Lion and Key dates back to 1300

Lion & Key - 2010

Many of you who have seen the Lion and Key pub will be taken aback by its architecture.  It is a locally listed building.  The good news is that having spoken to the Councils Planning department, the facade is to be retained.

Lion & Key on the right of the picture during reconstruction in the 1890sThe pub is regarded to be the oldest in Leyton and was possibly present in 1300, although the first documentary evidence is a possible record of 1579. It closed in 2009.

The picture at the top is the current Lion and Key building.  The one to the right is the current building being built around the end of the 18 hundreds.

LION & KEY – another local pub going!

The Council has received a planning application for the Lion & Key public house on the corner of Leyton High Road and Church Road – ref 2010/1344.   The Lion and Key has been closed for some time.  It has had various owners who have tried to make a go of it but obviously failed.   

The planning application is to turn the pub into a ‘Support and Living Centre’.  This will include 9 self-contained flats ( 7x 1 bed, 2×2 bed ) together with the erection of part first and part second floor extensions, and installation of a dormer window and 4 rooflights. 

More information on what a Support and Living Centre entails will be given when we get that information.

Local pubs are closing fast.  Apart from the Lion and Key many other local pubs in the area have closed.  The Oliver Twist, the Three Blackbirds, The Four Finches, The Hollybush and the one in Park Road that was opposite Riverley School, the name has failed me at present.

What with mobile phones, facebook and other social communications, people prefer to communicate and socialise by telephone and internet other than face to face in public houses.  The access of cheap beer at supermarkets has not helped.  Pubs are closing at a fast rate and our area is no exception.

Please note Planning applications received by the Council can be viewed at the councils reception at Development Management, Sycamore House at the back of the Town Hall Complex, Forest Road, Walthamstow E17 4JF between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.  A duty Planning Officer will be available between 10am and 4.00pm to explain the plans and answer any quries.  Any objections need to be made before 14th of November to the above address.

Latest FOCUS NEWSLETTER number 322

As always we have a Focus Newsletter full of important local information ready for you to read.   Apart from delivering this to all households in Leyton Ward, you can access it by clicking on Focus 322 below.  

Unlike other parties who only contact you at election time we do it all year round.

You can rest assured our Focus Newsletter keeps you updated on a regular basis and is the best way of finding out what we have been doing and what is going on locally.

This edition contains information about:-

Leyton Festival Fiasco

Oliver Close

Beaumont Estate new build delays

ASB in Coronation Gardens

DVD sellers causing havoc in Witham Court

Possible CPZ extensions

Squatters in Church Road

Leyton Library renovations

and much more including all our contact details 

DOWNLOAD A COPY HERE:- FOCUS NEWSLETTER NO 322

Coronation Gardens

Due to the continuing anti social behaviour in the Coronation Gardens area, the police and the council have brought in a ‘Dispersal Order’. 

This means that two or more people hanging around can be ordered away from the area and if they return within 24 hours can be arrested.  Dispersal Orders in the past have been successful in discouraging large groups of youths hanging around in the area.                             

LEYTON LIBRARY – update

The refurbished Leyton Library, which should have been fully opened early this year, is still not complete.  Cllr. Bob Sullivan and the Lib Dems have been informed that the lift works have now started and they expect to have all the areas of the Library ready by mid December.  The 17th to be exact.

LEYTON’S GIANT CAR PARK

Residents to the north of Leyton Underground are fed up with the lack of parking in their area.  The Leyton Focus Team has continually pressed the Council for action.  They have been informed that the area is on a list to be considered for consultation for a controlled parking zone (CPZ) this year. 

If something is not done soon Leyton’s streets will become a giant car park for the Olympics.

Beaumont Estate new build and others delayed

John Laing Partnership, the building contractors for London & Quadrant housing association (L&Q), have gone bust. 

Building works half finished and planned for the Beaumont Estate, Claude Road, Murchison Road and Whitehouse Estate have been put on hold awaiting new contractors.

L&Q say that they are confident that there will not be any material affect to their building programme overall.

Cllr. Bob Sullivan says:  This is a big set back to our local housing needs, we hope that it won’t take too long for L&Q to get started again as we need new housing.

LEYTON FESTIVAL – expensive fiasco!

Last month the Council put on a so called ‘Big Weekend’ Leyton Festival at the cricket ground for two days and forgot to tell residents that it was on.  No local groups or nearby residents were told, so it was not surprising that not many turned up.   The cost of this fiasco was £100,000.The Labour Council has been going on about the cuts it has to make to get its budget under control, but can still mismanage and waste thousands of pounds.

Councillor Bob Sullivan was surprised, when trying to organise a local ‘Funday’ in June at Brooks Farm and Skeltons Lane Park, to be told that the Council had no money or people to help with the Funday.

They also failed to mention any festival or the £100,000 it was planning to spend on the ‘Big Weekend’ in September.Before making cuts to front line services the Council needs to get a grip on wasting tax payers’ money.

London City Airport expansion plans

HURRY – two day left to give your views on City Airport expansion plans

Are you affected by flights from London City Airport? Many Leyton and  Leytonstone residents have told the Liberal Democrat Focus Team that they have noticed a difference in the number of noisy flights passing overhead. The flight paths from the airport were changed last year to direct more planes over our area.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Bob Sullivan and the Leyton FOCUS Team are reminding local residents that there are just two days left to complete the London Assembly’s survey into the environmental impacts of the expansion of London City airport. The survey won’t take long to complete but will help ensure that local people’s voices are heard by the London Assembly and Mayor of London.

You can fill in the survey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YNDKMXS.

The survey will close on September 30.

Click here (www.london.gov.uk/city-airport) for more information about the investigation into London City Airport being carried out by Lib Dem Assembly member Mike Tuffrey (www.tuffrey.com) and other members of the London Assembly Environment Committee.

LIB DEMS GET BACK COUNCIL SEAT FROM LABOUR

 Following the local elections in May, a member of the public who works for the Office of National Statistics, noticed an error while checking the results of the poll online back in May.

He realised that the total number of votes was higher than was actually possible, considering the number of eligible voters in the ward.

Four months later after the Liberal Democrats had petitioned the court for a recount of the High Street Ward, the courts on the 8th September declared the correct election result. Liberal Democrat candidate Mahmood Hussain is now the new Liberal Democrat councillor for High Street ward.

The court confirmed that the Council had made a serious mistake at the election count on 7th May by adding 1,000 votes to the Labour candidates’ total.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Bob Sullivan congratulates new Cllr Mahmood Hussain with Nigel LouthLiberal Democrat Group Leader, Bob Sullivan, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Mahmood Hussain to the Liberal Democrat Group on the council. At last the people of High Street ward have the councillors that they voted for. The council’s mistake at the count should never have happened. It cost local taxpayers thousands of pounds in legal fees and deprived local residents of the representatives they voted for.”

New Councillor Mahmood Hussain said:

“It is an honour to be elected to serve the residents of High Street ward. I will do all I can to stand up for the interests of local people and make sure that their needs are not ignored by the Labour council.

There are lots of issues to take up, including the future of the EMD cinema, looking after Walthamstow market and local services and pressing Labour to come clean on its plans for the Arcade site. I will work with residents to improve safety and security in the area and to protect and improve the local environment.”

Mahmood Hussain has lived in Walthamstow for the past 27 years and has always taken a keen interest in the local community. He works locally and is a trustee of a Walthamstow based charity.

It makes you wonder, but for an eagle eyed resident this error would have gone unnoticed.  What other errors could there have been?