The disgrace of Woodberry Down

This is what Sarah Marsh, member of the Brownswood Liberal Democrat 'Focus' team and resident on the Woodberry Down Estate, wrote to the 'Hackney Gazette' last week:

"I'm sure many people on the Woodberry Down Estate are angry and frustrated at reports that the long-promised regeneration scheme there may be stalled yet again. Nevertheless, it's rather misplaced for Councillor Coggins, the Conservative group leader on Hackney Council, to claim that the estate is so "notorious" that it will scare away the developers and bankers on whom funding is supposed to depend. After all, in this crazy world of Mr Bean economics, it's these same developers and bankers who depend on funding contributed by the taxpayers - including, of course, the residents of Woodberry Down themselves! If Woodberry Down is "notorious", it's certainly nothing to do with the residents who have struggled for decades against neglect and mismanagement from the Town Hall."

And this was the 'Gazette' editorial a few days later:

"More worrying is the billion pound Woodberry Down plan in the north west of the borough. The ambitious plan, hatched up in brighter economic times, is to demolish 2000 crumbling flats and replace them with a mix of more than 4000 council and private homes as well as community facilities over the next fifteen years......If Berkeley Homes, the prospective developers, pulled out, the local authority would face a tough time finding another partner and would then face the prospect of having a massive unbudgeted liability to restore the remaining blocks. Town Hall chiefs insist the project is long-term and will be completed. The 'Gazette' certainly hopes so for the patient people of Woodberry Down who have lived far too long in overcrowded and substandard living accommodation"

Minds alike! Talking to long-time community activists on Woodberry Down like Debbie and Klaus and Josie just met by chance on the pavement, morale is rock-bottom. So much for a decade of false promises and dithering bureaucratic mismanagement by Hackney Council. They're not going to get away with this one.