Josef Steen

Hackney’s Labour opposition has accused the newly elected Green administration, led by Mayor Zoë Garbett, of neglecting basic local problems, reversing manifesto commitments and damaging the council’s reputation through its pursuit of de-twinning from Haifa. Labour criticised the council’s approach to housing repairs, bus cuts, nursery fees and an alleged eviction, while the council disputed several claims. Garbett’s administration says it is improving enforcement against rogue landlords, speeding up repairs, reviewing nursery fees and returning spaces to communities. The dispute follows Labour’s loss of its long-standing majority in the 2026 local elections and reflects competing narratives over the borough’s past record and new direction.

Re:shape B LTD has submitted plans for a 23-storey co-living tower with 385 ensuite rooms, an eight-storey block containing 66 social-rent flats, and discounted commercial workspace on Homerton High Street in Hackney. The scheme would replace disused garages, industrial buildings and a mosque that is expected to relocate. Nearly 400 residents have petitioned against the tower's height, density and potential impact on traffic, overshadowing and the availability of family-sized affordable housing. Hackney planners and heritage officers have also raised concerns about demolishing a community space and the tower's effect on the skyline near Grade II-listed St Barnabas Church. The proposal is expected to go before the council's planning committee.

Camden Council was ordered by the Housing Ombudsman to pay £1,852.65 and issue a specific, meaningful and empathetic apology to a resident with arthritis whose heating was disconnected for nearly eight months after contractors removed a leaking radiator. The resident reported the problem five times between February and June 2025, but emergency repair procedures were generally not followed, two appointments were cancelled without notice, and the heating was not restored until October. The Ombudsman found maladministration and service failures, including inadequate consideration of alternative heating, incomplete repair records, insufficient compensation and poor complaint handling. Camden said the repairs were complete, compensation had been paid, and that it had appointed a new communal heating contractor and improved its repair-management processes.

Muluembet “Mulu” Yohanes, 53, died in February 2025 after vomiting following minimally invasive brain surgery was not treated as an urgent warning by NHS 111. She later suffered a seizure and cardiac arrest, with critically low sodium levels causing irreversible brain damage. An inquest found that the call handler incorrectly recorded her surgery as a head injury and failed to ask about post-operative red-flag advice. The coroner warned NHS England that flaws in the triage process could endanger patients. NHS England declined to add a specific neurosurgery prompt to NHS Pathways but acknowledged that the vomiting should not have been assessed as a head injury and is reviewing training for call handlers.

Camden Council’s planning committee has approved eight rooftop penthouses across five Darwin Court blocks in Primrose Hill, ending a planning dispute that has lasted three decades. Residents fear the development could increase service charges, disrupt their homes and place excessive weight on the existing buildings. The Airspace Group scheme will provide two- and three-bedroom flats with private terraces, while the council cited £500,000 for its affordable housing fund, landscaping improvements and new platform lifts as public benefits. Earlier underground works were dropped after HS2 raised consultation issues, but the council concluded that the benefits outweighed less-than-substantial harm to the conservation area.

After just over 100 days in office, Hackney’s first Green mayor, Zoë Garbett, is focusing on changing the council’s tone, increasing resident engagement and finding new ways to deliver services. She acknowledges a £53 million financial gap over the next three years but says the council will set a balanced budget rather than adopt a no-cuts position. Her priorities include auditing council land and property ownership, pursuing community ownership, improving housing services and using drones to reduce building-inspection costs. Garbett is also maintaining strong positions on transgender inclusion, opposition to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s single-sex-space guidance, and climate measures. The administration faces major structural pressures, including a long housing waiting list, thousands of children in temporary accommodation and limited housebuilding, with residents waiting to see whether its promised alternative approach produces concrete results.

Plans by Islington Council to create a Gypsy and Traveller caravan pitch at Aubert Court have prompted a petition with 1,800 signatures from residents concerned about losing scarce green space. Members of the Traveller community and advocates say the campaign has been coordinated and discriminatory, citing intimidation and abuse directed at residents. The proposed site would serve people already living in or near the estate, potentially freeing council homes, while the council says it must address Traveller housing needs in a high-density borough. Consultation responses are being reviewed, with late submissions accepted until September 1 and an independent planning review expected later.

Islington Council closed the managed care account of Mr Y, a blind man with dementia who had relied on the council's support since 1990, after his assets exceeded the £23,250 financial-support threshold. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found that the council improperly treated the threshold as requiring closure, failed to consider continuing the account for full-cost care, gave only ten days' notice, and risked losing contact with him and overlooking his support needs. The council accepted the findings, agreed to apologise, reinstate the account, reimburse additional care costs, develop new guidance, and provide evidence of compliance within six months.

Camden Council is preparing to approve changes to Landsec’s £1bn O2 Centre regeneration in West Hampstead and send the scheme to the Mayor of London’s office. The revised plans retain 1,800 homes but reduce affordable housing from 570 to 330 units after construction costs, interest rates, building regulations and London’s reduced affordable-housing target affected the project’s viability. Residents and opposition politicians have criticized the cuts and the smaller community space, while council officers say the redesign is necessary to deliver housing and improve the scheme’s sustainability. The plans add public open space, trees, a larger park and a GP surgery, and include changes to building heights; the existing shopping centre, cinema, leisure facilities and supermarket would eventually be replaced. Camden’s Planning Committee is due to vote on the changes on August 20, amid a High Court challenge to Sadiq Khan’s housing-target policy.

Around 230 artists and creatives must leave affordable studios in Camden’s Cartmel, Langdale and Coniston blocks by January 2027 because the council says fire-safety requirements make temporary upgrades financially unviable before the buildings’ planned demolition. The studios were created from flats vacated during HS2-related disruption and have been described by artists and Bow Arts Trust as vital to Camden’s creative community. Artists fear the shortage and rising cost of workspace could damage careers, while Camden Council says it is investigating alternative accommodation elsewhere in the borough.

Camden Council has imposed revised licensing conditions on The Camden nightclub after police alleged repeated breaches, including failing to report violent incidents, delays in sharing CCTV, admitting patrons after permitted hours and hosting an under-18s event. The Metropolitan Police cited a culture of non-compliance and sought closure, while the venue argued that its 150 existing conditions were excessive and difficult to meet. The licensing panel replaced them with 49 simplified conditions, including earlier closing times and a requirement for five security staff to be present at all times.