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

Any further petitions received by the deadline for the meeting are listed for information and to be noted.

5.1       Petition regarding Wapping Speed Cameras

Stephen O’ Shea addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He noted the problems with car speeding in Wapping and the importance of safety campaigns and road design in addressing the issue. To this end, the Council were looking at street calming measures and street design to discourage and prevent speeding.  

On the issue of speed cameras, he advised that Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police jointly installed and managed the cameras based on a specific criteria regarding road safety. None of the streets in Wapping met this criteria. However, the Council would continue to work with the community to help address the issue.

RESOLVED:

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

Procedural Motion

Councillor Mahbub Alam moved, and Councillor Ohid Ahmed seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 12.1.(c), the order of business be changed to enable Item 5.9 Petition regarding Wapping Social Club to be heard as the next item of business.” The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

5.9       Petition regarding Wapping Social Club

Katherine Bracken and others addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He stressed that he wished to see a community centre remain open on the site and did not have a problem with the community centre contiuing providing that the centre was properly managed and the building was in a good state of repair.

He also added that he had met with representatives of the centre to look at how the issues could be addressed.

RESOLVED:

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

5.2       Petition regarding Watts Grove Parking permitts

Kabir Hussain and others addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He advised that both he and Councillor Sirajul Islam, Cabinet Member for Housing, had recently attended a meeting at Watts Grove with many of the residents.

He reminded the meeting that whilst the development was car free, the residents could apply for a parking permit under the transfer scheme. The Mayor also added that he would continue to review the Council’s parking policy to ensure it balanced the needs of residents and minimised congestion. Regarding the need for double yellow lines, he reported that the Fire Authority had advised that they were necessary to facilitate emergency access to the development.

RESOLVED:

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

Procedural Motion

Councillor Andrew Cregan moved, and Councillor Rabina Khan seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 12.1.(c), the order of business be changed to enable item 5.10 Petition regarding the Save Jamboree Campaign to be heard as the next item of business.” The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

5.10    Petition regarding the Save Jamboree Campaign

Rena Beck addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Strategic Development and Waste then responded to the matters raised in the petition. She stated that the Council sympathised with the petitioners concerns and were committed to helping the music venue stay open.

She also explained that whilst the Council had limited authority in respect of some of the issues, it could seek to resist the loss of a community use at the site given this would require planning consent. However, she emphasised that each planning application would be considered on its own merits

She also reported that Officers were looking at alterative venues for the music venue in the unfortunate event that it would need to relocate.

RESOLVED:

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

5.3       Petition regarding Community Saftey in Dunmore Point

Fazleh Elaahi addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Community Safety then responded to the matters raised in the petition. She advised that the Council were doing all that it could to keep the community safe, including providing additional police officers and upgrading CCTV cameras.

Tower Hamlets Homes and the Police team were aware of the particular problems in the area and along with other agencies, were taking a number of steps to address the issues, such as regularly patrolling the area. This had proved reasonably successful and had helped resolve some of the issues.

The Council were also considering taking further action to address the issues.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director Health, Adults and Community, for a written response within 28 days.

5.4       Petition regarding Drug Dealing and Anti – Social Behavior in Gower Walk and surrounding areas

Syed Shofor Ali and others addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Community Safety then responded to the matters raised in the petition. She reassured the petitioners that addressing anti-social behaviour was a key priority of the Council and the Police.  To this end, she advised that both the Council and the Police were carrying out a number of steps to address the issues at Gower Walk as a matter of priority, including improvements to the stop and search process and the inclusion of new initiatives as part of Operation Continuum to tackle the drug dealing.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director Health, Adults and Community, for a written response within 28 days.