News (Current)

For news archive, click here: News archive
You can also find more news by reading the latest minutes here: Minutes
 

20th January 2012
Changes to library hours announced

Starting on Monday 23rd January 2012 the opening hours of Hale End Library (Highams Park's library in Castle Ave) will be as follows:

Hale End library
Monday CLOSED
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday CLOSED
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday CLOSED

For more details and for details of the opening hours of the other LBWF libraries then click here: LBWF - Libraries

If you've been following the debate on library hours throughout 2011 you will remember that residents were consulted by the library service as to which of three patterns of opening hours they preferred. The three patterns were denoted as A, B and C. The pattern that has been adopted matches none of these patterns but is probably closest to "B" which was the most popular choice.
 

16th September 2011
Proposed boundary changes split Highams Park

The Boundary Commission has published (13SEP11) its proposals for new Parliamentary Constituency boundaries for the election of MPs. The recommendations are due to be put before Government in 2013 (for the expected 2015 General Election) and the Commission is requesting comments on the proposals by 5th December 2011. The changes impact Highams Park.

The timing of the release of the proposals means that the Forum has not yet had a chance to debate them at a meeting. The comments below are just some initial observations.

Parliamentary Constituencies are formed by grouping together a number of wards. The boundary of what we consider to be Highams Park does not fall neatly along ward boundaries. Instead it is contained, to varying extents, within 4 wards:
1) Hatch Lane Ward (HL)
2) Larkswood Ward (LW)
3) Hale End and Highams Park Ward (HEHP)
4) Chapel End Ward (CE)

The groupings (current and proposed) are (using the ward abbreviations shown in brackets above):

CURRENT constituencies
(HL)+(LW)+(HEHP) = Chingford and Woodford Green. Sitting MP = Iain Duncan Smith
(CE) = Walthamstow. Sitting MP = Stella Creasy

This means that, currently, nearly the whole of Highams Park is within one constituency, the exception being a small area south of the River Ching in Winchester Road in (CE) ward.

PROPOSED constituencies
(HL)+(LW) = Chingford and Edmonton
(HEHP)+(CE) = Walthamstow

This means Highams Park will be split across two constituencies. For example, the station will straddle the constituencies, with the northbound platform in one constituency and the southbound platform in the other. Whether this split is a problem or an opportunity will doubtless be the subject of debate.

The grouping of the Chingford wards with Edmonton wards also seems a little arbitrary especially since the Commission's own document states: "In considering how to group London boroughs, we noted that the River Lee forms a natural boundary".

Maps showing the proposed boundaries (and the wards) can be seen here:
London - maps

The full report for London can be read here:
London - full report
 

7th September 2011
Tesco nuggets from CWF meeting

The following nuggets of information were gleaned from a presentation by Tesco representatives at last night's (6th Sept) Community Ward Forum meeting. Those residents not present may be interested. In no particular order:
- 1st social/affordable housing will be handed over January 2012
- Homezone housing will be complete March 2012
- Store will open late 2012
- If PCT is not taken forward (due to NHS changes) £800k will go to LBWF for health spending
- Home delivery service will not operate out of the store, so no additional vehicle movements
- On a peak day there will be 4-5 articulated lorry deliveries to the store
- A lot of vehicle movements will take place during the excavation of the store's basement car park
- The car park will allow 3 hours free parking even if not shopping in Tesco
- There are expected to be 200 new jobs in the store. Priority will be given to local people.
 

2nd September 2011
Highams Park wins £20,000 grant to develop Neighbourhood Plan

Highams Park has been selected as one of a small number of communities in the UK to receive a grant to assist residents (in conjunction with council officers) in being the first to develop a Neighbourhood Plan. This is part of a central government initiative to give local communities more control of the planning process in their areas.

LBWF submitted a bid for Highams Park to receive the funding and the submission was endorsed by the Highams Park Forum and the Highams Park Society. One of the key drivers in Highams Park being chosen for the bid was the existence of a very active base of residents who could participate in the building of the plan.

The Communities & Local Government website has just announced that Highams Park has been successful with its bid. More details can be read here: www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1975278
 

20th June 2011
Deliveries of local grown fruit & veg to start in Highams Park

OrganicLea is a local workers co-op growing fruit and veg on a not-for-profit basis. They have just announced that they plan to start deliveries in Highams Park. The organisation is based in Chingford and Walthamstow and volunteering opportunities available.
Their information sheet states:

FRESH = LOCAL = ORGANIC
Fruit and Vegetables
Delivered locally every week?

A bag of produce chosen for your budget and family size, grown organically, often here in Waltham Forest. Prices start at £4 a week, more info at www.organiclea.org.uk

Interested?
Email box@organiclea.org.uk
or call 020 8558 6880 and tell us you're from Highams Park. Thank You! Speak to you soon!
 

16th June 2011
Major works planned for Highams Park Lake

A forum member noticed an interesting passage in the Epping Forest staff newsletter dated May 2011. The article reads as follows:

***** Start Quote ******
Highams Park Lake
Following the Panel Engineer's visit there are going to be major works to the Highams Park Lake area over the next 3 years. Highams Park has been upgraded to a Category A Reservoir, which means that flooding at the site has the potential to cause deaths. We would like to ensure that any work undertaken is sensitive to the Repton landscape, which is a Red Book Landscape. The existing dam will need to be raised and it will no doubt prove to be a challenge to do this sympathetically to the Repton landscape.
***** End Quote ******

The dam referred to is the large earth/gravel bank in front of the boathouse. This was installed by landscape architect Humphrey Repton in the late 1700's to artificially create the lake.

The Forum will try to find out more and try to ensure residents get the chance to have their say on any changes,
 

21st April 2011
Dual Community Ward Forum in Highams Park

The news item dated 20NOV10 below describes how Community Ward Forums have replaced Community Councils. These meetings are an opportunity for residents to get together with councillors and council officers to discuss plans, strategy and problems at a very local level.

Most Community Ward Forums are being held for the residents of just one ward. An exception is being made in Highams Park as the councillors of the two main wards of Highams Park thought it would be helpful to have one meeting for the two wards.

As a result the first Community Ward Forum for Hale End and Highams Park ward + Hatch Lane ward will take place as follows:
Tuesday 24th May 2011, 7pm - 9pm
Highams Park School, Handsworth Avenue, Highams Park, E4 9PJ

Each ward has a £10k fund to spend on projects nominated by residents. The Community Ward Forums will decide how this money will be spent.

It is rather unfortunate that there is now considerable scope for confusion with the Highams Park Forum bearing a name similar to this Community Ward Forum. We will need to be careful in using the term "The Forum" since this will be ambiguous in future.
 

21st April 2011
New Zig Zags in Handsworth Avenue

The Forum recommended to the council via ward councillors that yellow zig zag lines should be added to Handsworth Avenue outside the Nursery. Following a period of public consultation these were added yesterday (20th April). See photo (left). It is hoped that this will add to the safety of youngsters travelling to and from the nursery by discouraging thoughtless parking
 

21st April 2011
Fibre Optic Broadband rollout started

We reported in a news item dated 9th November 2009 that Highams Park had been chosen for a Super Fast Broadband Trial using "Fibre To The Premises" technology (FTTP), where fibre optic cables are run all the way into homes and businesses instead of using traditional copper cables. This approach removes the technical limitations associated with providing fast broadband over copper. (See that news item for more details.)

BT have now started to officially market this technology to customers under the brand name "BT Infinity". We understand that Highams Park exchange is in the process of being upgraded for this and it will soon become generally available. The following website enables people to check availability and register interest (consumers or small business):

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=29023

Unfortunately the exchange boundary straddles the North Circular Road and chunks of Highams Park proper may not be covered initially.
 

11th March 2011
Interesting change to recycling arrangements

The Forum understands that some interesting developments are underway that change the method by which household recycling will be collected.

From Monday 11th April 2011, recycling materials will not need to be sorted, either by residents or by operatives at the kerbside. Sorting will take place later in a factory setting. This brings a number of advantages: faster progress of the collection lorry, less mess, and better quality sorting.

In October 2011 green recycling wheelie bins will be introduced. Residents should continue to use the normal black boxes until then.
 

3rd February 2011
Tesco development to go ahead

Back in 2003 Tesco started the process of applying for planning permission to redevelop the former C&A site on Larkshall Road near the level crossing. In the intervening years there have been objections, appeals, revisions to plans, and complete redrawing of plans. But now the Forum understands that the saga has finally reached a conclusion. In the past few days LBWF and Tesco have signed documents that mean that the development will finally go ahead.

Given the long running nature of this application, readers could be forgiven for forgetting exactly what this development will look like. If you want to refresh your memory, the following link points to a website, set up by Tesco, which shows the plans. When the page displays, click on the green words in the text: www.highamsgreen.co.uk

Council officers have produced a two page briefing note for councillors which summarises what has been agreed. The Forum received a copy of this today and it can be read by clicking this link: Briefing Document

The Forum has tracked the progress of the Tesco planning applications since day 1. The Forum was never against the principle of a Tesco development on the site, but believed that any development should be of a scale appropriate to Highams Park and that it should enhance the shopping centre rather than harm it. The early plans for the site failed on both counts: a huge ugly store, badly integrated into the centre, and having a major impact on the adjacent housing. The latest plans (though still too large in the Forum's opinion) are a massive improvement over the earlier plans and the Forum is pleased that its activities (in conjunction with other campaigners) contributed to the improvements in the plans we see today.

The Forum will continue to monitor this development and will seek to maximise the benefit of the development to Highams Park whilst minimising the downsides.
 

28th January 2011
Pothole reporting for techy types

We are informed by council officers that they appreciate residents' help in reporting potholes to them. They say that residents are their eyes and ears; if they don't know the potholes are there then they can't do anything about them. Council officers consider a pothole to be significant and deserve urgent attention if it is 40mm or more deep.

You can of course report them to Waltham Forest Direct, but if you are of a techy persuasion then you might be interested in a phone app to do it! The relevant links are below:
Explanation here: www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/27/iphone_app_pothole_spotter
iPhone app here: www.fillthathole.org.uk/iphone
 

23rd November 2010
Forum on BBC Inside Out programme re Tesco

Members of the Forum were interviewed last night (22nd Nov) on the BBC Inside Out programme. The programme was dealing with the impact of large Tesco developments around London. The proposed Highams Park scheme was featured.

An short extract from the programme (the section about Highams Park) has been posted on YouTube here: HP Tesco YouTube clip
 

20th November 2010
Community Councils to be replaced by Community Ward Forums

It has recently been announced that Community Councils (CCs) are to be no more. At the North Chingford CC on Monday (15th Nov) it was announced that this would be the last meeting. The other CCs will likewise be having their last meetings shortly.

LBWF set up the CCs a few years back. There are 6 in total to cover the borough, each covering a group of Wards. The CCs operate as open public meetings to debate local issues and to allocate a £10k budget per ward to local initiatives. Highams Park straddled the jurisdiction of 3 CCs.

In 2011, CCs will be replaced by Community Ward Forums (CWFs) and each will have a £10k budget. There will be potentially 20 CWFs, each organised by its ward councillors. The exact details are still being worked out but it is understood that some wards may hold joint meetings if it makes sense to do so.

Highams Park straddles 4 wards, namely: Hatch Lane, Larkswood, Hale End & Highams Park, and Chapel End. The Highams Park Forum will liaise with the councillors of these wards and contribute to the debate as to how CWFs should be best organised in Highams Park.

There is considerable scope for confusion in the future with the Highams Park Forum bearing a name similar to one of the potential CWFs. The use of the term "The Forum" will also become ambiguous. This is rather unfortunate.
 

14th October 2010
Walthamstow Stadium Survey

A number of action groups have contacted the Forum to explain that they are working to have the Walthamstow Stadium Site in Chingford Road remain (at least in part) as a premier Greyhound Racing venue. In order to assess the strength of feeling amongst residents (for or against) they are asking residents to complete a quick survey form which can be found by clicking the link below.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZGRGQQV
 

3rd October 2010
LBWF Planning Explorer introduced

Our attention has been drawn to a new section of the LBWF website called "Planning Explorer". It gives a flexible way of finding planning applications (past and present) by various criteria and allows viewing the actual plans online (saving a trip to the planning office). Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this particular feature appears to be a little unreliable. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

The plans should be visible via the link at the bottom of each application which reads "Open the list of documents related to this application", but at the moment sometimes this gives an error message. When fully working, the service looks like a welcome step in the right direction. LBWF planning explorer can be found by clicking the link below:

LBWF Planning Explorer: planning.walthamforest.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer/home.aspx
 

16th August 2010
Historic plaques come home

In the 1970s, the British Xylonite factory in Highams Park (also known as Halex) was demolished. On the site had been a war memorial with two impressive plaques listing those killed in the two world wars. These were removed during the demolition and their whereabouts was a mystery.

Our friends at The Highams Park Society set about a piece of interesting detective work to find the plaques. The Society reports that not only has it found the plaques but they have now been returned to Highams Park and it has been agreed that they will be given a new home on permanent display in the Library. The Society has written up the story of the return of the plaques. You can read it here: Plaques come home
 

29th July 2010
Larkshall Road Car Park proposed development - Result of appeal

This follows on from the item below (dated 15FEB10) regarding the two proposals to build on the Larkshall Rd Car Park. Both had been refused by LBWF planning committee and the applicant appealed against both decisions. The appeals were heard on 22nd and 23rd June at Waltham Forest Town hall. Those attending felt the inspector was very thorough in his approach and his report was published yesterday. It concludes by dismissing the appeal on the first application but allowing the appeal on the second. This means planning permission is effectively granted.

One resident who had been present at the hearings commented: "Certainly the first application was utterly dreadful. We can at least be thankful that the second application was much improved - less housing and a much preferable layout which includes a 4.4m nature corridor at the back of the gardens running along Coolgardie Avenue."

The Inspector's ruling can be read in full here: Inspectors Report (166KB)
 

27th July 2010
Footpaths & rights of way - What's missing?

LBWF is currently in the process of updating its formal records of footpaths and rights of way in the borough. For historic reasons, existing records are incomplete.

David Boote (footpaths officer for WF Ramblers) is monitoring this work and has compiled a list of footpaths (some of which are on the council list and some are not). He asks anyone with an interest in the subject to review his list and email him with any items they think ought to be added.
David's existing list can be viewed here: Footpaths for review
David's email address is: david_boote@yahoo.com
 

27th April 2010
Tesco "mini villages" - Highams Park NOT mentioned

"The Times Online" reports of Tesco that: "The supermarket chain plans to develop four mini-villages in the South East", but the proposed Highams Park development is not mentioned. The Highams Park Forum's Vice Chair, Graham Reeve, writes:

We were very interested to see the Tesco proposals for four mini village sites in London. Tesco seem to have forgotten Highams Park in Waltham Forest, north east London, where after a long planning battle with local residents, Tesco were given planning permission for a mixed housing and large superstore development last year, subject to Tesco agreeing to provide affordable housing on the site. Perhaps they don't mention Highams Park, because the planning permission has not been issued, as Tesco are unwilling to provide the housing within a reasonable timescale. As usual, Tesco say one thing to attract publicity but act in the opposite way when it suits.
Graham Reeve, Vice Chair, Highams Park Forum

You can seen the Times article at the following link and in the comments section at the bottom you will find that they have included Graham's above comments.
Link: Times Tesco mini village story
 

29th March 2010
Tesco - Letter from LBWF to Iain Duncan Smith MP

LBWF CEO Andrew Kilburn has written to Iain Duncan Smith MP (letter dated 22MAR10), responding to a number of questions about the proposed Tesco development. It explains the status of the negotiation of the section 106 agreement and clarifies the proposed routing of the Tesco delivery vehicles. Amongst other things, the section 106 document will set out monies to be given by the developer to LBWF to be used to help mitigate the effect of the development.

The full text of the letter is available from the following link: LBWF Letter 22MAR10 (433KB)
 

21st February 2010 (Updated 26th February 2010)
Iain Duncan Smith speaks to residents regarding Tesco development

On the afternoon of Friday 19th Feb, Chingford and Woodford Green MP, Iain Duncan Smith held a street meeting with interested constituents in Jubilee Avenue, near the Tesco development site. Some 40 local people were there to hear if anything could be done to stop or mitigate the development.

Concerns were expressed about the projected increase in traffic and the size of the development and could the Mayor of London stop the building. Said Iain Duncan Smith 'I have contacted Boris Johnson, and he was unable to reverse his decision, but I'll have another go.' He also agreed to contact both the Council and the Mayor to ensure that Tesco build the much needed housing at the same time as the store as this was an important reason why the Committee and the Mayor recommended approval.

A number of local people expressed their feelings about the manner in which the planning committee took their decision, weighing the need for local housing greater than the impact on Highams Park. Duncan Smith said he had approached the Waltham Forest Council Chief Executive and had been assured the decision had been taken properly.

Independently from this meeting, the Forum understands that Tesco have not yet signed the planning agreement (section 106) and that until they do, they do not formally have planning permission. The Forum have written to the Council to request an update on the current situation. The response was as follows:

**** Start Quote ****
As you are aware a section 106 agreement is required to be completed before planning permission can be issued.

The Council are still in discussions with both the Developers and the Primary Care Trust on the terms of that section 106 agreement. Until all the details of all the heads of terms have been negotiated and agreed, the Council cannot complete the section 106 agreement.

The agreement is quite complicated and therefore it is not unusual for such an agreement to take several months to settle. As you will appreciate, a draft agreement was only produced in December following the clearance of the application by the Mayor and the Government Office for London.

If the agreement cannot be agreed, then planning permission cannot be issued.
**** End Quote ****
 

15th February 2010
Larkshall Road Car Park proposed development - An update

There has been some activity regarding this proposed development over the past few weeks so we thought we'd post an update to remind readers of the current status. Those of you who have been following this story (see news entries below for 3rd Dec and 19th Nov) will know that planning application ref 2009/1170 was submitted by the applicant and rejected by the council. Since then, the applicant has appealed against that decision and has, at the same time, submitted a revised proposal for approval. The two actions are quite separate.

The new application (planning ref 2010/0050):
Demolition of existing buildings at 454 - 458 Larkshall Road and inclusion of part of the station car park to enable redevelopment of the site to provide 45 residential units comprising 33 flats (7 x 1 bed, 24 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed) and 12 houses (8 x 4 bed and 4 x 3 bed). Reprovision of office accommodation and provision of 3 retail units on the Larkshall Road frontage.

It appears that the applicant has reduced the number of units by 11, with fewer flats but with three more houses. Comments to LBWF planning dept need to be made by 21st February 2010.

The original application (planning ref 2009/1170):
The applicant is appealing against the council's decision to reject this first application. The letter informing residents of the appeal concludes:
If you wish to submit any further representations, you should write to The Planning Inspectorate, 3/16. Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, Bs1 6PN. Please send 3 copies quoting appeal reference APP/U5930/A/10/2121342/NWF. Any comments you make will be made known to the appellant and the Council. The Planning Inspectorate will not acknowledge you letter unless you specifically ask them to.

Representations regarding the appeal must be received by 11th March 2010.
 

18th January 2010
Mystery over proposed rail link

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has published a draft document for consultation known as "The London Plan". An eagle eyed reader of this 282 page document noticed an interesting bullet point on page 166. It was in a section about proposed transport improvements, under the heading of "Further DLR extensions". The bullet point reads: "Stratford International to Walthamstow Central via Leytonstone". The colour coding of the entry puts it in the time category "post 2018". Some members of the Forum keep very up to date on transport proposals but this is not known to them and is therefore something of a mystery. We will endeavour to find out more.

The Forum is very familiar with a proposal known as "The Hall Farm Curve" which would link the Chingford to Liverpool Street line to Stratford via the addition of a short section of track just west of St James Street Station. This would connect the line to the existing Stratford bound line at that point. This route would not pass through Leytonstone and is not a DLR extension, so can't be what is referred to in The London Plan. Curiously "The Hall Farm Curve" is not mentioned in The London Plan so perhaps there is some confusion. We will investigate.

The full name of the document is:
The London Plan
Spatial Development Strategy for Greater London
October 2009
(Consultation draft replacement plan)
 

For older news, click here: News in 2009
For news archive, click here: News archive