London's first eco-friendly restaurant opens in De Beauvoir town

A new restaurant, the Waterhouse, has opened in Orsman Road in the south of De Beauvoir.

From the team behind the successful Acorn restaurant, the Waterhouse is London's first truly eco-friendly restaurant, selling only locally produced and seasonal foods.

The restaurant is a social enterprise backed by the Shoreditch Trust and employs and trains young people from the Hackney area.

Hackney's Mayor, Jules Pipe, opened the restaurant yesterday alongside the Shoreditch Trust Chief Executive, Michael Piner, and Chair, Simone Bowen.

Address: 10 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ

Phone: 020 7033 0123

Post Office campaigns

The Post Office has announced plans to close a number of branches in London.

While there are no planned closures to Hackney Post Offices in the De Beauvoir area, Mayor Jules Pipe and councillors for affected areas in Hackney have launched a campaign to get the Post Office to back down from its bid to close branches.

As local councillors we have also joined Islington Labour MP, Emily Thornberry's campaign to overturn the plan to close the Essex Road Post Office in Islington.

Unfortunatrly Islington's Lib Dem run council dealt the first blow to the Essex Road Post Office by selling the building.

To express your views on the Post Office's plans, you can write to:

National Consultation Team
Post Office Ltd
FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM

or Email consultation@postoffice.co.uk

or use the form on their website
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/home

or Telephone: 08457 22 33 44

Improvements to Shoreditch Park

A Design Statement and Master Plan has been prepared by Levitt Bernstein (Landscape Architects jointly engaged by The Council and the Shoreditch Trust). This plan has taken into account the feedback from extensive community consultation and has now been agreed as the blueprint against which the park will be developed.

Specific features include:

· The incorporation of a pilot scheme using low energy consumption LED lighting columns as opposed to standard luminaries in partnership with the manufacturer
· Amendments to the contractor’s facilities so as to allow the early creation of a Ranger facility to allow a permanent presence in the park
· Amendments to the fencing to the Adventure Playground to improve sightlines
· The inclusion of the John Frankland Installation as a public art/climbing installation; this to be externally funded.

The first phase of work, to be completed by March 2008, includes the following:
· Removal of derelict redgra sports pitches and replacement with turf
· Tree and shrub maintenance to improve sightlines and safety
· Installation of two permanent services points to enable future events in the park
· Creation of new main axis pathway
· Creation of additional pathways to create pathway network and recognise current patterns of use
· Improvements to Main Entrances

New Motorcycle Paramedics for Hackney

Paramedics in Hackney will now be rushing to the aid of patients on motorbikes thanks to a new scheme launched this month.

It is hoped response times to 999 calls in the borough will be slashed and more lives saved following the introduction of the new service.

Two motorcycle paramedics, based down the road in Shoreditch, will be answering emergency calls across the borough from 7am to 11pm every day.

The London Ambulance Service (LAS) has operated a Motorcycle Response Unit in central London for the past 17 years, providing a speedy reaction to emergencies. Growing congestion in the capital however, has led to increased cases of ambulances experiencing problems in responding to emergency calls. So now the scheme is being extended to areas outside central London.

Paramedics on easy to manoeuvre motorcycles can reach and assess patients much more quickly, and potentially lifesaving treatment can be given while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

Health and Hackney

The Health in Hackney Scrutiny Commission is hosting a ‘Health & Hackney’ event at Princess May Primary School, Princess May Road, London, N16 8DF on Saturday 23rd February 2008 between 11-3pm.

The event is for all the family, and will provide information about health care services in Hackney. Residents will also have the opportunity to speak with Councillors from the Health Scrutiny Commission and to give their own feedback about these services.

In addition there will be massages, a mobile dentist, stress and health checks, immunisations, face painting, a bouncy castle and lots more available on the day. Everyone is welcome, and all the activities are free.

Wheels & Heels

As part of London Fashion Week, East London’s Columbia Road will be transformed from Flower Market to High Fashion Catwalk on Thursday, 14 February, with wheels and heels predicted to be the new trend for the season.

The public event, the first of its kind by Hackney Council and Tower Hamlets Council, aims to achieve a greater uptake of cycling by women by demonstrating how cycling can influence a girl’s wardrobe. Models will glide down the catwalk on bicycles in a positively un-lycra but completely runway fashion.

Labour's Alan Laing, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Hackney Council aims to attract and increase the number of female cyclists within London, but understands that a barrier to women taking up cycling is its image. Therefore, we are pleased to promote cycling through a different medium, fashion, and hope this innovative event will demonstrate it to be a fashionable and sustainable mode of transport that will attract women of all ages.”

The Wheels & Heels cycle fashion show will start at 6pm, after which, visitors will be able to sample the shops and venues in and around Columbia Road, Hoxton and Shoreditch.

For more information contact Louisa Clarke, Sustainable Transport Planner, Hackney Council, on 020 8356 8189 or louisa.clarke@hackney.gov.uk

More trees for Hackney

By the end of next month, there will have been even more new trees planted around the Borough as part of Labour in Hackney's commitment to plant 1000 new trees by 2010. We will be planting more than 300 this winter.

In addition to trees already planted in De Beauvoir, Southgate Road will see trees planted along the entire street.