Hale End Library threatened with demolition and more flats in its place
Issue number 133 of the FOCUS Newsletter leads with the news that Hale End Library is threatened with destruction by Waltham Forest’s Labour-controlled Council.
You can sign the residents’ online petition.
12:33pm Wednesday 4th March 2015 – Waltham Forest E-Guardian
Re-submitted plans for a multi-million pound investment in new sporting facilities will be a ‘wasted’ opportunity, according to campaigners.
Athletes, parents, children, teachers and councillors gathered last night to urge the council to reconsider a proposal for Walthamstow Pool and Track.
The authority and contractors Greenwich Leisure Limited were criticised for deciding not to replace a 5m diving board as part of the £25million scheme in Chingford Road.
In September plans to knock down the existing building and replace it were rejected by the council’s planning committee due to loss of amenity as the diving board, which is said to be vital for training youngsters, would be replaced by a spa and an ‘extreme sports’ arena.
But an application for the same proposal has been made, with the diving board not included.
Campaigners and other clubs say young athletes will also be disadvantaged if the proposal is approved.
A petition calling for further public consultation has been signed by 2,500 people.
Speaking at the Pool & Track last night, Orion Harriers club manager, Jane Farrier, said the planned facility would kill athletics.
A ‘well-used’ strength and conditioning room will be taken away under the new plans.
We were not consulted from day one
They are not integrating this track with the new centre and there are a number of big concerns with the new proposals.
For a start we will now have a safeguarding issue with children having to go right out of our sight to use the toilets and changing rooms.
There will be no track-side first aid.
We have no trust in them whatsoever.
We do not dispute the centre needed to be developed, but the emphasis has been placed on making money not improving what we already have.
We have 400 junior and 350 senior members. None of them were asked.
Is consultation asking people what they want or telling them what they are getting?
Lesley Pearce, the teacher in charge of PE at Parkside School in Chingford, said
There is a desperate need for a large sporting venue for pupils to use.
If the council had consulted primary schools they would know we spend a huge amount of money transporting children to facilities in other boroughs.
With this amount of money they are spending – they have the chance build a major sporting hub and meet the needs of thousands of children.
These plans are not suitable.
Walthamstow resident Amanda Connolly criticised the lack of consultation.
There is no transparency in this project. It should be about investing in the future.
Nobody has a problem with development or enterprise, but we haven’t even been asked what we need.
Green Party candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, Rebecca Tully, said the council should not expect children to travel to other boroughs for facilities.
There are children having to travel to outside boroughs and are getting home at ten o’clock on a school night. That is not what we want.
Many members of the community in Waltham Forest feel as though they have been ignored.
Jack Byrne, 11, is a member of the diving club. He said:
It’s not just about divers, it’s about swimmers too.
With these plans we can’t use the pool at the same time.
Before I learned to dive I would try the 5m board and it was such a thrill.
I just wanted to do more. If they take it away other children won’t get to experience that.
We don’t need a spa here.
A dedicated planning meeting will be held at Walthamstow Town Hall on Tuesday (March 10).
GLL has not responded to repeated requests for interview from The Guardian.
View the petition here.
Multi-million pound plans to demolish and re-build a ‘state of the art’ sports centre have been axed from the council’s agenda for next week.
Campaigners, parents and budding sports stars had been preparing to protest at the town hall in Walthamstow, on Tuesday, as plans for the Chingford Road Pool and Track were to be debated for a second time.
A petition which has been signed by over 1,500 people was started two weeks ago, calling on the council to consult local people.
The plans, the second ones to reach the planning committee, have been slammed as the new centre will not include a 5m diving board, dive pit and will alter facilities for disabled people.
Waltham Forest council’s contractor, GLL Ltd, said the board is too expensive but are putting spa facilities and a BMX area in the plans.
In September the first plans were rejected over the proposed loss of amenity for local residents.
Today, it was revealed that the meeting has been deferred until March, where the will be a dedicated meeting over the facility.
In a letter to campaigner Ian Capes, a council officer wrote:
Due to the amount of interest in the plans it is important that we can accommodate as many members of the public as possible who wish to attend the meeting and play their part in the decision making process.
The decision comes on the same day the chairman of the planning committee was suspended from the Labour group over a Facebook rant over the words of the Prophet Mohammed.
The petition can be seen here:
On Thursday the Liberal Democrat group voted against proposals that would mean more special responsibility allowances for councillors.
Lib Dems criticised the Labour group for using scrutiny politically to avoid any real scrutiny of council policies, whilst at the same time awarding themselves more money.
The Labour council are splitting the health and adults committee into two new committees that will focus separately on public health and adults services.
They are creating two additional paid positions for their members who will take the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee, who will get an extra £8,000 and £4,000 respectively on top of the £10,000 a year they earn as councillors.
Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Bob Sullivan said:
“Labour are just creating more paid positions to reward their members. The current proposal could mean £12,000 in extra costs to Waltham Forest council tax payers.”
“There are a lot of ways Labour could ensure this doesn’t cost more money: Either by cutting these allowances across the council or by sharing the existing allowances for the old committee across the two new ones.
“Labour councillors should stop trying to hide their failures by stuffing committees full of their own members.
“They should be taking responsibility over their failures over jobs in this Borough and cutting their ‘special responsibility allowances’ rather than giving themselves more allowances.”
Over the last few years council phone bills have soared. According to figures released by the council mobile phone costs soared by over £110,000 last year costing taxpayers a total of £314,000 in one year alone, whilst landline costs also rose by £80,000.
Council tax payers are now forking out £860,000 every year for phone bills alone.
Cllr Bob Sullivan said:
“Labour need to get a grip on these soaring phone bills. Other council services are being cut whilst phone bills are going up and up.
“The council are putting more and more services online but clearly aren’t making any savings by doing it.
“This £190,000 could be helping us build a fairer society by investing in social services, it could help build a stronger local economy by investing in jobs or it could even protect local services like keeping open a library.
“Instead, Labour is proving time and time again that they can’t be trusted with our money.”
LOCAL LIB DEMS RENEW CALLS FOR OLYMPIC TRADERS’ COMPENSATION
Local Lib Dems have renewed calls for council action over the Leyton Olympic traders mess last year. The council has so far failed to take any responsibility for the mess despite heavily promoting the market before the Olympics, whilst it was clear the planned routes for Olympic visitors were outside the area.
Local Lib Dems believe this is an issue of trust and the council should be clear about its responsibility. If compensation is due from North London Business and not the council then Waltham Forest councillors should refuse to sit on their board if no action is forthcoming.
Leyton Councillor Bob Sullivan said:
“The Chief Executive of North London Business resigned over this debacle last year, so traders are right to expect some compensation.”
“I’ve repeatedly asked the council whether they will be giving out compensation to the traders and they have so far refused, putting the blame squarely with North London Business and Skateco UK Ltd.”
“Yet councillors and Cabinet members have consistently failed to put pressure on North London Business and Skateco UK Ltd to reimburse the traders, who were sold promises of customers that never arrived.
“No action has been forthcoming from North London Business since last year so it is long since time for Waltham Forest councillors at the very least to refuse to sit on their board or, better yet, take some responsibility themselves.”
At the Council’s budget meeting Liberal Democrat councillors highlighted the Council’s spending of £130,000 on fireworks in January. This money could have kept the Library at Harrow Green open for a year.
Focus says: This is not all. The Council is planning to spend another million of tax payers money on fireworks and other events this year. Given the current financial situation is this the right priority?
Following on from spending £650,000 on a new entrance hall at the Town Hall, Liberal Democrat councillors have now heard that another £18,000 of ratepayers money has been forked out on new committee room tables!