Save the Granada (EMD) Cinema

Lib Dem councillors Bob Sullivan and Mahmood Hussain at the Planning meeting

Last week I went along to the Planning Committee as they were due to discuss the UCKG Church’s planning application to turn the old Granada Cinema  in Hoe Street, into a church.  My colleague Councillor Mahmood Khan was due to speak to the committee as his ward includes the cinema.

The Committee normally sits in the Town Hall but was transferred to the nearby Assembly Hall.  A good job too, as hundreds of people from the Church and the local residents turned up and packed the assembly hall.  Hundreds were locked out as there was not any more room inside.

Liberal Democrat councillor Mahmood Hussain told Waltham Forest’s Planning Committee that the council should refuse the planning application submitted by UCKG to turn the EMD Cinema into a religious assembly hall.  He said:

“The key questions can be summarised very simply. Does the proposed development respect the building’s heritage and listed building status? Is the impact on the area and particularly on nearby residents acceptable? Does the proposed development contribute satisfactorily to the regeneration of Walthamstow Town Centre? On all three counts I believe the answer is no.

“This view is shared by an enormous number of local residents. Our borough has hundreds of places of worship of all types and sizes. But it does not have a single cinema. We have clear evidence that the building is potentially viable as a cinema, arts and entertainment venue.

“This would bring new life to the area and stimulate the local economy – unlike the proposal before you. The proposed changes to the building would destroy much of what is special about this unique building, which is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved cinema buildings in the country.

“Residents would suffer from the absence of a proper noise management scheme and from parking problems generated by cars descending on the area from miles away.

“For the sake of Walthamstow please listen to local people, weigh up the planning merits of the case and refuse the application.”

Speaking after the decision to refuse the planning application both I and  Councillor Hussain said we were delighted that the Planning Committee had listened to the arguments put forward by objectors.

“This is good and important news for Walthamstow Town Centre but it is only one step forward. Following two planning refusals and endless discussion we hope UKCG will now abandon their plan. We must allow those who are able to bring the cinema back into use the chance to realise the cinema’s true potential.”

COUNCIL BACKS LIB DEM CALL TO SAVE THE CHEQUE

Waltham Forest Council has backed a Liberal Democrat campaign to ‘Save the Cheque’.

At Thursday’s (12 May) council meeting councillors voted for a motion which called on the banking industry’s Payments Council to halt its plans to abolish cheques.

Liberal Democrat Cann Hall councillor Liz Phillips, who proposed the motion said:

“Hundreds of thousands of people write cheques every day. Over a billion cheques are chased every year. Small businesses, charities and many residents – especially older people – rely on cheques to conduct their day-to-day transactions. It is wrong that the banks plan to abolish cheques when it is clear that people want to use them for years to come. I have had a massive response from Leytonstone residents who will be affected if cheques are abolished.”

The Liberal Democrats are particularly concerned about the effect on older people and the housebound. One local resident wrote to Liz Phillips:

“I write as a full time carer. My husband is very disabled and I can only get out four hours a week for shopping and all other things. How can I pay the bills without cheques?”

Internet payments are not an alternative for the nine million people in Britain who have never used the internet or for those who are concerned about internet fraud. The abolition of the cheque will lead to more people carrying and storing large quantities of cash, rendering them more vulnerable to theft.

Charities will also suffer. Lib Dem High Street councillor Mahmood Hussain, who seconded the motion, told councillors:

“As a trustee of a small local charity, 80% of the donations we receive during our fundraising come in by cheque. If cheques are abolished many small charities like mine will struggle.”

Don’t forget – Thursday 19th May – Residents meeting

Following the axing of the very popular Community Councils, your Liberal Democrat councillors,  Bob, Winnie and Naheed are setting up a new residents forum, so that local people can have their say and find out about what’s going on in the area. 

The first meeting is on  THURSDAY 19th MAY at the SCORE CENTRE in OLIVER ROAD, opposite Leyton Orient Football ground, STARTING at 7pm and ending hopefully at 9.00pm.

Please put the date in your diary.  I will be publishing the full agenda nearer the date.

If there is any subject that you would like to be discussed at the meeting – then contact me or one of the Lib Dem Focus Team and we will try and get it on the agenda.

Have your say and find out what is going on in the area – ALL RESIDENTS WELCOME – see you on the 19th.

Parking nightmare for Leyton and Waltham Forest residents

Parking in Leyton has reached a point where residents’ are continually unable to park in their road or in some cases near their road.

Meanwhile the Labour Council continues to agree plans for multi flats that have little or no parking facilities and seem reluctant to consult with residents about a residents’ parking scheme.

Supposedly the Council has a policy of encouraging family housing, but the Council seems obsessed in agreeing to developers building more and more flats – what hypocrisy!

Residents of Leyton and Waltham Forest do not want more flats – they need family housing with adequate parking included in developments.  It is about time the Council listened to them!

Leyton Mills Safer Business Panel meeting

POLICE3Recently my ward colleagues Cllr. Naheed Qureshi, Winnie Smith and I attended the Leyton Mills Safer Business Panel.  It was held at Asda in Leyton Mills.  It was chaired by Police Sergeant Sarah Brewer and the Safer Neighbourhood Team, along with representatives of the shops and businesses in Leyton Mills.

It was noted that the problems with the DVD sellers and the gambling had virtually disappeared now that the Police are there every day.  There were presentations about preventing crime in the area and discussion about the affects that the Olympic Park would make on the shopping area.  It was agreed that it was important that all the shops and police shared information.

I asked about why the boarded up shops that were next to Asda and opposite TKMaxx had not been let or opened up.  Apparently when they were built there was no space planned for air conditioning in the units and a total lack of a delivery area for the shops.  Unless someone can come up with an innovative plan, then they will remain boarded up.  What a waste!

Anyone who currently visits Leyton Mills shopping area now, will notice that they will not be harassed by illegal DVD sellers.  Although they occasionally are seen popping back to check if the police are still there.  The Eastern European card trick people have also gone away.  Hopefully never to return.

There is another meeting scheduled for the Autumn.  If there are any issues that you would like to bring to our attention about the Leyton Mills shopping area – don’t wait for the Autumn, please get in touch with me or Cllr. Naheed Qureshi or Cllr. Winnie Smith.

Oliver Twist Pub – crumbling wall

The Oliver Pub showing damaged wall

Residents recently contacted me about the crumbling wall at the side of the Oliver Twist pub on the corner of Oliver Road and Church Road.   The pub has been derelict for some years awaiting planning permission to develop it into flats.  The wall and fence at the side by the beer garden has started to crumble (see picture)  and looked in danger of collapsing.  I contacted the Council, who investigated.  In their opinion they agree that it is crumbling, but was not unsafe.  They will continue to monitor the situation and in the meantime have written to the owners.

A great day was had by all

The kissAfter about five hours I have just finished viewing the wedding of Kate and Wills.  A fabulous spectical of British tradition.  The threat of rain did not materialise and the weather turned out dry with a bit of sun.

The whole thing loooked like a scene from a Walt Disney film.  Fantastic!  I thought that Kate looked stunning and Wills looked great.  The mass of people were genuinely enjoying themselves.  I hope that the happy couple go on to have a long and happy life together.

SAVE OUR CHEQUES!

 

There is a move by the banks to get rid of cheques in a few years time.  They say it is expensive for them to process cheques.  Maybe they should look at reducing their bonuses first before  reducing their services to the public.

Not accepting cheques would be a big blow to pensioners and those that are housebound.  The Liberal Democrats have mounted a campaign to stop the phasing out of cheques.

Three Lib Dem MPs – Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Business, Innovations and Skills, Lorely Burt, together with her parliamentary colleagues MP for Cheadle, Mark Hunter and MP for Bradford East, David Ward has been leading a campaign to prevent the phasing out of cheques.

Commenting on the delivery of a ‘save the cheque’ petition to No 10 in March, Lorely Burt said:

“Last year alone there were over one billion cheque transactions which shows just how widely used this form of payment still is. For tradesmen and small business, cheques are an essential method of payment as other methods can be expensive to administer.

“For many older or vulnerable people, particularly pensioners or those who are housebound, cheques are a necessary alternative to keeping wads of cash under their pillow and leaving themselves at a greater risk of theft and burglary.

“Our petition has received support from thousands of people from all across the country, of different ages and walks of life. Today we’re calling on the Government to acknowledge that banks have a social responsibility to serve and protect their customers, and that retaining cheques would mean little or nothing to banks but a great deal to millions of their customers who still rely on them.”

Many national organisations have joined the Lib Dem campaign including Age UK, Which?, RNIB, and The Federation of Small Businesses. All have grave concerns that the banks’ decision will hurt the most vulnerable, charities and many small businesses who rely on cheques.

My fellow Liberal Democrat councillors will be bringing this issue to the Council to get cross party support for the campaign. 

You can join the campaign to save our cheque by signing the on line petition at: http://ourcampaign.org.uk/saveourcheque

Next Thursday – Your chance to make YOUR vote count!

On Thursday 5th May you will get the chance to choose a fairer voting system – the Alternative Vote. It’s a small change that will make a big big difference.  Instead of putting one X in a box you will be able to rank your preferences 1,2,3,4 etc. – simple.  

The new voting system will keep what is best about our current system by the link between an MP serving their local constituency – but strengthens it by making MPs work harder to get elected and giving voters more of a say.

This is because, with AV, MPs would now have to aim to get more than 50% of the vote, and so will have to work harder and represent more of their constituents.  The AV system will change this.

Here are 10 good reasons for supporting AV.

1. AV will force MPs to work harder to earn – and keep – our support

MPs need to secure a real majority of voters to be sure of winning, not just the 1 in 3 who can currently hand them power. They’ll need to work harder to get – and keep – their jobs.

2. AV will give us a bigger say on who our local MP is

Forget tactical voting – just pick the candidate you really want to win. But if your favourite doesn’t win you can still have a say.

3. AV will tackle the ‘jobs for life’ culture in Parliament

Too many MPs have ‘safe’ seats for life. We saw that in the expenses crisis. The AV system will change this.

4. AV is an upgrade on our current voting system

AV builds on the current system, eliminating many of its weaknesses, retaining its strengths and strengthening the link between MPs and their communities. Voters still have just one vote.

5. AV will keep extremists out of politics

AV is the anti-extremist system because candidates have to secure a real majority to be sure of winning. First Past the post enables candidates to win with a very small percentage of the vote, which means extremist parties such as the British National Party have more chance of being elected despite most people in an area opposing them. This is one of the reasons why the BNP is opposing AV.

6. AV lets you vote for who you really want

Forget tactical voting- just pick the candidate you really want to win. With AV you can back just one candidate (like now), or if you’d like to, state a second choice, or even a third choice. Voters can vote for what they really want so there is no need to vote tactically.

7. AV gives control to more voters

Less than 2% of voters decided the last election. To be sure of winning a seat with AV, candidates will have to get over 50% of the votes in that area. They will have to work harder and not just take us for granted.

8. AV will force candidates to positively engage with the wider community

First Past the Post has created a culture of complacency whereby most MPs know they can just rely on their core vote. AV rewards politicians who can reach out to a widest range of voters. Politicians will need to engage more constructively with more people if they want to be sure of winning.

9. AV is already used by 14m people in the UK

Alternative Vote (AV) is a widely used and trusted system in Britain outside public elections, because it is used by businesses, charities, trade unions and membership organisations

10. This referendum is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to have our say on the current system

MPs have been deciding their own rules for far too long. This is the first time that voters are being given a say on the system we should use to elect MPs.

This is YOUR chance to have YOUR say and to demand more from our democracy.