Friday 30 September 2016

Mini Holland 30-9-16

MINI HOLLAND

Wayfinding in Walthamstow Village





Forest Road

Highams Park

Stow Inspired


Stow Inspired

What is Stow Inspired

Town Centre petition

The petition to stop Walthamstow Town Centre being wrecked by a 27 storey tower block and the loss of the open space is nearing 2,000 which will then be presented to the council.

After a meeting with Cabinet Member Cllr Coghill the council is clearly committed to further growth and have no objections to this totally unsuitable scheme. How does a 27 storey tower block compliment rows of 2 storey Victorian terraces and the popular market?

BHS has closed so what demand is there for more retail space?

If you want to stop this inappropriate development come and help gather signatures on the following days - it is very easy, people who stop always sign and those that walk on don't! In a 2 hour stint it is easy to get 60 plus signatures:

Wednesday 5th October 2pm to 4pm
Friday 7th October 3pm to 5pm

On the path between the bus station and the Mall.


Refurbishment of the Mall

Capital and County

27 Storey skyscraper

No affordable homes

Organiclea

Organiclea


Feel Good Centre

Feel Good Centre

Greenwich Leisure


News from Nowhere

News from Nowhere Club


Saturday October 8th 2016
What Does Local Community Action Really Mean?
Speaker: Jude Leighton
 
What are the possibilities & limitations of trying to transform the local area where you grew up? Jude has lived in Leytonstone all her life & has worked in several organisations, aiming to make a big difference to the quality of life of her neighbours. She has learnt several lessons through her struggles & will let us into her most recent thoughts & revelations, with a chance for the audience to contribute their own experiences & utopian desires.
 

Epicentre, West Street E11 4LJ

 
7.30 pm Buffet
8.00 pm Presentation and discussion
 
All welcome. Free entry.
 

Enquiries 0208 555 5248

 
Please note: I do not look at emails all the time, so if urgent, please phone me on 0208 555 5248.
Also, occasionally emails do not reach me. so please phone if I have not responded within a few days.

Parks for London

Parks for London

London based charity, Parks for London, has today launched its new name, strapline and logo. Formerly the London Parks & Green Spaces Forum, which was set up as a charity in 2013, Parks for London will continue to provide the leading strategic and representative voice for its supporters and the green space sector in London. The charity is dedicated to promoting and enhancing London’s parks and green spaces; working with the people that own, manage, maintain and use them to keep them thriving, accessible, safe and beautiful. The rebrand comes in light of a decision by trustees to simplify what the charity stands for in a bold and eye-catching way. The new logo and strapline act to further complement the aims of the charity going forward. Tony Leach, Chief Executive of Parks for London said “At Parks for London we believe that life conditions can be improved through the provision of safe, accessible and stimulating parks and green spaces. Safeguarding our parks and green spaces sets out our ultimate ambitions to ensure that these precious resources are protected now and in the future. Whilst the name of the charity has changed, Parks for London’s aims remain the same; advising and informing supporters of developments in the sector, advocating and protecting the existing parks and green spaces now and in the future, and celebrating and promoting the diversity of green infrastructure across London. Sue Ireland, Chairman of the Trustees said: “This is an exciting time for Parks for London. Parks and green spaces across London are facing increasing pressures with funding cuts, and demand for housing. This gives us the opportunity to work with our supporters to find innovative solutions to help secure the future of our parks and green spaces, and work with the private sector to support their ambitions for new green spaces in new developments across London.” ENDS

BGORUG Update

Barking Gospel Oak update

View of Queens Road Station




Hackney Singers

Hackney Singers

Squash Girls Can

Weekly Girls Racketball and Squash sessions - Every Friday
As part of the Squash Girls Can campaign, you can now try racketball or squash at Walthamstow Cricket, Tennis and Squash Club at 48A Greenway Avenue. A group session of Racketball for total beginners takes place weekly on Fridays starting 30 September at 9.30-10.30am. If you would like to join or take a look please contact the coach, Gail  on 07815 168410.  £8.00 for one session or £30 for a block of four. Junior squash is also available for secondary school ages weekly on Tuesdays between 4.30 and 5.30pm.

Sunday 25 September 2016

Mini Holland 25-9-16

MINI HOLLAND

Chingford Consultation

More sqandering of public money:




Community Cafe

YMCA Community Cafe

Tree Musketeers


 
Last Sat of the Month at the Tree Nursery - Sat 24 Sept. 10am - 1pm.
Join us for gentle tree care at the wonderful Hackney Community Tree Nursery.
We grow most of the trees that get planted in Hackney's parks. We have around 1000 trees and about 200 get planted out each year.
Volunteer sessions at the Tree Nursery last Sat of every month 10am -1pm. (Also every Tues 11am-2pm and Fri 10am -1pm).
All welcome. Tools and training provided. Wear strong shoes.
 
Tree Care on Well Street Common - Sat 1st Oct 10am - 1pm
Join us weeding and mulching newly planted trees on Well St Common.
We planted 21 trees on WSC last December including oak, hawthorn, beech, alder and rowan.
All the trees were grown in Hackney at the Tree Nursery.
Young trees need tender loving care when planted to help them establish in their new location.
We water them through the summer but mulching helps to retain moisture and reduce competition from grasses, etc.
All welcome. Tools and training provided. Wear strong shoes.
 
First Tree Planting of the Season Well Street Common - Sat 19 Nov 10am - 1pm
It's tree planting time. Join us to add another 20 trees to Well Street Common.
We will be planting trees grown at the Hackney Community Tree Nursery including: oak, birch, hawthorn and elm.
All welcome. Tools and training provided. Wear strong shoes.
 
First Tree Planting of the Season Well Street Common - Sun 20 Nov 10am - 1pm
It's tree planting time. Join us to add another 20 trees to Well Street Common.
We will be planting trees grown at the Hackney Community Tree Nursery including: oak, birch, hawthorn and elm.
All welcome. Tools and training provided. Wear strong shoes.
 
 
Russell Miller
07758 326530
http://treemusketeers.org.uk/
ALL FOR TREES AND TREES FOR ALL

APPLE DAY 8th Oct

Apple Day

Mill Radio

Mill Radio

BGORUG update

Please find attached a copy of the BGORUG press release dated Monday 19 September 2016.

IT’S THE LAST TRAIN TO GOSPEL OAK!
 
 
 
        And if you miss Saturday morning’s
00:10 South Tottenham to Gospel Oak Overground,there’ll never be another one…until 30th January 2017!
 
 
 
 
>  Entire Barking – Gospel Oak Line to be closed until February 2017
>  £133m project to electrify NE London’s last diesel-only rail line
>  Huge disruption for line’s 10,000+ daily passengers with no easy 
    alternative routes, causing increased travel costs for many
> Use replacement bus services or lose them!
> 5 months of pain & 15 more months to wait for any gain!


This summarises the issues we have been trying to resolve with Transport for London for the last six months, sadly without success, in spite of the support of several members of the London Assembly.

Kind regards

Saturday 24 September 2016

Parks under threat

Parks are NOT a statutory service which means local authorities do not have to fund them properly. The Communities and Local Government Committee is looking into the state of of our parks and are being urged to change the law so that they become a statutory service. The cost of this in the grand scheme of things is small, but the impact is enormous. Open space is vital to the well being of the population and a good park is used in numerous ways by all ages and cultures. 

Currently approx £1.24bn is spent maintaining parks and open spaces in the UK, but to do it properly £2bn is needed. Bearing in mind the cost of Hinckley Point at £18bn this is peanuts! It would be a serious waste of public money if the parks were allowed to deteriorate to the state they were in 10 to 20 years ago before lottery money was spent on refurbishing them.

We believe Waltham Forest is carrying out a review of our parks but we have not been able to get any information yet. Keep a close on eye on your park and if you feel standards are dropping then contact your councillors and complain. Also let me know as I attend the London Green Spaces Friends Groups Network and we meet every two months and get feed back from the other London Boroughs and the news is not looking good.

For more detail take a look at the Heritage Lottery's latest State of UK Public Parks - it is not looking good!

State of UK Public Parks

Sign the Petition



To all friends of UK parks - please forward widely. 82,000 people signed in the first 24hrs!
Organised by '38 degrees' members. Supported by the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces.


Save Our Parks - a call for Government Action to avert crisisPlease sign the new petition - tens of thousands already have! 

SIGN HERE: http://bit.ly/2coGutk
Publicise via Facebook: http://bit.ly/2coFXYePublicise via Twitter: http://bit.ly/2cCXek2

Britain’s parks are at risk. There’s no legal responsibility to look after them and squeezed budgets mean our local green spaces - from playgrounds, to the park you relax in on your lunch break - don’t have the money they need. [1] We could end up being forced to pay to use our parks - or lose them altogether. [2]

A group of MPs are looking into the crisis right now. They’re thinking of making protecting parks a legal requirement, and they’ll advise the government on what to do. [3] A huge petition, signed by all of us, will prove how much we love our parks. It could convince the MPs to come up with a water-tight plan for protecting them. 

Can you sign the petition now and demand that looking after our parks is made a legal requirement by the government? [4] It only takes 30 seconds to add your name:

SIGN THE PETITION
http://bit.ly/2coGutk
Parks are for everyone. On a summer’s day they’re filled with families enjoying the sunshine and kids having a kick-about with their friends. If they aren’t protected they could be flogged to private companies - forcing us to pay to visit them and destroying their magic. Or they could be closed and lost completely.

The MPs are holding a consultation to ask the public their opinion, but it closes soon. If MPs don’t hear from us, we could be left with a woolly plan that doesn’t fix the problem. But a huge petition, launched today, demanding the government takes responsibility for looking after our parks, would be hard for them to ignore. It’s the first step in protecting our parks, and showing they matter to us all. 

Can you add your name to the petition now?
SIGN THE PETITION
http://bit.ly/2coGutk

Thanks for being involved,

Trish, Megan, Charlotte and the 38 Degrees team

Save Higham Hill Library




We Love Higham Hill Library
Help us keep it where it is!
Phone Susan on 07985 674563
Email susanlmwills@aol.com
Facebook.com/welovehighamhilllibrary
Please get involved in the campaign to save Higham Hill Library in its original building. Plans are afoot to move our local library service out of its current building and into a ‘community hub’ on Priory Court estate, which is not yet built, or even fully-planned. It is proposed that the library building will be demolished and the land it occupies sold off for flats. Yes, there is a need for affordable homes in London, but people in Higham Hill and the surrounding areas also need community spaces - we believe that public buildings should not be sold off.

Libraries are not a business, they are a service.
We know that not everyone uses the library all the time, but this is not the point. They are not supposed to be like Sainsbury’s or Amazon.

Libraries and the buildings they occupy are decentralised, free, inclusive spaces, available for anyone and everyone to use as and when they wish. You might not use the library for a while but then go in on the spur of the moment and find out about an event that interests you; you might not visit for several years, but then have children and be really keen for them go and use the picture books. 

In Higham Hill Library there are regularly older children completing homework after school in a safe environment. The library service is still critical to children in communities where many families don’t have lots of money for books, or computers to use / wifi to search the internet. The library also serves children from Winns, Roger Ascham, Hillyfield, Whittingham and Chapel End Primary Schools and local children’s centres.

Higham Hill Library occupies a special place in the history and geography of the local area. The library was opened almost 85 years ago – perfectly positioned on North Countess Road to serve the people of Higham Hill, Lloyd Park and later, the Priory Court estate. Like the houses and other buildings constructed around the time of the Warner estate, the library was built to improve the lives of local residents, and has been used and much-loved by generations of Walthamstow families. As all who visit will know,
Higham Hill Library is a light, airy and welcoming building, with a central reading and working space, meeting rooms, and even a small open space at the rear. We acknowledge that the library has become run-down, but we say – invest in it and watch it thrive! 

There is so much potential in this wonderful community space! With some care and a little imagination it could be used for all kinds of creative community events and these could also generate income towards further improvements to the service.

Keep our library buildings!

Libraries are a bit like non-religious places of worship – they should be in prominent locations, and should occupy big sturdy buildings that people can use as refuge from the busy world. We don’t believe that this will be the case if our local library service is moved and squeezed into a multi-purpose ‘hub’ building. Often when a library loses its building, it is the first stage in losing the whole service – it is scaled-down, hours are reduced, jobs are lost, and then it is easier to cut provision altogether.

We have already seen the loss of community libraries in other parts of the borough and we don’t want this to happen to Higham Hill.
What can you do? 10 ways to support the campaign to save Higham Hill Library:

1 Like and share the ‘We Love Higham Hill Library’ Facebook page – join as a member and encourage all
your friends and contacts to join too
2 Sign and leave a comment on our petition which can be accessed via the Facebook page – circulate this
and urge all your friends to sign and support too – we need lots of signatures
3 Contact your councillors letting them know that you want to keep Higham Hill Library where it is
cllr.karen.bellamy@walthamforest.gov.uk cllr.tim.bennett-goodman@walthamforest.gov.uk
cllr.alistair.strathern.@walthamforest.gov.uk (Higham Hill Ward)
cllr.grace.williams@walthamforest.gov.uk cllr.nadeem.ali@walthamforest.gov.uk
cllr.stuart.emmerson@walthamforest.gov.uk (William Morris Ward)
4 Contact Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow letting her know your view and asking for her support
5 Leave a response / message of support in the Comments and Suggestions box on the library counter
6 Become a contact for your road / school – to deliver leaflets or to ask people to sign the petition
7 Offer the campaign any other skills that you may have – photography, publicity, writing, arts and crafts
8 Be prepared for and take part in the consultation – due to start in September
9 Visit and use your local library as much as possible!
10 Come along and support We Love Our Library events, the first of which is -
Saturday 17 September from 2 – 4pm
Join the Read-in at Higham Hill Library
Pick up leaflets for your road, sign the petition and find out more about the library campaign
Please especially come along with your children if they have taken part in the summer Big Friendly Read!
What is happening to other libraries?
The council proposes major changes to 3 local libraries – Highams Park (formerly Hale End), Wood Street and
Higham Hill - to close the existing buildings and to move the services they provide into other non-purposebuilt
spaces. The Highams Park Library campaigners collected over 8,000 signatures on their petition,
protested in front of the Town Hall and have won a stay of execution on their closure. Wood Street Library
also has a campaign up and running.
Without community support, all these libraries remain vulnerable – please support all the library campaigns! 

Cemeteries not protected by Mayor

Southwark Woods

William Webb remembered

William Webb


Waltham Forest In Focus(WFIF)
9/2016:1

Waltham Forest In Focus

A photographic group supporting the enhancement
of the borough’s renowned Vestry House Museum


Press release – 12th September 2016

A Leyton bus driver killed in WW1 air-raid

Nearly 100 years ago on the night of 23rd/24th September 1916, the residents of Walthamstow and Leyton took their turn to suffer at the hands of the Zeppelin airships. This was the eighth time the Germans had inflicted an air-raid on Greater London, and this time there were nearly 10 known civilian deaths resulting from the bombs they dropped.

The attacks, usually under cover of the darkest nights with no moon, followed a pattern whereby the Zeppelin crews watched for the ‘flashing’ light of London’s trams as they passed along the otherwise darkened streets. This gave the crews a good expectation that by dropping their bombs in the direction of the flashes, they would be close to populated areas. Such indiscriminate actions obviously revealed their orders did not specify their targets needed to be purely military ones!

On this night William Webb aged 25, a local Leyton man, was returning his bus to the Leyton garage, then part of the London General Omnibus Co. (LGOC). He would have had every reason to then believe he would be enjoying his home comforts at 699 Lea Bridge Road where he lived, a mere 5 minutes away. He never made that short journey, for soon after parking up his empty bus, he was struck by the flying shrapnel of an exploding bomb dropped from the unseen airship above.

Little more is known, mainly due to wartime newspaper censorship, and also because no staff records have survived to preservation at the LT Museum(Covent Garden). At least it is possible to purchase from Authority a copy of his death certificate, and this informs that cause of death was “laceration of brain” - caused by the bomb fragments.  

Research undertaken by ‘WFIF’ founder member Keith Foster, is now being released to ensure William Webb receives a prominent place in local history for the first time. Although driver Webb is recorded as an “air raid victim” on the war memorial at the Leyton garage, it was only by determined efforts Keith located Webb’s grave, together with its evocative inscription in a densely wooded area of a local cemetery in nearby Chingford. With the help of museum assistant Gary Staines, two old photos cut from an unknown magazine were discovered, and they help to illustrate the funeral procession, led by a floral bus with the uniformed men and women of the bus company. Sadly what has so far proved impossible to trace, has been the cine film of the procession later advertised in the local newspaper as a feature at a local cinema the week after the funeral.

Postscript:
It has been deduced from the account of the funeral that William Webb was a single man, and lived at home with his parents. The death certificate shows a brother, Mr A Webb, was the informant on registration of the death. However, this has not proved useful in tracing any living relatives.

Stagecoach London, the bus company operating bus routes across the capital, and from the Leyton Garage, were provided with this information earlier in June this year. We are unable to supply any information about their intentions to mark the death of William Webb with any memorial.

Attachments with this article:- News Editors are given full use of images with accreditation please :- WFIF-Keith Foster

Copy William Webb’s death certificate [died 24 Sept 1916].
Photograph of war memorial at main entrance Stagecoach bus garage, Leyton Green E10 6AD.
Photograph of grave and headstone at Chingford Mount Cemetery Chingford E4 6ST.
Photographs of ‘Floral Bus’ & Staff in funeral procession.
Scanned copy of newspaper report of funeral: Walthamstow Guardian [ 6 Oct 1916].  BL newspaper microfilm poor.
Scanned copy of newspaper advert for Cinematic film of the funeral. [29 Sept 1916].  BL newspaper microfilm poor.

Copyright article: Keith Foster, Waltham Forest In Focus September 2016.

Contact Tel: Mob.  07986330062, or 020 8523 4025

Waltham Forest In Focus(WFIF)
9/2016:1

Waltham Forest In Focus

A photographic group supporting the enhancement
of the borough’s renowned Vestry House Museum


Press release – 12th September 2016

A Leyton bus driver killed in WW1 air-raid

Nearly 100 years ago on the night of 23rd/24th September 1916, the residents of Walthamstow and Leyton took their turn to suffer at the hands of the Zeppelin airships. This was the eighth time the Germans had inflicted an air-raid on Greater London, and this time there were nearly 10 known civilian deaths resulting from the bombs they dropped.

The attacks, usually under cover of the darkest nights with no moon, followed a pattern whereby the Zeppelin crews watched for the ‘flashing’ light of London’s trams as they passed along the otherwise darkened streets. This gave the crews a good expectation that by dropping their bombs in the direction of the flashes, they would be close to populated areas. Such indiscriminate actions obviously revealed their orders did not specify their targets needed to be purely military ones!

On this night William Webb aged 25, a local Leyton man, was returning his bus to the Leyton garage, then part of the London General Omnibus Co. (LGOC). He would have had every reason to then believe he would be enjoying his home comforts at 699 Lea Bridge Road where he lived, a mere 5 minutes away. He never made that short journey, for soon after parking up his empty bus, he was struck by the flying shrapnel of an exploding bomb dropped from the unseen airship above.

Little more is known, mainly due to wartime newspaper censorship, and also because no staff records have survived to preservation at the LT Museum(Covent Garden). At least it is possible to purchase from Authority a copy of his death certificate, and this informs that cause of death was “laceration of brain” - caused by the bomb fragments.  

Research undertaken by ‘WFIF’ founder member Keith Foster, is now being released to ensure William Webb receives a prominent place in local history for the first time. Although driver Webb is recorded as an “air raid victim” on the war memorial at the Leyton garage, it was only by determined efforts Keith located Webb’s grave, together with its evocative inscription in a densely wooded area of a local cemetery in nearby Chingford. With the help of museum assistant Gary Staines, two old photos cut from an unknown magazine were discovered, and they help to illustrate the funeral procession, led by a floral bus with the uniformed men and women of the bus company. Sadly what has so far proved impossible to trace, has been the cine film of the procession later advertised in the local newspaper as a feature at a local cinema the week after the funeral.

Postscript:
It has been deduced from the account of the funeral that William Webb was a single man, and lived at home with his parents. The death certificate shows a brother, Mr A Webb, was the informant on registration of the death. However, this has not proved useful in tracing any living relatives.

Stagecoach London, the bus company operating bus routes across the capital, and from the Leyton Garage, were provided with this information earlier in June this year. We are unable to supply any information about their intentions to mark the death of William Webb with any memorial.

Attachments with this article:- News Editors are given full use of images with accreditation please :- WFIF-Keith Foster

Copy William Webb’s death certificate [died 24 Sept 1916].
Photograph of war memorial at main entrance Stagecoach bus garage, Leyton Green E10 6AD.
Photograph of grave and headstone at Chingford Mount Cemetery Chingford E4 6ST.
Photographs of ‘Floral Bus’ & Staff in funeral procession.
Scanned copy of newspaper report of funeral: Walthamstow Guardian [ 6 Oct 1916].  BL newspaper microfilm poor.
Scanned copy of newspaper advert for Cinematic film of the funeral. [29 Sept 1916].  BL newspaper microfilm poor.

Copyright article: Keith Foster, Waltham Forest In Focus September 2016.
Contact Tel: Mob.  07986330062, or 020 8523 4025





Night Feast

From Stella Creasy MP's Newsletter

Walthamstow's Night Feast- Every Friday of September

The Friday evening 'night feast' market in Walthamstow Town Centre will continue forevery Friday of September. Starting at 5pm and running until 10pm, it features a variety of foods, drinks, arts and crafts stalls and entertainment.
 

Night Feast

Friday 9 September 2016

Mini Holland Update 9-9-16

MINI HOLLAND

From Stella Creasy MP's Newsletter

Mini Holland: 

The Walthamstow Village Review is Launched 

In September 2015, Waltham Forest Council pledged to conduct a review into the Mini Holland Scheme in the Walthamstow Village area, the first location for its implementation. This week the Council has contacted 5,000 households in the area to ask their views on whether the scheme is achieving its objectives.

Mini Holland was designed to reduce rat-running traffic, noise and pollution outside people’s homes, improve road safety, make it easier for people who want to walk and cycle and generally make the area more attractive for residents and visitors. The Council have commissioned an independent, external company to carry out a face to face survey with all households in the scheme area from late August to the end of September to give residents the chance to give your feedback impartially and confidentially. Interviewers will visit every household in the Walthamstow Village area. They will also be interviewing businesses and local emergency services for their feedback too.

The review will involve collecting a range of information alongside this feedback, including technical data about traffic counts, cycling in the area and the number of accidents , and they will then publish a report summarising the results and outlining any adjustments that may be required. The Council say this report will be published on www.enjoywalthamforest.co.uk/work-in-your-area/walthamstow-village at the end of the year. 
For more information on the review visit the Mini Holland Website or email your questions toenjoy@walthamforest.gov.uk

SHERNHALL STREET

The pedestrian refuges have been removed at the junction of Shernhall Street, Church Lane and Vallentin Road making it very dangerous for pedestrians to cross. I am waiting to hear from the council what the final scheme is but, currently with Holy Family School having returned from holiday, the council could not have picked a worse time to start tinkering with this very congested junction. So far the main beneficiaries are motorists who can get along this part of the road much easier - that's assuming they avoid the pedestrians struggling to cross!





MAINTENANCE

Even if the squandering of public money on Mini Holland can be justified there is no point if there is no maintenance budget. Wild flowers along Selborne Road may look pretty for part of the year but the rest of the time they are a mess. But worse is planting trees in tubs and then not watering them as has happened at the junction of Lea Bridge Road and Shernhall Street:




A SUCCESS
It is not all bad here is an example of where MH has had some benefit at Aubrey Road off Church Hill.


WOOD STREET STATION

Despite various requests MH will not tangle with one of the worst traffic problems - outside Wood Street station. There is a continuous clash of traffic, double decker buses and pedestrians which could easily be solved by traffic lights (when Thames Water had to do work at that junction they put in temporary traffic lights and they worked well!). Here is an example of how bad it can get:




BARRETT ROAD IS NOW CLOSED



Barking to Gospel Oak line - update

Turn to Page 23 of Rail Engineer

Rail Engineer

As viewed from the Queens Road bridge




FROM BGORUG
Work has continued, mainly at the Walthamstow track lowering sites. Paved track has been installed between the former Blackhorse Road station site to Suffolk Park Road (bridge 60) and between Shrubland Road (bridge 68) to just short of the Yunus Khan Close access gates (MP8½ - site of former Queen’s Road signal box).
 
The lifted section of up line (Blackhorse Road – MP8½) has been reinstated and the down line removed over the same distance. The leading edges of Walthamstow Queen’s Road platforms have been lowered but the rearward part remains to be lowered and there is no clear sign yet of the final track level.
 
Electrification masts, together with some cantilever gantries, have been installed between Blackhorse Road (bridge 56) and at least as far as Northcote Road (bridge 62) and from Queen’s Road (bridge 70) to Boundary Road (bridge 71). A few weeks ago Network Rail#GOBE tweeted that they had installed 89 OLE masts. This must be well over 100 by now but considering over 550 are required, the slow rate of progress must be concerning. There is very little sign of any work on the viaduct section from Boundary Road (bridge 71) to country side of Wanstead Park. Leyton Midland Road station has received new passenger staircases. Just before this meeting a Tweet was received stating that there was activity at Wanstead Park station.

(b)       Rail Replacement Bus Services (RRBS)
During the summer it became apparent that TfL were looking to make savings on the cost of operation of the RRBS. TfL staff were conducting passenger counts (classically after the schools had broken up for the summer holidays!) and TfL Revenue Protection staff were conducting checks at Barking and East Ham. This latter raised the question of how Penalty Fares could be imposed on a RRBS when there was no means of paying a fare on the bus and closed stations had no ticket retailing facilities. Enquiries revealed that a valid ticket on a TfL RRBS was defined as a possession of a valid paper ticket, paper or Oyster Travelcard or sufficient Oyster PAYG credit to cover the cost of the journey being undertaken (in this case TfL zonal rail fares).
 
Informed Sources were stating that the intension was to reduce Route T (Barking – Walthamstow) to at least every 15 minutes all day on weekdays (currently every 10-12 minutes until 21:00, every 15 minutes thereafter) and possibly every 20 minutes. Route J (Seven Sisters – Highgate Road) was due to start operating every 15minutes on weekdays from 26th September. It was already operating at 30 minutes intervals at weekends and public holidays with abysmal loadings.
 
 Around the last couple of weeks or so the TfL webpage relating to the #GOBE closure showed the post 23rd September RRBS arrangements as being:
·         Route T: Every 20 minutes weekends and public holidays and every 15 minutes during weekdays;
·         Route J : Every 30 minutes weekends and public holidays and every 20 minutes during weekdays
 
Further contact with informed sources revealed that the TfL website was correct except that it had been agreed between Arriva and TfL that Route J would initially operate every 15 minutes on weekdays, but that loadings would be monitored and that if they were low, weekday frequency would be reduced to every 20 minutes from 31st October. The TfL website was subsequently amended to reflect that the weekday frequency of Route J would be every 15 minutes.
 

What do with your dirty nappies!

Dirty Nappies recycled

Organiclea Courses

Courses

Primary expansion hits Secondary schools

More school places needed

National Park City at the Southbank

Daniel Raven-Ellison just posted an update on the petition you signed, Become a Founder of the Greater London National Park #GLNP.

Got your tickets yet? Just 16 days until The Making of a National Park City at Southbank

Sep 04, 2016 —
*Apologies for cross-posting*
Hello,
It's just 16 days until The Making of a National Park City at the Royal Festival Hall! Have you got your tickets yet?
Hosted by comedian Josie Long, we have a great line-up of speakers that include designer Wayne Hemingway, campaigner Fiona Reynolds, firefighter Simon Jakeman, as well as the Bollywood Brass Band, artists, poets, films and more.
An ambitious and landmark community event, this will be a unique opportunity to discover and explore how London can be a National Park City and what it could mean for quality of life in the capital.
We're not messing around. This event is about creating long-term and large-scale changes to radically improve life in London. That's why we've booked one of London's biggest and best venues. Entertaining, provocative and proactive, The Making of a National Park City will be an evening to remember.
Tickets start at just £10 and you can claim a 25% discount on all tickets by using the code RIVERTHAMES on the Southbank website.
Book your tickets today and let's make something truly remarkable happen in London!
As a supporter of the campaign, please help us to make the evening a success by sharing the event with your social and professional networks. We tweet using @LondonNPC and our hashtag is #NationalParkCity.
I hope to see you there.
Let's make London a National Park City!
Daniel 
Daniel Raven-Ellison