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Cllr Susan Fajana Thomas, Cabinet Member for community safety and regulatory services said: “Hackney Council strongly condemns the hateful graffiti that appeared in a local play area this week. This behaviour is completely unacceptable and has no place in our borough.“As soon as the incident was reported, our teams responded swiftly, attending the site late last night and again this morning to ensure the offensive graffiti was removed as quickly as possible.“We are committed to ensuring that everyone in Hackney feels safe in our public spaces, especially places designed for children and families. We’re also working closely with partners, including the police, to investigate this matter and take any further necessary action.“We encourage residents to report any hate crime or hateful vandalism by contacting the police on 101 or report via https://hackney.gov.uk/crime-and-safety ”

The Council has responded to today's scaffolding collapse in Stoke Newington:"Shortly after 7.30am on Wednesday 16 April, a large section of scaffolding collapsed from the Stoke Newington Library building on Church Street, causing damage to a van. Thankfully, no-one at the scene was injured.“The scaffolding was in place in advance of work to renovate the library, which includes repairs to the roof of the Grade II-listed building.“The road is currently closed to pedestrians between Edward’s Lane and Albion Rd and buses have been diverted. Council teams are working hard with emergency services to clear the road, make the area safe and reopen the street as soon as possible.“We advise people to avoid the area until further notice and a full investigation will follow into the circumstances which led to the collapse.”ENDS

On 22 April, Hackney Cabinet will meet to make the final decision about proposals to close or merge Hackney primary schools. The papers that will inform the decision were published online. They recommend that the Cabinet agrees to a number of changes to affect six primary schools in the borough, which will take place starting with September 2025:Closure of St Dominic’s Catholic Primary SchoolClosure of St Mary’s Church of England Primary SchoolClosure  of Oldhill Community School and the merger of its pupils with Harrington Hill Primary School, with Harrington Hill expanding to two forms of entry. This will include moving the special educational provision from Oldhill to Harrington HillClosure of Sir Thomas Abney Primary School and the merger of its pupils with Holmleigh Primary School, with Holmleigh expanding to two forms of entry and moving to the site of Sir Thomas Abney. The language resource provision (LRP) from Sir Thomas Abney will remain on site, to be run by Holmleigh. The proposals, first announced in September 2024, are in response to the ongoing significant fall in pupil numbers across Hackney and the majority of London boroughs, which has caused the financial position of some of the borough’s schools to worsen to the point that it is no longer possible for the Council to maintain them.According to the most recent Hackney Primary Pupil Projections included in the April Cabinet papers, the number of children in Hackney mainstream primary schools has decreased between 2017 and 2024 by 2,399. The number is projected to decrease further by another 2,637 by 2035. 23% of the reception places in Hackney were unfilled in October 2024. Because schools receive money from central government based on the number of pupils they have, the decrease in pupil numbers has caused some of them to face serious pressures.In February 2025, the Council published statutory notices of its proposals to close/merge the schools, which marked the start of a 28-day statutory representation period during which any person could object to or make comments on the proposals.62 responses were submitted during the statutory notice period online, by email or letter. The feedback received has been analysed and reviewed, and the report included in the Cabinet papers. The majority of the responses were against the proposals, with only one supporting the proposal to Close St Dominic’s.The Cabinet papers advise that, despite the comments received against the proposals, the Council should still proceed with the proposed changes, as the objective reasons behind the proposals have not changed, and the decreased demand for primary places across the borough is projected to continue for years to come, impacting more and more the financial viability, sustainability and quality of the Hackney education system as a whole. If the Cabinet decides to proceed with the proposed changes, the Council will offer an extensive support offer to families and staff from the affected schools in order to help them through the transition. More details about the next steps will be shared after the Cabinet meeting.

Hackney Council has been awarded a £2,241,216 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to redesign and modernise Hackney Museum, creating a more dynamic and inclusive space for residents, with the aim to use the museum’s unique historical collections in bold and exciting new ways.The new permanent exhibition at the museum will highlight how the local area has been shaped by 300,000 years of migration and settlement. Alongside the redesign and redisplay of the permanent exhibition, other significant changes will include a new visitor reception, two temporary exhibition areas, a redeveloped community room, an improved shop, events and teaching spaces, and enhanced digital resources so more people can access Hackney’s rich histories.Local community groups and organisations will play a key role in shaping the redevelopment, contributing ideas towards permanent and temporary exhibitions, digital content, and skills development programmes. There will be opportunities for volunteers to get involved and help reveal local histories about the impact of the Blitz, activism and social change.Stories and objects in the new permanent exhibition will explore the social and economic changes which have made the area a desirable place to live, as well as a range of issues which have challenged communities too. The borough’s long history of community solidarity and activism will be showcased. Hackney’s famous Anglo-Saxon longboat discovered in Springfield Park will be redisplayed, alongside the much-loved replica of the boat which thousands of children have sat in. Remains of a 300,000 year old straight tusked elephant - the world's largest ever land mammal - discovered in Evering Road, Stoke Newington, will be displayed to show a time when the local climate and landscape were dramatically different, with Hackney resembling a South African savannah.The four-year project will require Hackney Museum to close for a year from late 2025, reopening by early 2027. During this period, the museum will continue its work through community projects across the borough. A programme of events and exhibitions to celebrate the relaunch will run from throughout 2027 and 2028.Find out more about the Reimagining Hackney Museum project  Notes to editorsAbout Hackney MuseumHackney Museum was established in 1986 and opened in 1987 as the community history museum for the London Borough of Hackney. It explores the history of the area that is now the London Borough of Hackney and is based in Hackney central, next to Hackney Town Hall. The current displays, which opened in 2002, explore the diverse stories of migration and settlement to the area. The Museum’s collections represent the everyday lives of people in the borough, many of whom have migrated from different parts of the world. Hackney Museum’s mission is to continue to be a trusted space where the borough’s communities can tell their own stories, explore their shared histories, and reflect on contemporary issues in a historical context.Find out more about Hackney Museum About The National Lottery Heritage Fund Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.Find out more about the Heritage FundFollow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund       Example museum storiesThe largest ever land mammalIn 1960, sewer works on Evering Road between Maury Road and the  Rectory Road station discovered a number of fossils of prehistoric animals. This included the teeth and a skull fragment belonging to Straight-tusked elephants, which lived between 600,000 - 115,000 years ago. Straight-tusked elephants may have been the largest land mammal to have ever existed. They could weigh over 14 tonnes and reach up to 4.5 metres tall - as tall as a double decker bus!Related blog for further information Community spirit and solidarityFrom the 1970s onwards, Hackney was a hotbed of social organising and activism on a truly vast amount of issues. Over the years, the community has demonstrated solidarity in the face of racism and far-right politics from Mosley’s British Union of Fascists to the National Front, the latter  of which attempted to establish headquarters in the area.Related blogs for further information Hero of the KindertransportSolomon Schonfeld (1912-1984) personally organised the rescue of 3,500 children from the horrors of the Holocaust.When in 1938 the anti-semitic policies of the far-right Nazi regime developed into the violent events of Kristallnacht, ‘Kindertransports’ were organised bringing Jewish children from Europe to safety in the UK. Through the Chief Rabbi’s Religious Emergency Council, Schonfeld organised rescue work of Jewish refugees. He also arranged individual transports, including 250 Orthodox children from Vienna, Austria, which he found accommodation for within Stamford Hill, including his own family home on Lordship Park.  TransformationRapid and dramatic change saw the borough shifting its reputation as the dangerous home of street crime to becoming a byword for gentrification. In a 20 year period from the mid 1990s, house prices in the area surged by the largest amount in the country, with some calculating the rise to be as high as 939%. Rising costs forced out members of existing communities, disrupting family and social networks. But among the changes, there was continuity. Hackney’s opportunities as a place for self expression, independent enterprise, creativity and grassroots organising continued to attract new residents nationally and internationally.Related blogs for further information