Kingsmead residents demand improvements from Sanctuary Housing

Earlier this month over 100 residents from Kingsmead came together to demand that Sanctuary Housing tackle long term problems of damp, blocked drains, unfinished repairs and a lack of investment on their estate.

On Wednesday 3 December, together with their local councillors, they met with Simon Clark, the Managing Director of Sanctuary Housing, and his team to outline their concerns.

Having heard residents’ concerns, Sanctuary Housing committed to working with residents to improve life on the estate. 

They promised: 

• A dedicated repairs team for Kingsmead, based in the Kingsmead Estate Office. Residents will be able to discuss the nature and progress of repairs with staff in the office and there will be a twice weekly surgery to discuss progress with the team's supervisor.
• A Hackney based maintenance team, carrying out a programme of painting and renovation on the estate. 
• An estate survey to establish the extent of issues like damp, flooding, drainage and identify the priorities for improvement. 
• Work to tackle anti-social behaviour.
• Improved communication with residents. 

Simon Clark promised to meet with residents again in three months to hear feedback and reports of progress. We'll let residents know as soon as there is a date for this meeting. 

Following the meeting Cllr Rahilly, said:

“It’s great to see so many residents with such passion for improving their estate. Kingsmead residents deserve a better deal from Sanctuary Housing, who I think had their eyes opened by this meeting. It was good to see residents listened to and I know residents will work together to hold Sanctuary to their promises.”

Local resident Patti Bee said:

“This has pulled our community together.  We’ve heard horrific stories of people living with damp that affects their children’s health, of repairs that are left unfinished for years and anti-social behaviour ignored. This is the worst it’s been for years and has to be put right. We’re looking forward to working with Sanctuary to change this situation.”

Residents are planning to set up a committee to work with Sanctuary and oversee a programme of work to improve the estate. We're looking for a representative from each block of flats on the Kingsmead Estate. If you want to get involved, get in touch - kingspark@hackney-labour.org.uk 

Next Steps for the Daubeney Road Garages

Many thanks to everyone who filled in our survey on the future of the Daubeney Road garage site; it was great to see so many responses.

We’re moving on to the next stage of the development and looking for local residents to help out – see below.

A significant majority of people told us that they were in favour of the regeneration of the garage site to provide studio / workspace for small business. We’ll keep the survey open and update our analysis as new responses come in.

Your feedback will help us shape the future of the site. A lot of people said how they would also like the site to be a green space for the whole King’s Park community, including growing space. Residents raised concerns about the impact on parking on Daubeney Road and the need for parking provision for staff at the school. And finally, lots of you made helpful suggestions about how we could ensure the regeneration was a benefit to local residents.

And so, the next steps….

Some of you will know that in the DaubeneyField’s User’s Group have recently been awarded funding for a “Pocket Park” on the site.  This will help clean up the site and provide growing space. It is great to see it progressing so well!  

A fuller regeneration of the site will take a little longer.  The next steps are:

• The Council will need to apply for planning permission for change of use for the site. As part of this they will formally consult with residents.

• If this is successful, they will tender for a partner to work on the regeneration of the site. This will take up until Summer 2015.

• After this we will work with the successful partner on the regeneration of the site. 

After discussing it with the council we expect that this will take a minimum of a year.  As the first step the Council need to appoint a surveyor to check the site to confirm that the proposal is possible. Once this has happened we should be ready to go….

Once we have confirmation that the project is possible, we’ll be looking for local residents who would like to get involved in the project, helping to develop the tender for the regeneration partner, help assess the bids, and importantly helping make sure we communicate and engage with as many local residents as possible.  We want to make sure a broad cross-section of King’s Park residents are involved in the process. If you can help out please get in touch - Kingspark@hackney-labour.org.uk.  

Clapton Park growing project sowing seeds across Hackney!!

This weekend, Cllr James Peters from De Beauvoir ward, came to see some of the fantastic examples of community growing across the Clapton Park estate. 

Seeking inspiration for his own ward and having heard about the great work going on across Clapton Park, he visited a range of different sites from the secret allotment to the bee hotel. Cllr Peters was particularly impressed at the canal side allotment and table behind Willington Court:



“It’s great to see so many people coming together on community projects like this and I hope we’re able to create something similar in De Beauvoir.”

We were also interested to see a rather unique use for an old bathroom suite!

Kingsmead Estate meeting on 3 December

Sanctuary Housing have agreed to meet with resident's to discuss the Kingsmead Estate. This is great news. 

The meeting will take place at 7pm on 3 December at the WallyFoster Community Centre on Homerton Road. 

Come and meet the Sanctuary Housing Management team, share your views about Kingsmead and hear the action they will take to improve the estate.

We've told Sanctuary about the issues raised by residents at the meeting on 3 November, and they have agreed to hold an open meeting, available to all. This is your opportunity tell them about the action that is needed to improve life on the estate.

This is an open meeting and everybody from the estate is welcome. The more people that turn up, the stronger the case for change. We hope to see you there. 

Kingsmead Community Comes Together

Last night 100 residents from across the Kingsmead Estate came together to discuss life on the estate and the things that they would like to see improved. 

We need your help to make things better! Come and get involved. 

It was great to see so many of the community getting together to share their views and experiences, discuss the things they wanted changed, and plan the action that they could take to improve life on the Kingsmead Estate. 

Residents shared their stories of how life in the area had changed over the years, and the differences they've seen in the area. Residents also identified concerns that they wanted to discuss with Sanctuary Housing. These included: 

• How the speed, and effectiveness, of dealing repairs can be improved.
• The need to address leaks and damp in flats on the estate.
• Improving the response to anti-social behaviour, including repairing street lighting, CCTV and security doors. 
• Improving estate cleaning and upkeep, including how residents can be better  involved in estate inspections. 

We are meeting with Sanctuary Housing next week to discuss the concerns raised by residents. We'll be asking the management of Sanctuary Housing to visit the estate and carry  out a walk about with residents to see the issues first hand. 

The strength of this work is based on residents coming together and campaigning for change on the Kingsmead Estate. It is people's experiences that are providing the powerful case which will be discussed with Sanctuary.  We're looking for volunteers to help out. If you can help out or have an experience of the estate to share then please get in touch - kingspark@hackney-labour.org.uk

Public Meeting - Housing and the Kingsmead Estate: 3 November

On Monday 3rd November at 7pm we're holding a public meeting in the Kingsmead Community Hall to discuss life on the Kingsmead Estate. 

Come and discuss the issues that affect your life on the estate - we want to hear your views.

Talking to Kingsmead resident's, many talk about how life has improved - how it feels safer and crime has reduced, and how services and transport have improved. 

However, too many people also report problems with housing; with damp; with repairs not being completed; and with the need to improve cleaning on the estate. 

We've called a public meeting for residents of the estate because we want to hear your views. Come and tell us about your experience of: 

• Sanctuary Housing
• The repairs service
• Cleaning
• Life on the estate. 

We'll use the information from the meeting to shape our priorities as your councillors. We'll use it in meetings with Sanctuary Housing to improve the support provided to residents. 

We believe that this work should be led by resident's views. We want to hear from as many people as possible. So come along and let is know what you think. 

If you have views that you would like to share or can help us promote the meeting get in touch with us at kingspark@hackney-labour.org.uk. 

The Kingsmead Community Centre is located behind the Kabin at 8 - 9 Kingsmead Way. See you there, 7pm, 3 November. 

 

Daubeney Road Garages: Have you Say!

Have you wandered past there garages at the top of Daubeney Road and wondered what became of the site? 

Well we want your views on what to do about it. Fill in our quick survey here. 

Over the years the garages on Daubeney Road have fallen into disrepair. We’d like to see the space brought (back) to life for the benefit of the residents of King’s Park.

What would you like to see on the space? 

How can we make sure that any regeneration of the garage site benefits King's Park residents? 

Your views will help to shape and inform the development of the site. 

Some of the proposals that have been put forward are for the creation of workshop space. This would turn the garage site into a space that could be used as offices, retail, training, and flexible-use workshops.  What do you think of this proposal? Is there anything you would particularly like to see amongst the provision of workshop space?

We'd like to hear your views, so please do fill in the survey. 

If you'd like to help out with the development or receive updates from you local councillors, please get in touch: kingspark@hackney-labour.org.uk. 

Have you say on Hackney's Transport Strategy

How do you get around Hackney? Bike? Walking? Public Transport? It's time to have your say on transport in your local area. 

Hackney is consulting on its new transport strategy to run from 2014-2024. Transport in the borough needs to change to keep up with our growing population and the expanding local economy. To do this our vision is that:

“By 2024, Hackney’s transport system will be an exemplar for sustainable urban living in London. It will be fair, equitable, safe and responsive to the needs of its residents and businesses, facilitating the highest quality of life standards for a borough in the Capital and leading London in its approach to tackling its urban transport challenges of the 21^st Century."

The draft strategy has six parts. The first sets overall priorities, the other six focus on specific areas:

·      Cycling: Aims to encourage more people to cycle, improve access to secure bike storage and improve cycle safety.

·      Walking: Aims to promote walking and make further improvements to public spaces.

·      Public transport: Aims to maximise potential offered by Crossrail 2 running through the borough, improve access to public transport in the east of the borough and to have a fully accessible bus network.

·      Road safety: Aims to reduce the number of causalities in Hackney.

·      Liveable neighbourhoods: Aims to ensure public spaces are not dominated by cars and can be enjoyed by pedestrians, cyclists and children.

·      Sustainable transport: Aims to make sure that any transport developments or additions will continue to meet the needs of Hackney residents well into the future.

You can read the plans and give your feedback by visiting: https://consultation.hackney.gov.uk/streetscene/draft-hackney-transport-strategy/consult_view. The deadline for all responses is 24 October.

Alternatively, let us know what you think at kingsparklabour@hackney.org.uk.