Editor

The River Roding often feels overlooked, but a recent meeting in Parliament gave it the attention it deserves, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods

In July, Ilford South MP Jas Athwal hosted a meeting on pollution in the Roding, bringing together key representatives. Paul Powlesland from the River Roding Trust presented compelling evidence of pollution linked to sewage outfalls. Thames Water and the Environment Agency (EA) were asked to provide updates on how they are tackling the problem.

I first raised concerns about sewage pollution with Thames Water more than five years ago, alongside Jas Athwal when he was Leader of Redbridge Council. Both of us expressed our disappointment that so little progress has been made since then. One illegal outfall on the Alders Brook has been addressed following investment by Thames Water, but the River Roding Trust has identified a number of other sewage spills that still require action. Thames Water told the meeting it is developing plans to reduce the duration of sewage spills by 50% by 2030, with further improvements dependent on future funding.

The company also confirmed there are 30 sewage outfalls in the area, of which 12 have permits and 18 have permit applications pending. It’s disappointing the EA appears willing to issue further permits rather than prioritising enforcement action. Granting additional permits risks legitimising an unacceptable practice that is incredibly harmful to rivers, wildlife and people, something local residents are increasingly concerned about. The EA confirmed it is preparing enforcement action relating to one outfall, which we believe is the site fixed last year.

We also discussed the issue of misconnections, where appliances are incorrectly connected to the clean water drainage system, rather than the foul sewer network. Thames Water has been monitoring a number of locations to identify these problems, which are likely to be contributing to pollution. However, only a small number of cases have been passed to the council for enforcement. We are keen to work more closely with Thames Water to identify these issues more quickly.

The council has also committed £3m to improving water quality in local lakes, many of which are connected to the Roding. This funding has enabled the removal of silt from three lakes and the installation of aeration equipment to improve water quality, as well as tackling pollution at Fairlop and exploring nature-based solutions such as opening up a buried stream to improve natural filtration.

I will continue pressing Thames Water and the EA for stronger action. The involvement of MPs is welcome because we need improvements to the governance of water companies to ensure they stop polluting our rivers.

Jo Blackman is a Labour Party councillor for Wanstead Village. Email jo.blackman@redbridge.gov.uk

For more information on the Roding, visit wnstd.com/riverroding

Entries are invited for this year’s Redbridge Photography Awards.

“Our borough is home to some of the country’s most stunning parks, striking architecture and vibrant communities, and we want to see them through your lens,” said a Redbridge Council spokesperson. Participants can submit photos in four categories: Redbridge Pets, Redbridge Heroes, Redbridge Places and Redbridge Nature (closing date: 21 August). Winning images will be displayed at Redbridge Central Library.

Visit wnstd.com/rpa26

Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist and observer of all things local. Illustrated by Evelyn Rowland

I have lived long enough in South Woodford to have seen many changes on the high street. My nearest row of shops began with Kistrucks Bakery. We kids knew the cakes remaining at the end of the day would go for half price first thing in the morning. We suggested to the nice lady in charge we could reasonably relieve her of them at 5.30pm as she closed the door. Our cheekiness not infrequently paid off. Then came the ladies’ hairdresser with separate, discreet, curtained cubicles. You would never be exposed to the public, sitting under the bonnet hairdryer with your head covered in rollers. Next came ‘Sheila’ with her millinery boutique. I often gazed at the elegant hats temptingly displayed behind curved windows. She closed in 1992. In due course, the enormously popular, family-run HO HO Chinese restaurant closed its doors for the last time. Sorely missed. 

In this same location, Salman Comak has been ‘open all hours’ from 9am to half past midnight, seven days a week, for 25 years. One of South Woodford’s traditional ‘corner shops’. I called in for a chat. I looked round. Surely there can’t be anything he doesn’t stock! Salman was born in Turkey of Kurdish descent. “There were problems,” he said. “We were not wanted, we were actively persecuted. I knew England was a democracy. I understood business before I came. I opened a shop in Leyton, then moved here and married my wife, Sana. Both our daughters have been university educated here and are fully employed. I have never looked for any benefits or handouts. I have paid my taxes. I feel happy here and I am satisfied that I am fulfilling a need. Available when ‘the big boys’ have shut up shop. There’s very little theft. There are good people here.” At this point, “What a stroke of luck for me!” said Salman. “Here comes my best customer.” In came Terry, leaning heavily on his walking-frame and immediately eager to pitch in to our conversation. I asked him: “Do you have a reason for shopping here?” “Loads of reasons! Prompt personal service.” (By now Salman was out from behind the till and removing Terry’s backpack and placing his purchases carefully inside.) “If you don’t support the high street, the community dies! Sometimes, neighbours of mine do my shopping. They know where to come and when they say: “It’s for Terry,” Salman knows exactly what I need. They couldn’t get far announcing that at a supermarket! Nothing against them, but for me, so corporate. You have individual attention here. Friendship, even. We’re talking about two different worlds.”   

I decided to explore further: The Nutberry Local Store, ideally situated next to the station, is open from 6am to 11pm. A regular customer there, Deepak, was keen to talk. “I mean, who really wants to stand in a queue? Who doesn’t enjoy a personal greeting?” I noted a sample of wares on the packed shelves. Cake candles and birthday cards alongside bread, pepperoni and Persil. Newspapers, too. Further down the road, I called in at Woodford News (6.30am to 11.30pm). Prem was all smiles. His ‘den’ is very small and compact. Umbrellas and Sellotape, cycle clips and Cabernet Sauvignon. “I used to work in a huge store. I love my days here: time to chat, time to listen. I don’t do the papers anymore. I leave that to Ram up the road.” His welcoming warmth was tangible: “Would I like a drink?” Aram and Hasan at Woodford Express (6.30am to 11.30pm) specialise in Eastern European produce. I must admit, I enjoyed the idea that you could expect to buy Golabki, Flaki, Flaczki and Klpopsiki alongside bread and butter, here, in George Lane! It was a surprise to hear that Demir, with his ‘convenience store’ opposite the Wood Oven, came from the same village as Salman. He obviously relishes his open-all-hours role. Sounds of laughter came from within. He greeted me like an old friend in what was only my second visit. Denny and his wife run what really is a ‘corner’ shop, Woody Food and Wine, just over the motorway, where Len’s Shoe Repairs used to be. I remember Len well. Denny came to the UK from India as a boy and opened his shop two years ago (7.30am to midnight.) I was stunned by his enormous display of wines. Between serving other customers, he mentioned that quite often shoppers cross from Waitrose to seek out some very particular, unusual brand.

My themes for this edition were clearly emerging: Change and Choice. Much to consider. Appropriately enough, I remembered reading, years ago, a book called Small is Beautiful: A Study Of Economics As If People Mattered by a German-born British economist, EF Schumacher, espousing the principle that advancing small, appropriate technologies and policies was a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of ‘bigger is better’. My long-term readers will be fully aware of my regular and appreciative shopping trips to our supermarkets. I have adjusted easily to their increasingly DIY approach. (You’ve got to hand it to the Co-op with its 7am to 11pm opening hours. I popped in to congratulate Rashed, the manager). In fact, my relationship with the Co-op and Sainsbury’s goes right back to my early childhood in Woodford itself. The Co-op was right next to Woodford station. I still remember our Co-op number, 616385. You walked over the level crossing then, to reach Sainsbury’s, where Cook’s frozen ready meals are now on display. With food still rationed after the war, you queued up at the butter counter. Then the bacon counter, etc. Really quite a social occasion.       

My visit to Salman has set me rethinking how much the independent convenience stores enrich our community with their different individual characteristics. Our high street is not just a mirror image of every other high street. Changes have happened, of course, but with both the large supermarkets and the small, open-all-hours corner shops, we are blessed with an abundance of choice.

To contact DD with your thoughts or feedback, email dd@swvg.co.uk

In the fifth of a series of articles featuring images by the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, Anuraj Theivendram introduces well-travelled, long-distance member Hank Bishop

For this instalment, the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society (WWPS) is delighted to spotlight a remarkable photographer who, despite living thousands of miles away in the USA, has become an enthusiastic and valued contributor to our community: Hank Bishop.

Hank’s photographic journey is anything but ordinary. Before turning his eye to the wider world, he spent his career as a cardiologist, interpreting echocardiograms and performing cardiac catheterisations (or ‘catheterizations’ as Hank would spell it). This line of work demanded precision, close observation and an ability to read the stories hidden within images. As Hank explains, this lifelong habit of “looking closely, noticing details and appreciating the stories that images can reveal” naturally evolved into a passion for photography.

Travel has long been central to Hank’s life. Together with his wife, he has explored an extraordinary 56 countries, each journey deepening his appreciation for the diversity of landscapes, cultures and wildlife encountered along the way. Photography became the perfect companion to these travels; a way not only to document beauty, but to preserve the human warmth, fleeting moments and natural majesty that give each place its meaning.

Hank’s portfolio reflects this breadth of experience. His landscapes celebrate the scale and serenity of the natural world; his portraits capture the character and dignity of people whose stories might otherwise go untold; and his wildlife images reveal both the power and vulnerability of the animals he encounters. His work is thoughtful, observant and deeply connected to the environments he photographs, a continuation of the same sensitivity that shaped his medical career.

We are proud that Hank is part of our WWPS family, and we look forward to sharing more of his work with our members. If you would like to learn more about WWPS and what we do, please visit our website for details.

For more information on the Woodford and Wanstead Photographic Society, visit swvg.co.uk/wwps

The government’s plans to restrict the right to trial by jury to tackle the Crown Court backlog amounts to the quiet dismantling of British justice, says Stephen Davies of local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash

The Crown Court backlog stands at a record 80,000-plus cases, more than double the pre-pandemic level of around 38,000 (2019). Trials are now being listed as far as December 2030, and soon it will be beyond that. Victims wait years for justice. Defendants languish on bail or in custody, unable to get on with their lives. Yet instead of fixing the root causes, Lord Chancellor David Lammy MP is pressing ahead with proposals to curtail trial by jury for most ‘either-way’ offences (offences that can be tried either in the Crown Court or Magistrates Court). This is a dangerous distraction.

In 2021, the government falsely claimed the pandemic caused the backlog. The crisis was already exploding before COVID. Court closures and savage austerity cuts, particularly to criminal legal aid, resulted in the justice budget being slashed. In 2010, there were 923 courts. By 2019, just 628 remained, with most of those court buildings in disrepair. Crown Court sitting days (the number of days the Crown Courts are funded to hear cases) had fallen from 110,000 to 86,000. The backlog was rising fast.

Reports from the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Crest Advisory, the Institute for Government and the Public Accounts Committee all warned of the same thing: years of underinvestment had left the system on the brink. The pandemic simply poured fuel on the fire by suspending jury trials. Post-pandemic, a slump in court productivity has made it worse still and new cases continue to outpace disposals.

Scrapping or restricting jury trials for most cases will deliver statistically negligible relief. Leveson suggested a 20% time-saving without any evidence to back it up. In reality, it would free up only a fraction of hearing days while the real drivers – insufficient court capacity, crumbling buildings, lawyer shortages and endless new cases – remain untouched. The Institute for Government and legal experts have repeatedly said the same: this is not a solution to the backlog; it is window-dressing. What it will do is destroy public confidence. Jury trials are not a luxury. They are a constitutional safeguard that put ordinary citizens, not the state, at the heart of justice. Most people will only recognise the value of a jury trial when they have been wrongly accused of a crime. Karl Turner MP has warned the proposal to restrict them is undemocratic, unnecessary and ineffective.

Once you surrender jury trials, you will never get them back. This is not ‘modernisation’. It is the permanent weakening of the one institution that has protected liberty for eight centuries. The backlog demands more courts and more judges, not the quiet dismantling of British justice.

Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at 149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For more information, call 020 8514 9000 or visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk

This year’s Elmhurst Gardens Summer Family Fun Day will take place on 25 July.

Attractions will include a bouncy castle, competitions, stalls, face painting and refreshments. “This annual event goes from strength to strength. We always get positive feedback from the people who come, and the sun always seems to shine! We look forward to seeing you all again this year,” said Gwyneth Deakins, chair of the Maybank Community Association, which organises the day.

The free event (donations welcome) runs from 12 noon to 4pm.

After a life-threatening illness left her beloved Cavapoo Teddy fighting for survival, Lauren Juggler Crook turned to her community for help and was overwhelmed by an extraordinary outpouring of kindness

When our beloved Teddy collapsed, seriously ill at the start of May, our world fell apart. Teddy is a five-year-old Cavapoo, but he is so much more than a dog. After years of heartache trying to build our family, he became our baby. Every single bit of love we have is in him.

Within days of becoming ill, Teddy was admitted to the Royal Veterinary College hospital in an extremely serious condition. He had ingested something toxic and his stomach lining was severely inflamed and ulcerated. For two weeks he was on IV fluids, opioids, anti-nausea injections and seven different intravenous medications around the clock. There were days we genuinely didn’t know if he was going to make it. He missed his fifth birthday on 7 May. We missed him every single second.

The veterinary care he received was exceptional, but the bills were frightening. With costs expected to reach between £13,000 and £20,000, and our insurance covering £7,000, we were facing a potentially devastating shortfall. I have spent years fundraising for charities, helping raise tens of thousands of pounds for causes close to my heart, and I have never once asked for anything for myself. Setting up a crowdfunding page felt terrifying. Exposing. Wrong, somehow.

Teddy needed me to be brave. So, I asked. What happened next genuinely changed me. Within hours, donations began flooding in from friends, family, colleagues and complete strangers. People who had never met Teddy, who knew nothing of our story, gave generously and without hesitation. Messages of love and support arrived constantly, every single one read through tears. By the end of the first day, we had raised thousands of pounds. Ultimately, our community raised just over £6,000 for our boy. When we arrived at the Royal Veterinary College to bring Teddy home, we needed £3,500 to pay part of the bill before we could leave. That money was sitting in our account, put there by the kindness of people who simply wanted to help. We paid for Teddy’s freedom with love. I don’t think I will ever fully get over that.

We live in turbulent, uncertain times. There is so much division, so much noise, so much that can make you lose faith in people. It takes something like this to remind you that underneath all of it, human beings are fundamentally, beautifully kind.

Teddy is home now. He is gaining weight, responding to treatment and waiting for a final scan to confirm his ulcers have fully healed. He is our miracle. The people who helped bring him home are ours, too. To every single person who donated, shared or sent a kind word, you are our angels. Forever and always.

To support Teddy’s ongoing recovery, visit swvg.co.uk/teddy

South Woodford’s Summer Festival will return on 19 July, with George Lane partially closed to traffic for the event.

“From 11am to 4pm, George Lane will be transformed into a vibrant, safe, pedestrian-friendly celebration of community spirit and summer fun. There’ll be activities, market stalls, live music, face painting and a pop-up pub. It’s a great opportunity for neighbours to come together and really enjoy being part of South Woodford,” said a spokesperson for the SOWO

Society, which organises the annual event.

Following the May local elections, the Green Party now have five seats on Redbridge Council, with Kallan Greybe and Monika Patel becoming the first Green councillors to represent South Woodford

After campaigning to represent the people of South Woodford, we must reintroduce ourselves as two of your new councillors, Councillor Monika Patel and Councillor Kallan Greybe. With a turnout of nearly 50%, we are extremely grateful to everyone who voted for us! To those who placed their votes elsewhere, it is our duty to demonstrate through action and hard work that we are dedicated to improving local life for everyone. 

South Woodford has a diverse community of people with different needs and concerns. To address these, we will hold meetings with residents and have regular councillor drop-ins, where you can talk to us in person. Over the next four years, we will work closely with the community, prioritising our schools, transport and natural spaces.

South Woodford has many young people, for whom education is a top priority. Many families are struggling to get the help they need, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The processes currently in place are often confusing, with long waiting lists and very little information. As your councillors, we want to change this and make support for local children more accessible and available.

Additionally, we know changes to local bus routes have adversely impacted residents, so we will be exploring how to push to improve these routes. We also care about protecting our local natural areas. As signatories of the River Roding Trust and Epping Forest Heritage Trust pledges, we will always act to preserve and improve green spaces in the borough.

I (Monika) spent years working with and advocating for young people across the country, from teaching physics to working in sexual violence prevention. I am going to bring that same passion to the people of South Woodford. I want to make sure everyone gets the support they need.

From supporting young people for many years, I (Kallan) have seen first-hand the positive impact of community-led decision-making. That’s why I am focusing on improving the way we listen to local people. I am working hard to bring People’s Assemblies to South Woodford, so everyone has a say in the decisions that affect their lives. I believe in the power of dialogue and collaboration to solve our community’s challenges.

We know that being a councillor is more than just attending meetings. It’s working hard to listen to every resident, understanding different perspectives with kindness and collaborating towards meaningful solutions. This is how we commit to making everyone in South Woodford feel heard, valued and supported. And if you bump into us, come and stop for a chat; we are always happy to talk!

For more information on local councillors, visit swvg.co.uk/cllrs

Following the May local elections, Beverley Brewer was re-elected as a Labour councillor for South Woodford, alongside three other Labour councillors in Churchfields

Firstly, I want to thank everyone who participated in the local elections in May. In South Woodford, we had a record turnout; it is good to see people involved in local democracy. It is an honour to be elected to represent South Woodford, my home area, for the third time. I look forward to continuing to work with local residents, businesses and organisations to help improve our area.

I also want to thank everyone who supported me in my role as Mayor of Redbridge over the last 12 months, not least Joe Hehir, who was a fantastic Deputy Mayor and local ward councillor. He will be a hard act to follow. I am proud that we were able to raise £37,000 for my selected charities: Redbridge Foodbank, the Friday Evening Swimming Group and the Catholic Fellowship Disability Network.

I was pleased one of my first actions after the election was to respond positively to the consultation to re-designate the South Woodford Society as our local Neighbourhood Forum. I’m also pleased to hear that the vital work on South Woodford Library is on target for completion by September.

I will be doing all I can to ensure the manifesto promises I made during the campaign will be delivered by the council across Redbridge, including:

• £5.5m to upgrade CCTV and ANPR cameras to fight antisocial behaviour.
• New recycling wheelie bins for everyone.
• Opening up green spaces along the Roding.
• Creating 5,000 new apprenticeships and jobs for local young people.
• Instituting a 10-by-10 guarantee, ensuring every child in the borough achieves 10 key milestones by the age of 10.
• Building a new SEND-specific play space.
• £35m to further transform our local road networks and pavements, continuing to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike.
• Setting a target to cut violence against women and girls in half by 2034.
• And yes, Broadmead Road bridge must and will be rebuilt.

I will also work in close partnership with Calvin Bailey MP to ensure the government continues to improve its funding for our area. All South Woodford ward residents are very welcome to email me if there are council-related issues I can help with. And I will continue to hold surgeries on the second Wednesday of the month (except August) from 6pm to 7pm at The Salvation Army on Daisy Road.

For more information on local councillors, visit swvg.co.uk/cllrs

Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London and chairman of TfL, has replied to a letter from Woodbridge High School regarding long-ignored bus problems. Donna Mizzi reports

Woodbridge High School was invited to send a letter to the Mayor after its pupils from across Wanstead and Woodford suffered more than a year of severe bus travel problems. Last November, deputy headmaster Jeremy Clifton wrote and explained that the relied-on W12 buses serving the Woodford Green school had insufficient capacity, and were then replaced by even smaller electric vehicles!

Sir Sadiq Khan replied: “When making improvements to bus services, TfL must look across the whole network and ensure it is providing value for money. Occasionally, service changes are required on the bus network that may lead to changes to people’s previous journeys, but which will deliver an improved bus service overall. This was the rationale behind making the changes to the W-bus routes… Following the letter from Mr Clifton, TfL subsequently undertook surveys in the vicinity of the school. The results found buses to be busy but with no significant crowding problems on nearby bus routes.” The letter – which can be read in full online – also refers to the wider bus reorganisation and the closure of the Broadmead Road bridge.

But the Mayor’s recent survey was carried out ludicrously late. TfL’s public liaison officer said 14 months ago that the school’s bus situation would soon be surveyed. It wasn’t. Keith Prince, this area’s London Assembly Member (Conservative turned Reform), said at the beginning of 2025 that he would start a full, local investigation into the W-bus scheme and promised a survey at the school last autumn. Both never happened. Pupils say after 18 months of getting nowhere, and sometimes standing at stops in the freezing cold while full buses sailed past, they gave up. Many resort to alternative means of travel, including paying for the Tube instead of using their free bus passes or being ferried by parents.

Local residents say Sir Sadiq and TfL refuse to confront the stark problems created by the poorly devised W-bus reorganisation, imposed despite protests in September 2024. Nightingale Estate residents and elderly people on Snaresbrook Road still have no dependable hourly W14 bus to be able to reach anywhere, and have greater difficulty reaching Whipps Cross Hospital. The reorganised W-buses continue to be confusing and illogical.

Meanwhile, the dinky W12 bus frequently has insufficient capacity along its route. “Being able to get onto the W12 is a problem every day. Luckily, I can also get the W13 for my journey, but that’s no good for those at Woodbridge High,” said Wanstead High School student Maja Broker. In contrast, the W14 bus is oversized for the narrow roads of the Nightingale Estate. TfL has got the bus sizes of the W12 and W14 the wrong way round. On the myriad W-bus problems, residents say: we’ve seen it. Said it. And it still needs sorting.

To read Sir Sadiq Khan’s letter in full, visit swvg.co.uk/busletter

Redbridge Council has received government funding to pilot the use of pavement channels for electric vehicle owners who do not have off-street parking.

The channels will allow charging cables to run beneath the pavement, avoiding trip hazards and enabling access to domestic electricity tariffs. The council will cover up to £1,200 of installation costs through the Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel Grant. Additional fees are payable by the applicant, including a £315 application and license fee and a £500 bond.

Visit swvg.co.uk/channel