POLICE CONTACT POINTS

The recently closed Police Station in Kirkdale Road

With the closure of Leytonstone Police Station there is now no police station in the south of the borough.

Following the closure the Police are providing a contact point at Tescos in Gainsborough Road. Officers are present every Wednesday and Thursday from 6 – 8pm. and on Saturday from 2 – 4pm.

The only other local contact point is The Police Base, 593 Lea Bridge Road, E10 6AF. It is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 7 – 8pm, and on Saturday from 2 – 3pm.

The Neighbourhood Policing Teams telephone numbers are:

Cann Hall (020) 8721 2036.

Cathall (020) 8721 2767

Forest (020) 8721 2645

Grove Green (020) 8721 2640

Leyton (020) 8721 2037

Leytonstone (020) 8721 2874

For non-emergency calls the Police ask you to dial 101. However, for emergencies call 999.

BUSES W11 and W15 – RETURN TO PALMERSTON ROAD

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that works on the railway bridge in Palmerston Road have now finished, and they expect that the Palmerstone Road will re-open on Monday 8 December.

As a result routes W11 and W15 will return to their original route via Palmerstone Road from the first bus on Saturday 14 December.

There were requests from residents and businesses to keep route W15 on its temporary diversion once Palmerston Road was re-opened. This was looked at in detail, but keeping W15 on the temporary diversion and returning W11 to the original routeing could lead to overcrowding on route W11. Furthermore, route W15 is currently experiencing reliability issues on the diversion. Therefore returning W15 to its oeiginal route is seen as the preferred option.

TfL say that they will continue to look at some of the opportunities that were created by the temporary routing of W15, and the Liberal Democrats will keep you in touch with any developments.

RUCKHOLT ROAD – goes Dutch!

Waltham Forest Council is one of the few Councils, successful in their bid to Transport for London for ‘Mini Holland’ funds to radically improve cycling in the borough. One of the areas for improvement is Ruckholt Road.

At a consultation meeting in Leyton Library, Lib Dem Focus Team member, Bob Sullivan had a chance to discuss the plans with officers and residents. Overall the scheme looks innovative and will assist safer cycling in the area. Bob outlined many small changes that would improve the scheme for cyclists and residents. The main one was allowing a left turn from Oliver Road into Ruckholt Road. Blocking the left turn would only encourage vehicle rat running.

He also said that the present bus stop in Ruckholt Road by the library should not be moved to Warren Road. The area in Warren Road is constantly used by motorists to park and shop locally in the High Road.

He also felt that the two current CPZs need to be combined and the times of operation extended.

Bob says: My full list of comments and suggestions has been sent to the Council. This website will keep you informed of developments.

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN – update

Focus has had a massive response to our petition to get all our elected councillors to have a CRB check (now called a Disclosure and Barring Service – DBS).

Councillors are Corporate Parents to all our children in care and DBS checks should be for all not just a few.

Bob Sullivan says: If you want to click here to sign the petition. You may also see the team in the High Street collecting more signatures.

CRICKET GROUND – entrance shambles

Leyton Cricket Ground – new entrance

Thousands of pounds were spent on making a new entrance to the cricket ground off Leyton High Road well before the Olympics.

The Council made a big fuss about the improvements in the High Road, but three years on and the entrance has never been opened.

Lib Dems say: It is a scandal that having spent thousands in relocating the post-box, taking away the wall and spending thousands on a new smart entrance, it remains locked. The Lib Dems are determined to get it opened.

MORE WASTE- Campaigner Bob Sullivan with Labour WFN and glossy magazine

Bob Sullivan with copies of Labour-run Council propaganda

The Council continues to spend thousands on propaganda. The Government has said that 26 editions per year of the Council’s propaganda paper WFN, costing Waltham Forest taxpayers at least £500,000, should be reduced to no more than 4 editions. Labour has ignored this, using propaganda to cover up the Council’s failures. To top it all, they have gone on to produce a further 80 page glossy magazine costing over a £100,000.

Bob Sullivan says: The Council’s campaign ‘We Need to Talk’ is asking residents what they should do in order to make savings. Should Council Tax be used for propaganda?

PLANNING NEWS – 370/372 GROVE GREEN ROAD

370-372 Grove Green Road

A planning application has been lodged to demolish the existing buildings on the corner of Scarborough Road, and erect a three storey building with commercial use on the ground floor and 8 residential units (2 x 2 bed live/work flats, 4 x 1 bed flats and 2 x 2 bed flats) plus car and cycle parking.

Comments on this application should be sent to:

Planning Applications – Development Management
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Sycamore House,
Forest Road
Walthamstow
E17 4SU
020 8496 3000
dcmail@walthamforest.gov.uk

RESIDENTS WIN THE DAY

Grove Green FOCUS 264 featuring the petition

The Council is staging a full public consultation

Following parking petitions and concerns raised by local residents the Lib Dem Grove Green Focus Team carried out a series of street surveys to find out the views of all households in Grove Green Ward.

The responses revealed a dramatic increase in on-street parking in the roads near to the roads that had a Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ). Previously residents of these roads had voted against a CPZ in their road. But the increased parking problem in their road has forced them to rethink their decision.

The results of these surveys including a petition were collated and presented to the Council’s traffic engineers. Following these meetings the Lib Dem Focus Team and residents were pleased to learn that the Council has started a full public consultation with residents of the roads they feel are most affected. This is a large group of roads bordered by Leyton High Road to Francis Road and Hainault Road to St Georges Road.

The full consultation letter has been delivered to every address in this area. This should be completed and returned in the enclosed freepost envelope before the deadline on Monday 1st December.

The Focus Team urges everyone not to miss this opportunity of making your views known.

INNFLATION BUSTING PAY RISE!!

Waltham Forest’s Labour run Council has voted to give the Chief Executive of the Council  a whopping inflation busting pay rise of £15,000 – an 8% increase. 

This makes his salary £195,000! Even the Prime Minister only gets £142,000.  Labour councillors said it was reward for overseeing council cuts.

Given that the cuts were a loss of 1,000 jobs plus salary cuts to the rest of the council staff should this have been rewarded?

On top of that, Labour councillors voted to give the redundant deputy chief executive a massive £140,000 pay off.

You can be assured that the staff who lost their jobs did not receive any golden pay offs.
Can you believe the way this Labour Council spends your money. Last year they increased the Deputy leader’s pay by 25%.

Your money down the drain

Focus will keep on reporting the arrogant and wasteful ways that this Council spends your money.