Affordable housing A community land trust is a non-profit, membership organisation, run by local people, that develops permanently affordable housing for long-term community benefit. www.eastlondonclt.co.uk More homes for Ocean Planning approval was given in February to build a further 225 homes on the Ocean Estate . News News in brief Kids’ art fun days CHILDREN are being invited to get creative at a series of workshops aimed at making art accessible and fun. Kids Create workshops will be led by trained play workers and artists on Saturdays, March 29, April 26 and May 3 at Glamis adventure playground in Shadwell. Youngsters taking part can expect to paint with the movement of the rope-swing, make paint marks with the wheels of their skates or bike, throw paint-filled balloons at canvases and look for hidden tiny booklets to doodle in. The project will culminate with an exhibition. V i s i t www. s hadwe l l communityproject.org or call 7702 8301 for more information. Bow eviction A TENANT in Bow with a long history of drunken and abusive behaviour towards her neighbours has been evicted. The 56-year-old woman was told to leave her flat in Elton House on the Locton Estate following complaints by neighbours spanning several years. The decision to evict her was made at a hearing at Bow Crown Court on February 7. Celebrating life on the Ocean BY MEHREN HUSSAIN AS development nears completion on one of the borough’s largest housing schemes, key partners involved in the Ocean Estate regeneration scheme gathered for a tour of the newly transformed area. The £220 million scheme, which has been led by the council with East Thames Consortium, has seen more than 800 new homes built – of which half are affordable – and 1,200 existing council homes refurbished. £10m has also been invested on landscaping improvements, including new paved and grassed play areas, increased street lighting and a new parking layout. The area has benefited from new facilities, including a new centre offering a GP service, housing services and space for community groups. The regeneration was made possible through investment by a number of partners, including £42.5m funding from the mayor of London, £41m from the council, £20m from New Deals for Communities, as well as MAYOR of London Boris Johnson kicked off the development of the St Clement’s Hospital site in Mile End last Thursday. The site includes London’s first community land trust scheme, the East London Community Land Trust, which is also the UK’s first urban CLT. Just over 250 homes will be built, including 58 social rented properties managed by Peabody and 23 units for the trust comprising one-, two- and three-bedroom properties. Suzanne Gorman, trust board member and Tower Hamlets resident, said: “The ELCLT was born out of a campaign by Citizens UK who believe that there is a need for a different way of Cllr Rabina Khan and Brenda Daley of the Tenants’ Association investment from East Thames Group and Bellway Homes. Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “The Ocean Estate regeneration scheme has been a longterm project which has changed building homes. The places we live should be affordable, and the way they look and work should be driven by local people. Part of London’s charm is the diversity of its neighbourhoods, that other cities, such as Paris, lack.” She said her family of five wanted to stay in the area but could not afford to remain in their small, shared ownership property. “The Community Land Trust is the best opportunity we have to be able to afford to stay here,” she said. The trust will determine the cost of its homes, starting with local wages and figuring out what local people can afford. Mr Johnson climbed aboard a JCB to mark the start of construction work. a whole community in the borough. Not only has it provided much-needed, high-quality housing and refurbishment, it has brought together residents in the community who can now take ownership of their surroundings and continue to thrive.” June Barnes, chief executive at East Thames Group, said: “This scheme has been Boris Johnson in a digger at St Clements PHOTO: Jean Jameson successful because it has seamlessly brought together the old and the new, with hundreds of well-designed, high-quality homes, as well as improvements to the existing homes.” Richard Blakeway, London’s deputy mayor for housing, land and property, said: “The mayor [of London] is investing huge sums, as part of a long-term effort to double the number of new homes being built and address a 30-year failure to build enough. This includes working closely with boroughs to unlock the vast potential in London’s existing housing estates. “The regeneration of the Ocean estate is providing hundreds of new, low-cost homes for Londoners, improving the condition of existing homes with the involvement of existing residents and creating new jobs to support the local economy.” The programme has also delivered employment-related benefits – throughout the project 78 unemployed people have got back into work and hundreds of residents have worked on the project. More information on the project can be found at www. transformingtheocean.co.uk 24 – 30 MARCH 2014 N E W S F R O M TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 5
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