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Local councillors are continuing discussions to bring a Post Office back to South Woodford.

“Senior council officers are working with the Post Office to secure a location. We are in regular contact, but no site has been identified as yet. We have another meeting with officers in September and will have further updates after that,” said Councillor Joe Hehir.

The George Lane Post Office closed last year, and the subsequent temporary Post Office in The Galleria closed earlier this year following a number of robberies.

Redbridge Council has trialled the use of eco-friendly road asphalt in South Woodford and Wanstead.

“Containing 15% recycled content, the new asphalt mix is produced at a lower temperature leading to reduced emissions during the manufacturing process and less virgin material used, leaving behind a lower carbon footprint,” said a spokesperson.

The road resurfacing programme – delivered in partnership with Kenson Highways – included Ashbourne Avenue, Cadogan Gardens, Charnwood Drive and Colvin Gardens.

Elmhurst Gardens in South Woodford is one of nine parks in Redbridge to receive the Green Flag Award this year.

Founded in 1997, the annual award is an internationally recognised marker of high-quality parks and green spaces.

“These flags are a huge honour and a great tribute to the hard work of our parks team at Vision, as well as the local people and volunteers who contribute so much to making our parks places we can all be very proud of,” said the Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Jas Athwal.

Redbridge Council has announced £180,000 of funding for the autumn 2022 round of its Community Crowdfunding programme.

Groups can receive up to £10,000 from the fund to support their community projects.

“Alongside our partners Spacehive, the council will provide you with support to develop your initial idea, right the way through to launching your project,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/cc22

Cattle grazing has not returned to Wanstead Park this year because of the drought conditions.

It follows an assessment by the City of London Corporation’s Grazing and Landscape Project Officer, who determined there simply wasn’t sufficient vegetation to support the cows. The situation is to be monitored in the coming months, and if sufficient moisture enables vegetation growth in the autumn, the cows will return later in the year.

English longhorn cows first returned to the park in 2020. 

A consultation on London City Airport’s expansion plans is open until 9 September.

“South Woodford is facing the prospect of more flights from City Airport at weekends and in the early mornings and late evenings. The airport argues only quieter, cleaner aircraft will be used during these hours. However, the aircraft are only significantly quieter on departure and within four miles of the airport. So for Woodford, that difference is negligible,” said a spokesperson for campaign group HACAN East.

Visit swvg.co.uk/lca22

Redbridge Council has ringfenced £830,000 of funding to support a package of flood defence measures across the borough over the next few years.

“The money will be used to introduce flood alleviation schemes in areas previously seriously affected by flooding, and ensure the borough’s risk management and surface water management plans remain up to date. A range of sustainable drainage systems are also being designed for areas affected by the flash floods in July 2021,” said a spokesperson.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited Elmhurst Gardens on 29 July to see a new air quality node in action.

Mums for Lungs Redbridge secured the monitor for the park earlier this year.

“Its readings have already shown that levels of air pollution by the children’s playground frequently breach legal limits. This is thought to be due to passing traffic from the North Circular, which borders Elmhurst Gardens,” said Lydia Fraser-Ward.

esidents can view the monitor’s hour-by-hour readings online.

Visit swvg.co.uk/egair

Residents are continuing their fight to stop the proposed construction of a four-storey block of flats adjacent to – and with access to – Crescent Road in South Woodford.

A decision on City Plumbing Ltd’s planning application was originally due in February this year, but this has now been delayed until 30 September at the earliest. If approved, the development will include 18 residential units. “We will not let up in our campaign to stop this from taking place. City Plumbing Ltd has already shown its contempt for residents by destroying part of the green corridor between Crescent Road and the Raven Road Industrial Estate… We hope and expect the council to respect the rules set out in their planning regulations and reject this application,” said Terry Rumak of the Save Crescent Road Action Group.

Visit swvg.co.uk/crescentrd

A consultation over plans to build two linked blocks of flats on part of Snaresbrook Station Car Park launches on 7 September.

TfL has previously announced they will be closing the car park to allow development.

“We are holding three consultation events for residents to take part and find out more. We have two online events on Wednesday and Thursday 7 and 8 September. We also have a drop-in event, being held within Wanstead Library on Spratt Hall Road, on Wednesday 7 September (between 4pm until 7pm),” said developers Pocket Living.

Visit snaresbrook.communityuk.site

PCSO Anis Mahar is the new Dedicated Ward Officer for South Woodford. With almost two decades of experience, he is keen to engage with the wider community to solve local problems

I have served as a PCSO for 18 years, having been appointed by the Met in 2004. I am now a Dedicated Ward Officer for South Woodford.

I started up my job with the antisocial behaviour team in Newham, and when Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNT) were formed, I was one of the first SNT PCSOs, posted to Green Street West ward for two years. Safer schools teams were then formed across London to tackle youth-related issues, and I was part of Newham’s team between 2008 and 2015. As a Safer Schools PCSO, my role was to give lessons and inform pupils on topics such as bullying, gangs, knife crime, extremism and sexual offences. I would also patrol outside schools and provide a presence within the school premises to be visible should any concerns or issues arise. It allowed the children to talk to me in a trustworthy and approachable manner.

An opportunity arose in the Newham Youth Engagement Team as a volunteer police cadet (VPC) PCSO, which I took. The goal and ethos of the team was to run junior and senior sessions at different primary and secondary schools to divert vulnerable young people away from the streets to stop them being victims or perpetrators of crime.

I ran the Met Police Junior Citizen scheme twice a year, advising young children how to stay safe on the streets after school hours, and in case of an emergency, what preventive steps could be taken to thwart any untoward incidents (by shouting for help and running away from dangerous situations to the safest places to seek police help).

I was nominated, along with my team, for the Commissioner’s Excellence Award 2020 in recognition of my service to youth engagement and the VPC scheme.

I am currently based at Barkingside Police Station as part of the South Woodford SNT, which is led by Inspector Noori and Sergeant Atif Shaikh. As a Dedicated Ward Officer, I am here to provide quality, community-oriented service to businesses, faith venues and residents. I am working towards solving ward priority crimes by engaging with local councillors, faith leaders, ward panel members and community leaders, utilising all the tools available from one of the best police services in the world.

There is a policing necessity to identify vulnerable areas for women’s safety across Redbridge, and South Woodford SNT is committed to tackling these forms of crime in a timely and robust manner.

If you are the victim of any crime, please contact the police. Do not suffer in silence. We are here to help you. In case of emergency, always dial 999. If it is not an emergency, call 101 or get in touch with us by email.

To contact the South Woodford SNT, email sntji-south-woodford@met.police.uk