Zoë Garbett sets out vision for Hackney’s economy

Zoë wants to tackle the cost of living by fixing Hackney’s broken economy and making the borough more equal.

“Our local economy is broken; it has to change. At the moment, profits are being extracted by companies that are often located out of the borough, by people who already have well beyond their fair share,” Councillor Garbett said.

Garbett wants to implement policies inspired by “doughnut economics”, putting people’s wellbeing and needs, as well as climate, ahead of profit.

These include:

• Ring-fencing use of new retail spaces to deliver a programme of Hackney Community Wealth Building.
• Encouraging businesses to employ local young people through apprenticeship schemes, and promote businesses to residents to encourage their long-term success.
• Ensuring locally owned and managed small businesses are given proper financial support and are protected from being priced out of the area by large corporations.
• Supporting the transfer of Council property and land into the hands of the community through community or common ownership, to provide a foundation for future local initiatives and enterprises.

“This is a tried and tested model of local economic development proven to help mitigate the extreme inequalities created by our economy,” Garbett said.

As a local resident and Councillor, Zoë has supported the Save Ridley Road campaign, supporting market traders, retailers and artists on Ridley Road. Zoë worked with the market traders association to get better conditions for them and worked with the Save Ridley Road campaign to help keep the ground floor of the Ridley Road Shopping Village open. She also worked with the owners of the building to improve conditions and cut rents for traders during the refurbishment of the building. “Ridley Road is an incredibly important cultural and social place in Hackney, and provides the livelihoods for many people in the borough”, Zoë said. “I want to support other local traders and local businesses to thrive right here in Hackney, whether they are selling fruit and veg or developing the latest tech” she added.

See Zoë’s full set of policies on the economy: https://zoe4hackney.co.uk/policy/economy/