MILE END RESIDENTS' NEWS

Demolition out of control at Linden Homes St Clements site?

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:03:00 +0000

This is a perfectly sound tree which has just been felled by people working on the Linden Homes St Clements Development. The workforce on site at the moment are employed by Squibb Demolition Contractors.

The trees on the site are all protected by the fact that the site lies within the Cemetary Park Conservation Zone.

Consequently all tree lopping and felling is subject to a planning application to Tower Hamlets Council.
The last planning application was PA/09/01069 which related to several trees on the site - but not this one. This planning application has been removed from the planning database.

Following the removal of the tree, an email was sent to the Planning Department and a response was received

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded on to our planning enforcement team to investigate.

A detailed letter has now been sent to Tower Hamlets Planning Department - and copied to the local councillors - with respect to the failure to enforce planning applications and conditions on this site.

This highlights how a number of actions have been taking place on the site IN ADVANCE OF THE PROPER DISCHARGE OF PLANNING CONDITIONS. This includes consultation with all near neighbours and Mile End Residents Association.

The local Councillors for Mile End are Shah Alam (Tower Hamlets First); David Edgar (Labour) and Rachael Saunders (Labour).

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Results of the Mile End Ward Elections 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sat, 24 May 2014 13:37:00 +0000

The story of the election in the Mile End Ward in short is:

an awful lot of your turned out to vote - very nearly 50% of the people with votes actually voted. However this was down on the very nearly 60% of you who voted in 2010 (when there was a General Election).
the NEW Councillors for Mile End Ward are

Shah Alam (Tower Hamlets First) - who came top. He is a brand new Councillor.
David Edgar (Labour) - who is an existing Councillor but new to this ward because of the boundary changes. He previously represented Limehouse.
Rachael Saunders (Labour) - who just squeeked in 87 votes ahead of the next candidate. Rachael is currently the Deputy Leader of the Labour Group for Tower Hamlets Council.

Motin Uz-Zaman (Labour) lost votes and was not re-elected.
Conservative and Liberal candidates achieved fewer votes than in 2010
The two independent candidates came bottom of the poll.

In addition, Mayor Lutfur Rahman was re-elected with a majority of 3,252 votes - based on a turnout of very nearly 50%.

Voting Summary

The share of the first and second votes were as follows:

Lutfur Rahman - (1st) 43% (2nd) 12%
John Biggs - (1st) 33% (2nd) 88%

Details	Number
Seats	1
Total votes	84234
Electorate	181871
Num. ballot papers issued	86540
Number of ballot papers rejected at the 1st count	2306
Turnout	47.58%

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Local Council Elections - details of Mile End Ward candidates

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 22 May 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Today there are three elections taking place. Below you can find the Notice of Poll for the election of Borough Coucillors for the Mile End ward.

It details the candidates who are eligible to be elected as one of the Councillors who will represent the residents of the Mile End Ward on Tower Hamlets Council. You can see the names of candidates, where they live, which parties they represent and who proposed them as candidates for election.

The Poll opens at 7.00 am in the morning and closes at 10.00pm in the evening.

The name and location of your Polling Station can be found on your Poll card - and all the stations are also listed at the end of the Notice of Poll below

Click the links below to find out about the two other elections taking place tomorrow.

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'Skull Cracker' Michael Wheatley arrested outside Eastend Homes Offices in Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sat, 10 May 2014 15:53:00 +0000

A number of local residents might have wondered why we had a helicopter hovering over the area for so long on Wednesday afternoon.

The Police and the BBC have provided the answer (click the link to view the video) - and some of those living in Ennerdale House might recognise the view!

Escaped prisoner Michael "#SkullCracker" Wheatley was found in Tower Hamlets, east London, police say http://t.co/4KxvnizPmO
— Tower Hamlets MPS (@MPSTowerHam) May 7, 2014

'Skull Cracker' Michael Wheatley was apprehended by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday afternoon at the corner of Hamlets Way and Southern Grove - right outside the entrance to the Eastend Homes offices. This is also opposite the entrance to Tower Hamlets Cemetery ( top left in the video) and the school (latter not in the video).

It just goes to show that when we're notified that a escaped prisoner is on the run that they can turn up anywhere - including very near to your front door!

Incidentally, when a helicopter hovers overhead for a long time, it's generally the Police following somebody who has absconded or who they are trying to catch. The helicopter then directs police on the ground. As we all know the really fun ones (not!) are at night when the fugitive goes to ground in the cemetery and they have to get out the heat seeking technology!

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Gridlock in Bow - Blackwall Northern Approach Road closed

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 20:04:00 +0000

If you have been wondering wondered why we have been experiencing total gridlock in recent days, the answer is the A12 is closed southbound at Bow Flyover and A102 Blackwall Northern Approach Road to the Blackwall Tunnel is also closed due to emergency repairs by Thames Water.

There is NO ACCESS TO THE A12 BLACKWALL TUNNEL NORTHERN APPROACH

As a result all the traffic which normally travels via the Blackwall Northern Approach has been rerouted via Mile End Road and Burdett Road. So we have gridlock and crawling traffic.

This is the official announcement from Transport for London - who finally got round to telling us all what is happening!

A102 (E14)
2013-12-17
[A12] Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach (Southbound) at the junction of Abbott Road. The A12 is closed southbound at the Bow Interchange due to emergency roadworks. The southbound exit from the Bow Roundabout is for access to the shopping centre and industrial estate ONLY, there is NO access to the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach.

The diversion route is from the A12 Bow Flyover: Westbound onto the A11 Bow Road: Southbound onto the A1205 Burdett Rd: Eastbound onto the A13 East India Dock Road to the junction with the Blackwall Tunnel Northern Approach.

2013-12-20 (19:06) : Traffic is queuing southbound on the A12 with tailbacks to Tredegar Road. Traffic has eased on diversion, traffic on the A11/ A13 is normal for the time of day. The A1205 Burdett Road is moving well with slightly higher levels of traffic on diversion and the A406 southbound towards Beckton is also returning to normal for the time of day. Expect delays.

The announcement fails to note that the tailbacks from the roundabout to Tredegar Road have been in place since mid-afternoon!

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St Clement's Hospital Site - Tower Hamlets Council considers planning application 11 December 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 17:20:00 +0000

Councillors will consider the report on the planning application

REDEVELOPMENT OF ST CLEMENT’S HOSPITAL SITE

At the meeting of the Council’s Development Committee

On Wednesday 11^th December

In The Council Chamber

At Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London E14 2BQ

The meeting is open to the public

MERA will be representing the views of local residents as one of the two people selected to speak on the application at committee

The meeting starts at 7pm and finishes when all business is done or 11pm

However The report on this planning application is the last one of the agenda and

consideration may not start until as late as 10pm

The MERA Brokesley Street Representative will be there from 8.30pm

MAIN COMMENTS / OBJECTIONS:

Concerns about the impact on local residents living in Brokesley Street with respect to:

· Noise from 4 years of construction in particular late night deliveries to the site and impact on children’s sleep

· Overshadowing and loss of light due to building new units up to the boundary wall separating Brokesley Street homes from the hospital site. Omission of Brokesley Street housing from lighting assessment

· Adequacy of local school provision to meet demand from people coming to live in the new housing

· Impact of construction traffic on safety of entry/exit from Brokesley Street

DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA

AND OFFICERS REPORT pages 165 – 212 of the publicreports pack

EXTRACTS FROM THE FORMAL MERA RESPONSE TO THE PLANNING APPLICATION

Below you can read the summary of our detailed response which was submitted in August

Overall conclusions

In general, we are broadly supportive of the proposed development.

· It’s very important to increase the amount of affordable social housing in the borough

· It’s important to integrate social housing with opportunities for shared ownership and private accommodation to promote better communities

· We welcome new initiatives involving the Land Trust and the Ricardo Trust and see these both as positive new initiatives. We trust they will grow and develop to fulfil their aspirations.

· We very much endorse the use of the building fronting onto Mile End Road as a suitable place for community focused activities.

· We agree it’s very important to preserve the character of our local heritage – particularly that within a recognised and existing Conservation Area.

However we remain concerned about a number of aspects of the planning application. Some of these can be dealt with under delegated powers as part of the Construction Management Delivery Plan.

Others need a clear steer from the Committee as to what is and is not acceptable in relation to assessing

· The impact of the construction contract on local residents

· The assessment of the impact of the development given some serious omissions of data and serious misunderstandings about the nature of the neighbouring properties

Clearly, it’s inappropriate to build new quality homes while having a serious impact on the quality standards of recently built new homes and other neighbouring properties.

Our concerns – in summary

Matters that concern us about the planning application for the proposed development on the St Clements Hospital site include:

· Noise control: It’s expected this project will be on site for up to 4 years. We are now much more aware than we used to be about how intrusive and wearing noise can be when experienced on a daily basis over a period of years. It’s vital to the wellbeing of the community to ensure that the disruption to amenity and people’s quiet enjoyment of their homes is minimised during the construction process. We’re not yet convinced that the developer has thought through how this can be as considerate a construction process as is possible.

· Site traffic management and site deliveries: In our view it completely inappropriate and insensitive to ask for an extension in normal working hours for site deliveries. Some 30+ children live in Brokesley Street and the proposals means intrusive levels of noise when parents should be able to reasonably expect that they can get their children to bed and to sleep. There is no option appraisal presented the planning application with respect to alternatives and it’s clear other alternatives have either not been examined or need to be revisited.

· Overshadowing and impact on natural light and sunlight levels

o There are very serious inaccuracies and omissions in the data used in the report with respect to the lighting assessment. It excludes both residential units and back gardens which will be seriously affected by the development.

o Adding height and building up to the boundary wall has considerable implications for light. Overshadowing has an impact on the wellbeing of families and their ability to provide fresh vegetables for their families

o The development also appears to place more priority on retaining a low level building of extremely limited heritage value over the needs and wellbeing of existing local residents.

· Opening up the site – and use of gates: we need to recognise that this development proposes a change of use from long-term incarceration to habitation. It’s imperative that this site is also opened up to promote integration with the rest of the local area. The use of gates in this context is inappropriate and we would like to see the gates only retained as heritage features rather than as ways to create a boundary around the site. We’d also like to see more reduction in the height of the boundary wall next to the British Street estate and Hamlets Way.

· Design and usage of the buildings at the front (John Denham Building and Bungalow): We think this aspect needs to be looked at again so that it better supports the objectives of the core strategy for this area.

· Adequacy of local school provision: We’re concerned that the development may aggravate the existing deficit in provision of local primary school places for local children who are currently being schooled all over the borough. We can find nothing in the application that identifies the impact on demand for local schools and we can see nothing from Education that identifies scope to meet demand. The failure to make a connection between creating homes for families and checking to see whether local infrastructure can meet the demand it creates is irresponsible.

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Seasonal Recycling: what to do with Christmas trees & extra waste

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 11:06:00 +0000

We produce around 30% more waste over the festive period.

A great deal of this is food, along with an estimated 83 km2 of wrapping paper, 13000 tonnes of glass and 250 tonnes of Christmas trees.

However, this can be reduced, reused and recycled to help you save money. Here are a few handy tips:

Wrapping paper is great to use for streak-free window cleaning, origami, or shredded up as protective packaging.
Cards can be reused as gift tags, tree decorations or craft projects.
Christmas tree needles can be used as pot pourri, to stuff pin cushions - or can even be used in cooking

Changes to collections over the Christmas and New Year period

There will be changes to the collection days over the Christmas and New Year period. Collections of household waste, recycling, food and garden waste will be affected.

Normal collection day	Revised collection day
Monday, 24 December	No change
Tueday, 25 December	Thursday, 27 December
Wednesday, 26 December	Friday, 28 December
Thursday, 27 December	Saturday, 29 December
Friday, 28 December	Sunday, 30 December

Monday, 31 December	No change
Tuesday, 1 January	Wednesday, 2 January
Wednesday, 2 January	Thursday, 3 January
Thursday, 3 Jnauary	Friday, 4 January
Friday 4 January	Saturday, 5 January

Collections return to normal during the week commencing 7 January 2013.

The Council also offer FREE ChristmasTree Collections from 7 January up until 25 January for trees to start a new life as compost.

Recycling reduces landfill disposal costs

Taxpayers in Tower Hamlets pay over £1,000,000 per year landfilling waste that could have been recycled.

Two examples of what NOT to include in the pink bags/purple bins

Aluminium foil

Foil such as pie cases, milk bottle tops or kitchen foil is a lower quality to aluminium cans
it reduces the quality of recycled aluminium if it is processed with the cans

Polystyrene

Polystyrene is a very low quality type of plastic.
This makes it difficult to recycle and there are very few recycling plants that can accept it for recycling.

All of the following materials can be recycled in the pink sacks and purple recycling bins:

Glass bottles and jars (all colours)
Food and drink cans
Plastic tubs, pots and bottles (e.g. drink bottles, shampoo bottles, yoghurt pots and fruit punnets)
Cardboard (e.g. brown boxes, greeting cards and cereal boxes)
Paper (e.g. newspapers and magazines, printer paper, envelopes, and telephone directories)
Cartons (e.g. fruit juice, dairy and soup cartons)
Empty aerosol canisters

Please rinse out containers

MERA visited the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Southwark last week. It was an eye opener! A number of sophisticated machines sort materials into paper, plastic, juice cartons, cans, glass etc.

But the amount of contamination was shocking!

So please follow the simple guidelines above as to what can go into the pink sacks and purple bins - and spare a thought for the people who are manually sorting through all our stuff!

Link to short films of the sorting process.

Any doubts or questions please get in touch.

Our e-mailing address is: info@mile-end-residents.co.uk
Txt or leave a message: 07932 626340

You can also find links to information about Tower Hamlets Waste Management and Recycling in the side column

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND STREET CARE

MERARECOMMENDS: FixMyStreet - Report refuse problems

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St Clement's Hospital - Community Planning Events

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 10:37:00 +0000

All members of MERA should have had an email from MERA and/or a flyer from East London Community Land Trust the about the St. Clement's Hospital Planning Events this week - but just in case you've mislaid the email here's a reminder.

These detail information about the Community Planning Workshops on:

Thursday 29 November (daytime and evening) and
Saturday 1st December.

DOWNLOAD a copy.

Here's the content of the MERA Newslatter

St Clements events this week, Thursday and Saturday
ALL RESIDENTS WELCOME!

St Clements on Mile End Road is due for development…

Yeah and what’s new about that? We have developments on every street corner!!!!

Well, the difference is that part of the development will be a Community Land Trust - which in essence means there will betruly affordable homes for sale - and resident involvement. And who can resist that?

There is a lot going on at the moment in the pre-pre stages of the development - and this Thursday and Saturday residents are invited to get directly involved at two community planning events - if you aren’t already?! (Mark and I have been involved the last couple of years and got elected for the East London Community Land Trust board in August).

The events will be held on the main road 2 minutes away from St Clements and there will be tours of the site as well.

Thursday 29 November

10am - 3pm
AND 6:30pm - 8pm

Saturday 1 December 2012 10am - 4pm

AT: Bow Road Methodist Church,

1 Merchant Street, London E3 4LY Map

Read on - invitation message from the ELCLT:

"You are invited to the St Clement's Hospital Community Planning Workshops and Exhibition to help plan a new vision for the future of the site and its relationship to the neighbouring areas.Last year, the Mayor of London decided to establish London's first ever Community Land Trust (CLT) on the St Clement's Hospital site. Appointed developers, Galliford Try, and their architects, John Thompson & Partners (JTP), are now working closely with East London CLT to fully integrate the local community's previous design ideas from workshops held last year. As part of this, a series of further workshops will be held over two days, through which local people can help co-create a new vision for the site.

What to expect at the Community Planning Workshops:

You will have the opportunity to view an exhibition on the background to the regeneration of St Clement's and take part in workshops, walkabouts and hands-on planning groups to consider key issues such as landscape design, sustainability, connectivity and interim uses. This event is an opportunity to share local knowledge and ideas and contribute to the emerging vision for the site. Pop in for a short while, a few hours or stay for the entire time if you can. Team members will be on hand to explain what's happening."

Click here for the leaflet

It has gone to all, or most, households in the area surrounding St Clements

Press from last week’s launch

CLICK For a bigger version (East London Advertiser 22 November 2012)

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The war on terror and sandwiches in Victoria Park

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:07:00 +0000

If you've visited the BT London Live event in Victoria Park you may be aware that the event has been a less than happy happening for some people - primarily because of the approach to security.

The security entrance to Victoria Park

Now we know where all the missing crowd barriers at Mile End went! (see BT London Live @Victoria Park - Crowd Management at Mile End)

Note that there's more security people than people trying to enter? The only night they've had a lot attend was the Opening Ceremony when 15,000 attended.
Many who bought tickets in advance felt like they wasted money - as there's no need to queue most of the time and not a lot of people are attending. Numbers this last week have been way down on what was projected.

You may have noticed the huge amount of empty space in the park in the video that went viral of the Mayor stuck on the zip wire. At least the event has gone viral around the world as a result!

Warnings on the way out only?

It's possible Boris missed this one - we did!

This warning (see below) was on the way out only. That means that if you enter they can photograph and film you and then display it for all time - but they won't tell you so before you enter!

A Warning Notice - which was seen for the first time on the way out of the event!

No food and drink allowed in Victoria Park (which is cNOT as per Olympic Regs.)

Unlike the Community Big Screens whhich BT are sponsoring elsewhere in London - where people are encouraged to bring picnics with them - the Live Nation Event in Victoria Park refuses to allow ANY food beyond the security check

They make everyone including small children go through airport style security including a hand-held metal detector search and a bag x-ray.

They refuse to allow any food and drink into the venue

The email I received after complaining to live nation about the no food rule said if I wanted to bring food due to allergies I would need to produce a doctors note! Absolute madness.

Here's a list of things which security have so far forced people to dump

drinks bottles
picnics
sandwiches
bags of crisps
one apple

Just been turned away from Victoria Park because of a child's scooter though there is nothing about scooters on the website. Can't you at least have a tent or somewhere to leave them in? Scooters are tricky to lock up and it's a long walk for a 5 year old without one. Was all set to spend money inside - and it was looking pretty empty in there - so seems a commercial error too.

They say this is because what the regulation say.

However they don't seem to have read exactly what the OFFICIAL PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED ITEMS RE OLYMPIC VENUES actually says.

The only conclusion we can come to is that the prohibition in food and drink is entirely about making money off people - including all those who may be trying to exist on a very limited budget.

If the Council knew this before it happened they should be ashamed of themselves! Check out the prices.

Only options were burgers, noodles, ice-cream,fizzy drinks, coffee or sweets. No fruit, no salad, no juice.

Typical prices being charged are:

"London 2012" branded drink bottles - £7 each
coke/sprite/fanta/water for £2-£3 each
Jug of cocktails £30 (suspected to be fruit juice)
Pint of Lager £4.20
Cadburys branded ice creams only £3 each
Junk food (people are complaining about the lack of healthy options) eg

£4 for a burger
£3 for not a lot of chips - some being branded inedible

We knew the rules, but the variety and quality of food & drink is shocking.

Plus there's a consensus that some of the food being served is inedible - note what gets dumped around the park!

For more details and comments see

We trust that Tower Hamlets Council's Environmental Health are checking the quality of the food and drink as well as the noise.

If you're going to BT London Live at Victoria Park

Here's our RECOMMENDATIONS if you're planning on attending this event next week.

MAKE SURE YOU EAT AND DRINK BEFORE YOU COME
If you don't make sure you bring lots of money with you for the expensive food and drink inside the event.
Print out and take with you this list of what's NOT allowed in Olympic venues - Prohibited Items (pdf file). The only item relating to food is "excessive food" - and that's not the same as all food. If somebody asks you to dump food ask to see the regulations which says no food is allowed in - and then whip out your copy of the official regulations! Note that ALL the Olympic Venues allow people to take food in. If they refuse it's absolutely nothing to do with security and is everything to do with extracting money from your wallet.
When reading the Facebook Page remember that it relates to both the Hyde Park and the Victoria Park site:

all the crowd photos relate to Hyde Park - the only images of Victoria Park have involved lots of grass and not a lot of people
people seem to have been enjoying themselves more at Hyde Park

There is nothing to say that non-breakable containers of 500ml or bigger are not allowed (as per the official restrictions)
You are not allowed to bring in - as per the OFFICIAL prohibitions and restrictioms.

Glass bottles larger than 100ml
More than 100ml in liquids
excessive amounts of food

Alternative Sites

This weekend there's The Games on a Big Screen in Langdon Park - a free family event delivered by housing and regeneration community association Poplar HARCA

Lewisham Council have a 7.6m x 4.8m screen positioned on a Lewisham Live Big Screen on the heath at Blackheath for local residents and visitors. It's being run by the Council and you can bring your own food - in fact they encourage you to do so. There's also a number of alternative cafes, restaurants, bars and shops in Blackheath Village.

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BT London Live @Victoria Park - Crowd Management at Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 10:37:00 +0000

BT London Live @Victoria Park - Crowd Management at Mile End, a set on Flickr.

These were the scenes outside Mile End Tube Station early this morning - with queues of people waiting for tubes all the way up past Southern Grove last night between 1.30am and 2.00am

Crowds exiting the BT London Live event in Victoria Park arrived at Mile End about 1am in the morning.

Gates were used by TfL staff to control entry into the tube station. People were let through when the platforms and trains could accommodate them. MERA were very pleased to see the efforts employed by TfL staff to prevent overcrowding in the station and on the platforms.

However the Crowd Management Plan had broken down.

There was a major lack of crowd barriers which was causing concern for the Police.
The crowd marshals were having to substitute for the missing crowd barriers on the north side of Mile End Road.
People were walking amongst the heavy traffic on Mile End Road.

No Crowd Barriers: People walking in Mile End Road
outside Mile End Tube 1:37am 28 July 2012

People trying to get on a tube were having to queue all the way past the flats in Buttermere House up to Southern Grove and beyond. While well behaved the crowd was noisy for people trying to sleep.

Junction of Southern Grove & Mile End Road 28 July 2012 1:27am
The queue of people waiting to get on tubes at Mile End Tube Station
extended from the station all the way back to Southern Grove and beyond.
A queue several people deep was lined up outside the flats
- and people trying to sleep - in Butternere House

The crowds had cleared by 1.45am. This is not unacceptable for a one-off event. It is totally unacceptable if it is to happen night after night for 17 nights.

There is to be a review of how well crowd management worked this morning.

While the crowd was well behaved, it struck us that the crowd management plan took no account whatsoever of the needs of people sleeping in local flats - particularly given the scope to queue people past commercial buildings with no people sleeping.

We will be sending local Councillors and the Cllr Golds who chaired the Licensing Sub-Committee a link to this post and the photographs on Flickr.

The impact of the Victoria Park Live Site on Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 13:15:00 +0000

Tonight is the start of lots of people wanting to access public transport at Mile End late at night - for 17 nights in a row (until 12th August 2012).

Back in April, MERA reps attended the Tower Hamlets Licensing Sub Committee to object to the licensing application for the Live Site in Victoria Park along with fellow objectors who included Councillors Joshua Peck and Mark Francis.

The bulk of the meeting was taken up with the hearing of evidence relating to the Application for a Time Limited Premises Licence, Victoria Park, Bow, E3 - Live Nation (Music) UK Ltd PDF 89 KB (Additional documents: 2b. LiveNation2012 RED All Appx's, item 4.3 PDF 8 MB)

The preparation of the application by the organisers had completely failed to address some very significant concerns relating to the impact of the events on local residents in Bow and Mile End.

From MERA's perspective:

our major concern related to people leaving the Live Site late at night and attempting to get home via public transport at Mile End.
We shared concerns about the impact on the sleep of working people of late night disruptions night after night for 17 nights in a row.

It was very clear that the original application had paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to the impact on the Mile End area late at night.

Specifically the licensing application was completely silent on how people leaving Victoria Park late at night would be managed and where they would wait to access public transport.

While some people may be local and able to walk home, it was very clear that many thousands of people would have to wait a very long time to get on tube trains leaving Mile End Station (The tube trains will be full of people leaving the Olympic Park). It would also be neither possible nor safe for thousands of people to access and wait for trains on the platforms of the Station. We suggested it was imperative that another Bethnal Green Tube Disaster was avoided.

In the end the Council had to extend the meeting in order to hear and discuss all the evidence.

We were presented with four new documents when we got to the Licensing Committee – none of which had been sent to us in advance of the meeting.

One was a very weak Transport Plan.

Dispersal from the site was acknowledged to be critical – and yet they had no crowd management plans or egress marshalling plans to show us how this will be managed in Grove Road and around Mile End
There were very significant holes in the data and conclusions of the Transport Plan.

Licence granted with major conditions

In the end the licence was granted by the Council (see end of this post for complete transcript of the licence) but with some very significant changes:

the site capacity at any one time is now limited to 20,000 people. After representations by MERA and others plus further investigation, the Council recognised there was no way – as we predicted – that local transport could cope with 30,000 leaving the Park very late at night.
There are no changes to the proposals for the Opening (27th July) and Closing (12th August) nights of the main Olympic Games. These were recognised to be special one-off events.
The hours for licensed activities on other nights have been changed to ensure these finish earlier. The aim is to get more people to leave even earlier which will help with the pressure points re Bethnal Green and Mile End tubes. For the rest of the Olympic Games period (ie 28th July - 11th August 2012)

Sunday to Thursday: all entertainment and music (live and recorded) to stop at 10pm and alcohol to stop at 11pm
Friday and Saturday: all entertainment and Music (live and recorded) to stop at 11pm and alcohol to stop at 11.30.

Changes to the allowed times for set-up and take-down so that further disruption to nearby residents is minimised. These now relate more closely to the hours normally allowed for building works in a residential area.
Scope granted for the Council to change level re decibels limits to sound heard in Waterlow Crescent if residents complain and say situation is untenable

So why do BT London Live Site publicise incorrect information?

This is the BT London Live Site website page which provides FREE TO ACCESS DAYS DETAILED EVENT INFORMATION.

Specifically these is what THEY state are the Victoria Park opening hours (see below for evidence as per screendump from the site)

The BT London Live Site completely fails to mention (see below) when the music stops and at what time they will stop serving alcohol on all evenings apart from the Opening and Closing Nights.

The aim of the licence was to get people to leave earlier to spread the load on the tube. At the moment it would appear London Live Site want to send out completely different - and misleading - messages.......

We will be monitoring.....

BT London Live, TfL and Tower Hamlets Council may like to note that tonight we will be monitoring what happens tonight in the vicinity of Mile End Tube Station - and the homes of members of this Residents Association.

If necessary, we will be photographing and videoing the management of the arrangements relating to the health and safety of people trying to access Mile End Tube Station - and uploading these to Flickr for discussion with bodies responsible for the enforcement of licensing conditions and the health and safety of people trying to use public transport.

MEMBERS - Please contacts us (see side column as to how to do this) if you are adversely affected after 1am by tonight's celebrations.

REFERENCE: Full text of Item 4.3 of Minutes of Licensing Sub Committee on 26 April 2012 and and Licence

Application for a Time Limited Premises Licence, Victoria Park, Bow, E3 - Live Nation (Music) UK Ltd

Meeting of Licensing Sub Committee, Thursday, 26th April, 2012 7.00 p.m., NEW (Item 4.3)

Minutes:

The Licensing Sub-Committee was being asked to grant a an application for a Time Limited Premises License by Live Nation (Music) UK Ltd at Victoria Park

London E3 from 26th July 2012 to 13th August 2012 for a capacity of 29,999 persons. The hearing was triggered by representations made by interested parties, namely two local Councillors and local residents, in relation to their concerns arising in respect of the licensing objectives of:

i) the prevention of crime and disorder

ii) public safety

iii) the prevention of public nuisance

At the invitation of the Chair , Members heard representations from Mr Crier the Applicant’s Solicitor and evidence from experts in event management, health and safety and transport called by the Solicitor to respond to questions from the Sub-Committee and objectors comprising two local Councillors and residents. The Solicitor informed the Sub-Committee that the emphasis of the event was sport, introductory coaching sessions and entertainment activities. There will be opportunities to view Olympic events free of charge, to take part in introductory sessions and information to pursue interests in these activities after the festival through local organisations.

Information concerning the following matters was provided.

Concerning reducing nuisance; there will be a ‘hard finish’ to the programme on the days of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. At other times during the festival there will be a staggered finish to ensure egress nuisance is reduced.

Concerning public safety; staggered activity finish times will provide more transport options. Bethnal Green and Mile End underground Stations will be prioritised as dispersal hubs. There will be CCTV coverage and MPS response services. The crowd management plan is being developed and will soon be publicly available. There will be up to 2000 staff servicing the event. Emergency evacuation can if necessary be accomplished in under five minutes.

The applicant offered that a single point of contact number be made available to residents.

Concerning crime and disorder; stewarding and marshalling levels and security are supported by the Metropolitan Police.

Members also heard the representations detailing the measures that would be implemented to ensure that nuisance and crime and disorder are addressed through stewarding and marshalling measures at ingress and egress, through a staggered activity finish plan and through the traffic and pedestrian management plan. With the agreement of all parties, the Transport Impact Statement, Site Vision and Proposed conditions were circulated at the meeting and discussed.

At the invitation of the Chair, Members also listened to evidence from objectors. The key representations concern noise nuisance, late night disturbance and antisocial behaviour arising from patrons leaving the events, nuisance caused by lack of dispersal capacity at transport nodes and failure to consult with the local community or Ward Councillors. They noted that there was no objection to the proposal in principle nor to the events planned on the days of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.

The objectors argued that nuisance would arise during the post opening and pre-closing event days in which it the applicant has sought to provide daily live music until 23:00 hours, recorded music until 00:00 hours and sale of alcohol until 00:00 hours respectively would result in local residents experiencing unacceptable noise nuisance and public nuisance (including antisocial behaviours in their residential area) arising from customers access to, and egress from, the Victoria Park, particularly given their close proximity to the Park and the widespread impacts of crowd dispersal on the surrounding areas. And therefore they object to the application and request that the hours in which live music and sale of alcohol take place be reduced.

Members also noted objectors’ arguments that there had been failure to consult with local residents until recently.

Concerning a complaint that it was unfair that noise levels in Waterford Close were higher than elsewhere, Members noted the arguments made but were not able to address this matter within the context of the meeting as this concerned technical matters associated with sound transmission. However the Chair agreed that this was a persistent complaint and agreed to write to Environmental Health to seek mitigation on this matter.

In reaching a decision Members had regard to the Licensing Guidance (noting that revised Licensing Guidance published on 25 April 2012 is in the main not applicable to this application since it has been made prior to the date that the amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 took effect) and the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy.

Members considered the full application and the reduced hours requested by the objectors.

Members believed that reducing the hours of opening would not be appropriate as this would adversely affect the successful delivery of the Live Site events. However given the duration of the festival and the hours applied for, Members believe that granting the application as sought would place an unacceptable burden on the local community in terms of nuisance and potential antisocial behaviour. They therefore considered it was necessary and proportionate for the purpose of promoting the licensing objectives of prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance that the permitted times of a number of the licensable activities be reduced.

In coming to their decision members have sought to enable those who wish to view the Olympic events to fully do so and to mitigate the potentially extreme effects of the festival on the neighbouring community.

RESOLVED

That the Application for a Time Limited Premises Licence, Victoria Park, Bow, E3 - Live Nation (Music) UK Ltd be GRANTED with 21 additional conditions offered by the applicant below and further additional conditions imposed by the Sub-committee and listed also:

Conditions offered by the Applicant

1. The licence shall cover the area as shown on the site plan dated 18.4.12 v.5.

2. The Premises will at all times be managed in accordance and compliance with an Event Management Plan which shall be approved by the Licensing Safety Advisory Group.

3. The amended capacity shall not exceed 20,000 at any one time (amended at the meeting)

4. No entry shall be permitted to the Event Site after 22.00 each day and no re-entry will be allowed except by permission of the Event Liaison Team or in case of emergency.

5. All bars will operate a strict Challenge 21 age verification policy in relation to the sale of alcohol.

6. Alcohol will only be sold in plastic or paper/cardboard containers or vessels except in clearly designated artists and approved hospitality areas with stewarding control.

For the Prevention of Public Nuisance

7. The “Live Music Noise Level” (LMNL) measured as an LAeq over any 15-minute period 1 metre from the façade of a residential premises shall not exceed 70 dBA, apart from Waterside Close where the LMNL shall not exceed LAeq 75 dB 15-minutes, for a maximum of 180 minutes over any day 12:00 hrs – 23:00 hrs apart from condition 8. below.

8. The “Live Music Noise Level” (LMNL) measured as an LAeq over any 5-minute period 1 metre from the façade of a residential premises may continue on the Opening and Closing Ceremony days from 23:00 hrs – 00:30 hrs (90 minutes) and during that time shall not exceed 70 dBA, apart from Waterside Close where the LMNL shall not exceed LAeq 75 dB 5-minutes*.

9. Other than the "Live Music Noise Level" (LMNL) in conditions 7. and 8. above, the “Music Noise Level” (MNL) between the hours of 08:30 hrs and 23:00 hrs measured as an LAeq over any 15-minute period 1 metre from the façade of a residential premises shall not exceed 68 dBA, apart from Waterside Close where the MNL shall not exceed LAeq 73 dB 15-minutes.

10. Low frequency noise shall be controlled so as not to cause a nuisance at residential premises.

11. A competent Noise Consultant (as defined in the Noise Council’s “Code of Practice on Environmental Noise Control at Concerts”) shall be appointed by the licensee of the event. This means a person with the ability to monitor noise competently and with the authority to control sound levels to ensure compliance with these noise conditions.

12. A direct means of communication between the Noise Consultant and the Officers of the Environmental Health Department must be made available. There must also be a separate radio channel dedicated to noise control.

13. The sound systems and other noise sources shall be positioned so as to minimise noise disturbance, in consultation with the Council’s Environmental Health Department.

14. Sound tests shall be carried out in conjunction with the Councils Environmental Health Department before the event. This will determine the maximum noise levels that can prevail at agreed proxy monitoring positions so as to ensure compliance with the noise limits defined in conditions 7 and 8.

15. A permanent noise monitor shall be placed at all “front of house” sound mixer positions, this must be able to measure 15 minute LAeq periods or less and print or store the results. Officers must be able to view all the results at the mixer position during the event. A copy of all results measured must be forwarded as soon as reasonable practicable after the event to the Environmental Health Department.

16. The Noise Consultant shall be able to demonstrate an up to date calibration certificate for all noise meters used according to BS7580: 1997 and be a minimum type 2 grade instrument according to BS5969: 1981.

17. Erection, dismantling and cleaning operations should only be undertaken during Council Policy working hours Mon. – Fri 8.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. and Saturday 8.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. unless otherwise agreed by prior consent. If work or operations are agreed outside of the above hours contact telephone number (not an answer phone) must be provided for the person in charge of these operations.

18. White noise "Broadband" reversing alarms shall be used on any forklift truck or vehicle likely to affect any residential property.

19. Complaints shall be directed to our Officers immediately by telephone or via the Council’s emergency gatehouse telephone number, not radio. The Council’s complaints procedure for taking and logging complaints must be followed at all times.

20. The licensee shall comply with any reasonable instructions given by the licensing authority that seek to control noise nuisance.

21. The noise-consultant must have a sufficient number of competent staff with the necessary authority, confirmed in writing by the licensee, to control the noise levels. This number should be agreed with Environmental Health in advance of the event.

Further Conditions Imposed by the Sub-Committee

22. Permissions sought on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies shall be granted as applied for.

23. For days other than the Opening and Closing Ceremony days, the terminal hours for provision of regulated entertainment as specified in sections E-K of the operating schedule be reduced to

Sunday – Thursday at 22:00 hours

Friday – Saturday at 23:00 hours

24. For days other than the Opening and Closing Ceremony days, the terminal hour for supply of alcohol as specified in section M of the operating schedule be reduced to

Sunday – Thursday at 23:00 hours

Friday – Saturday at 23:30 hours

25. The hours the premises are open to the public shall be as specified in section O of the operating schedule.

Supporting documents:

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Parking in Mile End during the Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:16:00 +0000

What will the Olympics mean for parking in Mile End?

The London 2012 Olympics are "car free". 100% of spectators travelling to the venues will arrive by public transport - or that's the theory!

In order to ensure those living near the Olympic Park are not affected by lots of extra people trying to park their cars in the borough, Tower Hamlets Council has extended the parking controls in the Borough to all those parking zones nearest to the Olympic Park and other venues.

The whole of the Mile End area covered by Mile End Residents Association falls within Parking Zone B2

This means all our roads and parking bays in the Mile End area are affected by the new parking controls for the period of the Olympics.

Olympic Parking Zones in Tower Hamlets 16 July - 9 September

If you've been walking around the area recently you will have seen the new yellow signs indicating that revised parking controls are now in force.

Parking controls now apply EVERY DAY between 8.30am and 9.00pm.

The major changes are that

parking controls now apply every day
the start time remains the same but parking controls are now extended to 9pm at night

This is what the Tower Hamlets website has to say about Parking during Olympic and Paralympic Games

Approximately half of the borough (the areas closest to the Olympic Park and Excel) will be subject to extended parking controls. If you live or work within controlled parking zones (CPZ) A4, B1, B2, B3, B4, D1 or D2, the parking controls in your street will be extended to Monday to Sunday, between 8.30am–9pm during the Games. These changes will be in place from 16 July – 9 September. During this extended period all restrictions will operate as they do now. View a map of the affected CPZs. (85kb PDF).

Other CPZs will have no extension to the hours or days of operation.

The bottom line for residents

If you have a permanent parking permit you have no need to worry - your permit still allows you to

park your car all day long 24/7 in the zone in which you live
park anywhere in the borough (where parking is permitted) for up to 3 hours.

If you do not have a permanent parking permit you will only need a 2012 Games parking permit if you plan to use on-street parking during the extended hours.

The following ONLY applies to those without a permanent parking permit

Apply for a temporary permit

This temporary permit will cover the extended hours of control only and will enable you to park within your CPZ.

To apply for your Games permit, you will have to send a photocopy or scanned image of one of the following proof(s)to qualify:UK Vehicle Registration Certificate (V5C) showing their Tower Hamlets AddressNew keeper supplement (V5C/2) - dated within 8 weeks of the date of application showing their Tower Hamlets AddressSales Invoice - only for a ‘brand new’ vehicle dated within 28 days of the date of application showing their Tower Hamlets AddressVehicle Lease agreement showing their Tower Hamlets AddressCompany vehicle - a company letter dated within 28 days of the date of application to confirm that:

a)You are an employee or a licensed taxi or minicab driver;
b)Your home address
c)You are authorised to drive the vehicle

In addition to the company letter you must also provide a photocopy or scanned image of the UK Registration Certificate (V5C) showing either the company or lease name.

If applying by post please send us a photocopy of your proof(s)to Parking Services, Mulberry Place (AH), PO Box 62475, 5 Clove Crescent, London E14 1GL.

You can apply for your Temporary 2012 Games parking permit with immediate effect by post, and online athttp://parking.towerhamlets.gov.uk/pages/OnlinePermitAppEntry.aspx. If you apply before 2 July you should receive your permit by no later than 9 July.

It is important to note that you will not be able to apply for a permit at a One Stop Shop or via the Customer Contact Centre.

Visitor Scratchcards

The important points about visitor scratch cards are as follows

you do NOT need new scratch cards for the extended hours
existing visitor scratch cards will be valid throughout the Games, however, they will cover an extended period of time. If you use a five-hour scratch card after 12.30pm on a week day, your visitor will be able to park until 9pm.
When you use a five-hour scratch card on the weekend, it will be valid for the whole day.

More information

If you have any queries then you can

consult the Council's website
email parking@towerhamlets.gov.uk or
call the council on 020 7364 5003 (from Monday to Friday between 8am–8pm. On Saturday between 8am–4pm).
get more information about parking and the local area traffic management plans around the Olympic Park and ExCel from the London 2012 website at: www.london2012.com/accessandparking.
You can also plan your travel during the Games at http://www.getaheadofthegames.com/.

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TODAY: The Olympic Torch in Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 09:32:00 +0000

The Olympic Torch Relay will pass along Mile End Road in Tower Hamlets around 2 o’clock on Saturday 21 July.

The torch is coming from Newham and will will begin its route around Tower Hamlets at approximately 1.50pm when it reaches Bow Road. From there it moves west along Bow Road and Mile End Road towards Stepney Green Park where it will stop at Stepney Green Park at 2.20pm for a short break. There will be a free community event.

The torch will then continue from the park at 3.25pm before it leaves the borough at 3.54pm

Tweet your photo using #London2012TorchRelay for a chance of seeing it on the map of the Torch Route. Only geotagged tweets can be used.

Click map for large version

Residents should be aware a series that road closures will be operation, with traffic being severely affected along the route. Go to http://www.getaheadofthegames.com

BUS SERVICES – MILE END ROAD – 21 JULY

Buses heading towards Stratford (25, 205, 425) should be running on route but subject to delays.

Buses will not be running between Bow roundabout and Whitechapel (possibly Aldgate) towards town from approximately 1.30 pm until 5.00pm.
Instead they will divert down A13 – East India Dock Road & Commercial Road.

Car users should also expect some severe delays and road closures

See below for full details of the route – timings are approximate. Buses down Mile End Road will be diverted for a while. We shall try to get further information soon of the predicted impact.

1.50pm Torch arrives in Tower Hamlets from A11 High Street towards Bow Road
2.03pm Torch continues on to Mile End Road
2.15pm Torch turns on to White Horse Lane
2.20pm Torch proceeds onto Stepney Green leading to Redman’s Road and Stepney Green Park for its lunchtime stop (See details of the free community event at Stepney Green Park here
3.25pm Torch leaves Stepney Green Park going onto Redman’s Road through Jamaica Street, Stepney Way, Sidney Street and Raven Row
3.34pm Torch carries on to Whitechapel Road
3.44pm Torch goes through Osborn Street and Wentworth Street before going on to Commercial Street
3.54pm Torch leaves Tower Hamlets

For further details about the Olympic Torch Relay and to view an interactive map visit london2012.com/torch-relay.

You can follow the LIVE route of the Torch on this full screen map of the route

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Rabina Kahn ignored by EastendHomes

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:23:00 +0000

Cllr Rabina Kahn

Following on from our post EastendHomes fails to comply with Council resolution, this post highlights the letter sent by Councillor Rabina Kahn, the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing in Tower Hamlets to Paul Bloss, the Chief Executive and Martin Young, the Chair of EastendHomes on 21 December 2011.

MERA is currently trying to find out what has happened in the six months since the Council resolution on 29 November 2011 and Cllr Kahn's subsequent letter in December. We do know that:

there have been no elections and
this is now a matter of grave concern with respect to the governance of EastendHomes generally and resident involvement and accountability to residents in particular.

This is the first page of the letter from Rabina Kahn. It recounts the process which led to the issue about the election of residents to the EastendHomes Board being discussed at the Tower Hamlets Council Meeting on 29 November 2011.

Below is the second page of the letter which reiterates the Council's resolution and expresses Cllr Kahn's view about the performance of EastEndHomes.

Note in particular Cllr Kahn's concern that EastendHomes attempt to marginalise complaints about their performance on the basis they come from a small troublesome group and are therefore "less meritorious"!

Cllr Kahn is very firmly of the opinion that:

a broad cross section of members of the Council are unhappy with the performance of EastendHomes with respect to resident involvement and addressing residents' complaints
complaints come from a broad constituency of EastendHomes residents and NOT a small number of "troublemakers" as EEH state is the case
EastendHomes demonstrates a defensive and reactive approach to engaging with its customers
Cllr Kahn is unhappy that Paul Bloss refuses to attend any meeting with residents convened by Cllr Kahn

You can view and/or download the full letter by clicking the links below and either downloading the pdf file or viewing the letter in your browser. This letter was provided in response to a Freedom of Information application by Ares Zaimes who brought this matter to the attention of the Council and spoke at its meeting on 29 November 2011.

eeh resident involvement letter 21 12 11.pdf
588K Download View as HTML

In future posts we will highlight what has happened since - and ponder on whether we need to call in the UN to achieve free and fair elections of residents to the Board of EastendHomes!

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EastendHomes fails to comply with Council resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:38:00 +0000

Paul Bloss, the Chief Executive of EastendHomes has failed to ensure that EEH complies with a Tower Hamlets Council resolution within the specified time limit.

The Council Resolution on 29 November 2011 - which was unanimously agreed - urged EastedHomes in the strongest possible terms to hold elections in each local estate area for resident representatives to the Main Board within six months ie by the end of May 2012.

This has not happened.

At the Council Meeting on 29 November 2011, Tower Hamlets Council considered serious allegations about the behaviour of EastendHomes with respect to the lack of proper resident representation.

The quoted sections below come from the Minutes of the Council Meeting on 29 November 2011. The headings explain the process adopted within the Council meeting.

A written question to the Council from a member of the Public

6. TO RECEIVE WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

6.1 Question from Mr Ares Zaimes:-

Residents are deeply concerned that the estate has no elected representative on the Main Board of East End Homes.

East End Homes has terminated the rights of residents to be represented on its Main Board by an elected local board member, who has proper delegated authority from fellow residents, and who can relay to the Main Board the concerns of the community living on St George’s Estate. This is at a time when we are grappling with a mass of problems in relation to a major construction programme that could meaningfully be resolved only at Main Board level.

East End Homes has effectively eradicated accountable resident involvement in the organization's strategic thinking and operational decisions on St George’s and other of its estates.

Do you agree that it is now time for a full review of East End Homes’ governance arrangements and the reinstatement of resident rights to Main Board representation that is accountable to residents?

Response by Councilllor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing

Thank you for your question. This is not the first time that this matter has been raised with me and I receive many letters and e-mails about East End Homes (EEH). After previous enquiries I managed to arrange a meeting with St George’s estate residents and EEH. At the meeting it was very clear that residents were extremely upset and concerned that they were not being properly represented or listened to. I asked that they be made fully aware of the terms of the EEH formal Proposal document and that copies be made available to them.

Tenant involvement on the boards of housing associations is extremely important. I am committed to ensuring that this is the case for all our RSLs and that tenants are treated well.

It may be that the current involvement arrangements conform to the constitution for EEH but that is not good enough.

I have worked with the Tenants Federation to improve resident involvement on boards and the St George’s estate board decided to convert to a TRA A Panel is to be introduced that will be able to refer such complaints to the Housing Ombudsman. Have St George’s residents been approached on this matter?

[Mr Zaimes replied that they had not.]

No supplementary question was asked.

Change to Order of Business

As a result of the above, a motion relating to EastendHomes was revised.

Councillor Emma Jones MOVED, and Councillor Tim Archer SECONDED their amended motion with respect to EastendHomes

Following debate, the motion as amended was put to the vote and was agreed. Accordingly it was:-RESOLVED
This Council notes that:-
1 A Council-organised meeting was held between East End Homes residents, councillors and representatives of East End Homes on 11th April 2011. A representative of EEH was also in attendance.
2. The minutes of this meeting clearly show that each estate felt that improvements in resident involvement and representation on EEH’s board were needed urgently.
3. The St George’s estate has currently undergoing extensive construction work and it is important during this time that the estate is democratically represented.
4. Currently the EEH management board does not have a representative elected by St George’s estate residents.

This Council believes that:-
1. RSLs have a responsibility to ensure democratically elected representation for tenants, leaseholders and freeholders on estate management boards.
2. The election of resident representatives to the Main Board of EeH is documented in the Memorandum & Articles of Association of the Company and is integral to the Council’s original intention in establishing EeH as a stock transfer organisation.

This Council resolves to:
1. Urge EeH in the strongest possible terms to hold elections in each local estate area for resident representatives to the Main Board within six months.

MERA was represented at the meeting with Councillor Rabina Kahn in April last year.

MERA also received a letter from Councillor Kahn following the Council meeting which we will be publishing tomorrow. Readers will note from the above that Cllr Kahn was very familiar with complaints made about the conduct of EastendHomes.

MERA will be following up the lack of progress on this matter with Tower Hamlets Council and in particular the Councillors identified above - with specific respect to:

the failure of resident involvement and representation due to the conduct of EastendHomes
the lack of elected local representatives within 6 months
the fact that representatives are being screened and pre-selected for elections by EastendHomes

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Mile End Station is a Hot Spot

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 18:27:00 +0000

During the Olympic Games, local residents need to be aware that Mile End Station will be exceptionally busy and is an OFFICIAL HOT SPOT.

2012 Games hotspot
Mile End Underground StationThis station is likely to be exceptionally busy between 7-9:30am and 4-10:30pm, including weekends.

This is what Transport for London (TfL) says

up to one million extra visitors are expected every day during the Games and there will be travel hotspots across London.
More of London will be affected than you think. The situation will change daily and often throughout the day. To avoid delay and disruption to your journey, you will need to plan ahead.

To plan your Games time journey

and to see which stations will be busier,

please visit tfl.gov.uk/2012planner

London 2012 has provided the Get Ahead of the Games website.

This map shows you how public transport in London will be affected
This map shows you how roads will be affected and where roads will be changed

TIPS for managing your travel

Start out earlier and allow extra time for your journey - you may find you're queuing to get into Mile End Station between

7am - 9.30am
4pm - 10.30pm

use the TfL 2012 Travel Planner to plan your journey via public transport
Use the Get Ahead of the Games Travel Planner website to plan journeys by car across and around London and home counties within the context of Olympic events
We've added links to both these sites to the right hand column
Here are some of the suggested ways to make your journey easier

Management of crowds leaving the Live Site in Victoria Park

Mile End will have lots of extra visitors due to the BT London Live Site in Victoria Park. Many of these will be leaving the site late at night.

MERA made strong representations at the Licensing Committee about this matter and will be keeping a very close eye on how crowds are managed and whether this is to a standard which keeps people safe from harm and residents sleep undisturbed.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will cause particular problems for people trying to catch a tube late at night.

Some 20,000 people will be leaving the park late at night and many of them will come to Mile End Station and bus stops in the area.
Those tubes going west will already be full of people leaving the Olympic Park.

Management of Crowds at Mile End Station

Committee members have already noted that the Station is already becoming swamped by large groups of people visiting the area. They are

blocking the entrance to the station and pavement along Mile End Road
causing an obstruction by waiting around in the ticket hall

We will be asking TfL what plans they have to ensure that:

the entrance to the station and the ticket area remain accessible and managed to a standard which

ensures health and safety for all those using the station
maintain a satisfactory standard as an emergency exit from the station

the pavements remain accessible and do not necessitate people walking into Mile End Road

At present nothing is being done to manage the additional traffic and large groups but the management of flows both into and within the station will need to be radically improved as the numbers using the station increase if both local residents and visitors are to be kept safe from harm.

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Central Line resumes service (Thames Water problem remains)

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Mile End Residents who are regular users of Central Line services will be pleased to hear that services have now re‑started between Bethnal Green and Leytonstone. However, there are likely to be severe delays before it's completely back to normal.

Services were suspended yesterday due to the very severe flooding which was caused by a burst Thames Water main in the Stratford area. This fused signals and flooded the tunnels and left tube travellers stranded in the tunnels.

Transport for London appear to have worked non-stop throughout the night to

remove two million gallons of flood water and
ensure that the tunnel, signalling, power and communications equipment were repaired.

Transport for London have offered their apologies for the inconvenience caused to people's journeys on Wednesday evening and Thursday.

The reality is, of course, is that they have nothing to apologise for.

The Thames Water Problem

This major problem was totally due to:

the way Thames Water approaches its maintenance work - with little regard for the potential impact on consumers (MERA has been very unimpressed with its approach in the past!) and
its total inability to take appropriate responsibility for the burst main and its impact and to communicate effectively with the residents of East London as to what was happening yesterday.

There is still no news as to when the water main will be fixed.

In an emergency, this is what Thames Water is REQUIRED to do as per the OFWAT website. Thames Water has FAILED to deliver services to standard during this emergency.

Emergency interruptionsIf the supply fails or is interrupted for emergency works, your company should tell you:

that the supply has been interrupted or cut off

where to get an alternative supply

the time by when the supply will be restored

the phone number from which you can get further information

When is Thames Water going to start remembering that it has a responsibility to the community to manage risks and avoid messing up?

When is Thames Water going to get an awful lot better at the way it approaches necessary work to water mains and drains?

When is communication by Thames Water going to start improving?

When is OFWAT - the Regulator for water services - going to ensure performance by Thames Water improves?

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Video: 2 MILLION litres of Thames Water floods Central Line

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:08:00 +0000

This is film footage from the BBC of what it looked like when 2 MILLION litres of water from the burst 24" drain in Wick Lane flooded the Central Line near the Olympic Park.

BBCTomEdwards's Space (see http://bbctomedwards-bmna.posterous.com/footage-of-2m-litres-of-water-flooding-centra )
Footage of 2m litres of water flooding #central line - hopefully this link works

Click here to download:
movie.mov (3.96 MB)

When you see that footage it becomes a lot clearer what sort of challenge now faces Transport for London and why the Central Line is suspended.

It looks like residents in the Mile End area wanting to use the Central Line will have to wait a while longer while they pump all that water out!

For those wanting to travel by tube: These are links to:

the departure Board for the Central Line at Mile End - currently marked out of service
Engineering works planned for later today / lines suspended

Were you affected by the shutdown of the Central Line yesterday and today?

For more information, see previous posts:

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Central Line suspension to continue on Thursday?

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Current indications are that the suspension of the Central Line suspension will continue and affect travel on the Central Line in East London on Thursday 7th June.

As at 11:30pm, the Central Line remains suspended between Bethnal Green and Leytonstone.
If the work required to the flooded tunnel is not completed overnight, travel via Mile End Station is likely to be very disrupted in the rush hour.
There were very long delays for replacement bus services at Stratford last night.

The Central Line was suspended after a ventilation shaft in Wick Lane in Bow was flooded by a burst 24" water main. Thames Water are having difficulty fixing it as the pipe is encased in concrete.

Commuters trying to get home faced very long delays on Wednesday evening.

This is the official TfL message - from the part of their website which highlights current works http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/later.html

Central Line: Suspended between Leytonstone and Bethnal Green due to a burst water main causing flooding at Stratford. Rail replacement buses operate. Severe delays are occurring on the rest of the line.

London Underground tickets are valid on London Buses, Greater Anglia and First Great Western.

Replacement buses operate between Mile End and Leytonstone via Stratford and between Stratford and Leytonstone via Leyton.
Replan your journey

This is the report from London 24 - Delays for commuters after Stratford station flooded

Nigel Holness, from London Underground, said the suspension was likely to be in place for some time.
He said: “Customers are advised in the meantime to use alternative routes to complete their journeys and check the TfL website for up to the minute travel information.”

A Thames Water spokesman said: “We are currently working really hard to repair a pipe that has burst in Wick Lane causing disruption to the Central Line.
“The burst happened on a 24-inch pipe which was under going planned work to fix a leak. This pipe is encased in concrete making the work particularly tricky. We’re really sorry for the disruption this is causing.”

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Thames Water: 24" burst water main affecting East London

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:34:00 +0000

At lunchtime today a 24" water main belonging to Thames Water burst in Wick Lane near the Olympic Park. As a result most of East London is without tap water.

The burst water main flooded the Central Line in the Mile End Area - which led to the suspension of all services between Bethnal Green and Leytonstone (BBC Tube suspended on Central Line due to burst pipe). Passengers had to be led off the trains in the tunnel.
We know that some properties within the Mile End area were affected and were without water for some hours.
To date there is no timescale for the water coming back on re all properties affected - although properties in Mile End now seem to have water again

The last time this happened, properties were without water for several hours. Those in tower blocks had to wait longer to get their water back as RSLs were not making a pump restart a priority.

Current Update 5:05pm

Yet again we have to report that Thames Water is not on top of its communication with its customers.

#1: This is the current message on the Thames Water website. It was not updated by the time indicated

E3: Burst water main
Message last updated: Wednesday 6 June - 1.32pm.
Impact on customers

Customers in E3 may be without water. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Current status

We are currently investigating the problem and will provide a time when we think it will be fixed as soon as possible.

Next message update

4.55pm on Wednesday 6 June.

#2 This is the map of Live Problems on the Thames Water website. The area outlined on the map is much smaller than the area actually affected - as per the chap on the phone at Thames Water.

#3 Thames water has yet to learn how to use Twitter effectively to keep residents updated about what is going on. This is its Twitter account https://twitter.com/#!/thameswater. It took a direct tweet by MERA to get a response and update from Thames Water! If you are still affected and have a Twitter account we suggest you tweet asking them when you'll get your water back.

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Diamond Jubilee Parties in Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Over the Jubilee Weekend (June 2nd - 5th) there will be various events to mark the Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Below we highlight

Events in Mile End

The Big Jubilee Lunch in Eric Street - on Sunday 3rd June
The official Tower Hamlets Jubilee Party in Mile End Park - on Monday 4th June
The Mile End Beacon - on Monday 4th June

Other events and celebrations elsewhere in London this weekend - including the Big Jubilee Regatta on the River Thames.

Eric Street Big Jubilee Lunch - Sunday 3rd June 2012

The Annual Eric Street Big Lunch Party will this weekend become a Big Jubilee Lunch for the Diamond Jubilee Celebration - and will start at 12 midday.

The idea behind the Big Lunch is that people bring food to share with their community - and get to share in food brought by others.

Food
Keep it simple! A bring-your-own picnic is a good option as it requires little preparation in advance or you could ask everyone to bring one dish to share. Just make sure you find out what people are bringing so that you don’t end up with lots of the same thing! Simple crowd cooking recipes can be found here .

The event has been sponsored by a number of national and local organisations

Eric Street - Diamond Jubilee Celebration - Sponsors

Mile End Park - Monday 4th June 2012

The main festivities in Tower Hamlets will be hosted by Mile End Park.

In Mile End Park (south of the Green Bridge) there is to be an official Jubilee Party from 1.30pm until 8.30pm.The attractions will include arts and crafts, fun fair rides, sports team games, storytelling, face painting and a coconut shy.

In the Art Park (north of the Green Bridge) there will be a a fire themed performance starting at 8.45pm

At 10.25pm, the beacon (one of 4,000 beacons to be lit across the UK) will be officially lit by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman.

Elsewhere in Tower Hamlets and London

This is the official Diamond Jubilee website

Sunday 3rd June

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant: This event will take place on the Thames and consist of up to 1,000 boats assembled from across the UK, the Commonwealth and around the world. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will travel in the Royal Barge which will form the centrepiece of the flotilla. Find out more

the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant takes place on the River Thames on Sunday 2nd June. Approximate timings are as follows:

14:30BST – The Queen embarks the Royal barge, the Spirit of Chartwell, near Albert Bridge
16:15BST – The Royal Barge comes alongside HMS President (Royal Naval Reserve Unit), near Tower Bridge

A Big Jubilee Lunch, can be anything from a few neighbours getting together in the garden or on the street, to a full blown party with food, music and decoration that quite literally stops the traffic.

The Big Jubilee Lunch People are being encouraged to share lunch with neighbours and friends as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This may take the form of a traditional street party or a picnic lunch in small or larger groups. This event is being organised by the Big Lunch
Parkview Neighbourhood Watch are hosting a special event open to everyone. The Parkview Big Jubilee Lunch and street party will take place on Sunday, June 3 on the Parkview Estate, Parkview Playground and Glasshouse Community Centre in Old Ford Road.
there will also be at least 35 street parties in the borough over the weekend funded by grants from Canary Wharf Group

Monday 4th June

A Concert is to be held at Buckingham Palace. This is organised by the BBC and will feature some of the biggest name in music. The concert will be broadcast live from 7.30 pm on BBC One, Radio 2, and on big screens in Hyde Park, St James's Park and The Mall. Big screens are also at

Waltham Forest, London - Walthamstow Town Square
Woolwich - General Gordon Square

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons: A network of 2,012 Beacons will be lit by communities and individuals throughout the United Kingdom, as well as the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the Commonwealth. As in 2002, The Queen will light the National Beacon. Find out more
Approximate timings are as follows:

Tuesday 5th June

A national service of thanksgiving is to be held at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Souvenir Programmes

To purchase the programme online, visit the Royal Collection Shop
The Official Diamond Jubilee Programme is available to download on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with the free iBooks app, or at www.itunes.co.uk

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Help change crime and anti-social behaviour in Mile End

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 31 May 2012 09:59:00 +0000

Help change crime and anti-social behaviour in Mile End

Safer Neighbourhood Public Meeting

Thursday 7th June 2012 at 7:00 pm

Bow Road Methodist Church, 1 Merchant Street, Bow, E3 4LY

On Monday night there was a violent incident in Eric Street with two rival gangs fighting on the street. The gangs were armed with knives, machetes and a pick axe. Police were called to break up the fighting and rid the area of those intent on violence.

The scene in Eric Street on Monday night

The following is from the MERA website where we posted the first report of this incident Violence erupts on Eric Street

The incident started when a group of young men arrived on the estate in a dark car and chased some local men off Eric Street, cornering them by the entrance to Windermere House. They were attacked with knives but managed to to make their get away. Blood was found in the area but the extent of their injuries is unknown. The assailants returned to their car and sped off.

A further attack was witnessed near the grass area on Eric Street. The weapon used was said to have been a pick axe. At least one person was seen with blood coming from what appeared to be a head injury.

Shocked residents looked on as police arrived in force at around 10.00pm to separate the two groups. The young men involved quickly discarded weapons in gardens and open spaces which were then sealed off by police.

What you should do if you see violence in the Mile End Area

Phone 101 immediately and report the incident to the Police. Don't rely on other people. The more reports the Police receive the more they will take notice of an incident.
In an EMERGENCY call 999
Do NOT get involved
If you want observe what's happening make sure you only do so from a safe place
Keep children indoors and away from the violence
Speak to the Mile End East Neighbourhood Policing Team if you have concerns about incidents in your area

Email:MileEndEast.snt@met.police.uk
Telephone: 020 8721 2848

Come to Safer Neighbourhood Meetings and tell the Police of your concerns.

Next week there is a Safer Neighbourhood Public Meeting

at the Bow Road Methodist Church

on Thursday 7th June starting at 7:00pm

For your information this is the Metropolitan Police Crime Map for Mile End

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Still waiting for a response from Cllr Uddin

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:28:00 +0000

Following the news reports last week MERA wrote to our local Mile End East Ward Councillor Kosru Uddin asking for an explanation with respect to his arrest and detention in custody at a Police Station. (see Mile End Councillor arrested for alleged death threats).

Last week we indicated we were waiting for an answer.

As of today's date we are still waiting for an answer.

What happened last week

Cllr Uddin was involved in an incident at the end of the Council meeting which involved two other Councillors - Councillor Rania Khan (Bromley by Bow) and her mother Councillor Lutfa Begum (Limehouse)

There were allegations of death threats by Cllr Uddin
Cllr Uddin was arrested by the police on suspicion of making threats to kill and held in custody overnight by the Metropolitan Police.
He was released the next day on bail, pending further investigation.
Cllr Uddin will find out in mid June whether he is to be charged as a result of the incident

Cllr Uddin issued a statement to the local press - but not the Mile End Residents Association - on Tuesday. An East London Advertiser article Councillor denies threatening to kill in row at Tower Hamlets council reports as follows

“I entirely reject the allegation that I made any kind of threat against her or anyone else after Wednesday night’s council meeting. I have made a statement to police and look forward to my name being cleared in due course.”
Cllr Uddin

MERA will be following this story and looks forward to hearing from our local ward councillor.

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Mile End Councillor arrested for alleged death threats

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:16:00 +0000

Mile End East Ward Councillor Kosru Uddin has been named as the Councillor arrested for allegedly making death threats following an incident at the end of last night's Council Meeting when debate apparently deteriorated into anti-social behaviour.

The Labour Councillor who represents the ward which covers the MERA area has, by all accounts, been held in custody at an East London Police Station since his arrest late last night.

Ccouncillor Uddin was named as the arrested councillor in the following articles - which also provide accounts of what happened

Trial By Jeory - Labour councillor arrested over alleged threats to kill
The Evening Standard - 'Death threat' at London 2012 Olympics borough council meeting and
East London Advertiser - Tower Hamlets councillor arrested over alleged ‘threat to kill’ is still held

Councillor Uddin is accountable to the Council AND the electorate of Mile End East for his activities as a Councillor.

Following the news reports MERA has written to Councillor Uddin asking for an explanation.

We are waiting for an answer.

MERA will keep you updated on how this matters progresses. You can subscribe to this blog by clicking the link below.

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Low water pressure in East London due to Thames Water Repairs

noreply@blogger.com (Mile End Residents Association) — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:52:00 +0000

Low water pressure across East End of London
due to Thames Water repair of pumping station
image from map on Thames Water website

You may well have woken up this morning to low water pressure and wondered what on earth was happening. [UPDATE - midday Sunday - repairs completed and water pressure back to normal]

A click on the Thames Water website - plus inserting the MERA post code into What's happening in your area? reveals that the whole of the East End is affected by repairs to a pumping station.

This is the message on the Thames Water website

E1, E2, E3, E5, E9, E14: Fixing damage at one of our pumping stations
Message last updated: Sunday 13 May - 9.22am.
Impact on customers

Customers in E1, E2, E3, E5, E9, E14 may have low water pressure. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

You can find links to all the main utility sites and public services in the right hand column of the MERA blog - which is yet another reason to....

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