In a bid to avoid unnecessary social contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville took to Facebook and Twitter today for his annual Question Time event with residents.
The session was due to be held in person at Hackney Town Hall as a debate chaired by Huffington Post news editor and former Hackney Gazette editor, Ramzy Alwakeel.
Mayor Glanville began the hour by tweeting that he wanted to pay “tribute to the amazing @hackneycouncil staff continuing to deliver essential frontline services, alongside all those also responding, to a hugely difficult situation, & the incredible response & #HackneySpirit shown by residents & orgs.”
Coronavirus – social distancing
Foremost in people’s minds is the rapidly escalating COVID-19 situation: Hackney and the City of London currently have 29 recorded cases of the virus, according to figures released daily by the Department of Health.
One resident, Benjamin Girling Wilson, asked the Mayor whether more could be done to “dissuade people from social contact”. highlighting a video showing a still-busy Ridley Road Market in Dalston.
Mayor Glanville said that “people need to take Govt advice very very seriously, I understand some elements of #keepcalm #carryon #HackneySpirit & residents, like other Londoners are fiercely proud; but this is [a] very different type of crisis, where public health is paramount & we can show our resilience in other ways.
A Dalston resident himself, the Mayor added: “From the video it is clear that it’s quieter than normal in Dalston, & yes people might need essential supplies & some businesses have a role in that inc. supermarkets, market & local shops, but social distancing is vital.”
Coronavirus – vulnerable people’s access to parks
Concerns were also raised about how at-risk residents could exercise safely while in isolation. Twitter user @GirlHackney said “Please tell us @mayorofhackney whether you will set aside time in Hackney parks for vulnerable people. The parks are flooded with hundreds of spitting runners supposedly ‘working from home’. My asthmatic neighbour refuses now to go out for a breath of fresh air.”
Mayor Glanville responded: “Supermarkets have followed this model, but there we are talking about enclosed spaces. I repeat social distancing alongside being kind, self aware & considerate are important. We’ll look at ideas & will feed back. Enforcing anything like this would also be difficult”.
Suffering high streets
Another resident, Laurel Blake, asked what the council can do to support high streets suffering from bank closures, to which Mayor Glanville responded: “While we can’t control bank closures, we can use our powers, lever & influence to support the local economy as much as we can.” He added that the Council was working closely with local businesses to see how they could help them negotiate fairer prices with landlords.
Climate emergency
While Coronavirus concerns dominated the agenda, other issues were also brought to the Mayor’s attention. Stewart Pearson of Sustainable Hackney asked whether the council will set up a regular climate emergency forum to consult on the group’s ideas and proposals.
A cornerstone of the council’s climate emergency declaration was a commitment to establish an annual citizen’s assembly in Hackney in order to democratically develop solutions to the crisis. The first was due to be held in November 2019, but was cancelled due to the general election’s purdah rules. Mayor Glanville explained that “some of this has clearly been taken over by events, as it was last year when the General Election was called”. However he confirmed today that he hopes for the inaugural citizen’s assembly to be held in November of this year, so long as social distancing measures are no longer in place.
Unoccupied homes
As the Council searches for ways to reduce its growing social housing waiting list, Twitter user @Huriye urged the Mayor to “renovate and let unoccupied houses and flats lying empty… before any building on green spaces.”
Mayor Glanville said that the Council was doing “everything we can to bring empty buildings into use, including our own. For nearly a decade we have stopped using guardians in any regen (sic.) property & brought all those homes that can be back into use to support families in need of Temporary Accommodation”.
He added that the council last month “agreed to renovate 16 empty homes in Gooch House in Clapton into genuinely affordable homes for living rent” and confirmed that, as a matter of policy, the council “don’t build on green spaces, unless in exceptional circumstances such as residents asking us to in consultation”.
