“Public Question at Cabinet Question from Mr Muhammad Haque

Being published by AADHIKAROnline in association with the KHOODEELAAR! Campaign at 1205 Hrs GMT London Saturday 03 August 2013. Tower Hamlets Council’s Cabinet Meeting Wednesday 03 July 2013

“Public Question at Cabinet Question from Mr Haque

There are concerns from residents and businesses at the Council’s proposals to close Brick Lane to traffic. Can the Council confirm what is planned and why? Answer to the question from Stephen Halsey (Head of Paid Service and Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture) The only plans for traffic in Brick Lane are some sort short experimental road closures involving the part-time creation of a traffic-free environment in the street on 4 saturday afternoons/evenings in August. These are being discussed with the Police in the light of responses received to preliminary consultation. Various suggestions have been put forward over many years for a variety of pedestrianisation proposals and we are acutely aware of the sensitivity of this issue. The impact of these tests will allow us to assess the benefit and disadvantages of developing the concept as part of future plans for the improvement of the area which would need to involve extensive public consultation.” HERE, below, is the exact quotation of the document that Mr Stephen Halsey, Tower Hamlets Council’s “chief executive”, also known as the “Head of Paid Service” held up as he spoke at some length in answer to the Question put to the Cabinet of the LBTH Council by Mr Muhammad Haque, the KHOODEELAAR! Campaign Organiser at the Meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday 31 July 2013. That Meeting of the Cabinet was Chaired by the Council’s Executive Mayor Lutfur Rahman. Although the Council had known that Mr Muhammad Haque had been in extensive communications over the pervious 24 hours on the matter and they [“the Council”] accordingly prepared the document and arranged for Mr Halsey’s to state the Council’s “answer”, they had not made the document available ahead of Mr Muhammad haque’s actual presentation of the Question to the Cabinet. Mr Haque made the presentation without notes and he only saw a copy of Mr Halsey’s answer as he [Mr Hasley] was already speaking. The text of “the Question” as shown in the document below, was a version as edited from Mr Muhammad Haque’s several communications by email. The details of Mr Muhammad Haque’s actual Question as he put it to the Tower Hamlets Council’s Cabinet Meeting on 31 July 213, has already been published in a numbered summary in the previous youtube post by AADHIKAROnline publishing with the KHOODEELAAR! Campaign defending the Community in the East End of London. “Public Question at Cabinet Question from Mr Haque There are concerns from residents and businesses at the Council’s proposals to close Brick Lane to traffic. Can the Council confirm what is planned and why? Answer to the question from Stephen Halsey (Head of Paid Service and Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture) The only plans for traffic in Brick Lane are some sort short experimental road closures involving the part-time creation of a traffic-free environment in the street on 4 saturday afternoons/evenings in August. These are being discussed with the Police in the light of responses received to preliminary consultation. Various suggestions have been put forward over many years for a variety of pedestrianisation proposals and we are acutely aware of the sensitivity of this issue. The impact of these tests will allow us to assess the benefit and disadvantages of developing the concept as part of future plans for the improvement of the area which would need to involve extensive public consultation.”