The O-Bahn extension, and its impact on Hackney residents, was debated at length. Council is working with the State Government to get a better deal for local residents so we unanimously agreed not to endorse the project until certain issues were resolved.

Draft fees and charges for 2016-17 were put to Council, and unfortunately my motion to reduce fees for non-government organisations was not successful. I have been advised that NGOs are charged about 75% of commercial rates compared to 25% for local community groups. I will need to move a separate motion in the future to get a better deal for NGOs as I would prefer seeing our community facilities used and busy with people rather than sit vacant.

Further to this theme, I seconded the motion to re-lease 49 George Street to Brick & Mortar Creative, who are doing a great job promotion micro-arts initiatives and start-ups.

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