Church Lane Car Park, Leytonstone

A report into car park provision across the borough is to be considered by the Cabinet on 14 June

The Church Lane car park, adjacent to Leytonstone Underground Station is said to be only 43% used, but since there is no suitable on street parking in the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), the report recommends that the hours of operation and maximum stay times should be reviewed to encourage maximum usage. It is likely that charges will be reduced.

Games Area in the car park!!

Strangely, the report also recommends that a ‘multi utility’ area be included in the car park. FOCUS was shocked to discover that this is an area for basket ball, football etc. The Liberal Democrats believes that such a move would certainly not encourage more drivers to use the car park. In fact, it might have the opposite effect!

 Additionally, a similar scheme has already been rejected when it was proposed at the Leytonstone Community Council.

Surely, it would be far better to locate this facility at the Pastures Youth Centre in Davies Lane, where supervision is available.

Please let the Liberal Democrats know your views.

You can also contact us via this website.

Report on Library Service

The Liberal Democrat were shocked to see that a report on the Library Service, due to be presented to the Cabinet on 14 June, includes the proposal to close both Harrow Green and South Chingford Libraries.

The report recommends that Leytonstone, Leyton, Walthamstow and North Chingford be designated Library Plus branches – open 7 days a week and offering some additional services that were previously available in the Waltham Forest Direct shops.

While Hale End, Higham Hill, Wood Street and Lea Bridge will become Library Local branches, open for 30 hours a week.

Providing that this report is agreed by the Cabinet there is expected to be a 12-week consultation period between June and September.

Whatever your views the Liberal Democrats urge you to respond to the consultation to make sure that the Council has the fullest possible picture of the feelings of local residents.

It is understood that a further report, taking into account the consultation, will be submitted to the Cabinet in October.

Make your voice heard!

Drapers Field – planning application received!

Drapers Field to be closed to the community for at least 16 months

A planning application has finally been lodged with the Council for the temporary use of Drapers Field as a service centre/store for the Olympic Village.

The application number is: 2011/0623, and comments can be made online at the Waltham Forest website, or by post to the Planning Officers at the Town Hall.

Local residents have been very concerned about what the Labour Council has in mind for the reinstatement of this historic playing field when it is returned in 2013.

Kinnear Landscape Architects were commissioned to develop improvements, and their plans will be subject to a public consultation event to be held at Drapers Field on Tuesday 14 June, between 3 and 7 pm. Council officers and the design team will be present.

Don’t miss this opportunity of seeing what the Council has in mind, and making your views known.

LABOUR COUNCIL’S DECEPTION!

The local Guardian newspaper has highlighted the amount of taxpayers’ money that the Labour Council is spending on campaign propaganda. Is this a smoke screen to hide their cuts to services?

In a poll by one national newspaper Waltham Forest was judged the highest spender on propaganda in the country.

The budget Councillor Bob Sullivan put forward on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group in opposition to the Labour budget showed many areas of savings including the saving of £250,000 by getting rid of the political campaigning and putting that money into respite care for children and families.

The reduction in respite care will cause much anxiety to the families who desperately need respite care for them and their children.

The Liberal Democrats were the only party to oppose the Labour budget – the Conservatives did not put forward any alternative budget, but spent time praising the Labour leader of the Council! So much for Tory opposition.

LIB DEM CLLR MAHMOOD HUSSAIN URGES REJECTION OF CINEMA PLAN AND WELCOMES DECISION

Lib Dem Councillors Mahmood Hussain and Bob Sullivan with local residents at the Planning Meeting

Liberal Democrat councillor Mahmood Hussain on Wednnesday 18 May told Waltham Forest’s Planning Committee that the council should refuse the planning application submitted by UKCG to turn the EMD Cinema into a religious assembly hall.

Councillor Hussain, who represents High Street ward which includes the EMD Cinema site, 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 Councillor Hussain said he was 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 I 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.”

LABOUR COUNCILLORS REJECT LIB DEM NHS REFORM PROPOSALS

Labour councillors at Thursday’s full council meeting (12 May) rejected Liberal Democrat proposals to reform the NHS and Social Care Bill – which is currently on ‘pause’ in Parliament while the government consults.

Liberal Democrat Leyton councillor Bob Sullivan said:

“I am disappointed that the Labour party hid behind tired old slogans rather than taking the opportunity to seek to improve the NHS Bill. Given the choice between a superficial slanging match and constructive debate, local Labour councillors will choose the slanging match every time.”

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Bob Sullivan welcomed the parts of the Bill which reduce NHS bureaucracy and give more control to the patients but said Liberal Democrats were concerned by the Bill’s emphasis on competition and its commissioning proposals.

The Lib Dem Group set out a series of measures that would improve the Bill, including:

  1. No decision about the spending of NHS funds to be made in private and without proper consultation
  2. The ruling out of any competition based on price to prevent loss-leading corporate providers under-cutting NHS tariffs, and to ensure that healthcare providers ‘compete’ on quality of care.
  3. New private providers to be allowed only where there is no risk of ‘cherry-picking’ which would destabilise or undermine the existing NHS service relied upon for emergencies and complex cases,
    and where the needs of equity, research and training are met.
  4. NHS commissioning being retained as a public function.
  5. The continued separation of commissioning and provision of services to prevent conflicts of interests.
  6. An NHS, responsive to patients’ needs, based on co-operation rather than competition, and which promotes quality and equity not the market.

The proposals are in line with Liberal Democrat policy agreed at the party’s Spring Conference in March.

Unfortunately the Labour party voted down the proposed improvements in favour of a motion which contained no specific response to the current consultation exercise.

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.”

Waltham Forest Direct (WFD) Shops Closing

Leytonstone WFD - one of 3 closing before the end of August

The Liberal Democrat Council Group put foward a proposal at the Council’s budget setting meeting which would have protected the continued funding of all four Waltham Forest Direct shops. Regrettably this was voted down.

At their meeting on 11th May, the Labour Cabinet has approved plans to close the Waltham Forest Direct (WFD) shops in Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford. They will be closed by the end of August.

It is understood that there may be plans to offer some services at local libraries instead. Although details have yet to released – we will update the information as it becomes available.

The only WFD shop to remain is in Walthamstow, which the Council say is a central location in the borough.

Parking nightmare for Waltham Forest residents

Leyton ward Liberal Democrat Councillor Bob Sullivan reports that 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

Recently the Leyton Ward Liberal Democrat Councillors Naheed Qureshi, Winnie Smith and Bob Sullivan attended the Leyton Mills Safer Business Panel. It was held at ASDA in Leyton Mills, and was chaired by Police Sergeant Sarah Brewer of 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 effects 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.

Bob Sullivan 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 Councillor Bob Sullivan or Councillor Naheed Qureshi or Councillor Winnie Smith.