in which the degraded natural environment can be recovered, will require fundamental changes in how we value, use and invest in nature. There should be a strong, long term commitment to increase biodiversity and look after precious habitats, to guide the prioritisation of effort and investment in the recovery of nature across England. This will require targets from the top, and ecological plans created from the bottom up, supported by councils and local communities.
These plans will become ‘blueprints’ for where nature currently exists and is needed in the future, and will be an important strategic tool for identifying where investment in nature can fulfil many wider objectives, such as flood resilience and access to green space. These plans will also play an important role in helping local people to develop
their area, by informing the design and location of development that will work with, and where possible enhance, the natural wealth of their local environment.
Make a 25 year national plan for nature’s recoveryThe government should create a 25 year plan for nature’s recovery, as recommended in the Natural Capital Committee’s second report, which pulls together local plans into a national framework. The government and its agencies would have to redirect existing payments for land management to enhance local ecological networks, and remove barriers to payments for looking after the natural environment, by changing, for instance, aspects of water industry regulation.
Map local ecological networksLocal authorities should have a duty to work together, building on the duty to co-operate introduced in the Localism Act, and map the ecological networks of the future. This would ensure that planning decisions and conditions contribute to the recovery of landscape scale natural systems. Network maps would sharpen decisions on nature restoration and the siting of development.
Set up a permanent arm’s length body to ensure the sustainable use and restoration of natural resourcesThis could be a new Office of Environmental Responsibility, or a strengthened Natural Capital Committee placed on a statutory footing. Either would be independent, and have a responsibility to guide government on its environmental ambitions, advising on environmental science and natural capital growth. This body would scrutinise all new
government and regulatory and policy proposals for their impact on natural systems and would help to create a framework for the reporting and valuing of natural capital
by private sector companies.
In England, the package outlined above is best delivered through a Nature and Well-being Act, setting out a long term plan for nature’s recovery.
Improve public access to natureBritain’s urban parks and green spaces are widely used and well loved. There is compelling evidence of the significant contribution that accessible, high quality green space makes to people’s health and well-being. These ‘green lungs’ are essential to encourage and enable a more active and cohesive society, particularly in providing
stimulating, safe places for children to play that are rich in wildlife.
Unfortunately, funding for public parks and green spaces is in crisis. Local authorities are facing reductions in revenue spending of around 40 per cent by May 2015 compared to 2010 budgets. It is predicted that these funding reductions and the rising demand for adult social care will result in discretionary spending on parks falling
by about 60 per cent by 2020. In the largest cities, where the greatest social care needs are found, the impact is likely to be even more severe, with the probability that
there will be little or no money left for parks by 2020.
Funding for maintaining public parks is about to fall sharply, and we need a rescue plan. This crisis could be turned into an opportunity if the government is proactive
and positive in enabling local government, civil society and businesses to rethink how society cares for these essential green spaces for the long term, in a way that
increases the benefits they provide to people.
Incentivise natural infrastructure through the local growth fundOur parks, green corridors and waterways are critical to the attractiveness of our towns and cities, and to the well-being of the millions who live in them. Given that strategic funding is now being channelled through local growth funds, and the critical role natural infrastructure plays in people’s lives, it should qualify for funding just as local transport schemes do.
Address the park funding crisis with a ‘future parks’ innovation processThere are currently no models for funding and managing public parks and green spaces at the scale required. These will need to be created during the next period of
government given the crisis in public funding for parks. To focus ideas and effort, a ‘future parks’ national innovation project would attract, test, and roll-out the best ideas from Britain and around the world. Local authorities will also need transition support from central government to ‘rewire’ how they look after the public realm in a managed and sustainable way.
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01 Sep 2014http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Green spaces under threat from planning system and funding crisis
A Coalition of UK's leading environmental groups warn there may be "little or no money" left for the upkeep of Britain's green spaces and parks by 2020 due to funding cuts. Greener Britain - report at http://www.green-alliance.org.City parks could soon be left untended unless an army of volunteers can be recruited to plug the gap left by budget cuts, a coalition of environmental and countryside groups has warned.
Britain's precious green spaces are under threat from flawed planning policy and a crisis in parks funding, a report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the National Trust and the RSPB with seven other major green organisations claims.
It states that “funding for public parks and green spaces is in crisis” as local authorities face spending cuts that will result in “discretionary spending on parks falling by about 60 per cent by 2020”.
In the largest cities, it is likely “there will be little or no money left for parks by 2020”, despite the fact that “our parks, green corridors and waterways are critical to the attractiveness of our towns and cities, and to the well-being of the millions who live in them”.
The environmental groups, which have a combined membership of more than seven million people, attack the Coalition government for its “hesitant” approach to environmental policies and urge action to “reverse the decline in British wildlife and countryside”.
They call on all political parties to “commit to a greener Britain” by adopting a series of policy goals spanning sectors such as energy, housing and transport.
Among the key demands, the groups call for further reforms to the Government’s controversial National Planning Policy Framework, in order to prioritise housing development on previously-used brownfield land rather than allowing its continued spread into the Green Belt.
“If the government intends to get the whole country behind tackling the housing crisis, it should recognise that more support will come if diverse and locally relevant approaches are taken,” it says.
Shaun Spiers, CPRE chief executive, said the planning system in recent years had “marginalised community aspiration and environmental considerations”.
Monday’s report recommends that “local authorities should be required to work together across city regions or counties to plan for new housing in the least environmentally-damaging locations, prioritising the reuse of brownfield land where it is not of high biodiversity value”.
It also calls for communities to be given greater rights to defend their “neighbourhood plans”, a new kind of document introduced by the Coalition and supposed to be legally-binding on planning authorities.
Communities should be provided with a right to appeal if a local planning authority grants permission for a development which runs contrary to their neighbourhood plan, the report says.
The report calls on the next Government to enable “natural infrastructure” projects to qualify for money from local growth funds, and for a new national project to develop new funding models for parks and green spaces.
In the energy sector, the organisations call for an overhaul of energy efficiency policy to help households save money. The Coalition government has been widely criticised over the failure of the Green Deal scheme, which was designed to encourage homeowners to take out loans to fund green home improvements. But high interest rates of between 8 and 10 per cent have resulted in fewer than 4,000 homes signing up.
The green organisations say that “able-to-pay households should be offered long term zero per cent loans”, while “low income households should be offered full grants on energy efficiency schemes”.
They also call for a low carbon power target for 2030 and for more support for schemes that pay businesses to use less power at times of peak demand, to reduce the need for expensive new power stations.
Other recommendations from the group include further protection of UK seas through development of Marine Protected areas and the creation of a 25-year plan for “nature’s recovery”.
Amber Rudd, the Conservative MP and minister for energy and climate change, said the Coalition had “generated unprecedented investment into low carbon technologies” but acknowledged there was “still more to do”.
Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader, said his party shared “a lot of common ground” with the Green Alliance on many of the issues.
“In government, we turned many of our green commitments into reality and have delivered policies that protect our environment, deliver cleaner energy and create greener jobs. We are proud of our record of action but now we want to go even further.
“We have a duty to look after our natural habitat for future generations and our manifesto will show that only the Liberal Democrats can be trusted to deliver a greener and sustainable society.”
Caroline Flint MP, Labour’s shadow energy and climate change secretary, said: “Instead of the dither and denial we see from this Government, the Labour Party, under Ed Miliband’s leadership, recognises that climate change is a national security issue and is setting out a plan for action both at home and by leading a more ambitious programme internationally.
"Labour has already committed to 2030 decarbonisation target which the Tories oppose and the Liberal Democrats voted against. We will continue to drive an ambitious EU emissions reduction programme and set the pace of change for the rest of the world.”
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Protect public parks and open spaces - stop local authorities building on them.Sign the petition to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles
http://www.change.org/p/eric-
(*Better educational sites are available - there is no excuse for taking away public open space.)
A local group 'Protect Dundonald Rec' is challenging and campaigning against the judgement - we are campaigning to change the law and to open local authority planning decisions to proper independent scrutiny. Our legal case was unsuccessful at the High Court and then the Court of Appeal, so now we desperately need your help to raise awareness, bring pressure on central government to give greater protection to irreplaceable green spaces, and possibly raise funds for any further legal challenge. Your park could be next!
Visit: www.protectdundonaldrec.org
Sunday, 14 September 2014
SLM WEEKLY DIGEST - 11-9-14
This is the Weekly Digest of Save Lea Marshes - a campaign group of people local to the Lea Valley area, concerned to the keep the marshes and surrounding green spaces open and green.
This week we are mainly concerned with getting rapid response emails to the Planning Inspectorate - PINS, concerning Hackney Council's plans to build two car parks on East and North Marshes. THE CLOSING DATE IS TOMORROW AFTERNOON 12 SEPTEMBER. So if you have a few minutes to spare, please, please go to our website to see the pro-forma letter for you to send and to personalise if you have time. Please RT if you are on Twitter. You can also pledge to help by joining our Facebook event. The next stage of the process will be to go to Hackney Council and we have two separate petitions for people to sign if you haven't already done so - one for Hackney residents to go to the Council and one on Change.org.
LVRPA WORKSHOP - we are pleased to report a more positive meeting on 6 September than the previous two, according to people who attended. More of a chance to raise questions instead of just being lectured at. Hope this continues and gets better. Included in the discussion was the intentions of the LVRPA to take over some more of the Triangle Land on a lease to help protect the SSSI on Walthamstow Marsh. As reported last week, land has been gated off by Network Rail for reasons of rail safety and trespass but SLM would argue that it cuts off too much of the public access. Perhaps it could be nurtured as a more closed off space for nature? Debate will continue.
CHATSWORTH ROAD/ABNEY PARK - whilst the workshop was going on, other SLM members were out and about getting the message about the Hackney Marshes car parks across and getting paper petition's signed. We can report that very few people approached were in favour of the car parks.
NOTICING THE NOTICES - we are expecting to see notices go up about the pavilion and car park - so do look out for them e.g. around Millfields and Cow Bridge. There should be 21 days notice, so we estimate they should have been put up on 8th September ...
EVENTS
Sustainable Hackney "Green Drinks" Tonight (11 September), at the Eastern Curve Garden, Dalston Lane, Dalston E8 7- 11 p.m. for first discusions on Hackney's "Liveable Neighbourhoods Strategy".
Greenpeace are holding an "Artic Sunrise" evening of music, comedy and cakes at Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53-55 Hoe Street, E17 4SA on Friday 26 September at 7.30 p.m. Tickets cost £7.00 and monies will go to refit the campaign ship.
This week we are mainly concerned with getting rapid response emails to the Planning Inspectorate - PINS, concerning Hackney Council's plans to build two car parks on East and North Marshes. THE CLOSING DATE IS TOMORROW AFTERNOON 12 SEPTEMBER. So if you have a few minutes to spare, please, please go to our website to see the pro-forma letter for you to send and to personalise if you have time. Please RT if you are on Twitter. You can also pledge to help by joining our Facebook event. The next stage of the process will be to go to Hackney Council and we have two separate petitions for people to sign if you haven't already done so - one for Hackney residents to go to the Council and one on Change.org.
LVRPA WORKSHOP - we are pleased to report a more positive meeting on 6 September than the previous two, according to people who attended. More of a chance to raise questions instead of just being lectured at. Hope this continues and gets better. Included in the discussion was the intentions of the LVRPA to take over some more of the Triangle Land on a lease to help protect the SSSI on Walthamstow Marsh. As reported last week, land has been gated off by Network Rail for reasons of rail safety and trespass but SLM would argue that it cuts off too much of the public access. Perhaps it could be nurtured as a more closed off space for nature? Debate will continue.
CHATSWORTH ROAD/ABNEY PARK - whilst the workshop was going on, other SLM members were out and about getting the message about the Hackney Marshes car parks across and getting paper petition's signed. We can report that very few people approached were in favour of the car parks.
NOTICING THE NOTICES - we are expecting to see notices go up about the pavilion and car park - so do look out for them e.g. around Millfields and Cow Bridge. There should be 21 days notice, so we estimate they should have been put up on 8th September ...
EVENTS
Sustainable Hackney "Green Drinks" Tonight (11 September), at the Eastern Curve Garden, Dalston Lane, Dalston E8 7- 11 p.m. for first discusions on Hackney's "Liveable Neighbourhoods Strategy".
Greenpeace are holding an "Artic Sunrise" evening of music, comedy and cakes at Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53-55 Hoe Street, E17 4SA on Friday 26 September at 7.30 p.m. Tickets cost £7.00 and monies will go to refit the campaign ship.
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