From 'Hackney Solidarity' April 2005 issue, for Aspland & Marcon estates
School Gates Closed?
It’s great to have a new secondary school on your doorstep, isn’t it? Especially as it is non-selective, mixed and non-religious, which many parents and kids prefer.
If you can get a place there, that is. Many of the estate’s 11-year-olds who applied for Mossbourne Academy have been turned away. We’ve not met one who got in.
It seems that academies are able to use their admissions procedures to get the intake they want ie. not too many local working-class kids.
Something to do with the rich prviate benefactor deciding the school’s policy?
Rents Up Again
Rents have gone up by more than inflation - so tenants once again pay more for less. Many people can’t afford it, and it’s not as if the Council spends the cash looking after our estates well!
The Council expects us to be grateful that they are not cutting services too. The cheek of it!
Pensioners Cheated
It’s a double whammy for pensioners, as the annual increase in the state pension comes in later than the rent rise. So for two weeks, OAPs have to pay the higher rent from the lower pension.
Many pensioners fear robbery, but it looks like they are being robbed by the government and the Council.
Recycling Cash
For two years now, our community has been recycling, helping the environment and reducing waste.
The Council promised to give the TRA money for doing this, but has not paid a penny. The excuse? It does not know exactly how much we have recycled, so can not work out how much to pay.
Hackney Solidarity wonders if they have the same trouble calculating Councillors’ generous expenses. We doubt it!
Re-Open Our Club
Our youth club has been closed for months now - because the Council has proved incapable of taking over running it.
The TRA fought hard to set up the club, and it ran well for a couple of years. Then Hackney Council got involved, with its reverse Midas touch - everything it touches goes wrong.
Teenagers are left with little to do, with Hackney’s leisure facilities closed down or too expensive. So young people get hassled for hanging around. It’s a vicious circle that can only be broken by providing decent facilities and a real voice for young people.
If you would like printed copies of 'Hackney Solidarity', or would like to distribute it, write for it, or give it out on your street or estate, please e-mail Janine Booth [1].
Links:
[1] mailto:janine.booth@btopenworld.com