1. The market continues to grow

Lots of people have been asking us about closing the street on Sundays.  We’re looking into this but there are lots of constraints, such as the need to re-route the 308 bus route and the impact on traffic in surrounding streets. Hackney council will weigh up these issues and consult the local community, but we don’t expect this to happen for at least a year.

We are looking to have a section of the street car-free on the Jubilee weekend – Sunday 3 June. We’re planning a tea party with cream tea and scones and maybe some Pearly Kings and Queens and a tug of war!  Watch this space.

We asked on Facebook whether people thought we should do anything special to co-incide with the Olympics. There seemed to be a lot of animosity about the event so we haven’t planned anything. If people think differently, there is still time to organise something so contact us if there’s anything you want to do.

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THE SHOPS

A number of shops have opened since our last newsletter, including Lucky Newsagent, A&D Beauty Boutique, Thea vintage clothes shop and most recently Shane’s of Chatsworth.  We’ve met and welcomed their owners, who all very community minded and keen to get involved with the community which is great.  We’ll put more info about them on our website soon.  Go give them all a try.

Shopkeepers have been asking for support to make their shop and staff feel more secure during opening hours.  We’ve managed to secure funding from Hackney Council to support the installation of a security scheme for some of the shops on Chatsworth Road. Not only will this help shopkeepers but it also means the street will be in direct contact with Hackney’s CCTV security centre and therefore Met Police, should this be needed. East London Locks & Security (69 Chatsworth Road) have also been advising us on the best options.

We receive a number of inquiries each week from people looking to set up a business in Chatsworth Road. Over the last year we’ve been collecting details of local landlords so we can help occupy any vacant shops and make sure we get a good mix of occupiers on the street.  As this database develops, we also hope to help shopkeepers negotiate rent reviews and get the landlords more involved with the community. We’re looking for someone to help with this strand of work, if your interested get in touch.

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THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

In February we publicised Hackney Council’s consultation on cycle racks on Glenarm Road. After an overwhelmingly positive response, nine stands have been installed providing 18 spaces for bikes. Thanks to everyone who responded to the consultation and to Hackney Council for putting them up.

We have been looking at ways we can get a fee-free cash machine installed on Chatsworth Road. It’s relatively straightforward but requires a trader to volunteer to have the machine on their premises and to stock it with cash on a daily basis. We haven’t yet found a trader who wants to do this. If you know of anyone who would be keen let us know, or if you’d like to take the lead on finding other ways to get a cash machine get in touch.

In our last newsletter we told you how the Clapton Improvement Society was working on bringing the public toilets back into use.  We’ve recently found out that Homerton Hospital is looking to buy and redevelop the site. As this is our ONLY opportunity to have public toilets on the high street, we are campaigning against this. Sign the petition here to save the toilets here if you agree.

In January 2011, we started working on the Chatsworth Road Neighbourhood Plan. You can find out about it here. We now have a draft of all the research we’ve done during this year and are analysing it to develop our list of projects and planning policies.  We’ll circulate this to all of you soon. When we do, we’ll be asking for feedback and everyone will have the opportunity to prioritise projects and planning policies as they see fit.  The planning policies we write can eventually be adopted by Hackney Council, and if everything goes according to plan, they will hold a referendum so everyone gets the chance to vote on them.

11. New allotments

We have submitted a number of funding applications to undertake further improvement projects in the area. We’ve applied to the Community Development Fund, Portas Pilots and the London Community Resource Network (for Chatsworth Road and Bannister House Community Gardens).  We have also submitted a joint application for the National Lottery’s Communities Living Sustainably Fund with the Clapton Improvement Society.  Whilst  we have not been successful with all of these bids, we are still waiting to hear from others and will continue to identify and apply for funding to support improvement projects for Clapton.  If you are aware of any funding sources that you think we should apply for and want to help us do them, please get in touch.

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For those that don’t know, the CRTRA is the official representative body for traders and residents in the area.  We are run by an elected group of volunteers who are listed on our website here.

 

13. Membership
In December last year we relaunched our membership scheme – thank you for joining and welcome to our newest members! Membership is one of the most important things for us.  It gives us political clout when dealing with official bodies such as Hackney Council, and the more members we have the more influential we can be.  If you know anyone in the area who is not a member yet, please ask them to join.  Member benefits are outlined here.

 

14. CRTRA AGM takes place on 16 May
As well as the monthly committee meetings, we hold a more formal meeting once a year as the AGM of the association. The AGM is open to all members and anyone who isn’t already a member can sign up on the door (£1). The purpose of the AGM is to provide a review of the year, report on our accounts and give members an opportunity to be voted into the committee.  The 2012 AGM will be held at Chats Palace on Wednesday 16 May at 7pm. If you are interested in standing for the committee, please contact us by Sunday 11 May on info@chatsworthroade5.co.uk. We always need help in a more informal capacity so if you would like to get involved now and again, contact us on the same address anytime.

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Thank you for being part of all of this! 

If you’d like to do a project in the area as part of CRTRA, get in touch as we’re always looking to support local initiatives.

Remember we have a stall at the market every Sunday where you can chat to us or one of our volunteers that man the stall. We also have a noticeboard outside Book Box on Glenarm Road/Chatsworth Road.

You can contact any of the committee at info@chatsworthroade5.co.uk

If you’d like more frequent updates on what’s going on in the area ‘like’ us on our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.