Details on the Performing Arts & Film Centre proposals (PDF)

The school plans to open in September 2011 on the old goods yard and industrial area between Blackhorse Road Station, Hawarden Road and the Douglas Eyre Playing Fields.

Although the proposal was recommended for funding, the council panel criticised the plans saying “the original application did not fully address how the wider community, rather than only the school itself, would benefit from this investment. Supplementary information sought by the panel and provided by the sponsoring organisation demonstrated that this issue will be addressed“.

Here’s an excerpt from the funding request:

“A dual use performance and screening space would have extensive use by Willowfield school. It is not expected that community arts use would be high immediately, but it would grow over time with the new facility providing a
stimulus for growth in the performing arts and film making community. At current community arts levels you may be talking about between 10 and 30 productions annually. It is expected that with a venue located near public transport that other schools and colleges would use the venue and for the community arts use to grow, but it is difficult to provide a forecast.

Cultural services also advise that there is a growing creative industry sector developing within the borough especially in the Blackhorse Lane area which would complement a performing arts and film centre at Willowfield School”.

Thanks to everyone who showed up for our community garden/harvest celebration on the Douglas Eyre playing fields.
The apple press was a particular hit with the look on some of the kids faces when the juice poured forth worth putting the event on for alone. The BBQ didn’t kill anyone, and the apple bobbing was as ever a reliable bit of fun.

Many residents discussed options for the community garden, including taking part in a PASE exercise.  PASE stands for plant, animal, structure, event – with people writing their choice for each on a post it note (i.e. what events could be held, what animals could be kept, what structure built).

The prize for the most outlandish animal suggestion goes to whoever said we should keep an elephant!

Those not chatting, quaffing juice, or manning the bbq were busy building a compost heap (below).
Made from used palettes – kindly donated from a company down by Tottenham Hale – its a first step towards a working community garden.

By the end of the day, limbs were aching and hands unused to a hard days work blistered but hopefully its the first of many events.

If youre interested in anyway in helping with the community garden whether that’s planning, or the digging when its set up, please email foodgardeningandenvironment@blackhorseactiongroup.org.uk.

Thanks must go to the Hornbeam Centre’s fruitpicking project for the use of their wonderful Apple and Pear press.  For details on how to help out with their project visit the website.

Want to grow some food and flowers?

Come to BAG’s first FREE beginners gardening workshop on Sunday the 7th of June.

There will be containers for everyone to plant out with organic vegetables and flowers. Once you’ve finished, take them away and enjoy.

THE WORKSHOP WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE 
DOUGLAS EYRE PLAYING FIELDS, 
2.30-4.30pm.

The Workshop is completely free and open to all, but numbers are limited so please book in advance by emailing Caroline.

The workshop was funded courtesy of Grassroots Grants.

ORGANISED BY BLACKHORSE ACTION GROUP AND ORGANICLEA,

URGENT COUNCIL CONSULTATION

The council would like residents feedback on plans to site Willowfield school at the top of the Douglas Eyre playing fields.
Visit the Building Schools for the Future consultation here to give them your views.
As usual with council consultations they’ve waited until less than a week before the closing date to send details to residents!

The consultation closes on the 12th of January.

Here’s what this months BSF bullitin says on the subject:

Following the request from the Governing Body further to pursue the possibility of a site at the current Douglas Eyre Playing Field, discussions have been held with the owners (London Playing Fields Foundation), the adjoining housing developers and the Greater London Authority over the constraints within which use of part of the field might be acceptable. A Project Manager has been identified, and the next steps are to commission planning advisers and various other consultancies to support the development of a revised proposal.

LATEST ON THE TOWER BLOCKS
Thank you very much for all your support with the housing campaign Blackhorse Action Group Residents Association (BAG) started this year. We received emails and comments from over 150 residents unhappy with developers plans to build 10 blocks of flats up-to 23 storeys high on the site right behind Blackhorse Road tube station overlooking the Douglas Eyre playing fields.

In the last few months BAG members have raised the residents concerns and have met many councillors and the regeneration officer for Blackhorse Lane. BAG have also maintained correspondence with English Partnerships who own most of the land the tower blocks would be built on.

BAG distributed leaflets at the tube station and through residents doors spelling out the sheer height and density of the plan. English Partnerships developers went on to change their plans twice only to receive negative feedback from the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment each time.

In late October, we tried to organise a meeting with English Partnerships. The response from them was: “All plans are slowing at the moment given the market and local context. We’ll come back to you when it’s a bit clearer what our aspirations for the site are” (English Partnerships)

A few weeks ago in a meeting with Cllr Terry Wheeler (Cabinet Member for Investment and Enterprise) BAG members discovered plans for the blocks of flats were “no longer an option”. Cllr Wheeler stated on the record the 23 storey towers had been scrapped. He went on to say that the most likely option for the site would be a new home for an expanded Willowfield School.

BAG is still waiting for official confirmation on this. At the time of the meeting the council was still in negotiations to acquire the site.

We’ll never know whether it was BAG’s campaigning and the massive response from residents outraged at this inappropriate development that stopped our skyline being overshadowed by vast tower blocks or if it was simply a consequence of the collapse in the housing market. Either way we’d like to thank residents for all their help, and feedback to both us AND the council.

Clearly this is not the end of the story, as the Arcade site at the top of the market enters its sixth year as a boarded up wasteland, its clear that even if the council acquires the site, they may not do the right thing by us as residents. We will renew our argument that any development on BHL2 should have mixed facilities for the local community. So far however we’ve got the strong impression the Council thinks this is very unlikely. So, one battle won but a big fight still looming.

TESCO EXPRESS
Opinion seems divided on plans for a Tesco Express store on the former site of the Essex Arms on Forest Road (2-3 minutes walk from Blackhorse Road tube).

The proposed store would have 9 car parking spaces, secure bays for 14 bikes and would be open between 7am and 11pm. Debate has raged over whether this will decimate local business’s and destroy diversity or whether it’s actually a good use of a derelict site.

LATEST NEWS: Tesco appear to have withdrawn their application for the site (link). Have they changed their mind about the store or are they reapplying? BAG will try and find out more.

EMD CINEMA UPDATE
Liberal Democrat Councillor, James O’Rourke contacted BAG to inform us the council are in talks with UKCG about a new planning application for the building. In 2003, in response to the demands of Walthamstow residents the government denied UCKG permission to convert the building into a church. In the 5 years that have followed nothing has changed at either the EMD or Arcade site. Will the church be given permission despite this clear ruling?

Cllr. O’Rourke, along with an English Heritage representative and the Council’s Conservation Officer visited the cinema recently and found it in a “sorry state”. Councillor O’Rourke commented that he was “encouraged plans are now being made to use the EMD”.

ST. JAMES STREET LIBRARY
A final open air library was held in December outside the former St James Street Library building. Despite being closed without warning or consultation the council has been steadfast in its refusal to reconsider.

Back in October a meeting of the Walthamstow West community council descended into chaos after councillors blocked plans for a feasibility study on reinstating the library, instead opting for a new plan for a scout hut.
Councillors refused to discuss the decision using a microphone so all could hear as requested, and in the end rejected the plan with Cllr James O’Rourke pointing out it was against council procedure. (Read the chair’s reflections on the meeting here.)

And so what was once a valued local library of vital use, in particular to the elderly and the young now has boarded up windows. Instead of educating the community the empty building now contributes to its decline with street drinkers and drug users replacing readers and families on the bench outside.

THE NORTH LONDON WASTE PLAN (NLWP)
Residents Against Pollution are tentatively reporting that plans for an Incinerator at Blackhorse Lane have been scrapped.

RAP’s website states “Though we only have verbal hints at this stage, it looks like Blackhorse Lane is now unlikely to be chosen as a new waste site. We are trying to get something in writing, and we won’t know for sure till the “preferred options” stage of the consultation process is reached in May, when it will be clear whether Blackhorse Lane is still an option.”

WALTHAMSTOW GOD STADIUM
Walthamstow Dog track sits empty as the housing collapse hits its developers (even though they claimed to be altruistically building “affordable homes”). While offers to buy or lease the track back for dog racing – even in the short term – have been blanked by developers, Kingsway International Christian Church were given permission to use the track for a huge New Year’s Eve service. 15,000 people were predicted to attend the event which was broadcast live to 217 countries on the God Channel.

Meanwhile the SaveOurStow campaign continues despite a letter from the new owners L&Q dismissing the views of all those that love the track along with all offers put forward to buy the stadium. No planning application for the site has yet been made. Rumours have emerged of an American consortium who already own dog tracks and have a successful record of developing multi-function commercial sites who intend to start talks with London and Quadrant to acquire the site in the very near future.
Perhaps the sights and sounds of race night may yet return? Although don’t hold your breath.

If you haven’t seen it already BAG found some old Walthamstow Dogs footage from 1937, 1968 and 1986 down the back of the sofa, so we put together a 30 minute video tribute to “The Stow” through the ages.

Watch “The Soul of Walthamstow: 75 years of ‘The Stow’” here.

KICK OUT KIER
Six months after getting the money saving contract to clean Walthamstow’s streets and complaints about the Kier group’s service continue. The Waltham Forest Guardian reports that the “Row continues over borough’s filthy streets” and our “dirty and “neglected” playgrounds”.

There’s even a flickr group for people to send pictures of any rubbish strewn streets.
Kier also hold the contract for a mixed use redevelopment of Walthamstow Tube Station.

OTHER NEWS
Radio 5 Live visited Walthamstow market – Listen to their broadcast here
Hate all the “To-Let” Signs left long after properties have been rented out – Get rid of them here.

BAG WEBSITE
Last but not least for all the latest news and to discuss local issues keep visiting the BAG Blog.

Once again thank you very much to all residents for their support.

Happy New Year!!!

BAG.

Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters dealt with a blaze on the proposed site of the 23 storey tower block development at the top of Douglas Eyre playing field on Wednesday (30th July 08).

Around fifty tonnes of tyres and rubbish were damaged at the site next to the Blackhorse Road Overground station. The fire brigade were called at about 2.30 in the afternoon and had the fire under control by just gone 6.30PM. Fire fighters remained to damp down the fire well into the next day and thick smoke was still drifting across Forest Road at 1.30am Thursday morning.

The sight of dozens of fire crew hanging around the area all day did appear to raise the spirits of some locals I noticed, although investigations as to the cause of the fire are underway.  Fire hoses stretched from the playing field up Hawarden Road, all the way to Blackhorse Road and across to the Standard side of Forest Road (with cars having to drive over them using makeshift ramps once the road had reopened).

Local residents Richard & Gill took some fantastic pictures (above) which you can see on their Flickr site here.

There’s another great wide shot of all the smoke on the horizon here.

Did anyone else get any shots we could put up on the website, email here.

Do you want the future of Blackhorse Rd to be tonnes of high-rise concrete and more congestion?

The 23-STOREY, 230 FEET HIGH BLOCK is part of a planned ‘super-density’ housing development near the station, with OVER 400 FLATS for up to 1,000 people in 10 TOWER BLOCKS, squeezed into only 1.7 hectares (thats less than two football pitches).

The huge buildings are far higher than any other in the area (mostly two storey Victorian terraces) and will create a precedent for more tower blocks in Walthamstow. It will also add hundreds more people to the rush hour crushes in cars, buses, tubes and trains. There’s also a much larger development planned for the area north of Forest Road, adding even more people and cars to the Blackhorse Rd bottleneck.

TO STOP A 23 STOREY TOWER BLOCK BEING BUILT AT BLACKHORSE ROAD WE NEED LOCAL PEOPLE TO SUBMIT THEIR VIEWS, ALONG WITH THEIR NAME AND EITHER AN EMAIL OR HOUSE ADDRESS. WE CAN THEN PROVE TO COUNCIL PLANNERS THAT THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WANTS MORE THAN JUST HUGE TOWER BLOCKS.
WE WILL NOT CLOG UP YOUR EMAIL OR DOOR MAT WITH JUNK!  ALTERNATIVELY BECOME A MEMBER OF BAG HERE.

BAG WANTS THE DEVELOPMENT TO BE….
…on a smaller scale; less dense; better designed; sustainable; sympathetic to the area; with community spaces, facilities and services; meeting the needs of residents.

WHERE WILL IT BE?

WHY IS IT PLANNED?
The council wants to build 2,000 flats in the Blackhorse Lane area. Over 400 of these are earmarked for the site next to the tube station. Many more flats are planned on the north side of Forest Road.

WHEN IS THE BUILDING DUE?
After an inadequate public ‘consultation’, planning permission may be applied for in summer 08 and building could start as early as autumn 08.

THE OWNER & DEVELOPER
Government agency English Partnerships owns the land. The developer is the Key London Alliance, which is private house-builders Barratt Homes and Inspace, and housing associations Circle Anglia and Notting Hill Housing Group.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TO SAY NO TO THE ‘CONCRETE AND CONGESTION’ PLAN AT BLACKHORSE RD

1. TOO HIGH
Developers haven’t learnt from the anti-social, alienating high-rises of the 1960s and 70s. If this 23-storey block gets consent, it creates a precedent for more in the area.
The tower block contradicts what the council has said about taller buildings being: “out of keeping with the character of the area” and “particularly inappropriate”* when they’re close to greenbelt land like the Lea Valley Special Protection Area right next to it!

2. TOO DENSE
Over 2,000 new flats are planned for the Blackhorse Lane area. Over 400 of these are proposed for a small area of 1.7 hectares next to the tube station.  This is much denser than other local housing, and has no significant open spaces.

The proposal is…
3. TOO RESTRICTED
The proposal only includes housing. There are no shops, businesses, communal facilities or usable open spaces for people. This is a recipe for social alienation and anti-social behaviour.
The development will add more traffic to the jams at the Blackhorse Road cross-roads, and swell the crowds on our pressured tube, buses and trains.

4. ADDS TO OVERCROWDED TRANSPORT

The development will add more traffic to the jams at the Blackhorse Road cross-roads, and swell the crowds on our pressured tube, buses and trains.

5. POORLY DESIGNED
The height and bulk of the buildings will tower over the area and local housing. At ground level it will be walled in and used mainly by vehicles rather than as landscaped open space. There are no shop fronts, communal and work spaces, services or other facilities to bring the place alive for local people.

6. SPOILING THE AREA
This is a super-dense bunker. It will dominate the existing two-storey homes nearby and damage the character of the nearby streets.

7. UNSUSTAINABLE
The design is to a minimal level of sustainability for energy efficiency, water/ waste management and countering climate change. This level of sustainability is well below what owner English Partnerships champions on other sites.

*Waltham Forest council’s Unitary Development Plan, March 2006

The Blackhorse Action Group (BAG) is the residents association for the Blackhorse Rd area. We are not a party political group.

OTHER POSTS ON THIS SUBJECT (CLICK BELOW)
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Read the article here.

Since the Council has put the rebuilding of Willowfield School on green belt land back on the agenda, we thought that a reminder of the actual flood risk would be a good idea.

Remember, the Council’s argument is based on the idea that the Douglas Eyre Playing Fields are not as much at risk of flood as had been previously thought; this view is based on historical records, despite warnings from various agencies that flood risk assessments should be revised upwards to take global warming into account.

Take a look at the Environment Agency’s flood map, here.

The following has appeared on the council’s website, tucked away in the “schools/BSF bulletins” section: http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/bsfmonthly_bullentin_sept-oct07.pdf

“Willowfield School Governing Body and the Council met on 14th October to discuss the effects of recent further changes in the nature of restrictions round building on the Douglas Eyre Playing Field. These changes have opened up again the possibility of using the DEPF as new site for Willowfield School, with all the advantages that offers both to school, pupils and he local community…Further work will be carried out over the next few months to test out the feasibility of the approach, most particularly round the need to secure planning permission.“

The council was well aware of local residents concern over these proposals the last time they were on the agenda – so when was it planning on telling us about this? If you look at the official communications on the ‘blackhorse regeneration’ pages of the website, the last mention of Willowfield school is in June where it is stated that “Waltham Forest Council has decided not to proceed with plans to move Willowfield School to the Douglas Eyre Playing Fields following advice about flood risks.” Further updates were published in October and December – but they say nothing about the change of plan for Willowfield.

Chris Robbins, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said in June (in regard to the search for a site for Willowfield school), “We will consult with the community on any new proposals.” But this seems to have slipped his mind. Perhaps he has been too busy meeting Bouygues, the huge French conglomerate who have won the privatised building schools contract for LBWF?

You would have hoped, though, that the officers running the overall regeneration scheme might have told residents what is going on, otherwise what is the point of their updates?

Blackhorse Action Group has written to the regeneration officers asking what is the nature of the ‘changes in the nature of the restrictions’ and whether this plan is really back on the agenda. We are extremely surprised that the council would try and get round what seemed to be clear restrictions on flood plain building – particularly given that only last week, a report into this summer’s flooding said that such restrictions must be strengthened even further.

Does anyone have any further information? We would particularly like to hear from anyone with children at Willowfield school, to see if we can work together on this. We understand that the school was told that the council had failed to find any other site, so would have to re-build Willowfield on its existing site. We understand that after that, it told the school that doing so would be more difficult than originally anticipated.

We are also curious as to whether the proposed waste disposal facilities in Blackhorse Lane, which the council is being less than clear about, might have something to do with the changes of plan.

If you would like to help, feel free to email the Blackhorse regeneration officers at blackhorselane@walthamforest.gov.uk

The meeting will be about the High Street development, and Cllr O’Rourke has arranged for the bar to be open!