From Councillor Zoë Garbett:

Street markets are a vital part of Hackney’s past, present and future. Street markets provide low-cost and culturally specific items as well as being vibrant places for socialising and community connection. Street markets are made what they are by the traders who work in them who are able to work as independent, sole traders. 

Hackney Council are currently consulting on their market fees and charges - with drastic increases being proposed.

Some traders need low fees and charges so that they can provide low-cost items to low-income communities. I’ve heard from traders that the proposed changes will make this really hard for them to do. 

The council’s consultation is an opportunity for you to have your say by December 31st. The consultation has a very open question “Please let us know your comments on the proposed Hackney markets, street trading and shop front fees and charges?”

We have complied some points below from discussions with market traders which you may like to feed into the consultation. Key points:

• Waste collection charges are stated to have increased by over 140% - this is a huge increase and there is not enough information in the consultation to explain the reason for such a huge increase. I understand from traders that all alternatives have not been explored and that for markets such as Ridley Road, the number of traders producing a lot of waste (e.g. fruit & veg) has decreased - making it unclear why an increase in the charges for waste collection is necessary. The consultation should be halted until all options have been explored and detailed justification is provided for this increase. 
• Plans to hand down electricity charges to traders - this is at the total price of £154,000, again there is little breakdown of how/where this energy is used - as I understand lights are only used in the winter months. We also need to see what steps have been taken to reduce energy consumption. 
• Increased in storage chargers - the benchmarking shows that Hackney is the highest and not inline with other boroughs.
• Some of the charges for council administration increase significantly - we need to see a breakdown of the council’s market team staffing & budget to fully understand activities to be able to judge whether these charges are fair. 
• Introducing a late payment penalty - this is not in line with an ethical debt collection approach and therefore I do not support it. 

Given the information above, I do not feel residents are able to make an informed decision about these charges and I also do not think there is enough information about what alternatives the council has explored to bring down costs. Therefore, the consultation should be paused until this information is provided. 

To justify continued cuts and increases in charges, the Labour Council and Labour Government say there's no money left and tell stories of financial black holes. But there's plenty of money in our economy. This is why Greens are calling for a wealth tax to fund public services. A wealth tax of 1% annually should be levied on assets above £10 million and of 2% on assets above £1bn. Only a tiny minority of people would pay this tax. And could generate more than £50bn. I am taking a motion to Hackney Council to call on the Mayor of Hackney to push for the Labour Government to stop pursuing austerity and implement a wealth tax to fund public services. 

You have until December 31st to have your say on the Market Fees & Charges. You can access the consultation here: https://consultation.hackney.gov.uk/parking-markets/fac25-26/ 

Hackney Green Party is celebrating by-election success today as candidate Liam Davis is elected to Hackney Council, winning the Stoke Newington seat from Labour in convincing victory. The last time Greens won a by-election from the opposition in London was in 2008.

The Green Party secured a decisive win with 1253 votes, against Labour's 945.

Newly elected Councillor Liam Davis speaking after the declaration of results, Thursday 12th September

Hackney Greens Statement about dogs in Abney Park and animal welfare position.

Hackney’s green spaces are precious and we recognise how important our parks, marshes and rivers are for our wellbeing and recreation. The Green Party is passionate about protecting the animals we share this planet with - in the recent General Election we proposed the creation a new Commission on Animal Protection.

In Hackney, when the council wanted residents views on dogs off leads in Abney Park, Hackney Greens promoted the council's consultation. . Green councillors acknowledged concerns about the lack of space for dogs to express their natural behaviours off-lead and space for dogs to play and be trained in Hackney. We did not come out in favour of banning dogs off-lead in Abney Park.

Our two Green councillors are in Dalston and Hackney Downs but often get contacted by residents across the borough on important issues - they were contacted about this issue but only by a few residents so waited to see the results from the consultation and committed to making sure the council listened to residents.

We’re not aware of any councillors of any party speaking out publicly on this issue before the end of the consultation.

Green Group co-leader Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock said: "Greens listen to residents and push the council to listen. Greens did not endorse the Trust's position. We are an evidence-led Party so we asked for specific evidence that dogs were harming the environment and did not see any.”

“We listened to dog walkers and we promoted engagement with the consultation. We recognised that there's a real lack of space for dogs to be off lead in Hackney and that this is one of the things that makes Abney Park so special and unique.”

“We have also listened to residents in Stoke Newington and engaged with the Trust around other issues that the park faces and we advocated on behalf of residents against the Labour administration's events licence application which included very late hours and didn't have a proper event management plan in place."

• Greens strike by-election cooperation agreement with Independent Socialists Group

Hackney Green Party is going to cooperate with the Hackney Independent Socialists in the upcoming council by-elections in London Fields and Stoke Newington. The purpose of this agreement is to give both the best chance of winning strengthening the ability for both to challenge the Labour administration where there are shared values, policies and concerns. If successful, the collaboration will become the largest opposition on the council, surpassing the Conservatives. 

Local activist Liam Davis has been selected to run in the Stoke Newington by-election. He said: “Hackney residents deserve better than what the Labour administration is offering. As your councillor, I'll push for affordable and high-quality new social housing, support our independent businesses, and ensure better waste collection and accessibility in Stoke Newington. I'll be a strong voice pushing for the ethical divestment of pension schemes from arms companies and for our youth, advocating for better services and opportunities to combat local youth violence. It’s time for an opposition that holds Labour accountable and fights for the needs of our community. Voters in Stoke Newington understand the value in voices who can speak freely for their needs.”

Hackney Green Group co-leader Cllr Zoë Garbett commented:
“Liam is a dedicated and hard working local champion who is passionate about improving the lives of everyone in Stoke Newington. Liam will be joining an effective Green team who are working with Hackney's Independent Socialist councillors to replace the Hackney Conservative Group as the majority opposition group in our borough.”

“A vote for Liam is first and foremost a vote for a councillor who will bring Stoke Newington's voice to the council and will advocate for people suffering the impact of continued austerity and cuts. Labour councillors have to vote the way they are told to, but Green councillors are not told how to vote, so Liam can be a really strong independent voice for Stoke Newington. We’re really proud about how we’ve worked cross-party for the benefit of residents and this collaboration with Independent Socialists who are unhappy with the direction of Labour locally and nationally is the continuation of that work.”

A Hackney Independent Socialist Councillor Claudia Turbet-Delof said: “I am so happy to see Liam standing as the Green Party candidate for Stoke Newington. I have seen how passionate and committed Liam is to climate justice and as a former Mental Health Champion for Hackney I also saw how well Liam understands the impact social injustice has on our wellbeing and mental health. Voting for Liam helps us secure our growing number of Green and Independent voices fighting for residents  and scrutinising a safe Labour administration.”

The Hackney Greens and Hackney Independent Socialists Groups share common concerns and are already working together on pushing the council to divest its pension funds from arms companies, on action to address poverty and on prioritising the climate crisis.

The London Fields by-election was triggered by the arrest and resignation of the council’s deputy speaker Lee Laudat-Scott who has been charged with “intentionally touching” a child under 13.

The Stoke Newington by-election was triggered by the resignation of the council’s Cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport Mete Coban, who leaves for a job working as the Mayor of London’s Deputy Mayor for the Environment and Energy.

The by-elections are the 8th and 9th in Hackney since the last full council elections in May 2022. All by-elections to date have been caused by Labour resignations.

Find out more about Liam Davis on Our Candidates page: https://www.hackneygreens.org.uk/our_candidates

Whose side is Hackney Council on?

Zoë Garbett (Councillor & Assembly Member) and Antoinette Fernandez (Hackney Green Party member) are both private renters in Hackney and have reviewed the council’s private sector housing strategy. 

Hackney Green Party is celebrating its best ever result in a general election in both Hackney constituencies.

In Hackney, we now have our sixth councillor by-election in two years and the fifth in 2024!

We love the chance to increase our effective opposition in Hackney Council and we have two talented, dedicated and hard working candidates ready to represent the residents of Hoxton West (27th June) and Cazenove (4th July).

Dear Resident,

Have your say on the changes to Amhurst Road – which will have an impact on Graham Road. 

I am writing about a leaflet you should have received from Hackney Council about changes on Amhurst Road.

On 24 January 2024, the Green Group’s motion on Responsible Tax Conduct was passed at a Full Council meeting. Polling from the Institute for Business Ethics finds that “corporate tax avoidance” has, since 2013, been the number one concern of the British public when it comes to business conduct. Around 17.5% of public contracts in the UK have been won by companies with links to tax havens. It has been conservatively estimated that losses from multinational profit-shifting (just one form of tax avoidance) could be costing the UK some £17bn per annum in lost corporation tax revenues.