Archive for November, 2008
30 November, 2008 at 7:31 pm
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged Arsenal, concerts
Following the Bruce Springsteen concert back in May, Islington Council has licenced Arsenal’s stadium for up to three concerts a year.
The concerts will have to be held under existing tough licensing conditions including noise limits, a 10.30pm finish time, and providing a hotline for residents in case of any concerns.
Apparently when the Springsteen gig was on, neighbours reported that the loudest noise from outside was the hotdog vans’ generators. So don’t bank on hearing much of any future acts if you don’t have a ticket.
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30 November, 2008 at 12:06 pm
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged accidents, Barnsbury, road safety
Dramatic photos this week of the car that ended up in a Barnsbury basement – just round the corner from where I used to live. It’s not what you expect from a Volvo driver.
Amazingly no-one was killed.
Now it turns out that the driver was using his mobile phone at the time. I’ve seen three drivers (all men as it happens) on the blower while at the wheel in just the last couple of weeks. I didn’t report them, but maybe we should? It’s not a victimless crime. RoSPA report that people are still being killed as a result.
Lib Dem MP Tom Brake (no pun intended) has been asking questions about the number of prosecutions for driving while using a mobile – on average about ten a week across London, and 11 a year in Islington. Full stats here.
Meanwhile, it seems the car-in-basement scenario has happened before. Even to the police.
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30 November, 2008 at 11:02 am
· Filed under Movies, media, music & culture
Found this site when reading the Sunday papers online (what else to do when holed up sick?)
I favour the lady in the skinny rib accessorised with skinny cat…..
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29 November, 2008 at 2:40 pm
· Filed under Neighbourhood ·Tagged Highbury Corner
Some progress to reporton Highbury Corner.
Consultation on options for Highbury Corner started a year ago. We’ve been kept waiting a long time for the results but now they’re out. They show majority backing for the option of closing off one arm of the roundabout, creating new pedestrian space joining the island up to the Highbury & Islington station side. It will restore a traditional road junction, and create a new public open space in our crowded borough. The next battle is to get funding for the scheme: Mayor Boris says his cupboard is bare.
Highbury Corner is one of a series of gyratory – roundabout – junctions, that are stressful for motorists, dangerous for cyclists and a barrier to pedestrians. Others in Islington that need tackling are the gyratories at Archway and Old Street.
These infrastructure improvements are exactly the sort of project that national and regional government should be backing: they create jobs while the work’s underway, and the results are a local environment where it’s safer and more enjoyable to walk, cycle, and use local shops.
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28 November, 2008 at 3:02 pm
· Filed under Liberal Democrats, Neighbourhood ·Tagged Barbara Smith, council tax, Islington Council, Tribune
Canonbury councillor Barbara Smith has a letter in this week’s Tribune reminding fellow residents about the high levels of Islngton’s council tax under Labour – and the relatively low rate under the Lib Dems.
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28 November, 2008 at 1:40 pm
· Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged Angel crossing, freedom of information, Guardian, politics, tax, VAT
My latest Guardian blog, covering the Damian Green case, VAT changes, and our success on the Angel crossing campaign, is now online.
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28 November, 2008 at 11:40 am
· Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged civil liberties, Islington, NO2ID, students
The Islington Gazette has printed the letter I signed with others from the local NO2ID campaign.
I object to ID cards in principle. They are an unecessary burden on law abiding citizens. ID cards are costly and bureaucratic. It will need a massive and massively expensive database to make the system work. People who change their details, like women who choose to change their name when they marry, will have to pay £1000 for the privilege. And none of this will make us any safer.
This week the first wave of ID cards comes in. The Government plans to introduce ID cards by stealth – starting with overseas workers and students – in the hope that most people won’t notice or care. But this will damage our borough and the universities based here. British students will have to pay higher tuition costs to make up, and will have less money to spend with local businesses. That’s the last thing our local economy needs now.
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28 November, 2008 at 8:21 am
· Filed under Language ·Tagged Olympics, tautology, Weymouth
The first venue for the London 2012 Olympics has been completed – and it’s not actually in London.
The Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy will host the sailing events.
The Today programme has just reported that it’s designed to provide a “lasting legacy”. Much better than the other kind….
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27 November, 2008 at 10:24 pm
· Filed under Church & faith, Neighbourhood ·Tagged charities, churches, Thanksgiving, Woolnoth Society
Richard went to an unusual church service today; the 40th Annual Thanksgiving Day service at St Mary Woolnoth.
The service was organised by the Woolnoth Society Charitable Trust (Rich’s boss Dennis is a member of its Council), and featured a sermon from Marilyn McCord Adams.
The Woolnoth Society was set up in 1968, after that year’s Thanksgiving Service, to involve US and other overseas banks in the City of London’s many charities. Its Charitable Trust supports projects in boroughs close to the City serving homeless people, disability groups and similar causes. These include Clerkenwell-based FACT (Federation of Artistic and Creative Therapy) who provide multi-sensory therapy for profoundly disabled children.
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25 November, 2008 at 8:26 pm
· Filed under Consumer ·Tagged ethical consumerism, tax
My friend and fellow Lib Dem Roly Harris has a splendid letter in today’s Independent.
Referring to the Government’s push to get us all spending, he says “Generally, we have got into the habit of not buying anything we don’t need … I mistakenly thought that we were being responsible citizens. Now we are in danger of being booed in the street for not being profligate enough.”
It’s one more reason why I would prefer an income tax cut to the Government’s planned VAT cut. Cutting income tax gives people money to save or give to charity or spend on VAT-exempt essentials, as we choose (it is, after all, our money) instead of being bribed to buy.
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