press release
2nd November 2001
In the week that the government has declared a crackdown on abandoned cars, community activists from Hackney Independent have hit out at the council for its failure to act over dumped cars on the estates of the borough and have launched a "shame the council" web page. 

Hackney IWCA (Hackney Independent as of summer 2004) spokesperson Carl Taylor said that "Hackney Council have the power to remove abandoned cars within a week of them being reported but in most cases are failing to act within a month or even longer. On the Kingsland Estate in Haggerston, out of 5 cars reported to the council by Hackney Independent only one has been removed and more are starting to pile up. The council put stickers on two of the cars claiming they would be removed but they are still there 3 weeks later."

He added that "Abandoned cars are another symptom of the running down of working class areas. As far as the main political parties on the council are concerned, people who live in these areas are second class citizens so their complaints aren't worth listening to".

To put pressure on the council, Hackney IWCA (Hackney Independent as of summer 2004) have added a page to their website featuring pictures of the dumped cars and details of when the council has been informed about them.

Chair of Kingsland Estate Tenants Association, Anna-Maria Mari backed Hackney Independent's campaign and added "If this was a middle class area, the council would have sorted the problem out ; these abandoned cars are dangerous and can make the whole area look like a dumping ground. We have reported these cars to the council ourselves but nothing has been done."

Carl Taylor added "The council doesn't seem to take any notice of the concerns of working class tenants. If it's down to us to shame them into acting then so be it".