A couple of Thursdays ago a resident got mugged in the street.  His friend went to Leyton Police station but found the station closed.  He went to Walthamstow and then to Chingford.  They were also closed.  This was between 9.00am and 10.30am!  He was told that Wanstead was closed and that the nearest Police station open was in Ilford.  The resident was astounded that he could not contact the police about the serious matter of a mugging.

I contacted the Police and have been told that the opening hours of some police stations in the borough have been temporarily altered in order to deploy as many police officers as possible onto the streets.

However, it seems that it is not ‘some’ but all of the police stations in Waltham Forest  have had their opening hours reduced and temporarily closed.  I hope that this is temporary measure and that the closures do not become the norm.

We have manged to get a look at what has been planned for Drapers Field. 

The Masterplan (above) shows that the all weather pitch will be re-sited and there is inclusion of some beach volleyball play areas.  Maybe the Council is thinking of re-applying for the £100,000 lottery money that it had to return last year when they made arrangements to give the site to the Olympic Authority for warehousing space for the Olympics.

Below is a closer look at the planned beach volleyball area:

For a closer look click on this link to the Masterplan: Drapers Field – masterplan

The planning application by the Olympic Development Authority (ODA) to use Drapers Fieldis still to be submitted to Waltham Forest Council’s Planning Committee.  News is that it will go to the Planning Committee in August.  The information regarding how much compensation that the Council will get, through what is known as section 106 and section 111, has still to be finalised.

The money received will be used to improve Abbotts Park, Marsh Lane and of course Drapers Field.

 The good news is that the money allocated to Drapers Field  will be to re-instate the all-weather pitch and introduce new landscaping, access, and community sports facilities.  This is good news, as previously there was no mention of the all-weather pitch, or sports facilities being replaced, only that Drapers would be turned into a ‘special park’.

The other not so good news I have been hearing, is that the ODA want to chop down two mature trees so that they can get access to the field by their lorries.  I have followed this up and this is being challenged by council officers in the tree department who feel that access can be achieved without chopping down the trees.  I will update again when I receive any further news on this.

The Council, in partnership with the Waltham Forest Guardian, is running a design awards scheme for 2011.  They are looking to recognise and reward quality design.

I would like to put forward this building as the worstdesigned building in Leyton.  This is in Ruckholt Road, sandwiched between the iconic Leyton Library and a row of Victorian houses.  The design does not relate to any of the nearby architecture, but is just a plain dull block of flats.

Considering its position on a prominent corner, housing the Library and the Old Town Hall, you may wonder how the Council agreed it to be built.  I can only assume that in their rush to get more flats built, as they have been doing, they allowed this monstrosity to be built without caring about the design and impact on Leyton.

Following wide spread objections to the banks being given permission to get rid of cheques, including the Lib Dem motion to Council some months ago.  We can now report back that the objections were successful as the proposal to get rid of cheques has been shelved.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to all the local people who signed the Lib Dem petition to save the cheque. Being able to pay by cheque is especially important for our small businesses, community groups and older people here in Waltham Forest.  Cheques remain a popular way to pay for millions of people across the UK. Over a billion transactions were made by cheque last year alone. This is a great victory for people power and common sense, and proves that the banks cannot afford to ignore the views of their customers.”

Last March a plan to redevelop the Glyn Hopkin Nissan site was refused by the Council.

Well, the Council has received another planning application 2011/0876.

This plan comprises the erection of a 3 to 6 storey development of 1000 square metres of artist studio space, 116 residential units (31 x 1 bed, 54 x 2 bed, 21 x 3 bed and 10 x x4 bed).  There will be semi-basement parking for 53 cars.

If you have not been contacted by the Council on this plan then you can send in your comments to: 

The Development Manager, Sycamore House, Waltham Forest Town Hall, Forest Road, Walthamstow, E17 4JF 

The next Leyton Residents Forum will be held at the Leyton Cricket Ground on the 7th September from 7.00pm till about 9.00pm.

My councillor colleagues Naheed Qureshi, Winnie Smith and I were overwhelmed by the amount of people who attended the Residents Forum we held at the Score Centre in May.  We intend to continue the format of reporting back about what is going on in our area.  The presentation on the Olympics went down well.  There was a lot of questions on this and of Police matters, which were answered by our local safer neighbourhood police.   Everyone seemed satisfied with the meeting. 

The September meeting will include voting on a resident to sit on the Cricket Ground management committee, an update on suggestions in spending the £10,000 budget, consultation on the Councils plan for local libraries, betting shop update, police report back and the usual residents’ forum for voicing you queries.