This page contains miscellaneous pieces of information which residents of Highams Park might find useful.

It is hoped that it will grow over time from this basic start.

Readers are urged to send us contributions via the "Contact us" link at the top of this page. Also via this link please report any inaccuracies, out-of-date information, or links that no longer work. Thanks.

This is a long web page. You can use these links to jump to an item of interest on the page:

1. Where exactly is the official boundary of Highams Park?
2. Has the Ordnance Survey got Highams Park in the wrong place?
3. Postal Address format
4. What Wards make up Highams Park?
5. What Community Councils cover Highams Park?
6. Hatch Lane Ward Councillor Surgeries
7. Safer Neighbourhoods teams - Contact details
   
8. Halls & Rooms for hire in Highams Park
9. How far is a walk round the Lake?
10. Who are the different residents' groups in Highams Park with very similar names?
11. What happened to the organ that used to be in The Regal Cinema?
12. Police contact details - What number to ring for what

This is a tricky question because, strictly speaking, there is no official boundary of Highams Park!

The railway station which we now know as "Highams Park Station" went through a number of name changes until it settled on the current name. Its name was intended to make it easier for inner city dwellers to find the correct stop for days out to "The Highams Park" with its forest and lake.

As houses grew up around the station, residents called the area in which they lived "Highams Park". Thus (surprisingly) the area is named after the station and not the other way round.

The Highams Park Forum needed a working definition for the boundary of Highams Park and so has adopted an approximate circle, with a radius of just over half a mile, centred on the station.

BUT, if you think you live in Highams Park, then you probably do! No one can say you don’t.

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Surprising but true: Unless your Ordnance Survey map is the very latest edition it will show Highams Park in the wrong place.

Landranger map 177 and Explorer Map 174 both show the centre of Highams Park in the fields near the Crooked Billet roundabout between Nelson Road and the North Circular Road. The Forum has maps dated 1970 and 2000 and they both have the error, so it likely that the error has been present for over 40 years.

Other maps, such as those produced by Collins, have the centre of Highams Park correctly placed next to the station.

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 notified the Ordnance Survey of this long standing error and they responded as follows on 20th September 2004:

"Further to your recent enquiry regarding the above I can confirm that your comments have been noted on our system and will be considered when the map is next revised. Explorer 174 is due to be revised and published in summer 2006."

The Forum can now report that as at 17th May 2008 the error has been corrected and Highams Park is shown in the correct place after over 40 years. Exactly when the correction was applied is not known, but the map which can be viewed on the Ordnance Survey website is now correct.

Unfortunately it may take time before the change percolates through to all the users of the base data.

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The official Post Code Database used by many companies appears to translate all E4 post codes to "Chingford" with no mention of Highams Park. Although apparently a trivial matter, the Forum believes that this contributes to the problem of lack of recognition for Highams Park as a discreet area and the need for the resources that go with that. Members would encourage residents to use the words "Highams Park" in their postal addresses and they report no problems with addresses of the form:

123, The Street
Highams Park
London
E4 XYZ

When completing forms, "Highams Park" becomes the TOWN and "London" becomes the COUNTY.

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Councillors are elected to the council of the London Borough of Waltham Forest based on Electoral Wards. Three councillors are elected for each Ward.

Highams Park is covered by four wards:

1) Hatch Lane Ward
2) Larkswood Ward
3) Hale End and Highams Park Ward
4) Chapel End Ward

If you would like to see the boundaries of these wards, a good website is www.election-maps.co.uk, but it is potentially a bit confusing. Here’s a few tips:

• After clicking the above link, press the "Enter site" button.
• Enter "Chingford" in the Area Search box and click the GO button.
• Search Results will return one entry: "Chingford and Woodford Green...". Click on this entry.
• Drag the map upwards with the mouse to position Highams Park Station in the centre.
• Click the Show Layers tab and put a tick in the "Ward" boundaries box
• Click the large plus sign on the map to zoom in to see road names.
• If you want to see a larger version of the map, Click on the "Overview Map" tab and then click the "Detailed map" link at the bottom.

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LBWF has divided the borough into six Community Councils. Each Community Council comprises a group of Wards and meets several times a year at local venues for residents of the Wards which comprise it.

Highams Park straddles the boundaries of three Community Councils as follows:

1) North Chingford Community Council (for Hatch Lane Ward)
2) South Chingford & Highams Park Community Council (for Larkswood Ward, and Hale End and Highams Park Ward)
3) Walthamstow West (for Chapel End Ward)

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Councillor Marion Fitzgerald asked us to include the following message (accurate at 29NOV07):

We would be glad to see any constituents who wished to come along. They don't need to make appointments, but we would be grateful if they would bring all relevant correspondence regarding their problems with them."

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Safer Neighbourhoods is about local policing; police and partners working with you, to identify and tackle issues of concern in your neighbourhood.

Each team is normally made up of six police and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Their aim is to listen and talk to you, and find out what affects your daily life and feelings of security. These might be issues such as anti-social behaviour, graffiti, noisy neighbourhoods, yobs or vandalism. Then, they work in partnership with you and other agencies to find a lasting solution.

The Safer Neighbourhoods teams are organised by Electoral Ward (see above). You’ll find full contact details here:

www.met.police.uk/teams/walthamforest/index.php

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The Forum has collated a list of Halls and Rooms available for hire in Highams Park.
Click here to view the list

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At Highams Park Day a visitor asked the question "How far do I walk when I walk round Highams Park Lake?". We didn't know the answer so we set about finding out. We used Google Earth which has a feature where you can plot a series of points and it measures the distance.

And the answer is........ If you start on the landing stage and walk close to the lake until you come back to where you started you will have walked 0.72 miles.

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At the Forest Festival a visitor expressed confusion over the different residents' organisations (all with similar names) in Highams Park. I tried to explain, but as I did so it struck me too how confusing it was. The visitor laughed and said it was a bit like Monty Python's Life of Brian where there are numerous organisations based on rearranging the words "The People's Liberation Front of Judea" (or is it "The Judean People's Liberation Front").......[you need to have seen it to think this is funny !]

Follow this link for our attempt at an explanation: Monty Python's life of Highams Park?

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Answer: It now resides in the St. Albans Organ Theatre
Website: www.stalbansorgantheatre.org.uk

To see a picture of the organ and hear a sound clip of it being played, click this link and then scroll down to the bottom of the page: Regal Organ at St Albans

The former Regal Cinema (in Hale End Road) is now the home to a snooker club, bar, and nightclub.

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There are three different ways of contacting the police depending on the urgency and nature of the problem. This is a summary of our understanding of what number to use when:

1) In an emergency call 999
An emergency is when a crime is happening, someone suspected of a crime is nearby, someone is injured, being threatened or in danger. For example:
If your house is being burgled (or the suspect is nearby) call 999
If your car is being stolen (or the suspect is nearby) call 999

2) In case of a non emergency call 0300 123 1212
Call 0300 123 1212 when you need to report crime that is not an emergency. For example:
If your house has been burgled call 0300 123 1212
If your car has been stolen call 0300 123 1212
Further explanation is available by clicking this link: MP non emergency number

3) To discuss an ongoing issue or concern contact your Safer Neighbourhood Team
These are community based police officers who are helpful and very resident focused. They are organised by electoral ward so you need to know which ward you live in. Highams Park comprises 4 wards. The section above (wards) might help you identify your ward if you are not sure.
Having identified your ward, the contact details for your safer neighbourhood team are available here: www.met.police.uk/teams/walthamforest/index.php (click on the ward name on the right).

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