To:
All Decision Makers
We are writing to you as those attending the recent consultation
about the plans for the Town Centre were concerned at the lack of consistent
information given over the 2 days. If you expect the public to support this
scheme then at least provide them with the full details they need to assess it.
1. TREES
a.
The reason given for felling the avenue of lime trees was because
the council is insisting the area is all at one level. This seems a feeble
excuse for felling so many trees.
b.
Another reason given was that 3 trees have roots that will be
damaged during the works.
c.
Is the true reason to clear the view from the bus station to the
shopping centre?
2. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
a.
The Council has issued a Climate Emergency and will be developing
a Climate Change Strategy. Surely this ensures existing mature trees are properly
maintained so how is this compatible with the felling of 80 mature trees in the
Town Centre?
b.
Planting new trees does not create the same benefits to the
climate that mature trees offer so for some decades the environment of the Town
Centre will be damaged instead of improved.
c.
What is the Council doing to ensure the plans for the Town Centre
are energy efficient? Will the scheme have a neighbourhood energy scheme, solar
panels etc.?
d.
Surely building over the Victoria Line is going to increase the
energy needed to create this scheme as the foundations will be extremely
complex.
3. GREEN SPACE
a.
The green space is being reduced by 30% despite even more people
living in the area. This is bad planning as it does not provide for the openspace
residents living near the Town Square or shoppers visiting the Mall and market
need.
b.
Surely a properly designed scheme would ensure a better public
realm with enough space to cater for the growing number of people using the
Town Square?
4. PLAYGROUND
a.
From the information available the new play area has been moved
from beside the bus station to the centre of the openspace but very little
information about the play area was provided. Can a fully worked up plan of the
equipment being provided be made available on a web site? How many children and
what ages will it cater for?
5. HOUSING
a.
From Tottenham Hale to Walthamstow Central getting on for 20,000
flats are being built. Meridian Water will be providing 10,000 new homes
adjacent to Waltham Forest so is there any need for adding more flats into an
already saturated Town Centre?
b.
Juniper House is about to start being constructed, Whipps Cross
Hospital site will be mainly housing and the Town Hall complex will have more
flats and over a thousand flats are under construction in Lea Bridge Road and
Leyton. Surely these are more than enough to allow the Council to meet its
housing target from the GLA of 1,800 per year? We can’t continue to pack in
people without social cohesion breaking down especially over a short period of
time.
c.
The proposed flats are for rent – what does that mean? If the
rents are at market rates there will be no housing for those on limited
incomes. If the rents are only affordable by those in city jobs paying large
bonuses will the flats just be occupied by a transient population who add
nothing to the community of Waltham Forest?
6. TOWER BLOCKS
a.
Height – 31 storeys is totally out of keeping with the street scene
around the Town Centre being more than twice the height of any nearby building.
This is very bad planning and will make it an unattractive place.
b.
Massing – we are not clear how the reduction from 4 to 3 blocks
improves the massing as the same number of flats will be built and the blocks
appear, in the limited information available, to be squashed together making
the massing worse.
c.
Building over the Victoria line – the consultation says the scheme
re-design allows the scheme to be built quicker. From the limited information
available to the public the tower blocks
still seem to be being built over the Victoria Line tracks which would involve
massive foundation construction works so what is it that has changed to make
the scheme easier to build?
d.
Full planning permission has not been obtained for the tower
blocks and it appears the second partner, Mount Anvil, has pulled out as the
consultation admitted a partner was not yet in place. When is the consultation
on the full planning application for the tower blocks to be carried out?
e.
Grenfell – only the first report from the Grenfell Inquiry has
been published. Surely no tower block of 31 storeys can be considered until all
the building regulations relating to tower blocks have been reviewed in the
light of the results of the Grenfell Inquiry?
7. WALTHAMSTOW CENTRAL
a.
Congestion – the Victoria Line is already at capacity so where is
the sense of creating more demand for the tube adding more flats right beside
the new entrance?
b.
When are TfL going to reveal their plans and consult the public?
c.
Is TfL rebuilding their existing station as well as creating a new
entrance from the Mall via escalators down to the platforms?
8. C&R TAKEOVER
a.
What impact does C&R’s financial situation and its talks with
Growthpoint Properties about a takeover affect the funding of this scheme and
the new tube station entrance?
b.
Why have they not been able to get a partner to fund the tower
blocks? They lost Barratt Homes before the first planning application was
submitted and subsequently Mont Anvil seems to have withdrawn.
9. SECTION 73
a.
This process is normally used for minor changes to consented planning
applications. The changes C&R are proposing are not minor i.e. 3 tower
blocks not 4, new entrance to tower blocks and new entrance to tube station.
b.
It is not clear why any of the changes will reduce the time taken
to build this development. Surely if that was true C&R should have made it
clear at the consultation why using Section 73 makes a significant difference.
10. OTHER TOWN CENTRE DEVELOPMENTS
a.
Construction Traffic – with Juniper House about to start,
Strettons site not far behind and the council’s plans to refurbish the EMD and
redevelop the Town Hall site there will be major congestion on Chingford Road,
a residential street, as the construction traffic makes its way from the North
Circular.
b.
Despite asking the council various times no clear answer has been
given as to how the construction traffic will be managed. This route is already
heavily congested and this will make a mockery of declaring a Climate Change
Emergency.
We believe the residents of
Waltham Forest should be shown more respect and a proper consultation held
making the plans available for the whole scheme as well as CGI images of the
main features so the public can really see what the impact of this scheme will
be and the many years the town centre will be disrupted.
