Submission by Meg Hillier MP to Local Government Boundary Commission

19 February 2013

I broadly welcome the revisions in the three areas listed.

I reiterate my point about the desirability of three member wards as made in my previous two submissions. My comments on the specific proposals are below:

Hoxton and Shoreditch I support the proposals for the two three-member wards: East and Shoreditch and Hoxton West. These new wards better reflect local community ties and the boundaries are more logical.

My only concern is that the name Hoxton East and Shoreditch is a bit unwieldy. That said I do believe that maintaining the name Shoreditch is on balance a good thing because of the strong history of the old Metropolitan borough. In addition the new businesses in what is often dubbed Tech City, consider themselves to be based in Shoreditch and describe themselves as Shoreditch based.

Hoxton East and Shoreditch The boundaries that are now proposed are much stronger and clearer: the Regents Canal, the A10 and New North Road/Pitfield Street. Hoxton Street and Hoxton Market are recognised hub streets for the local community and making them central to the north of the new ward is an improvement on both existing arrangements and on the previous commission proposal.

Bringing the Arden estate into a single ward, allows for more sensible representation than under current arrangements and previous commission proposals.

Similarly ensuring that the commercial heart of Shoreditch is in a single ward allows for more coherent representation of the town centre with all the challenges of the tech and creative industries. For this reason I also welcome the fact that this is now a three member ward as it would be practically very challenging for two councillors to represent such a diverse area alone (assuming that they are also working).

The new ward unites this part of Hoxton with the commercial area south of Old Street down to the City Fringe, reflecting the social and economic interconnectedness of these areas. I have been doing some work through my Shoreditch Summit events across the area and there is a growing relationship between these areas.

Hoxton West This ward is better than previous proposals because it links existing communities within the same ward. Murray Grove is a community focal point and it is better that it is not split as was previously proposed. As I outlined in my previous submission the area around the local shopping street Murray Grove is a close-knit community using shared resources including Provost Community Hall, the recently reopened Murray Grove Post Office, and Blue Hut Youth Centre amongst others.

The proposal recognises the links between the Wenlock Barn, Cranston and St John’s Estates. These have deepened in recent years with the development of linked community gardens; the Shoreditch Heat Network which uses a Combined Heat and Power plant to heat and provide hot water to the Cranston, Wenlock Barn and Fairbank Estates; as well as shared use of St John’s Church and School.

Dalston, and Shacklewell

Hackney Central I support proposals for the three member Hackney Central Ward. Maintaining Hackney Central as a three-member ward is better for representation purposes. Hackney Central is a very mixed ward with a number of areas that generate high volumes of casework (my recent coffee morning surgeries there have been the busiest of all across the borough – over 40 people attended one on the Pembury Estate before Christmas).

There are a number of plans underway to improve the retail and leisure offer in Hackney Central Town Centre – this can be time consuming and with councillors who also work (which is typical for the age profile of Hackney councilors) having three councillors will make sure this is manageable.

The residents of the Wilton Estate identify themselves more with Hackney Central than the new . Residents shop at Morning Lane Tesco and use the many facilties in Mare Street rather than those in Dalston shopping centre.

As well as shopping they go towards Mare Street for local culture and recreation including the Picture House, the Hackney Empire and London Fields Lido. Residents of the Wilton Estate have strong community ties with Hackney Central, shopping, socialising and traveling from within the area.

Dalston I am disappointed that Dalston becomes a two member ward for reasons I have outlined in previous submissions but otherwise the boundaries make reasonable sense for a two member ward.

One small change would make sense. Currently the area just north of Balls Bond Road and to the east of Dalston junction is included in ward. It would make sense to tidy this up and include this small area (which includes the Dalston junction bus stop) to be included in Dalston ward to avoid splitting the junction area between three wards and two boroughs. Had the De Beauvoir/Dalston ward been created this would have made sense but it is now an anomaly. This change will make no difference to the numbers but just tidies up a small incoherence that may just have been overlooked.

Meg Hillier MP House of Commons Westminster SW1A 0AA