Goodbye Green Space?

Submitted by Janine on 18 October, 2006 - 9:29

Hackney Labour’s election manifesto said that the Council would build 2000 new affordable homes. As the government refuses to pay for this without privatisation, the Council would need to defy the government and provide public housing. But don’t expect that from Hackney Council. They have secret plans of their own.

They plan to “infill” estates, selling land to RSLs to build on. So far they have identified 28, but soon nearly all estates will see land sold. Green space will be lost making overcrowded ‘concrete jungles’; on six estates, homes will be demolished.

Challenged in the local Labour Party, Councillors were annoyed their plans had been exposed. They claim residents will be consulted. But there will be no consultation with Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations (TRAs) until the policy is agreed by the Cabinet and full Council. And TRAs have bad experiences of what Hackney Council means by ‘consultation’.

We need a borough-wide fight to defend our housing, uniting TRAs with trade unions, left-leaning Labour Party branches and socialists.

Comments

Submitted by Janine on Fri, 20/10/2006 - 10:45

Thanks for your comments, Arthur. There is now more detail on this issue on my blog, here.

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