Newham Council is issuing regular e-bulletins to residents about what’s happening at the Council and in the borough, including the latest information about how we are responding to Covid-19.
Newham Council is issuing regular e-bulletins to residents about what’s happening at the Council and in the borough, including the latest information about how we are responding to Covid-19.
You can read the latest message from Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz below:
Hello Everyone. I hope you and your loved ones are well as we progress with Covid-19 living. Following the events in Lebanon that unfolded on Tuesday evening, on behalf of residents, councillors and the Council, I wanted to express our sympathies, condolences and solidarity to the people of Beirut and all those affected by the terrible explosion that night.
Caused by some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely in a warehouse, a blast killed at least 137 people and injured about 5,000 others, while dozens are still missing. A two-week state of emergency has been declared and the people of Beirut are angry, rightly with allegations of corruption, neglect and mismanagement.
Our solidarity is a reflection of our commitment to internationalism, but also our own history with a similar event that unfolded in 1917, when an explosion at the Brunner Mond factory in Silvertown, the largest ever to take place in the UK, killed 73 people and injured hundreds of others. You can read more here.
In times of humanitarian grief and tragedy, Newham’s community has always stood ready to offer help and support to those who have lost homes and livelihoods. I am sure we will be again. I encourage you to assist the relief and recovery effort in whatever way you can.
Temperatures are expected to soar again over the next few days, so please make sure to keep hydrated, stay in the shade and wear sunscreen. It's important you take action to protect yourself and stay healthy in the heat, especially if you're still shielding or are unable to go outside.
Please also look out for others, including neighbours, family or friends, who may be unable to care for themselves. If someone you know is self-isolating with suspected Covid-19 symptoms, keep in contact with them to make sure they're safe. There is some advice on our website here about coping with hot weather.
It's even more vital now that we all do our bit to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus and help save lives. The Government’s guidance on face coverings has changed and from Saturday, the list of places where we will have to cover up now includes libraries, museums, galleries, community centres, cinemas, bingo halls, and places of worship.
As well as on public transport, I also strongly encourage you to wear a face covering in other enclosed public spaces where social distancing may be difficult and where you may come into contact with people you don’t normally meet. If you can, please use a reusable covering that can be washed and then worn again. This helps reduce the amount of rubbish generated and littering by masks being thrown away on the streets.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made the imperative to improve streets for walking and cycling, to reduce pressure on road and public transport networks, and to support social distancing, even more urgent. You can read in this bulletin how Newham and Waltham Forest Councils are working together to create people-friendly streets and an experimental Low Traffic Neighbourhood covering parts of Forest Gate, the Maryland area of Stratford, and South Leytonstone. It is the first time two London boroughs have come together in this way.
With London’s public transport capacity reduced, millions of journeys a day are being made on other modes of transport. If even a small fraction of these are replaced by car journeys, roads will become heavily congested, air quality will worsen, and road safety reduced. With less traffic, noise and pollution, local streets will be safe and more pleasant to use, especially for children to cross the road and walk and cycle to school.
We must continue to do all we can to stop a second spike of coronavirus coming to Newham. Back-to-school will be here before we know it, but we’ll continue working closely with them and their governing bodies about the plans they have in place to make sure they are robust and prioritise the safety of pupils and teachers in line with the guidance. The health and wellbeing of all our residents is absolutely fundamental to our Covid-19 Recovery Strategy.
The significance of this strategy cannot be underestimated, in light of the scale of challenges facing us and the economic impact of Covid-19 which will be felt hard in Newham. It’s why we will become the first borough in London to use health, wellbeing and happiness as the measure of our economic success instead of the traditional measures of growth.
Today we have marked a couple of milestones; one happy, the other less so. We have been flying the flag of Jamaica to celebrate 58 years of the country’s independence. To all of our residents with Jamaican heritage past and present, I hope you are having a joyous day. Newham is lucky to have you as part of our wonderfully diverse community where together we can all share and honour the achievements of each other in harmony.
On a more sombre note, we remember the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan, which killed around 140,000 people. Three days later a second nuclear weapon was dropped on Nagasaki. Two weeks later Japan surrendered, ending World War Two.
Last month Newham Council agreed a motion publicly noting the anniversary of both bombings, and calling on the Government and other nations to actively work towards achieving a nuclear free world. I encourage you to read more about it here.
If nothing else the coronavirus pandemic has shown how important global cooperation is. As we work to rebuild in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the slogan ‘welfare not warfare’ has never been more important. The devastating effects of the bombings in 1945 are sorely felt to this day. We must remember history and encourage the world to remove weapons of mass destruction.
If you are venturing out in the sunshine at the weekend, pop over to Three Mills Green in Stratford to see the new magnificent 9ft bronze sculpture by Thomas J Price called Reaching Out. It’s only the third public sculpture in the United Kingdom that depicts a black woman, and was unveiled by our Deputy Mayor for Communities, Councillor Charlene McLean. You can read more here.
All over the country there are calls for monuments to be pulled down because they no longer reflect the world we live in today, so it’s nice to see something that represents young black lives and modern life. It’s a fantastic addition to The Line, the outdoor public art trail that links the tranquil and beautiful waterways of Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Greenwich, along the line of the Greenwich meridian.
There’s some good news today for residents at the heart of the Custom House regeneration programme.
After many conversations with those who live in the area, I will presenting proposals to my Cabinet colleagues for a significantly enhanced Landlord Offer that will be part of the residents’ ballot on the regeneration scheme.
Alongside secure tenants, it is proposed that for the first time Private Rented Sector (PRS) tenants will also benefit from the right to return to a council home or to housing association-owned social housing when the programme is completed. This offer will be for those PRS tenants, including those in properties managed by housing company Mears Group, who have lived in the Custom House regeneration area for five years or more on the date the Landlord Offer is published and who have been placed in the area by the Council.
The approach to the proposed Landlord Offer is part of the most significant and substantial offer by any local authority in the Capital. We propose to replicate this gold standard approach across all proposed Newham regeneration programmes, including in Canning Town and the Carpenters Estate redevelopment in Stratford.
Lastly, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, stay at home and get tested as soon as possible and follow the instructions of NHS Test and Trace if they contact you. If you test positive you must isolate for ten days. This will keep Newham out of lockdown and protect vulnerable people from serious harm. Please do your bit to keep yourself, your loved ones and everyone in Newham safe.
Best wishes,
Rokhsana Fiaz OBE
Mayor of Newham
Read more Covid-19 updates from Mayor Fiaz or follow her on Twitter @rokhsanafiaz