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)
 

8th December 2009
New landmark for Highams Park

Network Rail are to erect an 18m tall communication mast at Highams Park Station. It will be sited in the greenspace next to the footpath from the Chingford bound platform. We understand it will be a thin open lattice structure. The mast will be part of a national network of masts to provide communications between train drivers and signallers. The planning rules for such structures are unusual in that Network Rail are not required to go through the normal planning process.

Despite this the Forum contacted both Network Rail and MP Iain Duncan Smith to see if the mast could be reduced in size. This is not as silly as it sounds since in some parts of the country smaller masts have been used (but more of them). But to no avail. The mast is going ahead as planned. Hopefully we will learn to love it over time (like the signal box) ......

You can read the replies we received below:
Letter to Forum from Network Rail
Letter to Forum from Iain Duncan Smith
Letter to Iain Duncan Smith from Network Rail (Page 1)
Letter to Iain Duncan Smith from Network Rail (Page 2)
Letter to Iain Duncan Smith from Network Rail (Map showing mast location)
 

3rd December 2009 (Updated 12th December 2009 - link to doc added)
Larkshall Road Car Park - Planning application rejected

The planning application to develop the Larkshall Road car park went before LBWF planning committee on 1st December 2009 as planned (see item 19th November 2009 below). The Councillors resolved to reject the application by 6 votes to 3.

A full account is given in the Waltham Forest Guardian article which is available via this link:
WF Article

The rejection letter from planning committee to the applicant (giving reasons) is available here:
Rejection Letter
 

30th November 2009
Tesco - Forum Statement following GoL decision

Following the GoL decision (see item 27th Nov below) the Forum has issued the following statement to the Waltham Forest Guardian newspaper:

Statement from Highams Park Forum

The Highams Park Forum regrets the decision of the Secretary of State. The Forum welcomes development which is appropriate to Highams Park and which will genuinely regenerate the area, and we have always said that we would welcome a smaller store. But we believe that this store is far too large, that it will damage local shops and businesses, and that it will bring unacceptable traffic congestion and pollution.

We will hold the Council and its Officers accountable for the effects of this scheme which we believe is based on poor advice and flawed assessments.

This is the third application by Tesco. The previous applications were far worse, would have laid a large part of Highams Park waste to a vast car park, and would have diverted northbound buses through the traffic jam created by the store. The first scheme also involved a long walk to the store entrance for anyone on foot. Nevertheless those schemes were supported by Waltham Forest Council who have shown a lack of initiative throughout. It is only because the Highams Park Forum successfully challenged the previous applications that the layout of the site is now greatly improved, with access direct to the existing shops, bus stops and station, and with a new Health Centre and community facilities.

Roger Torode
Chair
Highams Park Forum
 

27th November 2009
Tesco - Government Office for London (Secretary of State) Decision

The Government Office for London has written to Waltham Forest Council in a letter dated 25th November 2009 stating that the Secretary of State will not be "calling in" the Tesco Planning Application. This means that there will not be a public inquiry and that the council planning decision in favour of the development will stand.

The full text of the letter is available from the link below:
GoL decision letter (0.99MB)

It now looks likely that the Tesco development will go ahead. The Forum will try to work with the Council and Tesco to minimise the adverse effects of the development and try to maximise the benefits for Highams Park residents.
 

19th November 2009
Larkshall Road Car Park - Free time at Xmas then developed?
[Planning Committee Meeting 1st December 2009]

The car park in Larkshall Road is in the news for two reasons. The first is that (in a move to assist local traders) parking will be free for up to two hours on Saturdays from 21st November 2009 until 2nd January 2010. The following link points to an article in the Waltham Forest Guardian which explains the background: Free Xmas Saturdays

The second reason is that we understand that the planning application to develop the car park goes before planning committee on 1st December 2009. This application covers the car park and some adjacent land. It involves some dense housing, loss of green space, and loss of some parking spaces. Some public parking will be retained and the footpath to the station will be preserved. The Forum has objected to the development on the following grounds:

- Loss of car parking spaces. The car park is needed, as there is considerable commuter traffic to Highams Park station. The car park could be run more effectively if daily fees were reduced so that commuters use it rather than residential streets in the area. It is possible that total income for the car park would increase if carefully managed.

- Protection of the 'green corridor' and wildlife.

- Excessive density of the proposed homes.
 

12th November 2009 (Updated 12th December 2009 - link to doc added)
Tesco - Mayor Boris Johnson's Decision

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has given his decision on the Tesco Development proposal in a letter to LBWF dated 10th November 2009. The key part of the letter reads as follows:

**** Start Quote ****
Having now considered a report on these cases (our references PCU/2162/02 and 2162a/02, copy enclosed), I am content to allow Waltham Forest Council to determine the case itself, subject to any action that the Secretary of State may take, and do not therefore wish to direct refusal or to take over the application for my own determination

I have taken the environmental information made available to date into consideration in formulating my decision.
**** End Quote ****

The full text of the Mayor's letter and accompanying report is available from the link below (but be warned that the file size is large - approaching 2 MB). You might want to right-click the link below and select "Save Target As..." to download the file and save it to your PC for viewing locally.
Mayor's decision letter and report (1.84MB)

The Mayor explains his thinking further in a letter to GLA member Jennette Arnold here:
Mayor's letter to Jennette Arnold (09DEC09)

The proposal now has to go to the Government Office of London (GOL) for their approval. This is the Secretary of State's approval referred to in the letter from Boris Johnson. The Forum continues to lobby GOL with the serious concerns of local residents.
 

9th November 2009
Highams Park chosen for Super Fast Broadband Trial

We understand that British Telecom has chosen Highams Park as the first location in the UK to trial the roll out of its super fast broadband service into an established community (rather than a new town). This service uses "Fibre To The Premises" technology, 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.

There is an interesting article about the trial here: Highams Park Fibre Trial
 

13th October 2009
Tesco - Result of the reconvened Council Planning Committee Meeting

The Council Planning Committee Meeting to decide on the Tesco Proposal reconvened as planned this evening (13th October). The committee comprises 9 councillors in total (8 members plus the chair). The vote was 5 votes for and 4 against. As a result the committee decided narrowly in favour of the Tesco development.

The proposal now has to go to the Government Office of London (GOL) and to the Mayor of London for their approval. The Forum will express its views to these bodies. The previous Tesco proposal was approved by LBWF planning committee but was "called in" by the GOL and a Public Inquiry was held. It was as a result of this Public Inquiry that the Secretary of State turned down the previous application.

The 8th Sept meeting of the planning committee had deferred a decision pending more detail from officers on a number of issues including traffic. The Forum took this opportunity to prepare a detailed presentation, including diagrams and statistics, spelling out the traffic problems which it believes Tesco and Council traffic consultants have not properly taken account of. A paper copy of the presentation was given to all planning committee members on 29th Sept. An electronic version was emailed to these committee members, and to councillors in the nearby wards, on 5th Oct.

The Forum's Traffic Presentation is here: Traffic Presentation (525KB)
The file size of the document is quite large so you might want to right-click the link and select "Save Target As..." to download the file and save it to your PC for viewing locally.

A number of planning committee members expressed concern about potential traffic problems but it is possible that a council officer's statement at the meeting that there would be an "acceptable level of congestion" swayed some of the committee members.
 

9th September 2009 (Updated 30th September 2009)
Tesco - Result of the Council Planning Committee Meeting

The Council Planning Committee Meeting to decide on the Tesco Proposal took place as planned last night (8th September). The result is slightly confusing for those expecting a straight yes/no answer.

An attendee reported the events as follows: "It was a fairly heated meeting with virtually all the public against. Before the Committee had a chance to discuss the proposals in detail, a motion to defer a decision was passed 5 to 4. They were asking for more details of the traffic, need and retail assessments to be provided in the officers report."

We are not sure what this will mean in practice. We don't know when it will go back to Committee and after all the delays Tesco might decide to Appeal against non-determination, taking it out of the Council's hands. When we understand the situation better we will post an update here.

11th Sept: We now understand that the decision when to reconvene the meeting is likely to be taken at the 29th September meeting and that a possible date to reconvene would be 13th October.

30th Sept: We understand that it has been confirmed that the Tesco application is going back to committee at the next ordinary meeting of the planning committee i.e. 13th October.
 

4th September 2009
Tesco - Run up to Council Planning Meeting - Officers recommend approval

The council planning committee meeting to decide on the Tesco proposal will take place on Tuesday 8th September at 7:30pm in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall in Forest Road.

The agenda and all the paperwork can be seen on the council website by following the link below. If you click on the heading for item 41 (a typo for "4.1") it will display the 78 page report from council officers giving their considered analysis of the proposal and the feedback they have received from residents. The report recommends that the planning committee grant approval (with some conditions). The actual decision will be taken by the councillors on the planning committee.
Planning Committee details and documents

The Waltham Forest Guardian reported on the 2nd Sept public meeting here:
WF Guardian report on Public Meeting
 

31st August 2009
Tesco -
Public Meeting with Iain Duncan-Smith arranged for Wednesday 2nd September

A public meeting, chaired by MP Iain Duncan Smith, has been organised to debate the Tesco proposal. The meeting will be held on Wednesday 2nd September at 7pm for 7:30 start at Highams Park School in Handsworth Avenue. All are welcome.
 

14th August 2009
Tesco - Residents' groups encourage residents to express their views

Residents' groups are encouraging all residents to make sure that the council knows their views on the Tesco proposal to build a large store and housing on the site of the former C&A warehouse in Larkshall Road by the junction with The Broadway. The council Planning Committee meeting to decide on this proposal is set for 8th September 2009, and the council take every response into account, so every single view counts.

The residents groups have prepared posters and leaflets setting out what they believe are the main issues and they also give the necessary council contact details. The "Tesco Page" of this website has a full set of the materials produced by the groups. There are also artists' impressions and a diagram illustrating the height and shadows of the new building compared to existing buildings. All these documents can be found here: The Tesco page.
 

26th July 2009
Tesco site mulberry tree damaged by wind

It is now confirmed that the council planning meeting to decide on the latest Tesco plans is scheduled to take place on 8th September 2009. Those plans include the relocation of a mulberry tree from one part of the site to a new square named after it ("Mulberry Green"). Unfortunately, the tree, laden with fruit, has recently suffered some wind damage.
See pictures on the "Seen locally" page here: Seen locally).
 

28th June 2009 (Updated 5th July 2009)
Confusion over likely date of Tesco planning meeting

The latest set of plans for the proposed Tesco development on the old C&A site in Larkshall Road are expected to be presented to LBWF planning committee soon. The exact date is unclear however. A recent report in the Waltham Forest Guardian suggested that Tesco were hoping the proposal would be considered at a meeting on 21st July, but council officers have said that there are still important matters outstanding and that 18th August is more realistic. This revelation has generated some concern since many parties want to speak at the meeting and the August date is in the middle of the holiday season. As a result, residents and councillors are requesting the meeting should not take place until September at the earliest.

Update (5th July): We are advised that the meeting is likely to take place on 8th September.
 

15th June 2009
Shoppers' parking - New arrangements at Station Car Park

The Forum understands that NCP, who run the small station car park next to The Avenue, have agreed to make the car park available to shoppers at weekends (when commuters are not using it). They will be charging £1 an hour and will be installing ticket machines shortly. The idea of using this car park for shoppers is clearly a good idea but only time will tell if the proposed charge will put people off.
 

26th April 2009
Replacement of gas mains - Extensive road works planned

The Waltham Forest Guardian website reported (on 16th April 2009) that a major project will commence very shortly in our area to replace all the existing iron gas pipes with modern plastic ones. This will involve major road works to all roads in our area from now until May 2010.

The timetable for the works attempts to minimise disruption by not excavating adjacent roads at the same time. The Guardian website published a list of roads and the scheduled start and end dates for the works. Unfortunately the data is hard to read on that website. We have reproduced the data here, in three sequences. First in the order shown in the Guardian website (showing adjacent roads together), then in street name order, and then in order of start date. We hope you will find this useful. Please click the links below.

Original Order
Street Name Order
Start Date Order
 

10th March 2009
Controversial road humps proposal - The Details

The news item below regarding road humps was an early notification of the proposal. Full details are now available on the LBWF website and also in Hale End Library in Castle Ave (where a comments box is provided). This is the start of the public consultation period which ends Friday 27th March 2009. Residents in the area concerned should have received a questionnaire through their letterbox. It is important that impacted residents express their views to the council officers since every comment counts. The officers will tally up votes for and against and will use this to justify whether to proceed with the scheme or not and whether to alter the scheme.

As stated below, the scheme contains a large number of proposals but probably the most controversial is the creation of a total of 20 bump-up bump-down obstacles in just 5 roads: Castle Ave, Handsworth Ave, Church Ave, Gordon Ave and Falmouth Ave.

Details of the scheme on the LBWF website are here: www.walthamforest.gov.uk/traffic-schemes

If you have not received a questionnaire contact Waltham Forest Direct on 020 8496 3000 or
email: traffic.scheme@walthamforest.gov.uk quoting the "Falmouth Avenue/The Charter Road Area" scheme.
 

28th February 2009
Controversial proposal for large number of road humps in NE Highams Park

The news item dated 17th October 2008 (below) reported on an initial proposal by council officers to create a 20MPH speed limit zone in the North East corner of Highams Park. This proposal has now been developed further and in the new version a large number of physical traffic calming measures have been added. More details will be given here when available but the most controversial part of the proposal is likely to be the inclusion of 16 humps, 3 tables and one raised crossing. This is a total of 20 bump-up bump-down obstacles in a very small area. All these obstacles are concentrated in just 5 roads: Castle Ave, Handsworth Ave, Church Ave, Gordon Ave and Falmouth Ave. We understand that the proposals will go for public consultation in the near future.
 

20th January 2009
Pay-as-you-drive Car Club proposal - Car based in The Avenue

LBWF is seeking views on the Council's proposals to provide a car club parking place on The Avenue outside number 38a. The proposal explains:

"Car clubs are a pay-as-you-drive alternative to owning a car. The scheme gives members the benefit of clean, modern and reliable cars without the full costs of car ownership. Car clubs provide a cheaper alternative to owning a vehicle, particularly if your mileage is less than around 7,000 miles a year. A car club vehicle can replace a second car or delay the purchase of a new or replacement vehicle. Providing car clubs in your street can help to reduce parking pressure; studies have shown that one car club vehicle can replace between four and eight privately owned cars."

Further details of the council's proposal can be found here:
www.walthamforest.gov.uk/the-avenue.pdf

Further information on car clubs can be found on the websites:
www.walthamforest.gov.uk/car-clubs
and www.carclubs.org.uk
 

19th January 2009
River Walk tidy up - Years of accumulated rubbish removed

Yesterday, members of the Highams Park Forum and Highams Park Society performed a tidy-up of the footpath known as River Walk which runs between Winchester Road and Beech Hall Road, beside the Ching and under the railway.

Although the footpath is swept regularly, the greenery to the sides of the path has accumulated a large amount of rubbish over the years. The volunteers removed 13 bags of rubbish and this has made a huge difference. A small amount remains (which was out of reach) but we'll try to arrange its removal too. Users of the path commented appreciatively on the transformation.
 

5th December 2008
Tesco proposal - Initial opinion of the GLA and the Mayor of London

Two documents have appeared on the GLA website: a report and a letter to LBWF. These give the initial ("Stage 1") views of the Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) before he makes a formal decision.

The documents note that the proposed development does not currently conform to the London Plan, but this appears to be details rather than an objection to the scale or design issues that the Forum is concerned about. This suggests that the Mayor may be inclined to approve the proposal if the details are attended to.

Click here to see the report: Report
Click here to see the letter from the GLA to LBWF: Letter
 

7th November 2008
Tesco proposal -
Public Meeting held chaired by Iain Duncan-Smith

Last night (6th November) a well attended Public Meeting was held in Highams Park School to allow residents to air their views in front of Iain Duncan Smith MP. The Highams Park Forum and the Highams Park Society introduced the subject by giving presentations on the history of the proposal, its key features, and problems identified to-date. IDS expressed his personal concerns about the inappropriate large scale of the development and then took the chair to invite attendees to express their views. IDS's assistant took copious notes of the residents' views and IDS undertook to present these both to the council and to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London.

Although a some of the attendees welcomed the idea of a new supermarket in principle, the meeting was unanimous (based on a show of hands) in rejecting the current proposal as being far too large, both in terms of its floor space (and consequent draw of customers from outside the area), its height, and the amount of housing proposed. The main concerns aired were traffic congestion (particularly because of our small roads and the affect of level crossing closures) and strain on services (schools, healthcare and transport). Attendees also regretted the missed opportunity for creating additional community facilities on the site (such as a sports centre).

Tesco representatives were invited to attend the meeting but were unable to do so.

The Forum have submitted a statement on the current Tesco proposal to the various decision makers. This statement can be read here: Statement
 

28th October 2008 (updated 03Nov08)
Tesco proposal -
Public Meeting with Iain Duncan-Smith scheduled for 6th November

The Forum understands that a public meeting is being organised, chaired by MP Iain Duncan Smith, to debate the Tesco proposal. It is intended that Tesco representatives will be invited to attend. The meeting is being scheduled for Thursday 6th November at 8pm at Highams Park School in Handsworth Avenue.
 

17th October 2008
20 MPH speed limit being considered for NE Highams Park

The Forum understands that council officers are considering the possibility of introducing a 20 MPH speed limit in the roads in the North East corner of Highams Park. This work is in the very early stages and consultation is just beginning.

The area currently proposed for the 20MPH limit is shown in the map which is accessible from the link which follows. Apologies for the poor quality of the map, it was compressed to fit the website. Hopefully, you should still be able to make out the pattern of the roads.
Click here: 20MPH Boundary

Please email us any thoughts you may have on this.
 

4th October 2008
Tesco proposal - Result of Public Meeting

The public meeting referred to in the news item below took place as planned yesterday (3rd October). For details of the results of that meeting please click here: Public Meeting Result
 

25th September 2008
Tesco proposal - Public Meeting - You are invited !

Date: Friday 3rd October
Time: 8:30pm
Venue: The Church Hall, All Saints Church, Church Ave, E4 9QZ

Organised By:
The Highams Park Forum
The Highams Park Society
The Highams Park Residents' Association

The three residents' organisations listed above are meeting to debate a combined response to the council regarding the latest Tesco Proposal for a major retail and residential development on the old C&A site in Larkshall Road.

All Highams Park residents are invited to attend to participate in the debate and to listen to the views of other residents.
 

23rd September 2008
Tesco proposal - Formal application submitted to council.
Deadline for comments/objections is 13th October 2008.

Planning applications 2008/1490 and 2008/1491 have been received by the council from Spenhill Regeneration - the development arm of Tesco. These cover proposals for a Tesco store and 261 residential units on the site of the former C&A warehouse and industrial units fronting Larkshall Road and Jubilee Avenue.

Comments or objections need to be submitted in writing to the planning department by
13th October 2008.

The plans can be seen at Hale End Library (The Avenue E4) during library opening hours or (by appointment) at Sycamore House in the Town Hall Complex, Forest Road E17. Tesco are also setting up a website where some (but not all) documents are available online. You can visit it here: www.highamsgreen.co.uk

For some of the background to this proposal, see news items below dated 31st July 2008 and
25th June 2008.
 

2nd September 2008
Controlled Parking Zone for Highams Park - Ballot Result = Rejected.

The item below dated 20th June 2008 explains how residents in the proposed Controlled Parking Zone would be balloted to see if they wanted it to go ahead. We have today (2nd Sept 2008) been informed (by Council officers) of the result of that ballot and an extract from their communication is set out below:

"I can now inform you that within the consultation area more residents were against the proposed CPZ than were for it, so in accordance with Council policy the CPZ will not proceed at this time."

"I could not make the above information available until recommendations contained within the scheme report had been approved and signed-off. This happened yesterday and the residents will be written to within the next week."
 

1st August 2008
Major development planned for Larkshall Rd Car Park ?

At the Cabinet meeting of 22^nd July a decision "in principle" was given to the disposal of the Larkshall Road car park and the initiation of a significant development on the site. This development, if it goes ahead, would be subject to the normal planning process. The proposal document makes interesting reading, and mentions a much expanded plot including the LM Foods site and the council hostel on Larkshall Rd. The proposal includes 60 new affordable homes ("mainly family sized"), a smaller car park, and a Health Centre (possibly to replace that in Handsworth Avenue).
 
Details of the proposal can be found here: Proposal
Details of the decision can be found here: Decision
 
Forum members are keen to promote a "car park swap" whereby the station car park (in The Avenue) becomes a shoppers' car park and the Larkshall Rd car park becomes an official commuter car park.
 

31st July 2008
Tesco proposal - Groups join to lobby decision makers

A meeting was held 17^th July between representatives of The Highams Park Forum, The Highams Park Society, and The Highams Park Residents Association to discuss a combined response to the Tesco development proposals showcased in the Library during the period 3^rd - 5^th July.
 
See the following link for details of what was discussed and next steps: Tesco Meeting
 

26th July 2008
Roadworks in The Avenue

It takes digging up the road to encourage orderly parking in the Avenue.... ;-)
 
 
 
 

25th June 2008
Tesco Plans for Highams Park - Public exhibition

Tesco have arranged a public exhibition of their new proposals for the site in Larkshall Road. This takes place on 3rd, 4th, 5th July and all residents are welcome and encouraged to attend. Members of the design team will be present to answer any questions.
 
See the following link for details: Tesco Exhibition
 
 

20th June 2008
Controlled Parking Zone for Highams Park?

LBWF has just commenced consultation of Highams Park residents to see if they want the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone. If introduced this would restrict parking at certain times to residents who have purchased parking permits.
 
See the following link for details: CPZ Page
 
 

6th June 2008
National newspaper gives Highams Park the thumbs up

We stumbled across an article about Highams Park in "The Independent" (the national newspaper) and thought readers of this website might be interested. It doesn't really count as "news" since it was written at the beginning of last year, but we thought the unbiased views of an "outsider" were interesting and couldn't think of where else to put it in the site.
 
To see the article, follow this link: Article about Highams Park
 

17th May 2008
Ordnance Survey moves Highams Park !
Error spotted by Forum corrected after 40+ years.

Our "Useful info" page explains that for over 40 years Ordnance Survey maps have been showing Highams Park in the wrong place. Since many government agencies and other bodies use these base maps to construct their own special purpose maps (and make decisions based on them) this was of great concern to the Forum. The Forum reported the error to the Ordnance Survey in 2004 and they promised to look into it when the maps were next revised. We can now report that the latest maps have been corrected. After 40+ years, Highams Park is now shown in the correct place !
For more on this story, follow this link to the "Odds & Ends" page: (OS Map is wrong).
 

29th April 2008
Not missing anymore !

After the missed section (described below) was pointed out it was quickly remedied.
Speedy response.
 

26th April 2008
Missed a bit?

The road repairs described below are now complete and seem to be an excellent job. However, a member noted that a section of road was missed out in Falmouth Avenue towards The Charter Road (see photo). This has been pointed out and the authorities are investigating.
 

2nd April 2008
Work has started in resurfacing the dangerous stretch of road at the Falmouth Avenue end of The Charter Road

This was recently brought to the attention of the Council by the Forum through local Councillor Marion Fitzgerald, following 4 cars coming off the road in recent weeks.

The road surface was in poor repair and appeared to become more dangerous after heavy rainfall which caused water to overflow from the forest side of the road. HPF were impressed by the speed of response. Additional calming measures have been urged to slow traffic at this dangerous bend in the road.

21st February 2008
Post Office Closures

Our Post Offices (Hale End Road and Hatch Lane) are NOT due for closure.