Police 'automatically' stop black youths

By Helen Roxburgh

ISLINGTON councillors have admitted concerns about police intimidating innocent young black people, by stopping and searching them too often.
At a meeting of the Regeneration Committee, councillors expressed concern that police were not always sensitive when they approach young people, and that too often they searched the wrong people.
Cllr Julia Williams, Liberal Democrat councillor for Hillrise, said: “A lot of youths I meet complain that they get searched more because they are a particular ethnic minority.
“They [police] automatically pick on black people, and abuse them.”
Cllr Williams expressed concern that police were unnecessarily rough during stop and searches, and said that she believed certain youths were targeted more than others.
She said her son was regularly stopped and searched when he was in his teens. She believes he was targeted because he was black.
Alva Bailey, Islington Council’s Community Safety Manager, said that he believed police did intimidate young people when stopping and searching, often unintentionally.
He said the Safer Neighbourhood Teams - designated police officers for each area of the borough funded by the council - were less intimidating to the public because one of their key responsibilities is to build community trust in the police.
A report by the Metropolitan Police Authority shows that a black person is almost four times more likely to be searched than a white person in Islington, even though 75 per cent of the borough are white, with 6 per cent of the population describing themselves as black.
According to the report, for every 1000 black residents living in Islington, an average of 31 would have been searched between October and December last year. For white residents, only 8 per 1000 had been searched.
Cllr Greg Foxsmith, chair of the Regeneration Review Committee, commended the work of the Safer Neighbourhoods Team in improving community relations in the borough.
However, he also expressed concern that certain youths would be picked on more than others, and that the stop and searches might be perceived as discriminatory.
He said: “How do you do a stop and search without alienating some young people? The balance is through the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams and intelligence. We are very aware of that charge of picking on the wrong people.”
However, Mr Bailey said police could not abandon their policy of stop and search just because it might upset those being searched.
“Unfortunately it’s a necessary evil at this point,” he said.

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Fury over office closures

By Helen Roxburgh

PLANS to close housing offices to save council money have provoked fury from tenants in Highbury.

The housing offices on Isledon Road, Highbury West, and Boleyn Road, Mildmay, are to be closed from March as part of a series of streamlining measures by Homes For Islington, who run the council’s housing. Funding to Homes For Islington, an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) has been reduced by £11.4 million due to less council housing in the borough, with many homes now privately owned.

The offices are places for residents to make rent payments, report maintenance work and receive advice and support, and the Iseldon office, which serves the residents of the Harvist estate, had recently been renovated to allow full disabled access.

However, the nearest office to the estate will now be on Upper Street.

Homes For Islington defended the closure by saying they are going to improve the Upper Street office to cope with the extra workload.

“We will be enlarging the reception area in the Upper Street Office, simply because more people will be going there,” said Jon Farrant, senior Area Housing manager.

“Hopefully with an improvement in the IT systems, people will soon be able to go into any office and access their own important details,” he added.

However, the impending closure of these offices has caused anger amongst tenants’ associations in Islington.

At the Upper Street Area Housing Panel meeting this week, members of the panel and tenants refused to vote on the reallocation of residents’ Housing Panels, in protest over their lack of consulation.

Homes For Islington had proposed three alternatives to be voted on at the meeting, regarding how many housing associations should now be set up in each ward of the borough.

“If we chose either, it means by default that we have been consulted,” said Brian Potter, chair of the Federation of Islington Tenants’ Association (FITA) and the Upper Street Housing Panel. “So we won’t choose any at all.”

At the meeting, Mr Potter said that some tenants would now have to take three or four bus routes to get to their nearest housing offices, which could prove impossible for the elderly, disabled or those with young children.

Theresa Debono, Labour councillor for Highbury West, has also opposed the office closures.
She said: “Here again we go back to how they [Islington Council] try to save money, even when that situation is not necessary, because there is a need for these housing offices.”

Homes For Islington defended the closures, and said they had sent out 16,000 letters to those who would be affected by the office closure.

“People can expect to be visited in their homes if getting to the offices proves too difficult,” said Farrant. “I believe this to be the correct thing to do in the long term, the way forward.”

But many tenants remain unconvinced.

“This is privatisation through the back door,” said Mr Potter. “I think that’s the problem with Islington – the residents don’t get a say.”

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Water chaos in Highbury

By Helen Roxburgh

MORE than 50 residents in Highbury were left without water last week when a water main burst.

Water poured down Hamilton Park onto Highbury Grove last Saturday, causing traffic disruption and frustation.

Twenty-one houses on Hamilton Park had their water supply cut off by Thames Water engineers at midday, and it was not returned for more than six hours.

Slow-moving vehicles through the water along Highbury Grove lead to traffic conjestion, and Hamilton Park was closed while the pipe was repaired.

Rachel Fairbrother, a spokesperson for Thames Water, said it was not clear what had caused the pipe to burst.

“It could have been from the traffic overhead, or it could just have deteriorated over time,” she said. “But we would not rule out damage from a third party at this stage.”

She added that a resident had reported a leak and that Thames Water had attended the scene within forty minutes.

Eleven complaints have been made to Thames Water over the incident, which intends to investigate the causes of the leak.

“It’s ridiculous,” said mother of two Marni Achmed, who lives on Hamilton Park. “All this water draining away and we have no water all day on Saturday. I don’t know what we pay for.”

Thames Water are still enforcing a hosepipe ban for domestic use across London, due to a severe water shortage.

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Controversy over match day closures

by Helen Roxburgh

RESIDENTS in Highbury have attacked Islington council over handling of traffic and fans during the first five games at the new Arsenal stadium.

Controversy broke out at the East Area Committee meeting yesterday evening, with one local resident claiming that the road closures on match days were a breach of his human rights as they prevented him accessing his home.

The packed meeting included a report on traffic safety and accessibility arrangements during the first few months by Karen Sullivan, Head of Transport Planning Service at Islington Council.

Methods of controlling the thousands of football fans who flock to the Emirates stadium include closing roads two hours before a match, and for up to an hour afterwards, to allow access for emergency services and to prevent traffic being a danger to crowds of pedestrians.

However, Giles Newman, of Drayton Park Road, said that if he was even ten minutes late returning to his home, he was being forbidden access to the road his house is on by the police.

“There just needs to be a level of discretion,” he argued, giving the Committee pictures of his road on match days, which he said proved there was no threat to crowds.

“That this is a breach of the Human Rights Act is irrefutable – you’re not allowing us access to our own homes.”

He added: “We’re not talking about a motorway, it’s only a few cars.”

However, PC Richard Walker defended the road closure to the meeting on grounds of health and safety, particularly in case of a large-scale disaster within the stadium, which can hold up to 60,432 people.

“I totally, 100 per cent, stand by my point – those road closures simply must be in place,” he said.

The council’s Director of Corporate Resources David Daniels, said: “They [the police] have used discretion, and a few cars have been allowed to sneak through.”

Richard Greening, Liberal Democrat councillor for Highbury West ward, supported the measures that had been implemented.

“I’d like to record my personal thanks and congratulations to the police,” he said.

The report also added that through the last three Arsenal matches, a barrier system had been trialled on Highbury Fields to restrict crowds from walking over the fields. Concerns over this had been raised by the Highbury Fields Association, and the committee agreed to continue this method.

“This process is still going on. It’s a very steep learning curve for us all,” said Cllr Meral Ece, Chair of the Committee.

“Any adjustments put in place now will still continue to be monitored.”

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Call to bring back fireworks display

By Helen Roxburgh

A ROW has broken out in Highbury over whether to re-instate the popular fireworks display on Guy Fawkes night after the borough was plagued with violence this year.

Fire crews from Islington's three fire stations were constantly attending incidents throughout Bonfire Night, attending 21 fires across the borough. A Renault Clio on Douglas Road was set alight and completely gutted, and a door caught fire in Brittania Row after a firework was pushed through the letterbox.

An organised fireworks show has not been held since 1996. The event, which was held on Highbury Fields, used to attract up to 20,000 people, but was stopped by Islington Council amid health and safety fears.

Local people and councillors have called for the family event to be brought back for future years.
At the Islington Council’s executive meeting on Thursday 5 October, Councillor Catherine West accused the council of a “poverty of ambition”.

“I am urging the council to rethink its miserly position and do as other boroughs do and put on a decent show for all the children in the borough,” she said.

Islington Council defended their no-fireworks policy at the meeting on the grounds of health and safety. There would also be a “comprehensive” insurance cost.

However, there are many in the area, including many young families, who wish to have the event returned.

“It was really really good,” said mother-of-two Julie Charman, of Highbury Hill. “We went to a small fireworks show at Canonbury School, but we’d definitely go to the one here again.”

“We just had some in the back garden this year,” said Ken Lyons, of Queensland Road, Highbury. “But we used to like this one, we always used to go with the boys.”

Labour Councillor for Highbury West Theresa Debono said: “I think it was a wonderful idea, and it didn’t take long, it was only something like an hour."

Ms Debono added that she throught it was much safer to hold one well-organised event that would attract a majority of people across the borough, and accused the Islington council of trying to cut corners at every opportunity and save money.

She added: “I must admit that I used to go, and I miss it.”

However, calls for the show to be returned are not universal.

“Most of my customers buying fireworks would go to that event, so I would probably lose the business,” said James Andrews, manager of the ‘£1 Plus’ shop on Blackstock Road. "I would not go.”

Martin Jones, Chairman of the Highbury Fields Association, said: “We enjoyed the fireworks in the past, but it eventually got so big that the police were very nervous about the crowds.

“It became almost impossible to walk anywhere on the roads around the fields because of the crowds."

He added: “If it was possible to have a family occasion without all the attendant pop music and burger stalls then yes, I think we might be in favour of it. But not the huge commercial event it became in the last two or three years.”

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