Rival Stamford Hill neighbourhood forums rejected by Hackney Council

Rejected by council: the Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum

Proposals for two competing neighbourhood forums in North Hackney were rejected by Hackney Council this week following an intense battle between local campaigners.

The row over the Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum, floated under the Localism Act to allow residents more control over planning decisions, saw the lobby group Hackney Planning Watch (HPW) set up its own rival forum, North Hackney Neighbourhood Forum, to wreck the plans of the first.

At the meeting on Monday 22 July both the original forum and its rival were rejected by the council’s cabinet due to their size, which crossed into four wards, and for creating “major tensions in the community”.

Hackney cabinet members instead proposed a council-led Neighbourhood Action Plan to address the needs of the area on matters like school play facilities and housing.

Meanwhile, the organisers of the Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum have made a new application for a smaller part of north Hackney.

Hackney Planning Watch hailed the cabinet’s decision as a victory and welcomed the proposals for a Neighbourhood Action Plan.

Jane Holgate, spokesperson for Hackney Planning Watch, said: “We think it is a very responsible decision by the council. They have listened to what people in the north of the borough were saying to them.”

However, the group said it would continue to campaign against the new Stamford Hill forum application.

Ms Holgate said: “It is still going to be opposed by Hackney Planning Watch and the community, as it will still be divisive.

“It is completely led by current and former Tory councillors who are trying to create a power base for themselves in the north of the borough.

“They couldn’t get that through the ballot box, or they haven’t got that through the ballot box.”

Ms Holgate also accused the organisers of the forum of trying to appeal to the orthodox Jewish community in Hackney to improve their political position, a charge the forum has repeatedly dismissed, saying it has support from all the communities in the borough.

Councillor Simche Steinberger, who represents the Conservative party on the forum, said: “I am personally very disappointed that the application didn’t go through.

“I hope that the new one is accepted. It is half the size of the other one and is in line with what the council is suggesting for the area.”

He added: “A lot of people want different things. It’s not just about loft extensions. Some people want more police. There’s a lot going on in the area.

“Localism is about the local people, it’s not about the local council.

“It’s about people from the estates, from the black community, from the Jewish community, from the Polish community, and so on.”

The cabinet’s report said: “It is evident that the publication of the two neighbourhood forum proposals has raised major tensions in the community.

“Designating a forum in these circumstances will not enhance community relations in the area and will not improve social cohesion.”