Unlock The High Street - Newham Co-op Party Thursday 23rd September

"A reminder to join us at 7pm on Thursday 23rd September for our next meeting; Unlock the High Street.  

The Cooperative Party has launched a campaign to “Unlock the High Street” and we’ve got some great speakers lined up to share their experiences and views on the campaign.

Unlock the High Street also aligns exceptionally well with the Council’s own “Newham High Street” strategy, which will see areas including Green Street, Manor Park Forest Gate and Little Ilford transformed through community-led action plans. These will help to develop them into 15-minute neighbourhoods, where residents can access all social, cultural, civic, and economic essentials. 

https://www.newham.gov.uk/regeneration-1/newham-town-centres-regeneration-strategy

You can attend this meeting on Zoom or in person. We’re hiring space at the Royal Docks Learning and Activity Centre so members can meet and discuss in person, and enjoy a small drink and celebration after the event at a nearby pub. If you’d like to attend in person please let me know by email.

The address is:  Royal Docks Learning & Activity Centre, Albert Road, North Woolwich E16 2JB

If you’re attending via Zoom, please join via the following link. Please join with your camera on and using your real name.

Our speakers are:

Councillor Arooj Shah 

(Leader of Oldham Council & Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform)  

Twitter: @shah_arooj

Arooj has lived all her life in the Oldham borough and is became Leader of Oldham Council in May 2021, the first Muslim woman to hold such a role in the North of England. She has portfolio responsibility for Economic and Social Reform. Her priorities for Oldham include: 

·         cleaning up its streets and tackling fly-tipping, 

·         delivering the Council’s transformational regeneration plan for town centres based on principles of equality and shared prosperity, 

·         building a stronger relationship with residents, creating a council that is responsive to local priorities.

Within her portfolio, she has responsibility for reducing inequality and tackling poverty, Community Wealth Building, transport, community cohesion and the overall borough strategy. This portfolio allows her to utilise her passion for tackling inequalities and championing social justice for all of Oldham’s communities.

Councillor Doina Cornell 

(Leader of Stroud District Council)

Twitter: @doinacornell

Doina Cornell was elected in 2012 as a Labour and Cooperative district councillor for the Gloucestershire town of Dursley and has been leader of Stroud District Council since January 2018. Since 2012 the council has been run by a ‘Cooperative Alliance’ of Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats.

Doina's priorities as council leader are investing in local communities, both people and places, supporting the local economy and responding to the climate and ecological emergency.

Doina works with her family business Cornell Sailing Ltd publishing specialist sailing books, and in 2013-15 helped organise a round the world sailing rally to highlight climate change. She is the author of ‘Child of the Sea’, her memoir of her sailing childhood.

Saif Osmani

(Secretary of the Green Street Business Association). 

@AvidArtAgency

Saif Osmani is secretary of the GSBA, a non-profit making organisation run by the local business community in Green Street. As an artist operating within architecture, his practice inquires into socio-cultural ruptures resulting from changes in the built environment. Born in London, he is of Sylheti-Bangladeshi origin and has a studio located in East London.

After graduating from Chelsea College of Art & Design Saif worked for 10 years at leading architecture firms. In 2019/20 he recieved an Aziz Foundation Scholarship to complete his Masters in Architecture & Historic Urban Environments at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture. 

Recently he was artist-in-residence/ visiting fellow at Loughborough University London. Previously he has been a visiting tutor at University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury. He occasionally lectures at Loughborough University's Media and Creative Industries and for UCL's planning and geography departments.

The GSBA has been part of the consultation led by Newham Council to develop and co-design a high street action for Green Street as an integral part of the Council’s Towards a Better Newham Covid-19 Recovery Strategy and Community Wealth Building Strategy.

Yours in co-operation,

Neil Wilson,

Secretary