The following was emailed out to opt-in subscribers by Cllr Clyde Loakes on the 11th Oct 2005. The document has been posted in its entirety.
Dear Friend
Street Survey- Clarendon and Bulwer Roads
Sunday 9th October saw your ward councillors out and about in Clarendon and Bulwer Roads, knocking on resident’s doors and asking them if they had any concerns, problems or issues, which they wanted to raise.
We had a very good response and have picked up a number of issues from fly- tipping, noisy and disruptive HMO’s, through to individuals problems with landlords. We also got some really good and positive feedback on the weekly recycling initiative, the programme of pavement refurbishment and the steady improvements in general street cleaning.
We try and get round and knock on as many residents doors as possible in between all the elections that go on, although it does take time to get round to every door! And if your not in we can’t guarantee we’ll knock again, so we leave a calling card, for you to contact us to arrange a visit. We aim to do this on Friday afternoons and late Sunday mornings, to try and ensure we get a good mixture of residents at home.
Hopefully we will see you soon!
Cavendish Drive Area Local Safety Scheme
Your ward councillors are pleased that this scheme has again been submitted for funding from Transport for London. Your local Ward Councillors first asked for this scheme after resident representations some years ago. Hopefully once funding has been secured consultation will take place with residents as to what kind of developments they want to make their streets safer. Measures might include for example speed cushions and speed tables, mini roundabouts, chicaning and build outs.
Roads that might be included in the scheme include Cavendish Drive, Scarborough, Southwest, Drayton, Bulwer, Clarendon, Wallwood and Fairlop Roads.
Contact is hopeful that this year we will be successful, but in the meantime we have secured some funding to install mini roundabouts at the Bulwer Road and Wallwood Road junctions with Fairlop Road, which will shortly be consulted on.
Church Lane Footbridge
Your ward councillors have approached and are currently lobbying to secure cameras for this much used but much-feared footbridge. The initial indications are that Transport for London may well fund cctv cameras for this bridge, as well as for Dyers Hall and Langthorne Road pedestrian bridges.
Dog-Waste Bins
After a meeting brokered and arranged by your ward councillors, between LBWF and the Corporation of London we have secured 6 new dog waste bins for key entrance and exit points to Epping Forest around the Hollow Ponds, Whipps Cross Road and Green Man Roundabout areas.
Snooker Hall
The Planning Committee agreed an application for a Snooker Hall on the High Road in the summer. Following suggestions from your local councillors they imposed a planning condition that the Snooker Hall (which is on the first-floor) should have full disabled access. The Snooker Hall is now almost ready to open and has also applied for an alcohol license, under the old licensing laws, which would only last until the 23rd November, as it is being applied for to the Magistrates Court. However, we are concerned that there is no sign of the access for disabled people. Furthermore local residents have not been consulted by the Magistrates Court about the alcohol license. We are looking into this and will keep you informed.
Mornington Road Traffic Gate
Unfortunately someone in the Bushwood area seems to be opposed to this gate, as they keep cutting the chain which keeps the gate closed. A number of residents have brought this to our attention and we have arranged for an internal lock to be fitted, as soon as possible.
Lamppost Fly Posting
Your ward councillors have had enough of all forms of fly posting in Leytonstone. However there is an increasing number of people and organisations who are advertising by attaching their posters and adverts to lamppost’s. This weekend we went out to record and document the organisations and take them down ourselves.
We removed a significant number of commercial adverts which were attached to Leytonstone lampposts. These adverts covered a range of issues including bedsit’s to rent, barbecue parties, moneymaking schemes and even psychic healing! The information will be passed onto council officers to consider taking appropriate action, against the offending organisations.
We have also ensured that our street sweepers are equipped with the tools to do this job as well.
Lincolns
As you may have already heard Lincolns have managed to hold onto their license under the new rules due to come into affect from November. Your ward councillors have worked continuously with local residents to build the case against the managers of this establishment and with the police also recommending we reject the application for a license we were convinced we would win. However the controversial local Lib Dem Chair of the Licensing Committee (the same one who chose to ignore residents and councillors concerns over Zulus and represents the ward that includes Cotton Close and Ferndale Road) and the Conservative member decided to ignore the crucial police advice and voted to allow the pub to stay open.
This was after the police had suggested that serious and dangerous events would continue to occur at this establishment which too date have included a serious knifing incident and a number of people being bottled, this is on top of the vast array and constant stream of anti- social behaviour emanating from the premises. The police stated that the only way to end the problems was to close the pub down. They said that the proposals coming forward from the management of the pub to deal with the problems were clearly too little too late.
Your ward councillors will continue to work with local residents and the police to maintain our community inspired partnership in the face of the continued criminal and anti social behaviour resulting from this pub.
The one glimmer of hope is that the Queens Counsel representing Lincolns on seeing the strength of feeling stacked up against the pub panicked and decided at the 11th hour to withdrew the late license request, as a concession and that from late November at least the pub will close at 11pm Mon- Sat and 10.30pm on a Sunday.
We say why not start closing at 11pm now?
Can we once again also pay tribute to the dedication and resilience of residents who have put so much time and effort into this campaign.
We will continue to keep you posted on all developments and at the time of writing we are still waiting to hear as to whether they still intend to go through with the original and outstanding appeal to the Crown Court, the decision of which would only stand until the 23rd November.
Trees
As reported in RR 13 we have secured some extra funding to replace missing and damaged street trees in Leytonstone. We are also hoping that we can plant a significant number of trees on the grass verges along Gainsborough Road and in the shrub beds along Grove Green and Kingswood Roads. We are just awaiting these sites to be given the all clear.
Wanstead Flats Consultation
Thank you to those residents who submitted ideas and suggestion for inclusion in our response to the consultation. Amongst the suggestions we put forward on your behalf were-
- More litter and dog waste bins;
- More sport facilities;
- A well lit walking/ jogging route around the Flats;
- A children’s playground;
- A proper mountain bike course/ route;
- More events rather than just fairs and the circus eg specialist markets;
- Better maintenance of existing footpaths, including cutting back bushes to provide decent sight lines etc;
- Better habitat conservation;
- And a name change- Wanstead Heath, seemed to have been the preferred option!
- Get the cattle back on the Flats asap!
Community Councils
Waltham Forest Community Councils have been given a ‘Best Practise’ stamp of approval by the local government organisation the Improvement and Development Agency. In their latest publication they include a significant and very positive article on Waltham Forest’s approach to Community Councils.
Zulus
A well-attended Saturday morning meeting saw residents and your ward councillors discuss how they would continue to take the campaign forward. A diary sheet has been designed and has been sent out to residents in Harvey and Burghley Roads. The sheet can also be sent electronically. The sheets need to be returned to Clyde’s office so that we can collate information about the numerous and various incidents, which are blighting resident’s lives.
The sheet also contains the keys numbers for the key organisations which residents must also log their complaints with.
Please let us know whether you would like a sheet to log complaints emanating from Zulus or whether we need to include other roads and streets.
Pavement Works
Good to see Leytonstone pavements benefiting from the £2m programme of pavement refurbishment across the Borough.
Fairlop and Lister Roads are the latest to benefit. Your ward councillors lead the lobby to secure this significant and much needed investment in our local pavements, to make them safer for residents of all ages.
491 Gallery
Your ward councillors have been in contact with the organisers of this venue recently, after a number of complaints about late night noise, from parties held at the Gallery.
The organisers have come back to us to say that they plan to change the activities being held at this venue. They plan to stop the late night parties and club events and instead plan to create a number of workshop and incubator room facilities for local artists, in order to give them an affordable base, in which to practise and launch their artistic careers. They also plan to display more art, in a more formal gallery setting.
This is great news, as this will be a great contribution to the local community. The Gallery also tell us that they are about to sign a formal leasing agreement with Transport for London, who owns the site.
Key Worker Housing
It’s good to see that current housing developments in Leytonstone including the Matalan Car Park site, the former Esso garage site and the old Alcan site are all including key worker and shared ownership housing opportunities within their developments.
…and over to you …any problems? Any issues?
Don’t forget to forward Leytonstone neighbours, friends and families e-mail address’s to us so that they can be copied into this report.
Cheers
Cllr Clyde Loakes, Cllr Marie Pye, Cllr Jenny Gray