The six best bits of London’s 2011

So 2011 is over, half of London’s population seems to have lurgy of some form or another and all the media predictions for 2012 are so down beat they are making us hope that Mayan prophecies of the apocalypse were right.

However, it’s traditional to take a look back at the year that’s gone and who are we to buck the trend? We’ve put together our idiosyncratic and slightly random end of 2011 London ‘awards’. They’re just a bit of fun obviously so feel free to suggest your own!

London Cycling Campaign – campaigning group of the year

LCC, along with a number of other campaigners, councillors and right on folk have been central to highlighting the safety of cyclists on London’s roads.

In the teeth of extraordinary complacency from TfL and Mayor Johnson’s administration the consistent protest, pressure and sheer hard work has ensured that this issue is not only being taken seriously we may even see significant movement before the 2012 elections.

Right now it looks like 2012 is going to be a good year for making cycling safer, and LCC and others deserve a real pat on the back for all the work they put in to making that happen.

Dawn Foster – maniac tweeter award

We live in an age where so many of us live plugged in lives it takes a genius of the art to make Twitter their very own. Dawn Foster is one of those heroes of our modern age.

It’s likely if you enjoy “tweeting” and are a right-on London type you’ll have already come across Dawn in all her rage and glory furiously bashing the keyboard in inchoate  joy. It would be difficult not to as she is not just prolific but has the kind of natural, snappy virulence that’s perfect for the form.

Do follow her. And then unfollow in a fit of jealousy as you realise you’ll never be as good at tweeter as her.

Islington Council – London council of the year.

It’s been a tough year for local councils. After decades of central governments that have undermined the powers of local government you could be forgiven for thinking that councils were now simply administrative arms of the national government. Certainly they have a lot less leeway than they did once, particularly when the coalition government is dead set on ensuring that it  is impossible to offset national cuts at a borough level.

Islington Council has been head and shoulders above other London councils in the way it has approached the current cold climate. They aggressively took on the national cuts strategy at both a political level and on the ground but also did not allow those pressing problems to prevent the council from moving forwards on other issues.

There were the ‘day to day’ issues, like prosecuting shonky landlords, paying a living wage to council staff and contractors, opening new public loos, and supporting the strike action of their own workforce.

One of the big ticket items that Islington councillors should be rightly proud of is bringing council housing back under council control having been managed by an “Arms Length Management Organisation” (or ALMO) reversing the outsourcing and privatisation trend in publicly owned housing.

Most of all though Islington Council needs to be congratulated for introducing 20 mph speed limits on all  the roads it controls across the borough. As the first London council to do so this site hopes it is the first domino to fall and could lead towards London becoming a ‘twenty’s plenty‘ city on every road where people live, work or shop.

Joe Goldberg – Councillor of the year

Haringey councillor Joe Goldberg richly deserves an award for his sterling work on Haringey council. When Joe became a cabinet member he insisted that his title be Cabinet Member for Finance and Carbon Reduction, recognising how climate change initiatives often get sidelined into their own little ghettos with little real power. By linking finance and carbon reduction Joe demonstrated both independence of thought and hopefully led others to think more deeply about this topic.

Most of all Cllr Joe Goldberg has been an outstanding champion for renewable energy.

Even after the fiasco of the government’s attack on the feed in tariff (FiT) Joe managed to see hostels across the borough fitted with solar generation which “will provide heat, lighting and hot water to the hostels, with surplus energy sold back to the national grid.” (link)

This was achieved by swift action ensuring that they were in place before the tariffs were halved by the national government in  a snap ‘consultation’, however the more ambitious project which would have doubled London’s solar panel capacity at a stroke by fitting large parts of Haringey’s poorest areas with panels is still in doubt – throwing the coalition claims that FiT only benefited the middle  classes into severe doubt.

While the national government may have been doing its best to scupper Joe’s plans we certainly appreciate them here.

Richard Osley – London blogging award

There are lots of very strong contenders  for London blogging this year, not least of all the ever present Brockley Central, 853, Trial by Jeory and Dave Hill. Richard, who has just chalked up ten years at the exemplary local paper the Camden New Journal, has managed to span strong local journalism and blogging with real grace.

Placed in a real local paper (as opposed to some others, who I’m too polite to name) Richard must pick up lots of local info that’s not a good fit for print but, some of which, is an ideal  fit for the online equivalent of gossiping over the garden fence. Throw in an easy good humour and the kind of ethics that mean you can trust the source and you have an invaluable London blog.

The Brooms of London – event of the year

There are numerous tales of hope and inspiration to come out of August’s riots. As an event it clearly shook some people’s faith in their communities and highlighted that all is not well down at David’s Farm. While there are many negative things to take from the riots and the official response to them those points of light seemed all the brighter for it.

When, the day  after heavy rioting, spontaneously organised London clean ups took place it demonstrated that the rioters were not the only face of our communities and seemed in sharp contrast to what felt like the lack-luster government responses. It’s of course a shame that it took something destructive to bring out that constructive spirit, but come out it did, and we think people  should be proud of that positive response that meant so much at the time.

Let’s see if we can make 2012 better than 2011.