Following on from the very successful Resident Ward Forums your Liberal Democrat ward councillors, Bob, Naheed and Winnie, have arranged for the next meeting to be held on:
7.00pm to 9.00pm
On the agenda will be a report back on the locally agreed projects, Olympic traffic management and parking, local police and any other local issues.
We held the second Ward Residents Forum meeting at the Cricket Ground last week. This meeting continues to be popular with local residents, as a lot of them turned up. We had to book the large hall for health and safety reasons as there is a limit as to how many people the Pavillion can hold.
I chaired the meeting and Cllr. Naheed Qureshi took the minutes. Unfortunately Cllr. Winnie Smith was on holiday so missed out. There was a presentation on the Councils Library Review by Lorna Lee, the libraries officer. In contrast we did have a table with a ‘Save the Harrow Green Library’ petition. A bit cheeky, but we felt that a lot of people who were campaigning in the Harrow Green area needed our support.
We then had the local Police report back as to what has been going on locally. We now have one sergeant in charge of both Leyton and Grove Green wards. The police did hand out a complicated chart of incidences in the area. I will try and get a summary of the major crime figures and report back.
There were 4 applicants for a place on the Cricket Ground Committee. Three addressed the meeting as one of them did not turn up. Each resident had one vote and by a large show of hands local resident Peter Towler was elected. Well done Peter.
I updated everyone on the applications for betting offices in the area, as there had been a big upsurge of bookmakers turning shops and pubs into betting offices. This was followed by list of suggestions as to what we can spend the £10,000 grant money on. These will be worked up and reported back for decision, probably in November. If anyone has further suggestion, then they need to contact me, Naheed or Winnie.
The open forum where any resident can bring up any query, problem or explanation of what is going on in our area ended the meeting. Any questions that could not be answered would be investigated and reported back through the minutes of the meeting. The minutes will be available on the Councils website.
The next meeting will be probably be in November. We will notify the actual date in our FOCUS newsletter and on our websites.
If you would like to help and get involved in local issues then do not hesitate to contact me.
Liberal Democrat councillors this afternoon attended a briefing by the police and council officers at Waltham Forest Town Hall about the recent disturbances.Speaking after the briefing at Waltham Forest Town Hall –
Liberal Democrat councillor for High Street ward Mahmood Hussain said:
“I have spent much of the last two days talking to local shopkeepers and residents affected by the violence. Over 50 businesses have been affected in central Walthamstow. It is shocking to see so many people’s hard work destroyed. I have been impressed with how people are working together to put things right.”
Cllr Winnie Smith (Leyton ward) has also been talking to and visiting businesses and residents in Leyton.
Cllr Farooq Qureshi (Forest ward) added:
“These people don’t have a political message. Looting a Lidl and smashing restaurant windows is not going to sort out any of the problems that residents face. At the end of the day it is local people who will lose jobs and income as a result of this criminal behaviour.”
Cllr Liz Phillips (Cann Hall) said:
“The police have assured us that there will be more officers on duty tonight. The council has been working to remove debris and potential weapons from the street. It is important that parents know where their children are and that everyone take responsibility for calming the situation.”
Over 60 Leyton residents packed the meeting room at the Score Complex on Oliver Road to attend our first Leyton Ward Residents’ Forum meeting on 19th May 2011. This was the first of such meetings following the Labour Councils scrapping of the Community Council meetings.
Items on the agenda included presentations from Council Officers regarding works in the area in preparation for the Olympics and from the local Safer Neighbourhood Team; further information on how to elect a representative from the area onto the Leyton Cricket Ground Management Committee; Suggestions on how to spend £10,000 in the area and an open Q & A session where you could ask your local councillors about anything you like!
Local Councillors Winnie Smith, Bob Sullivan and Naheed Qureshi were delighted by the huge turnout (much higher than in other wards in the borough) and the positive response from Leyton residents.
Residents should note that we are in the process of collecting YOUR ideas on how to spend £10,000 in the area! If you think you have an idea on how the money can be spent to improve the area or the lives of those living in it and would like to let us know – please contact us immediately!! or collect some forms at Leyton Library and Seddon Centre Clyde Place/Beaumont Road.
We will be discussing this matter further and giving you the opportunity to comment on suggestions received at our next meeting in September!
Finally, if there is anything you would like to see on the agenda of our next meeting please let us know. These meetings are for your benefit and any input from you will be welcome!!
Click below if you want to see the minutes of the meeting –
The local election in may for councillors in High Street ward has had to be recounted as a council officer seems to have given all the labour candidates an extra 1,000 votes. A bit unfair to the Liberal Democrat councillors who came second and lost their seats.
The error was discovered completly by accident, by a person who was checking the results and reported to the Council that the votes did not add up.
The Liberal Democrats had to petition the court for the votes to be recounted.
The votes were recounted in a court overseen by a judge. Unfortunately the result of the recount must also be declared in a court.
The result will be declared on the 8th of September at the Royal Courts of Justice, where we hope that another Liberal Democrat councillor will be elected to Waltham forest council in place of a Labour candidate.
Some residents have said that only by pure accident these votes were identified, what other votes could have been miscounted? We may never know!