There’s a sort of stream of consciousness account of tonight’s Walthamstow West Community Council meeting on Twitter. Check out http://twitter.com/BlackhorseAG. Hopefully there’ll be a fuller write-up soon…

Scroll down to read about the leading cinema operator who has gone on record to say the EMD could easily be viable as a cinema (obviously the UCKG Pastor knows better than someone running 18 cinemas). The council itself also commissioned a report that stated a 5 screen EMD was both viable and feasible.

WILLOWFIELD SCHOOL

Council met to approve the planning brief (see PDF) for the proposed new Willowfield School at the top of the Douglas Eyre Sports fields.

Planning brief (PDF) / Summary of responses (PDF)

BAG have contacted all councillors to register stakeholders objections to the plan explicitly putting the case for higher than 3 story buildings and residential developments. We also reiterated residents objections to the proposed entrance on Hawarden Road and the planned one way rat run.

Here’s the summary of the meeting:

“Councillor Chris Robbins, Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People, informed Cabinet that there were currently no proposals to combine housing and educational provision on the site, but he pointed out that it was existing Council policy that the area was suitable and available for residential development.
He also stated that he did not envisage the proposed educational buildings on the site being more than three storeys in height, but said that this could not be ruled out until the detailed planning application for the scheme had been submitted.

Cabinet AGREED the draft planning brief for the Willowfield School, attached at Appendix A to the report.”

The EMD Cinema

Click the image to read a 2004 letter from Cllr. Loakes where he states “The council is committed to seeing the EMD Cinema coming back into use as a cinema providing it can be developed as a viable entity. It will use its CPO powers to purchase the building should this become necessary“.

Here’s what the council had to say on May 20th:

“The Council continues to have pre application discussion the UCKG. The UCKG have advised that a formal planning application is likely to be submitted within a month. It is intended that the local community will have access to parts of the building and it is certainly the applicant’s intention to retain and renovate this important listed building, which is now on the English Heritage “Buildings at Risk Register”.

It is clear that it is not in the best interests of the Town Centre for the building to remain disused and fall into further decay which is one of the reasons why the current proposals, which differ from those submitted in 2003, must be given careful consideration when the application is submitted.

The Council is statutorily obliged to respond to any application submitted for the building but cannot impose the inclusion of a cinema in the development proposals as the Council has no legal interest in the site. The applicant has stated that it is uneconomic to restore the building as a cinema venue but that there would be the opportunity to show film in one of the converted spaces, but this would be ancillary to other uses. However, as stated above plans for the adjoining Arcade site are progressing and presently intend the inclusion of a cinema, which will be accessible for all sections of the community”.

It should be noted that the building is on the “Buildings At Risk Register” because of an illegal rave that caused considerable damage. This took place after UCKG bought the cinema building, any “decay” has also taken place on the UCKG’s watch.

Given Cllr Loakes statement that “The council is committed to seeing the EMD Cinema coming back into use as a cinema providing it can be developed as a viable entity” Cllr James O’Rourke recently met with the cinema operators City Screen.

The Save Our Cinema campaign also reported on a host of intersted cinema operators who contradict the lies put forward by the UCKG in collusion with the council.

Text taken from Cllr James O’Rourke’s site:

High St councillor Cllr James O’Rourke met with representatives of City Screen at the Town Hall after the company expressed an ongoing interest in the building on Hoe Street. City Screen, which was formed in 1989 to “challenge the multiplex cinema model and provide cinemas in city centre locations”, have been responsible for a series of cinema regenerations and new build facilities across the country, including the Clapham Picturehouse and The Ritzy in Brixton.

At the meeting Lyn Goleby, the Managing Director of City Screen, suggested that with the right funding package the site was still viable as a cinema, highlighting earlier reports paid for by the Council that made the business case for a 5-screen cinema on the EMD site.

Lyn Goleby said:

“Our previous work has shown clearly that the redevelopment of historic cinema buildings, such as the former EMD in Walthamstow, can act as an organic catalyst for wider regeneration.

“These projects attract other businesses to the area and really stimulate the night time economy.”

Read more on Cllr O’Rourke’s blog.

The date for this meeting has been shifted and is NOT now on the 13th. Apologies for any confusion or inconvenience. 

Have your say on THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN AND OUR LOCAL AREA

Public meeting about the relocation of Willowfield School

Wednesday 18th of March @ 7:30pm

At Willowfield School, (main hall, entrance through the car park) Clifton Avenue, E17 6HL

Your chance to question councillors and officials about the quality of their plans 

Key issues:

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IMPACT ON TRAFFIC AND ENVIRONMENT

IMPACT ON SURROUNDING HOMES

HOUSING ABOVE SCHOOL

ARE THEY PLANNING A HIGH-RISE SCHOOL?

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Contact BAG :: mobile: 07847 059 164 / email: chair@blackhorseactiongroup.org.uk

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The Council plans to relocate Willowfield School to the area at the northern side of the playing fields and south of Blackhorse Road tube station (the old goods yard area).

The Council is consulting parents, residents and others on the planning brief, which will then shape the plans for Willowfield School. The current brief proposes the following:

• A much larger 1000 pupil school with a small provision for post-16s.
• The council has identified a limited site of 1.83 hectares of which 0.17 hectares are green belt land. The site is next to a very high-risk flood area and also right next to the overland railway line, green belt land and residential streets.
• Possibly, flats above the school development.
• Provision of a prominent ‘landmark’ building  -which usually is taken to mean a high-rise building.  No upper limit on height in current plans, though probably ‘more than 3 storeys’ high.
• A one-way traffic system to be introduced to Cornwallis Road, Lloyd Road, Hawarden Road and part of Edward Road.
• Car parking restrictions in the area.
• No guarantees that the building will provide any free or affordable facilities for community use, despite vague promises.

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.

Read the Walthamstow Guardian’s report here

Visit the Chair Phil Herlihy’s site for his view of what went wrong on the night