Clapton Pond Blog

Running London (A Marathon Endeavour)

I set off at seven in the morning and ran without stopping until half past nine. It was by far - by a whole hour, in fact - the longest period of time I've failed to walk, sit or lie down in my entire life. When I arrived back at the cafe at Springfield Marina I was ready to drink their cold taps dry. You might have already guessed that I'm training to run in next year's London Marathon (and, indeed, for another marathon before that). I recommend anyone else seized by a similar combination of valiance and foolishness to do what I did last Sunday and run all the way from Millifields swings to Enfield Lock and then (most of the way) back again.

The insufferable self-satisfaction of completing the time specified in my training programme was just one of the pleasures of the run. The tranquility of that dewy early hour, with the sun breaking through, was just about unbeatable. Then there's the enhanced awareness of space and distance you somehow enjoy from travelling by foot: from Springfield you mark your progress lock by lock, first Tottenham then Stonebridge, Pickett's, Ponders End and finally Enfield, where you're less than two miles from Waltham Abbey, which is outside of London altogether. I might even have made it to Hertfordshire.

Then there's the interesting people you meet. Who were those young men and women meandering through Millfields with the mannered smugness of those who've been doing something they think a bit subversive? What sort of life is led by that solitary fisherman sat under a bridge in Edmonton amid twisted wire and litter in the least picturesque section of the riverbank? Was the man navigating that narrowboat who waved and called out a cheery "good morning" real or a figment of my imagination from some childhood picture book?

Some time this weekend I plan to do the whole thing again only for half an hour longer. That ought to bring me the whole way back to Millfields swings, rather than halting at the 150 minute mark at Stonebridge on my return journey and walking the last bit. If I succeed I promise not to boast - at my delicate speed I will, after all, need to keep going for quite a bit longer if I'm to complete a marathon.

As well as dragging myself along the Lee I've begun running my way across the whole of Greater London in installments, from west to east, Uxbridge to Upminster. The plan is to pass through all 32 boroughs and the City along the way. I'm documenting each leg of that endeavour on my Guardian blog - see here, here and here - and inviting readers to sponsor me. I'm raising money for Shelter, which complements my journalistic interest in London's deepening housing crisis. If you would like to contribute, please click here. All contributions, no matter how small, will I'm sure be greatly appreciated by that distinguished and excellent housing charity.

   

Tesco Trouble

 With the next edition of the Hackney Gazette expected to report on local opposition to a Tesco Express taking up residence at 144-146 Lower Clapton Road, this might be a good moment to fortify emotion with cold-eyed realism. Like all the fellow residents in the photograph above (taken yesterday), I love the friendliness and individuality of Palm 2 and many of our other local shops. The prospect of any of them being driven out of the business thanks to a branch of the ravenous Tesco giant having the mass buying power to undercut them on price is distressing.

I can understand too peoples' anxieties about what might replace them. Bookmaker or fast food chains or charity shops all have a perfectly legitimate place in my view, but when the range of retailers begins to narrow so that only a few types dominate, a neighbourhood can soon start feeling soulless, shabby and samey with demoralising consequences. Empty units can also end up simply standing empty. It's obvious from the speed at which shopkeepers come and go in Lower Clapton Road that many find it hard to make a living as it is. 

Having said all that it should be recognised that holding back the Tesco tide will not be easy, and that one big reason is that not everyone around here wants to. Tesco are not daft: they wouldn't want to set up shop by Clapton Pond if they weren't confident of that a profitable number of customers will welcome them. Even a couple of the campaigners acknowledged to me yesterday that they know of residents, including some who live in Shire Close and Alva Court, who can see advantages in having a Tesco Express on their doorsteps. Why? Convenience, quality, low prices - the very reasons why Tesco has become the business phenomenon that it is.

Then there are the limited powers of the Council to prevent or discourage this happening. They cannot stop the owner of the premises, Family Mosaic, from letting the space to Tesco. Opponents' best hope appears to be persuading the Council to turn down the company's applications for delivery hours to be extended to include late evenings and bank holidays and being allowed to load and unload in front of the building. The latter, would, I'm told, entail consultation with Transport for London, which is responsible for the smooth-running of the red route. 

All our ward Councillors echo the campaigners' advice to write individual letters of objection. Details of the permissions being sought can be found here and advice on objecting can be found here. The campaign website also raises a question over whether the procedure for initially encouraging the unit to be used for "affordable office space" before a retailer was sought was properly followed. 

No doubt all of these possible means of blocking or at least slowing the progress of the Express will be vigorously pursued by the campaigners. However, Tesco's power and determination is not in doubt. The Council is well aware that the company has a record for not being deterred when local authorities place obstacles in its way, and that a point would very likely be reached when the expense involved in fighting a succession of appeals and challenges would become hard to justify to the council tax-payer. And those for whom fighting the giant is a moral cause would be naive not to recognise the counter argument that Tesco are the business of giving people what they want. 

It may be that many of the independent shopkeepers some us so cherish will, in the end, be left with no choice but to compete with a powerful newcomer. Perhaps they should consider ways of working together and more closely with their customers to ensure that they make the best of their individuality and do all they can to keep the prices of some basic goods as low as possible. Some sort of hyper-local marketing campaign might be worth trying too. 

But in the end, the answer lies with the local community. The best thing many of us who can afford it could do to help would be to start spending less on those convenient home deliveries from Sainsburys or Waitrose - or whichever supermarket we disaprove of less than Tesco - and begin putting more in our small shopkeepers' tills.

Election Results In Hackney

At the start of my all-night election results coverage for The Guardian I wrote that, "Election fever isn't burning as hot here in Hackney as in other parts of the capital: it's a stubborn Labour stronghold." This turned out to be both right and wrong. In terms of how the borough voted, we turned out to be even more solid for Labour than before, with both of our Labour MPs, our Labour mayor and our Labour council strengthening their positions compared with previous elections in 2005 (for parliament) and 2006 (for mayor and councillors). 

However, Hackney was one of several places in London and other parts of Britain where election fever burned very hot indeed - not because local contests were closely fought as elsewhere in the capital - they weren't - but because people who arrived at polling stations late in the evening found they were unable to vote. I popped round to my designated ballot boxes at around 8:00 in the morning. They were doing brisk business, but it never crossed my mind that this was an indication of more frenetic things to come.

The problem affected a number of polling stations and thwarted electors staged a sit-in at the one in Triangle Road, where around 150 would-be voters had the doors shut on them at the official closing time of 10:00 pm. The Guardian carried a film report and East London Lines tells us that both Meg Hillier and Diane Abbott have made an official complaint to the borough's retuning officer, and that both Tory mayoral candidate Andrew Boff and the Tory candidate in Hillier's constituency support them. 

The Electoral Commission is to make an investigation into the problem, which also occurred in Lewisham (as well various other parts of Britain) where officials took a different approach. They did a pub-style "lock-in" of those still queuing when the clock struck ten, enabling them to cast their votes. Who was in the right? Some lawyers believe that those turned away may have a claim for compensation, but the Electoral Commission has said that the law is very clear:  "The doors must be shut at 10 o'clock and anyone issued with a ballot paper before 10 o'clock must be allowed to vot. No one can be issued with a ballot paper after 10 o'clock even if they are inside the polling station." In other words, Hackney was right and Lewisham was wrong. Who knows which side of this argument will prevail?

As for the results themselves, it was an even more successful night for Hackney Labour than expected. Abbott held Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a much larger majority (14,461), many more votes (25,553) and a larger share of the vote (55%) than in her notional 2005 result. Hillier too obliterated her opponents still more comprehensively than last time. Jules Pipe once again won the Mayoralty handsomely, while the Council chamber is still more Labour-dominated than it already was. The party won 50 of the 58 seats, an increase of six from four years ago. The Tories are left with just four seats (down five) and the Lib Dems remain at three. The Greens lost the one seat they secured in 2006. Councillor Luke Akehurst has all the details. 

Various factors contributed to Labour making huge gains in boroughs across the capital, holding parliamentary seats they seemed set to lose and re-cementing their positions in parts of London, such as Hackney, where they were already strong. High turnout will have helped, along with the fact that Labour nationally is less unpopular than it was at the last borough poll. Even so, there is a very strong sense that voters here and elsewhere across the city have done what Gordon Brown asked them to on 6 May -  "Come home to Labour."

Vote, Vote, Vote!

I still take a perverse pride in Hackney's obdurate performance at the last borough elections in 2006. All around us - Camden, Tower Hamlets, Islington, Barking and Dagenham - weird and sometimes frightening swings were taking place, but in Hackney the message from the voters was a resounding "Labour: no change". Indeed, practically no change at all. But was I right to read the result as a cantankerous yet somehow endearing indication that we Hackneyites are not fickle or easily swayed by fashionable opinion? Is it really all that clever to be as stubbornly unchanging in our political alliances as we appear to be? Should we rejoice in the fact that the Liberal Democrat surge will scarcely trouble our two Labour parliamentary candidates at all? Is it likely that the Council's Labour edifice will be significantly disturbed and, if not, what will it mean?

The author of Blood And Property - a Top London Blog - has been industriously worrying away at questions like these, probing the implications of communalism and wondering if Diane Abbott is losing some of her appeal in the eyes of the local intelligentsia and even BME electors. Will anything ever change? Andrew Boff, who we might now have to dub the partial Conservative candidate for Hackney mayor, will surely argue that it might if other parties were given a half-sensible chance to join in. More seriously, there has to be a danger that when incumbent politicians are as firmly installed as most of ours they get complacent and lazy and dull. Abbott, after all, has recently been accused of getting a bit grand and we don't want that sort of thing round here. 

For such reasons I'm pleased that Boff is bringing his libertarian Conservatism to the table, that Suzanne Moore is running for parliament in Hackney North and that Denny de la Haye is running on a direct democracy ticket in Hackney South. The temptation to vote for anyone who's shaking things up a bit is rather large. That said, I'd feel guilty about not re-electing my three Labour ward councillors. They've knocked on my door. I've seen them out on the streets and drinking coffee at Palm 2. I know from experience that they are diligent and deserving, so how I could I not put my "x" next to their names? It's a conundrum, isn't? Yes? No? Hello?               

Sound And Fury At The Hackney Empire

Last Thursday's public meeting at and about our handsome local theatre had much in common with its famous pantomimes. The cast of villains was familiar to anyone even loosely acquainted with Hackney political aggro down the years, as were the characters hissing and booing from the stalls. Even a regular member of the panto cast was in attendance, the popular and talented Kat B. So too was Susie McKenna, the Empire's associate director and the creative force behind those pantomimes, which are widely considered London's best. Her role in the evening's presentation stood out because it straddled the good-evil divide that clearly existed in the minds of the more militant members of the audience. Her track record at the Empire made her a goodie, but her backing for the present Board of Directors and its decisions in tandem with interim chief executive Clarie Middleton meant she was half lumped in with the baddies too. 

This was not a tranquil gathering. The meeting's chair strove to focus minds on the future but the most vocal had come to argue about the past. The most recent part of that was the decision by the Council's planning committee to give its blessing to the Empire's Wilton Way building to be sold. The Board's information sheet said that its "current cash debt is in the region of £1.5 million." It thinks the proceeds from the sale will be about £1.1 million and therefore lift the Empire out of its deepest red. Its critics complained of a fait accompli, an asset strip and a plain bad economic decision that insulted the local community. 

Speaking from the circle (political right, stage left) London Assembly member and Hackney mayoral candidate Andrew Boff questioned how selling a capital asset could solve a revenue problem, which is what the Empire has - put simply, not enough people have been coming to its shows. Speaking from the stalls (political left, stage right) John Page denounced the Board for daring to let the theatre dim to grey. Speaking from the very front - and very much from the heart - Roland Muldoon, for so long the Empire's driving force, reiterated his dismay at the Board's approach. He received a very big cheer and wondered rhetorically why it had taken Middleton et al nine months to decide that the type of programme that had been running before the "grey period" and accompanying reflection was the right type to be running after it too. Middleton had just assured the hostile house that the previous, community-minded diversity of shows would continue. Muldoon dashed any hopes she may have had of being buried in bouquets. 

I'm not qualified to comment on the fine detail of the evening's recriminations. Muldoon asked, "What kind of Jonathan Swift trick," was it to be selling the Wilton Way building yet planning to pay to use a part of what will replace it. He expressed mocking delight at seeing the Council (in the form of Kim Wright) and the Arts Council (in the form of Moira Sinclair) on the platform and demanded to know why there hadn't been more support from them in the past. Both argued that they'd provided plenty. Oh no you haven't. Oh yes we have. The recent past was still very much alive. 

It was left to McKenna to take the stage a insist that "It's behind you," and plead for everyone's support in building a future. I left with two thoughts about that. One was that if the mix of shows really has been broadly right all along, then the points panellists made about make a better job of marketing the Empire both locally and beyond were clearly very relevant. Yet if marketing can solve much of the income problem, are Boff and Muldoon right that selling Wilton Way is a short term measure that will prove misguided in the longer term? 

My second thought was about subsidy. There seems to be a general view that the Empire hasn't received all it could have had and truly deserves from the Arts Council over the years, particularly by comparison with other London theatres. I don't know how true that is but I do know that with the recession biting, a possible Tory government in the offing and Boris Johnson seeming to have a very clear idea about who should be in representing London on the Arts Council England - and what that person thinks about subsidy - then the struggle to extract more from the the public purse may not be easily won. 

The last question from the audience came from the local parliamentary Conservative candidate. His accent made Boris sound like Alfie Bass and he was drowned out in a second by a chorus of boos far more vehement than any directed at the panellists on stage. A true pantomime villain for this section of Hackney society, perhaps he signified a future common enemy for most of those assembled. As for the Board's rescue solution, time will tell. They promised a gradual return to full-on programming, culminating in the next panto season. Wynton Marsalis has been lined up for two performances in June - see here and here - as part of a collaboration with the Barbican. Such partnerships, Middleton said, will help make the Empire viable in business as well as community terms. Will she be proved right? By this time next year maybe we'll know.

The 38 Bus (Not) To Clapton Pond

The last leg of my recent overnight excursion to faraway London boroughs was a ride on a 38 all the way from one end of its route at Victoria station to the other end here at Clapton Pond. Of course, not all 38s travel the full distance. Lots of them skive off at Hackney Central and presumably idle away their time drinking tea and watching telly in the bus garage there. Knowing this, I was unperturbed when the destination indicator of the first empty 38 to roll in to Victoria showed the bus wasn't going the full distance. For once in my life I wasn't in a frantic rush so I waited happily for the next one.

I think you know where this is going. The second 38 too was going only to Hackney Central. So was the third. The fourth was even lazier, announcing without shame that it would jack it in at the junction of Essex RRoad and Balls Pond Road. The fifth? Hackney Central. The sixth? Piccadilly Circus. And the seventh? Hackney Central again. By the time the eighth 38 arrived bearing the legend "Clapton Pond" I'd waited 37 minutes. 

This seemed a bit excessive. It's not that I mind the walk up the Narrow Way or through the graveyard towards home and I suppose we pay-as-you-goers have come to accept that some of the time we're going to have to pay twice to be conveyed all the way up Lower Clapton Road. But only one bus in eight going the full distance? Imagine how narked I'd have been had it been one of those that decides on "a change in destination" (or whatever it exactly is that nice robot lady says). 

I rang Transport For London. Was this unusual or did it happen all the time? A press officer of quality and distinction (I speak from experience) explained that there were indeed fewer 38s making their way to the centre of the universe (my term) for the time being because of the diversion caused by the road disruptions at Dalston. "You get more bunching of the buses on any route experiencing those kinds of delays, and that means you need to start more of them on their return journey sooner." In other words, you can re-regulate the frequency of service back to Victoria more easily if you stop more of them at Hackney Central. Do you follow? Normally, only alternate 38s are deprived of a visit to Clapton Pond.

So there we have it. The same helpful press officer also supplied with a link to TfL's all-new Google-mapped bus planner. She thought people might like to see it. And they might.  

   

Hackney Empire Campaign

Tonight the Council's planning sub-committee meets to decide if the sale of the theatre's offices and rehearsal space will go ahead. Those running the now "grey" Empire want the sale to proceed in the hope that the profits can help clear the theatre's debts and deliver financial security. Those opposed the current management board consider this a dreadful plan. Roland Muldoon, for so long the great force behind the Empire's revival and refurbishment, has joined the campaign against the board and its strategy. His alternative is to demand better financial support from the Council and from Arts Council England. A public meeting, rescheduled with tonight's decision in mind, will take place at the theatre tomorrow at 6.30. Entry will be free and you don't need a ticket. Be there or be square. More on this from the Hackney Gazette.  

Andrew Boff To Run For Hackney Mayor

Dalston's very own 51 year-old, bicycle-riding libertarian Conservative will once again be Hackney Tories' challenger to Jules Pipe. He's sent out a press release containing his main pledges. He says he'd been a "zero cost mayor". I quote:

Hackney needs all the talents

“Hackney Council has been a one party state for too long. I will approach members of ALL non-racist parties to serve as Cabinet members.”

No more Tower Blocks

“Hackney, like Richmond, will not permit any new skyscrapers or Tower Blocks. Tower Blocks belong in Hackney's past, not its future.”

Hackney for families

“All publicly funded housing will be low rise family homes, preferably with gardens, to alleviate the severe problem of overcrowding in our estates.”

Trust the parents

“The Learning Trust has been a failure. Headteachers working with Governing bodies will be given more freedom to deliver from the dead hand of the Learning Trust Bureaucrats.”

Cut the cost of the cabinet to £0.

“The Mayor and his cabinet pay themselves £335,000 a year. The role of cabinet member should be a voluntary one. The honour of public service as a cabinet member should be reward enough. My cabinet will cost £0 in salaries. I will not take a salary and the members of the cabinet will be appointed only if they agree not to take the salary.In 2012 there will be a referendum to decide if Hackney residents want to continue to have an executive Mayor.”

Local control needs local funds

“Each ward will be allocated a £50,000 'Local Fund' which will be spent on local projects by the local Councillors sitting in open session. This will be increased throughout the lifetime of the next administration. Councillors need more power over decisions in their wards.”

Right the injustice of the property sales

“I will right the profound injustice of the small shopkeepers who Hackney cheated out of their properties, including Spirit of Broadway market, during the property sales programme of the early 90's.”

End the neglect of our youth

“Knife crime and the death of Young people in Hackney is directly attributable to the lack of investment in young people in Hackney. I will ensure more support for regular activities for young people by scrapping the £1 million being spent on the Council's free newspaper, Hackney Today.”

End the estates Levy

“Residents on Hackney's Housing Estates have increasingly had to pay twice for street lighting, twice for cleaning, twice for refuse collection. I will make sure that process is halted and reversed.”

So there we have it. In 2006 Hackney's political complexion remained stubbornly unchanged, in sharp contrast to the big swings in some nearby boroughs. I wonder how Andrew will do this time around.

Daily Mail Comes To Stoke Newington

At Stokey Talk, my Guardian colleague Matt Wells writes:

There’s a new website for N16, and eagle-eyed surfers will note something of a similarity with a Dalston neighbour. That’s because they are from the same stable: the Daily Mail group has extended its hyperlocal network to Stoke Newington. 

The initiative is is part of Associated Northcliffe Digital’s strategy to develop a network of local sites, managed centrally and given the same, cloned design template. Each site has a “community publisher” – Rosie Watts is the woman in the hotseat in stokenewingtonpeople – but receives technical and commercial support from Associated Northcliffe Digital group HQ. There are now 62 sites around England – including Dalston and Finsbury Park in our area.

It means there’s a plethora of different websites in Stoke Newington: but this is clearly the best-resourced so far, and the first with a commercial focus.

An interesting new development in our diffuse but energetic online local media scene. For Matt's thoughts on the newcomer read on. 

Francesca Panetta Everywhere

From The Guardian: 

Francesca Panetta, the senior audio producer with Guardian News & Media's multimedia team, has won two awards at the inaugural Radio Production Awards. Panetta, who produces guardian.co.uk's Politics Weekly and Hay Festival podcasts, was the only nominee to take home two prizes, picking up the best online producer and creative awards. The judges said: "The winner's work takes ordinary noises and events and makes them into a soundscape which is strange and far from everyday, making us listen more intently: the aim of all good radio. The range of work represented in this entry suggests that the winner will avoid repetition or formula."

She also produces the Hackney Podcast. Here's what the Hackney Citizen said:

Hackney resident Francesca Panetta has won two highly prestigious Radio Production Awards for her local online audio programme, the Hackney Podcast.

Now recognised as being among the best of British radio talent, the presenter and producer of the Hackney Podcast was named the best online producer and took the creative award at last Thursday’s event, organised by the principal body in the industry, the Radio Academy.

“I’m delighted to have won these two awards – it’s not just recognition for Hackney, but a real boost for innovative online journalists everywhere,” Francesca said.

I know her, actually. Quite well, you know. Oh yes, I'm practically her friend. Why, I was talking to her only the other day about...(reflected glory grab ends here).