Drapers Field sell off!

Drapers Field - facing destruction

Lib Dem Group Leader Councillor Bob Sullivan was interviewed by the BBC on 7th January about the Lib Dem campaign to save Drapers Field.

Waltham Forest Council intends to rent the playing fields to the Olympic Delivery Authority for nearly two years, to concrete it over and use it for a laundry and storage area. This is despite the fact that Drapers Field is used by over 100,000 people a year and nearby Norlington School uses the playing fields four times a week for sports activity.

The council is so embarrassed about the situation that it stopped any filming in front of the Drapers Field sign. 

“This shows that Labour just wants to sweep this issue under the carpet and avoid scrutiny of their decision. In the run-up to the Olympics we should encourage young people to take part in sport – not take away one of the few playing fields and open spaces in the area”.

Labour has still failed to come clean about their plans for Drapers Field after the Olympics.  They say they will consult residents, although they talk about Drapers Field becoming a ‘super park’ there are also current plans which show housing on part of the grounds.

A report to the Leyton & Whipps Cross Community Council gave a clear picture of what is being planned by the Olympic Delivery Authority:

Proposed use of Drapers Field

It will become an Olympic Village Operations and Support Area – provision including catering support, laundry, deliveries and general maintenance.

Site operation

There will will one main temporary tented structure in the centre, surrounded by smaller temporary buildings. The area will be surrounded by a 4.6 metre weld mesh fence.

The all-weather pitch due to be destroyedVehicle access from Temple Mills Lane.

Public Consultation

This was scheduled to take place in November 2010. The Council has not said how far this will be circulated. The Liberal Democrat FOCUS Teams will make sure that local people are kept informed, and urge everyone to make their views known.

Planning Application

A formal planning application was expected in January 2011 – now delayed

Outline Programme

September – December 2011:

The AstroTurf pitch, fencing and floodlighting will be removed. Existing topsoil will also be stripped and removed. Destroying facilities that have cost almost £1.5 million to provide, just over ten years ago.

Whole area will be covered in tarmac, temporary drainage and lighting installed.

January – May 2012:

Construction of temporary buildings etc.

May – October 2012:

Village Support Area in operation on a 24-hour basis.

October – December 2012:

Temporary facilities removed and site prepared for legacy works.

December 2012:

Delivery of legacy scheme commences.

There is no indication when the site will be made available for public use, or indeed what facilities will be restored.

 Liberal Democrat Petition

Our petition to Save Drapers Field is still running. Liberal Democrat Councillor Bob Sullivan will be presenting it to the Planning Committee. You can sign up on line at:

http://ourcampaign.org.uk/DrapersField

Please encourage your friends and neighbours to support this historic site. Paper copies of the petition can also be printed if you would like to collect signatures to support the campaign.

Residents in call for new pillar box

Local people are calling for the pillar box to be reinstated in Francis Road, where it was previously located outside the local post office.

The Post Office was closed some years ago, despite a vigorous campaign led by the Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team. To add insult to injury, the post box was also removed.

Local campaigner Paul Olford says: “As predicted, the demise of the Post Office has seen the decline of Francis Road. Residents are right to want the Post Office back to help stimulate the retail area. Soon it will be like a ghost town.”

Residents to lose out again!

The Council has set up a new department – ‘Residents First‘.

It’s first move was to axe all the local Community Councils. They replaced them with Ward Forums, which appear to be merely an extension of councillor surgeries.

Now they are considering closing the Waltham Forest Direct (WFD) shops  across the borough. The WFD shops, popular with local residents, are where they can get information, advice, visitor parking permits, and get their housing and council tax benefits sorted out without going to Walthamstow.

Maybe they should have called the department ‘Residents Last’!

Planning News – Glyn Hopkin site in Ruckholt Road

Good news – The Planning Committee rejected the plan to re-develop the Glyn Hopkin Nissan showrooms on the corner of Ruckholt Road and Oliver Road was refused by the committee.

Residents in the area will be delighted that the plans to build up to six stories of flats with little parking was thrown out.  This is the second time the plans have not been accepted. 

Ward Councillor Bob Sullivan said: “I hope that the developers will go back to the drawing board and come back with plans for family houses with parking spaces and not loads of one and two bed flats.”

Labour’s Attack on Sports!

Despite all their proud boasts that Waltham Forest is an Olympic Borough, and with hire charges overall increasing by 3 to 5%, hire of sports facilities is set to soar:

  • School hire of football and cricket pitches – up 12%
  • Saturday pitch hire – up 23%
  • Leyton cricket ground – up 25%
  • Running a school sports day – up 25%

This is on top of selling off Drapers Field to the Olympic Authority for nearly two years. This is a direct attack by Labour councillors on sport in direct contrast to their claim of ‘more investment’ in sports.

Leytonstone Fire Station – update

Architects impression of the new fire station 

FOCUS reported plans to redevelop the Fire Station in High Road Leytonstone.

An online report by the Waltham Forest Guardian confirms that funding has been approved. This will see the existing buildings demolished, and replaced by a modern facility as part of a £60 million scheme to rebuild fire stations under a private finance initiative. The scheme is due to start late next year, with Leytonstone being part of the second phase.

The fire engines and staff will be relocated to other local stations while the work takes place. A London Fire Brigade spokesperson is reported to have said, “Temporarily transferring fire engines to different stations during construction will not lead to a reduction in our service and allow us to maintain good attendance times.”

Leytonstone High Road to get a ‘facelift’

As you may have heard, after having been left out of the first round of pre-Olympic ‘sprucing up’ funding, High Road Leytonstone has now been allocated £2 million.  

The plans, extending from the Green Man through to the Thatched House, can be viewed on the Council’s website at: www.walthamforest.gov.uk/traffic-schemes  

Local campaigner John Howard was pleased to see, at last, there is a proposal to demolish the disused public toilets in Kirkdale Road  

CHURCH LANE – he queried the removal of the turning circle and the apparent disappearance of the public car park, while a proposal still remains for a ‘play area’.  

The Council has advised that this plan is to be redrawn to show continued access to the car park.  

The Plaza showing the distance between the sculpture and the flowerbed   

THE PLAZA – John questioned the suggestion to reroute the road to run between the sculpture and the flowerbed. Regular users of this area will know that there are aften more than one bus at each bus stop, and the W16 drivers have a break before returning to Chingford. Additionally, the vehicle access routes to the car park and the LT building were not shown. 

He has now been advised that London Buses supported concerns about the reduced road layout on The Plaza, and a site meeting was being convened to resolve the problem.  

The FOCUS Team is watching developments.

Primary School place shortage

As the Liberal Democrats warned in March Waltham Forest faces an explosion in demand for primary school places and a shortfall in school places.Across London more than 5,000 primary school pupils could be in temporary classrooms in the 2010/11 school year, according to London Councils. The BBC yesterday reported about a pupil from Walthamstow who had been rejected by the seven schools closest to her home.This will continue to be an important issue for our area.

Labour very slow in appointing to City Airport watchdog

Local Liberal Democrats have discovered that Waltham Forest went unrepresented at an important committee discussing flights from London City Airport because it took over six months to appoint the council’s representative.

This is despite local residents’ concern about the noise and disturbance caused by flights from London City Airport, which have increased since changes to the flight paths used by aircraft . Residents have expressed serious concerns recently following  a near miss at the end of July  between a Boeing 777 flying into Heathrow and a Business jet leaving London City.

Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Havering Council’s were invited to appoint a councillor to sit on the London City Airport Consultative Committee in a letter sent by the committee’s secretary on 21st January 2010.The invitation was issued after Liberal Democrat councillor Farooq Qureshi put forward a motion to Waltham Forest Council about the expansion of London City Airport in October 2009. As a result of the motion the council wrote to the consultative committee requesting representation on behalf of local residents affected by flights from the airport.However the name of the council’s representative, Cllr Clyde Loakes, only emerged last month (August). The council has missed two meetings since the invitation was issued on Tuesday 13th April and on Tuesday 21st July.Even if the appointment had to be delayed until the results of May’s council elections were known this does not explain why no appointment was made in time for July’s meeting.

Drapers Field – UPDATE Labour council plan ‘secret’ meeting

Drapers Field – MEETING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 13th 6pm till 8pm

The Olympic Authority and the Council are going to hold a drop in meeting at Drapers Field on Monday 13th September 6.00pm to 8.00pm.  It will be held in the Sport England pavilion next to the astro turf pitch. 

Apparently the Olympic Authority/Council will explain what they intend to do with Drapers Field when they close it down from September 2011 to December 2012.

Secret meeting–  This initial meeting has only been notified to the residents around Drapers Field.  They obviously believe that only local residents are concerned about the loss of the only sports and leisure facility in the area.  We have only found out by local residents telephoning us.

MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN – If you are concerned about what is being planned for Drapers Field then please go to the meeting and make your views known.

 Other Draper’s field news : – Bob Sullivan and John Howard had a useful meeting with two representatives from Sport England on Friday morning.

Sport England has poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into local sport facilities, including Drapers Field and Score. Sport England is concerned to make sure its investment is protected and that the conditions attached to its grants are not broken. It also has a statutory duty to protect playing fields. The representatives told us that their starting position is to oppose any loss of playing fields unless the facilities are re-provided.Both Sport England and the FA believe there is a demand for playing pitches in the area.The local Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign to protect local sports facilities, not just at Drapers Field but also when the future of other sites such as the Pool and Track in Walthamstow is considered. We already know that the Pool and Track appears on Labour’s ‘hit list’ of possible property disposals.