The Council Procedure Rules provide for a maximum of four petitions to be discussed at an Ordinary Meeting of the Council.

The attached report presents the received petitions to be discussed. Should any additional petitions be received they will be listed to be noted but not discussed.

5.1 Petition regarding Objection to the one way system in Shadwell and carry out a new consultation.

Ruhul Amin addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners. Councillor Dan Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Realm, (Lead on Public Realm), then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He thanked the Petitioner for raising the issues.

The Petition referred to two schemes as follows:

·       The public realm improvements in Dellow Street, Lowood Street and Bewley Street in Shadwell in relation to the one - way system. Consultation had been carried out on the proposals. Most of the respondents supported the improvements. These works had almost been completed. He felt that these changes had improved the area. 

·       As part of this, the Council also sought to carry out improvements to walking routes to Shadwell station from Wapping. He emphasised that resident access to the area would not be unduly affected by the changes.

·       Proposals in respect of Martha Street and Tarling Street. It was noted that the Council will carry out further consultation on these proposals as part of the forthcoming Shadwell Liveable Streets consultation.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Place for a written response within 28 days.

5.2 Petition requesting a Moratorium on The Felling of Trees

Geoffrey Juden addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, and responded to questions from Members.  Councillor Asma Islam, Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Realm, (Lead on Environment) then responded to the matters raised in the petition. The Council recognised the  need to retain and continue to plant new trees for the benefit of the public -  in accordance with it’s tree retention policy, it’s legal duty and the commitments in the Mayor’s Manifesto. The Council only felled trees under specific circumstances as set out in its criteria, generally when  trees were dead or dying or dangerous. Due to this, consultation did not need to be carried out on such works, but the Council did however provide felling notices

RESOLVED:

1.     That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Place for a written response within 28 days.

5.3 Petition regarding Bring Back the Basketball courts at Wapping Gardens

Fernando Saravia Rajal addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners.   Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts and Brexit then responded to the petition. The Council noted that it was important to help keep people physically active and provide  space for this.

Nevertheless, it must also be recognised that the Council had received a large number of complaints about noise nuisance from the basketball courts, which has impacted residents amenity. To address this, the decision had been taken to keep the courts open – but to the remove basketball hoops. Consideration had been given to alternative measures to mitigate the noise.  No solution had been found to be practical.

The Council were also exploring the option of opening a new facility nearby. The Council will consult on this in September 2021, before making a final decision.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Children and Culture, for a written response within 28 days.

5.4 Petition regarding Human Rights Violations

Petition not discussed due to the absence of the Petitioner.

RESOLVED:

1.     That the petition be referred to the Director of Legal and Monitoring Officer for a written response within 28 days.