The latest news from the Council is that a cycling proficiency area is to be included in the layout when Drapers Field finally reopens.
The latest plan is here: Drapers Field Plan
The plan shows the artificial pitch and the junior grass pitch alongside, and the mixed use cycling/walking path across the field.
They are also increasing the cost of pest control in other areas, putting up the cost of dealing with mice for those on council tax benefit from £60 to £75, a 22% increase.
Lib Dems have criticised the move saying it will cause more problems than it solves.
Lib Dem Environment spokesperson Councillor Mahmood Hussain said:
“This is a false economy. A growing rat population affects everyone. For every person that is put off reporting rats by this new charge, rats will spread further and faster across the Borough.
“Mice are a growing problem for residents too and it can often take two or three visits before they are cleared from your home, landing you with a bill of hundreds of pounds.”
“Just like their u-turns over parking charges and the living wage last year, it wouldn’t cost Labour much to reverse these bad decisions and back the priorities of residents.”
Lib Dem Leader Councillor Bob Sullivan said:
“Lib Dems will be finding money in our alternative budget to show that the Labour council could cut charges for mice and keep the rat service free if they wanted to.”
TWO DAMNING REPORTS ON WALTHAM FOREST PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Figures released at the end of 2012 show Key Stage 2 results for Waltham Forest primary schools have been below the national average for the past two years. Whilst our results did improve in 2012, most other areas improved even more and have left us lagging behind.
According to the most recent Ofsted report, Waltham Forest and Hackney children are now the least likely in London to be able to attend to a good or outstanding primary school. With only 11 authorities out of over 150 in England performing worse, Waltham Forest is in the bottom 8% of authorities nationwide.
Across England, 2012 saw a welcome increase in the percentage of Key Stage 2 pupils receiving a Level 4 or above in English and Maths, helped by extra money delivered through the Lib Dem Pupil premium, which targets funds at the poorest pupils.
But despite extra investment delivered by Liberal Democrats in government through the pupil premium, which will deliver over £12.5 million additional money for Waltham Forest schools in 2013-14, we are still lagging behind the national average in these key indicators.
Lib Dems believe Labour should be doing more to drive up standards in our schools and making more of this new money to drive up standards for the poorest. Splashing out money on more fireworks and other events can’t hide the fact that this Labour Council is letting our children down.
Cllr Bob Sullivan said:
“Every parent in Waltham Forest should be able to say that their child attends a good or outstanding primary school. There are great schools and great teachers in our Borough but many schools do not get the help they need from this Labour Council to overcome the difficulties they face.
“Waltham Forest Labour have now had 4 different cabinet members in charge of schools in just two and a half years and we’ve lost managers and directors too.
“When we left the joint administration in 2010 our Key Stage 2 results were above the national average but two years of Labour mismanagement have meant the rest of the country has overtaken us.
“Waltham Forest Lib Dems don’t believe more academies are the answer but we do need better local leadership to deliver a better education for our Borough’s children. It can’t be right that our children are the least likely in London to be able to attend a good or outstanding primary school.”
Waltham Forest Lib Dems warn Government that planning change ‘recipe for disaster’
Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats have criticised Government proposals to relax planning laws for a three-year period and labelled them a ‘recipe for disaster’. The Lib Dems successfully passed a motion at full council receiving cross-party support to oppose the changes proposed by the government.
The Government announced in the summer plans to kick start the building industry. A public consultation was launched to extend the exemption for planning permission for home extensions of up to 6 metres. Legislation currently allows for extensions up to 3 metres to avoid the planning process. If the proposals became law, owners of street properties could find their rear windows flanked by six-metre extensions on both sides, plunging them into darkness for most of the day.
Developers could be allowed to by-pass planning controls to fast-track commercial and housing applications. Business premises would be able to expand by 100sq metres and industrial units by 200sq metres. Offices would be permitted to convert to residential use all without planning permission, irrespective of the impact they would have on a neighbourhood.
Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats fear the plans will potentially block out light, split communities, damage conservation policies and do nothing to encourage economic growth locally that is not achieved already.
The Government’s proposals are currently out for consultation. Liberal Democrats at their annual conference also rejected the move overwhelmingly.
Liberal Democrat Planning Spokesperson, Councillor Liz Phillips, said:
“These proposals are a recipe for disaster. They have not been properly thought through. If this is allowed to happen it could set neighbour against neighbour and split communities in Waltham Forest for years to come.
“On top of the resentment and loss of quality of life, some people’s houses will also plummet in value if they’ve got no light or a noisy factory is within a few metres of their front door.
“There is no evidence that this will do anything to promote economic growth in Waltham Forest. The Government needs to ditch these divisive and unnecessary plans.”
The Council has announced that normal collection services will operate until Christmas Eve
Christmas Day and Boxing Day – no collections
After Boxing Day – collections will be two days later than normal
New Year’s Day – no collections
From Monday 7 January – normal service resumes
Christmas Tree Recycling
Real Christmas Trees should be left out for collection on your normal brown bin day
Waltham Forest Lib Dem Leader Councillor Bob Sullivan has been appointed to a new panel set up to examine the questions surrounding the council’s £9 million Worknet programme.
Councillor Sullivan requested the enquiry in September and the panel has now been established by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny management committee. The panel will investigate claims that millions of pounds went unspent or were put away in the council’s balances.
Also on the panel will be Conservative Cllr John Moss and Labour Cllr Saima Mahmood.
Councillor Sullivan said:
“I’m pleased to have the opportunity to raise the difficult questions needed about the council’s Worknet programme.
“All of this £9 million should have been used to put our residents back to work but so far we don’t know how much of this money actually made it into these back to work schemes or if any of them were successful.
“The council, the contractors and cabinet members all have tough questions to answer. We need to know if these contracts were successfully delivered, if they weren’t delivered then what went wrong, and why residents didn’t know about it sooner?”
LIB DEMS CALL FOR COUNCIL RETHINK OVER PARKING IN THE BOROUGH
With problems over the CPZ consultation and plans by Waltham Forest Council to sell off the Stanley Road Car Park in Bakers Arms shopping area, parking is fast becoming a big issue in the Borough.
Lib Dems are opposing plans by the council to sell off the car park at Bakers Arms. And have gone further by asking the council to extend free parking times over the Christmas period to help local businesses.
Cllr Mahmood Hussain, Lib Dem Environment spokesperson said:
“With Christmas coming up, now would be the perfect time to help local businesses by extending the 15 minutes free parking time up to 30 minutes for the remaining few weeks. This would help our local shops compete with supermarkets and the big shopping centres nearby.
“And selling off the Bakers’ Arms car park is clearly the wrong decision. The car park is badly signposted at the moment but if we could bring it back into proper use it could be a great asset for local businesses.
“Cabinet members need to rethink parking in the Borough and focus on how it can help local businesses.”
Chair of the Bakers’ Arms Business Forum, Suleman Ahmed said:
“We should be taking advantage of the resource that we have in this car park at Bakers’ Arms. If the car park was better managed and better signposted by the council then it would not need to be sold off.
“Extending free parking would also be a great boost to local businesses in the run up to the Christmas period.”
Planning Application No. 2012/1627/MMAThe Council has lodged an additional planning application for Drapers Field to amend the plans previously submitted.
It covers changes to materials, surfacing and layout of the play areas, plus the formation of a cycle path adjacent to the footpath cutting across the centre of the field.
The FOCUS Team understands that planned ‘urban beach’ has been abandoned.
Further details are available on the council website, and are accessible by quoting the above application number on the Planning Explorer.
The Planning Committee has approved London Fire Brigade’s application to demolish and rebuild the old fire station in Leytonstone High Road.
The new building will provide room for modern fire fighting appliances and training facilities, plus a visiting space for the public.
The fire engines will be temporarily transferred to other stations, and the Brigade says that there would be no reduction in cover as a result.
At the recent full council meeting, councillors voted in favour of a Liberal Democrat motion to introduce Selective Licensing in the Borough.
Selective licensing has recently been introduced across the whole of the neighbouring borough of Newham. Once in place the law requires that all landlords in the area are licensed and that license can then be revoked if certain conditions aren’t met.
Lib Dems want to use it to tackle rogue landlords and in particular the growth of anti-social behaviour in private rented properties, which now make up 32% of the Borough’s housing stock.
The motion called for a full consultation on proposals to introduce selective licensing in the Borough to tackle rogue landlords, although this was diluted by a Labour amendment, which instead simply referred to ‘an evaluation’.
Lib Dem Housing spokesperson Councillor Winnie Smith, who moved the motion said:
“We’re pleased that the council are now seriously looking into selective licensing. And we hope that the Labour group will now stick to the spirit of the motion and push forward with selective licensing.
“There is a clear need to tackle the growing problem of rogue landlords in the Borough. As we heard from Leyton resident Sharon Crossland in the council meeting, there are landlords in our borough that just aren’t playing by the rules and there is only so much that can be done at the moment without this new licensing power.”
“Many residents are suffering in properties that just aren’t up to standard and paying too much for poor housing that’s blighted by anti-social behaviour.”