There are plenty of things happening in E11 over the Christmas period…

Leytonstone Christmas Lights Switch On

When: Thursday 26th November, 3:30pm – 6:00pm.
Where: Leytonstone Town Centre.

Christmas Market

When: Saturday 5th December.
Where: St. John’s Church, Leytonstone.

Town Centre Christmas Decoration Window Display Competition

When: Friday 18th December.
Where: Leytonstone Town Centre.

Wanstead Christmas Lights Switch On

Residents can take part in a fun treasure hunt from by picking up a map from local retailers along Wanstead High Street.

Carol singers will also be on hand to provide plenty of Christmas cheers and the annual lights display will be switched on.

All shops, cafes and restaurants participating in the event will also exhibit art by pupils from Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School on Chestnut Drive.

The event is being organised by Living Streets, which represents pedestrians and aims to make roads safer for people moving around on foot.

The participating retailers are: Bike Trax, One Deko, Rio, Nice Croissant, The Orange Tree, Picture Perfect Gallery, The Larder, Blush Temples, Heads N Tails, Wanstead Domestic Appliances, Horsfall & Wright, Knock Down Ginger and Lillies of Wanstead.

When: Friday 27th November, 3:30pm – 6:00pm.
Where: Wanstead High Street.

From Waltham Forest Council…

We need your back-up

We are asking the whole community to support us in our call for a fair level of police resourcing in Waltham Forest.

Show your support by signing our online petition to help us secure 120 extra police officers for the borough.

An ambitious target has been set of 5,000 signatures to be collected for the back-up petition by November 2009.

As well as signing the online petition, residents can show their support by completing a postcard found at Council buildings and GP surgeries across the Borough, or at one of our roadshows.

The next roadshow taking place is at Leyton Mills on Friday 30 October from 10am – 3pm.

Sign the Waltham Forest is calling for back-up petition.

The Wanstead Guardian is reporting that one of the large victorian mansions on Cambridge Park in Wanstead is to be demolished and replaced by a block of flats…

A Victorian townhouse is set to be demolished and replaced with a block of nine flats.

The former care home, in Cambridge Park, Wanstead, is one of the largest of its type still left in the street – which used to be flanked by similar buildings until one side was demolished to make way for the M11 link road in the early 1990s.

Residents living in nearby Highstone Avenue and Chestnut Drive say the house is a landmark, and should have been converted rather than demolished.

The full article can be read here.

Surely the council can’t allow that to happen! These great houses are what gives Wanstead its character. Ok, its probably too large to sell as a family residence, but keep the existing building and convert to flats if no other use can be found. A search on the Redbridge planning pages for Cambridge Park doesn’t bring back any obvious applications. Anyone know anything further about this development?

UPDATE – had a search around Redbridge council’s website, seems that 65 Cambridge Park is the house in question and the planning decision was made last year. Must be they’re about to start work on it now…

65 Cambridge Park, Wanstead

Nice double fronted house, shame to see it go. Seems that its too late to save it now though

Waltham Forest Guardian reports that Waltham Forest councillors have agreed to take action to oppose the expansion of London City Airport…

At a full council meeting this evening, Liberal Democrat Farooq Qureshi put forward a motion acknowledging residents’ concern about the expansion of the airport and the increase in noise it will create for residents as well as the environmental impact.

The motion also pledges that on completion of the investigation, the council will take action by writing to the Mayor of Newham condemning its decision to allow expansion and to consider legal action in relation to the expansion or flight path changes.

All parties supported the motion and councillors voted unanimously in favour.

The full article can be found here.

Firework Displays

Start planning your night and catch some impressive fireworks this year and see in Bonfire Night with a bang. There are two organised firework displays being staged close to E11 this year:

Waltham Forest

The 2009 Waltham Forest Firework Display will take place at:

Chestnut Field (behind the Town Hall),
Forest Road,
Walthamstow
E17 4JF

on Thursday 5th November.

Gates open at 6pm and the display begins at 8pm. There will be a funfair with rides for all the family and hot snacks and drinks on sale. The funfair will end at 9:30pm.

Walthamstow Town Hall can be reached by buses 123 and 275 along Forest Road or by tube from Walthamstow Central or train from Wood Street Station.

Entry prices

Adults: £4
Under 16′s: £3
Under 5′s: FREE
Senior citizens: £3

Newham (Wanstead Flats)

The free display will once again be held at:

Wanstead Flats,
Centre Road,
Forest Gate E7

on Friday 6th November.

Gates open at 6:15pm and the display begins at 7:30pm. There will be hot snacks and drinks on sale.

The display is taking place at Wanstead Flats by kind permission of The Corporation of London, conservators of Epping Forest.

Wanstead Flats can be reached by buses 58, 101, 104, 308, 330, 474, W19 or by train to Manor Park, Forest Gate or Wanstead Park station. Or for us in E11, simpler to just walk!

Wanstead Rugby Club

Support Wanstead Rugby Club on Bonfire Night.

Roding Lane North,
Woodford Green,
Essex
IG8 8JY

on Thursday 5th November.

Gates open at 7:00pm and the display begins at 7:30pm.

Entry prices

Per person: £3

Please do not bring glass bottles or sharp items. People may be searched as a condition of entry.

People are asked not to bring their dogs.

Please use public transport where possible – there may be limited parking at some of the events.

A number of restaurants in Leytonstone are offering special discounts during “Leytonstone Food Week”, which runs from Monday 26th October till Sunday 1st November 2009.

Leytonstone Food Week

Examples of the discounts on offer are:

• Two main meals for the price of one at The Star of India.
• A free jug of Sangria for 4 people at Elche.
• 20% discount on selected items at Singburi.

A leaflet which details all of the offers available can be downloaded here.

Looks like Leytonstone’s councillors have finally joined the “Fight the Flights” party…

Councillors Demand Action on Aircraft Noise

Along with many local residents your Leytonstone Labour councillors Clyde Loakes, Jenny Gray and Marie Pye are very concerned about the increased aircraft noise over parts of Leytonstone.

At our request the council undertook an investigation to identify the main causes of this.

These appear to be:

• London City Airport recently changed the direction of some of their flights particularly from runway 28, and of course many of these flights are jets.
• Further changes were made to London City Airport as a result of planning application for extra flights submitted to the London Borough of Newham. This application was not referred to Waltham Forest Council.
• Air traffic control at Heathrow airport has been redirecting a very high number of planes due to weather conditions during the summer.

As local councillors we are determined that the voice of Leytonstone is heard loud and clear about these issues.

• We have ensured that the council will respond to the current BAA Heathrow consultation programme Noise Action Plan.
• The council’s noise level assessment team will be prioritising checks to see whether residents are eligible for the London City Airport (LCA) Sound Insulation Grant Scheme.
• Waltham Forest Council will also be demanding a place round the table at the the London City Airport Consultation Committee which at the moment is only open to Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, and Tower Hamlets.
• As local councillors we will be contacting the London Borough of Newham to express our concern at their agreement to increased flights from City Airport.
• We will also be involved in an upcoming consultation by the National Air Traffic Service which will focus on flights coming over our area.

I do find the political posturing by all of the main parties quite amusing. At a flights meeting earlier this month the Lib Dem’s and Ed Northover (Conservative parliamentary candidate) made noises about working together and not trying to gain political mileage out of this issue. Haven’t seen any evidence of it yet!

If you haven’t visited the Westfield Stratford City website, its well worth a look. After stagnating for a long time, its recently been re-designed, sporting a flashy new look with some nice slideshows featuring cgi impressions of the finished article and some pics of how the work is progressing.

Stratford City - Northern Arcade

A mural featuring Leytonstone’s most famous son, Alfred Hitchcock, sporting a studded leather jacket has been painted outside 491 Gallery’s “Vertigo” building on Grove Green Road, Leytonstone…

Vertigo Mural: Alfred Hitchcock

Seems to have met with a mixed reaction. I quite like it, certainly brightens up the outside of the building – I’m sure Hitch would be amused. Further info on the 491 Gallery project can be found at www.491gallery.com.

Waltham Forest Guardian reports that the Tesco Express in Wanstead could open before the end of the year. A planning application to site a loading diectly in front of it had been rejected by Redbridge Council, holding up progress. However this has now been resolved, with Tesco agreeing to make deliveries via Grosvenor Road instead, so work can now press ahead to fit out the store.