Editor

Redbridge Liberal Democrats has launched a petition demanding the local community have a say in the future of the former bowls club in Elmhurst Gardens.

“Following the closure of the Bowling Club in Elmhurst Gardens, the council’s leisure agency (Vision) has been considering what to do with it. The Friends of Elmhurst Gardens have made some suggestions and some members of the public have commented to them, about a future use which could include such things as a nursery and a community café. We understand that Vision are now considering some bids – but no-one knows what they are for nor how they will be assessed. We have heard rumours that at least one bid would result in at least part of the site being turned into office accommodation. The danger is that the bid that offers them most money to Vision will be successful regardless of what local people want. We oppose the secrecy and lack of public involvement in this process,” said a Redbridge Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Gwyneth Deakins, Chair of Redbridge Liberal Democrats and a local resident added: “It is typical of this Labour Council to not even consider how this valuable piece of green space can be used. The local community have made some sensible suggestions on alternative uses of the area and they should not be ignored. It is entirely wrong to operate in this secretive way.”

The petition demands that the local community have a say in the award of the contract for the use of the bowls club and that community use is prioritised.

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Redbridge Council’s Principal Arboricultural and Horticultural Officer Peter Marshall heads up a team responsible for thousands of trees across the borough. With South Woodford’s felled trees being replaced in March, Peter explains the scope of his team’s work. Photo of Elmhurst Gardens by Geoff Wilkinson

Did you know Redbridge Council maintains 40,000 trees and 128 hectares of woodland in the borough? It’s a big job and takes a very special team from Redbridge Council to maintain it all.

The borough’s Arboricultural and Horticultural team – made up of specially trained staff –are responsible for the maintenance of the council’s 21,000 trees on the streets, 19,000 trees in parks, schools, housing and welfare sites, grass verges and shrubs on streets, and assisting with maintaining council woodland.

To ensure the trees stay healthy and cared for, my team carry out annual inspections of all street trees to recommend work to maintain them – and once every three years to recommend pruning work.

Inspections on the remaining council trees in parks, schools, housing, welfare sites and woodlands are carried out on a three-year rotation. Trees in the Wanstead and South Woodford areas are due to be inspected for pruning in 2022.

Trees are usually only removed when they are dead or decayed, in line with council policy. When pruning and felling is recommended, the work is normally grouped by borough wards and completed by the end of March the following year. My team normally fell a tree on the street to a waist-high stump and then return to remove the stump just prior to planting a replacement tree.

Planting is carried out between November and March, and planned street planting in Wanstead and South Woodford is aimed at being completed by March 2021.

In addition, there is also about 160,000 square metres – equivalent to 22 football pitches – of highway grass cut eight times a year, and 20,000 square metres of highway grass cut once a year as part of the Grow Zone project to create wild flower meadows in the borough to improve biodiversity. A quarter of these Grow Zones are in Wanstead and South Woodford.

Highway shrub beds – covering an area equivalent to seven football pitches – are also pruned up to twice a year, depending on the obstruction they may pose to pedestrians and vehicles.

Where weeds grow up in footpaths, kerb edges and shrub beds on the street, my team carry out a spot treatment with herbicide to control growth up to five times a year, as required.

We also work closely with the Neighbourhood Street Scene Engagement team on numerous community projects to spruce up the borough’s neighbourhoods. These have included:

• Installing railing planters and troughs outside schools and business.
• The spring bulb giveaway.
• Tree planting within schools.
• Community adoption of shrub beds and adopting street tree pits.
• Working with Trees for Cities, planting new trees in east Ilford and a new woodland near Seven Kings park.

Green spaces improve air quality, boost wellbeing and make the borough look and feel better. In addition, they can provide healthy spaces for wildlife to flourish.

Redbridge is one of the greenest boroughs in London, and we want to make the most of our green spaces so local people can enjoy them now and for years to come. To help achieve this, the council is currently working on a Green Urban Landscape policy that will create a plan for managing and improving council greenery across the borough.

For more information on the work of Redbridge Council’s Arboricultural and Horticultural team, visit swvg.co.uk/trees

While National Trust properties remain closed, Richard Speller, chairman of the charity’s Woodford and District Centre, is pleased to have launched the group’s programme of virtual talks

Like so many local and indeed national voluntary organisations, the Woodford and District Centre of the National Trust has suspended all of its activities for a year now, obviously due to the pandemic.

The centre has well over 200 members, most of whom are also members of the National Trust centrally. We endeavour to keep in touch with them regularly by email to assure them of our continued existence, but it has to be accepted that, due to the demographic nature of our membership, many do not have an internet connection. In February, we started a series of virtual talks, commencing with my own presentation on war memorials. It is our intention to continue these monthly, or even more frequently, until lockdown is ended and meetings are once again permitted.

It is worth remembering our centre normally has a varied programme of events, including monthly talks from September to April, autumn and winter London visits to places of interest, summer outings to houses and gardens, both National Trust and others, and an annual summer holiday. It is most certainly our intention to re-arrange all of these missed activities as soon as possible.

The Woodford and District Centre is one of many supporter groups around the country affiliated to the national organisation. We support the national charity by providing volunteers for National Trust properties and donating money to their projects. Over our centre’s 50-year existence, we have donated the best part of £200,000. During 2020, money was given to Wicken Fen for a thermal telescope, to Sutton Hoo (very topical with Netflix’s The Dig) for a wheelchair accessible sand tray and to Lavenham for tea room furniture, to name a few.

It is, of course, ironic that 2020 was the 125th anniversary of the National Trust, founded in 1895 with 100 members, paying 10 shillings and looking after four and a half acres in North Wales. The first president, the Duke of Westminster, told co-founder Octavia Hill: “Mark my words, Miss Hill, this is going to be a very big thing.” In 2020, there were almost six million members, caring for a vast number of places, from captivating castles to historic  houses and magnificent meadows and miles of wild and beautiful coastline.

Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus, all the properties are closed – although some grounds are open – and staff have had to be laid off and many projects abandoned. However, for those able, it is well worth visiting the National Trust website, where there are many virtual tours and stories.

The Woodford and District Centre will re-energise, take up where it was before and provide an educational, social and worthwhile service to the people of Woodford and surrounding areas.

For more information on the Woodford and District Centre of the National Trust, call 07774 164 407

Paul Kaufman, Chair of East London Humanists, introduces their March public event on climate change and explains what the local group is up to in the Covid era

Leo Barasi, acclaimed writer and speaker on climate change, will lead a discussion for our Zoom event this March. It takes place exactly a year after a meeting at Wanstead Library featuring Leo had to be cancelled due to Covid. A lot has changed in that year, but addressing human-created climate change remains more urgent than ever.

In his book The Climate Majority, Leo argues that the battle to convince people that climate change needs to be tackled is largely won. The battle now is against the apathy which allows those with power to avoid taking the action necessary. He will examine how this can be overcome and what lessons we can learn from the way governments and people have reacted to the pandemic.

Our group was initially reluctant to hold events on Zoom. We miss the conviviality of meeting in person. On the plus side, Zoom is now familiar to many and enables our reach to extend far beyond Wanstead and South Woodford. For example, our January event featured the editor of The Freethinker speaking from Spain, joined by human rights activist Leo Igwe speaking from Nigeria. We look forward to resuming more sociable events, but in the meantime, Zoom helps us thrive.

Our activities involve more than just staging events. Last year, we celebrated Relationships and Sex Education being made compulsory in state schools. This follows 50 years of campaigning by Humanists UK and marks a historic moment in children’s rights. Our group contributes to the working party for the new curriculum in Redbridge. All children have the right to an education that helps keep them healthy, happy and safe, and we will continue to campaign against the ‘opt outs.’

Another campaign concerns Census 2021, which takes place on 21 March. It includes the leading question ‘What is your religion?’ This falsely presumes we all have a religion. It leads many to say they have a religion when they have no religious belief. They simply name the religion in their cultural background. Underestimating how many are not religious results in unfair provision, for example, of non-religious pastoral care in hospitals, prisons and the armed services, and helps perpetuate anachronisms such as compulsory daily acts of Christian worship in schools. We urge those who are not religious to simply tick the ‘no religion’ box.

The last year has seen its fair share of conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccers, intolerance and backward thinking. It remains as important as ever to have groups like ours which promote values based on evidence, reason and kindness.

The East London Humanists’ virtual discussion on climate change featuring Leo Barasi will take place on 15 March from 7.30pm. For more information and to take part, visit swvg.co.uk/elh

A Community Sponsorship group made up of five churches in the Redbridge and Waltham Forest area – including St Mary’s Church in South Woodford – has successfully helped relocate a Syrian refugee family in the Wanstead area.

“The family have moved here, to safety, as part of an initial scheme to resettle a limited number of refugees from the Syrian conflict… We have received so many generous donations of household items, volunteers’ time and money to pay for the family’s essentials,” said a group spokesperson.

A new community group has been established to offer a free 12-week cycling and walking programme in Ray Park and Fairlop Waters, beginning this Easter.

“The project aims to bring outdoor activity to adults in the local community who are currently inactive… The project aims to not only develop friendships in the community but also to provide an insight into nature conservation and the delights to be found at both sites,” said a spokesperson for the Redbridge Active and Social Community Group.

The group is a partnership between Cycling4You and Vision RCL.

Email redbridgeascg@gmail.com

Some South Woodford scribbles from DD, our resident diarist, commentator and observer of all things local

So, lockdown continues as I write this! There are plenty of “Thou shalt nots” to be wary of: not sitting on a park bench, not breaching the two-metre gap, not entering a shop unmasked, and so forth. (Boris, Moses-like, comes down the mountain at regular intervals with a new set of commandments.) But taking exercise is OK. Indeed, recommended. But only locally. Round the familiar streets and parks and woods. My grandmother (the one who survived the 1918 flu pandemic) often used to say that “every picture tells a story”. When you’ve lived here all your life, as I have, every street tells a story, every park, every bit of woodland. Why not come along and exercise with me?

I’m climbing Grove Hill. I was born here in a small maternity home. I enjoy the wide variety of houses. I was once employed as a cleaner in one of the more imposing ones. During the school holiday. I was not amused when ‘the lady of the house’ told my mother I was “rather slow”. I bet her parquet floor never gleamed as brightly before I got my hands, and knees, on it. I’m nearing the top of the hill now. Looking rather tenderly at a small house where lived another lady who became part of my life. She gave me a hand when our children were two months and 22 months old. They loved her, and clearly their love was requited. Decades later, her own grown-up children rang me out of the blue. “Please come and sit with Mum. She is dying. She is frightened.” What a privilege. What a challenge. I couldn’t recall that any conversation their mum and I had previously shared ranged much wider than topics like potty-training and Playdough. But when someone is in distress (“I wish I’d been a better person,” she confessed), you do your best, don’t you?

I’m approaching the narrow footbridge over the motorway. Sometimes, I used to wait on the bridge to watch for my son getting off the 123 bus after school. If he was alone, we could walk home together. If he was with his mates, I would disappear smartish, so as not to embarrass him. On one occasion, as I stood looking down at the speeding traffic, I was approached by a stranger who asked: “Are you OK? Can I be of any assistance? Would it help to talk?”   

We can continue down towards the High Road now on a narrow track called Willow Path. Sheltered visually by trees and shrubs, but not audibly: the cars still roar along on your left. We are passing Craig Gardens, stirring up memories of my aunt and uncle who lived there for some years. Crazy but wonderful was the feather game we all played with them at Christmas. Sitting in a circle on the floor with a sheet drawn up under our chins and all blowing like mad in an attempt to keep the feather airborne. Tears of laughter. Essence of family.

We enter Hillcrest Road. Our first address after we married. What a debt I owed to those four lovable teenagers who materialised when our first child was born. “Can we take your son for a walk in his pram?” Had they arrived from just up the road, or from Heaven? It was the beginning of countless walks, park visits, even shared trips to the seaside. In fact, when I was upstairs in labour with our daughter, our son was having tea with “the pals”. They were the first to hold the newborn baby, excitedly updating her brother. “You’ve got a baby sister now!” “Yes,” he replied. “And I’ve got a new red toy car.”

We are soon crossing over the High Road to George Lane. My diary has already covered so many events and people I’ve witnessed there over recent years: the robed barrister fresh from Snaresbrook Crown Court, stooping to recover the vegetables tumbling from an elderly shopper’s inadequate plastic bag; the U3A volunteer gardeners bent double on our behalf in the flower beds; the key cutters and tattooists, the hairdressers and beauticians, the estate agents and sandwich-makers. I much regretted the closure of the Treasure Chest, with its huge stock of really useful home stuff. Next door to Fiori’s the greengrocer, also a serious loss at the time. I can still hear Peter’s resonant voice demanding everyone’s attention to the wonderfully succulent strawberries we mustn’t miss. One day, his hand was all bandaged up. And his head too! “What’s been happening?” I asked. Apparently, he had cut his hand badly and waited so long in casualty that he fainted and fell, cutting open his forehead as well. He ended up with more stitches in his head than in his hand. “Are you going to sue them?” “No, of course not. No-one’s to blame. They were just very busy.” I was sad to see Dave the butcher shut up shop too. Churchill’s, it was called. He said he’d “had an offer he couldn’t refuse”. He gave me one of his red-handled carving knives as a memento.

Round the corner now, past Barclays, into Glebelands Avenue. I don’t think I ever told you about my undignified tumble on the ice a few winters ago. That pavement is always rather unpredictable but I swear the slope gets steeper under the snow. My legs shot forwards and the rest of me shot backwards. I sat there, feeling somewhat ridiculous, not to mention rather sore. “What are you doing down there?” A voice from behind me. Two gentlemen. They took an arm each and I was back on my feet. “You’d be better off at home, I think,” the voice continued. “Come on, let’s get you into my car.” It was the boss of the Wood Oven. “D’you know where she lives?” asked his colleague. “I certainly do! We catered for her 70th!” I was chauffeured to my front door.

That’s enough exercise for today. It’s time for a cup of tea.

DD would like to hear other lockdown stories from local residents. Click here to take part.

Permitted development rights in place since 1 September 2020 allow homeowners to extend upwards without planning permission. But it’s not without obstacles, says Derek Inkpin from solicitors Wiseman Lee

As ever in life, the devil is in the detail, and specialist advice is required if you plan to extend your home upwards. One big no-no is if you have a house built before 1948 (and therefore much of the local area), this relaxation will not apply to you and planning permission will still be needed.

Under the new rules, and subject to height restrictions and pitch of roof, if your house is built after 1948 you can extend your home up to two storeys to contain new flats on top of the existing structure. Extensions on existing extensions are not possible under the new rules and your property will not qualify if you live in a conservation area.

Despite government encouragement to build flats and communal buildings in urban areas on top of existing buildings, the law nevertheless steps in to ensure certain measures are followed. Thus, if you are a freehold owner of a block of flats, you could be up against a number of issues, including:

The rights of existing tenants under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, with the right of first refusal to the proposed development.

Breach of a landlord’s obligation to provide quiet enjoyment to the existing leaseholders, who may take legal action if the development is without their consent.

Party wall matters.

Overage when selling a building which has a potential for roof space development could result in a substantial payment to the seller if the development proceeds.

Issues with collective enfranchisement (the right to collectively seek the acquisition of the freehold and the right to manage), which is protected in law.

Insurance and health and safety issues.

Service charge issues.

Dealing with existing telecom masts.

Dealing with who owns the air space. Get this wrong and the leaseholders affected could halt the development.

A good firm of urban architects will be required and a structural engineer to make sure the existing block is strong enough to support the development. And then comes all the legal work involving all the parties affected and their mortgage lenders. All achievable, but strong determination, hard work and a substantial financial outlay will obviously be required if success is to be guaranteed.

Wiseman Lee is located at 9–13 Cambridge Park, Wanstead, E11 2PU. For more information, call 020 8215 1000

Members of the South Woodford Business Forum met virtually in February to discuss local business support.

“We had a very constructive meeting attended by business owners along with councillors, the vicar at Holy Trinity Church and Redbridge Council officers. We discussed the support available to businesses, the challenges they face and the need for a strategic plan to help the high street bounce back,” said a spokesperson. The next meeting is scheduled for 13 May.

Email southwoodfordbusinessforum@gmail.com   

Redbridge Council is proposing to install new electric vehicle charging points (EVCPs) on streets across South Woodford.

“The main objective of the proposed on-street EVCPs is to support the transition to cleaner cars. As the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030, the council is working on providing sufficient infrastructure to meet demand,” said a spokesperson.

A total of 36 EVCPs are proposed for the west of the borough.

A consultation runs until 18 March.

Visit swvg.co.uk/evcp

The wheelie bin roll-out begins in South Woodford this March. The scheme will keep streets cleaner and encourage more recycling, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride

Some residents may already be familiar with Redbridge Council’s new wheelie bins through a pilot of 7,000 households across the borough last year, which included some nearby streets in Wanstead.

The pilot was a success, with results showing that 75% of participants noticed less rubbish spilt around their property on collection day, helping to improve the surrounding environment. Up to 67% of respondents found it easier to use wheelie bins than rubbish sacks. There was also a 13% reduction in household rubbish and an average of 4.2% increase in recycling in some areas.

Wheelie bins are now being rolled out across the borough and South Woodford residents can expect their new bins to be delivered in March. All households that receive a kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service will be provided with one new, free, dark-grey 180-litre wheelie bin for the collection of their rubbish. This new bin will replace the current rubbish sack collection and residents should place their rubbish sacks in the new bin. Your rubbish and recycling collection days will remain the same and you can start to use the new bin straight away.

The wheelie bins should keep our streets cleaner by allowing residents to store and contain rubbish securely, helping prevent animals from ripping sacks, reducing split sacks on collection days and, ultimately, reducing littering and clean-up costs. Wheelie bins are also intended to encourage residents to recycle more to maximise space in their bin, and reduce the volume of waste thrown away. To make the service as effective as possible, we want residents to use the bin provided, but we also understand some households may need an alternative size – smaller and larger bins can be requested by completing a form on the council’s website.

Privately owned wheelie bins and dustbins cannot be emptied as part of the new service. Rubbish will only be collected from Redbridge-issued wheelie bins. We want to be fair to all residents, so we want everyone to use the same size container. Also, our collection vehicles may not work properly or safely with other bins. So, we will be providing details of a bin amnesty, giving residents the chance to have privately owned wheelie bins disposed of free of charge. Cylindrical-style dustbins cannot be collected as part of this amnesty. These can be taken to Chigwell Road Recycling and Reuse Centre.

Redbridge currently disposes of around 22m rubbish sacks each year, which costs £18m. We also collect the fifth-highest amount of rubbish in England. Wheelie bins will increase the efficiency of collections, helping to save money that could be spent on other services like schools and social care.

For more information and to request a different size bin or to take part in the bin amnesty, visit swvg.co.uk/bins