Marshes are money-maker says Hackney Council as it consults on summer plans
Rihanna performing at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend 2012.Photograph:Sarah Barney / © BBC
Major summer entertainment events on Hackney Marshes are set to become part of the borough’s cultural calendar, if a new council proposal gets the go-ahead.
Feedback collected through consultations with stakeholders, including local residents and community organisations, from 26 February to 23 April 2013, will be used to inform the council’s final application to the Planning Inspectorate.
Cllr Jonathan McShane, cabinet member for health, social care and culture said: “Hackney Council wants to build on the success of the Hackney Weekend which was enjoyed by thousands of local people making a positive impact on Hackney’s economy.
“At this early stage we want to know what local residents and other groups think about the proposals so we can better understand their issues and concerns and use them to inform the final application to the Planning Inspectorate.”
The Council aims to submit their application in May 2013.
For more information about the consultation, visit hackney.gov.uk/hackneymarshes or email consultation@hackney.gov.uk and include “Hackney Marshes” in the subject line. Call 020 8356 7527 to request hard copies of the consultation documents.
Written feedback should be sent to: Hackney Marshes Informal Consultation, Freepost LON18819, Mare Street, London E8 1EA.
The Marshes are a publicly-funded facility from which the council proposes excluding the public. Perhaps they’d also like to extend this to other areas under council control. How about making parents pay to use children’s playgrounds in parks? Perhaps they’d also like to hit me with an annual charge if I want to walk down my own street. Sadly, I suspect the proposal will go ahead, regardless of public opposition, as most councillors have forgotten rule number one of public office: we, the public, hire them; we pay their wages; and we fire them; and at the end of the day they’re simply the hired help who are there to do our bidding.
All the ‘stakeholders and community organisations’ using the Marshes, that I know of, are up in arms about this. See Hackney Marshes Users Group website http://sustainablehackney.org.uk/hmug where you can add your voice to the opposition or should I say debate.
LBH will apply to the Planning Inspectorate regardless of the results of the ‘informal consultation’ so the real action will come when formal planning objections have to be submitted.
Shoreditch Park was allowed to be used for concerts by the council.Local residents werent able to use the park for a fortnight,no football etc.The councils own noise complaints team coundnt cope with the number of complaints lodged,policing was ajoke.The shoreditch park users group seem to have stopped the park being used in this way.