Hackney mayor listens to locals over homes plan

HACKNEY’S MAYOR Philip Glanville took a step forward in tackling the borough’s 13,000-strong housing waiting list last week – as the Planning Committee approved plans to build new homes in Clapton.

It’s a small development of just eleven homes, but they are part of a plan to provide 2,000 new Council homes over the next four years. Six will be available for social rent and five for shared ownership.

The homes are being built on the site of some under-used garages and car parking spaces on Daubeney Road on the Clapton Park estate. To complement the new build, and improve the area for existing residents, land in nearby Redwald Road will be used to provide a community garden and landscaping will be carried out in other areas. A new pedestrian and cycle through route will also be created.

The plans for the new homes were developed between residents and locally based architects Al-Jawad Pike. Residents developed a food growing resource on the site of the garages while the planning was being done, – a resource which the new community garden will replace.

Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville welcomed the delopment – and the retention of the community garden, saying, “With a clear need for genuinely affordable housing in Clapton and across Hackney, I’m delighted that we have been able to bring forward plans with local councillors and the community to ensure this land is put to its best possible use – to help deliver new Council homes for people that need them most.
“But we know that the temporary growing area on the site has become valued by local people, which is why we’ve ensured that it can now continue as a permanent facility nearby. Our plans show that Hackney is building not just homes, but communities too.”

Construction is expected to begin in early 2019 and take just over a year to complete. The new homes for rent will be allocated to people on the housing waiting list, with preference going to people living near the site.

•Those who live or work in Hackney can register their interest in shared ownership options by going to:
www.hackneysales.org/

•Read more about it:
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Corbyn pledges to house the homeless