On BBC London, the Mayor Boris Johnson described how L&Q’s plans made his “blood run cold“, pledging to invite those behind a bid to save the track to city hall.

ITV’s London Tonight reported on the “battle” for the Stow (Video here) while the Londonist website described the supposedly art deco “respectful” housing as being of a”characterless, pre-fab design that look like they’ve been thrown in from a stock library of such things“.

The stadium has sat empty for over a year now despite repeated attempts by investors to either buy and reopen it, or even temporarily lease it. Fresh from buying 50% of West Ham United David Sullivan is leading a bid to buy the site and invest in its redevelopment as not only a dog track but a multi-purpose sports and community facility (Read Press Release).
David Sullivan’s representative Nick Budimir spoke to BAG about their plans for the site (Video below). He expressed his frustrations at L&Q’s stalling tactics, lies about the profitability of the site, and exactly how many of the proposed houses are actually either affordable or will end up going to Walthamstow residents.

As someone who both owns and used to race dogs at the track, Walthamstow’s Labour MP Neil Gerrard has been a steadfast supporter of Save Our Stow’s plans to reopen Walthamstows only globally recognised landmark. Neil told us he would like to see L&Q stop stalling and get around the table to talk to those interested in buying the track.
Cllr John Macklin, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Waltham Forest council said: “Waltham Forest is in need of affordable houses, but it must not be at the expense of what little leisure facilities we have left. We have lost too many leisure facilities in this borough”.
See below for video.

Despite L&Q stopping us from conducting an interview inside the consultation room and then accusing the residents association of “being a front for Save Our Stow“, BAG also spoke to L&Q’s PR Chris Middleton. To give him his due, he talks a good talk, describing the development as beneficial to the area, stating it would reduce traffic, and claiming the silent majority in Walthamstow would prefer housing to the dog track.

Finally we talked to the leader of the Save Our Stow campaign Ricky Holloway. To keep uptodate with Save Our Stow’s campaigns you can join their mailing list here, or join them on Facebook.

Back in 2008 BAG put together a tribute video to Walthamstow Dogs, as recorded in documentary footage from 1937, 1968, 1986 and it’s “so far” final year 2008. Its a reminder of what the Stadium meant to the borough for jobs, entertainment, the community and as soemthing that put E17 on the map.

The Soul of Walthamstow: 75 years of “The Stow” from blackhorse road on Vimeo.

As Snow falls in E17, Flickr users are out and about taking some wonderful photos.

Watch a slideshow below.

The Blackhorse Action Group’s AGM is the place  to get things aired and have your say. What do you want action on?  Litter?  Car tyre slashing in Edward Rd? The library?

All these questions and more will be addressed at the Blackhorse Action Group (BAG) Residents Association AGM.
Tuesday 1st December 2009 at 7.30pm
Douglas Eyre Playing Fields Pavilion Centre (MAP)

The agenda will include:
The constitution and invitation to stand for election as a member of the BAG Organising Committee.

What have we been doing?
Reports on what BAG has been doing in the past year, including making a start on setting up a community garden.

What next?
Plans for future activities and your chance to say what you would like BAG to do.

Local issues :
We’ve invited speakers to report on, and answer questions about, what is happening including:
Re-location of Willowfield School
The St James Street library campaign. If the building is not to be a drug rehab centre, what should it be? Re-instated as a local library or what?

There’ll also be:
An opportunity for you to ask questions or raise concerns about other matters affecting our community.

And finally …
It’s an opportunity to meet your neighbours to make friends and join together in making our area of Waltham Forest the place we would like it to be.

A residents group is only strong with support and input from the residents themselves, so please come along and take part even if you can’t stay for the full meeting.

Click here to view the draft agenda. We’ll do our best to stick to timings but these things are never exact.

2009 Agenda

A FATHER and his teenage son have complained to the police after two Community Support officers forced them to delete photos of Walthamstow buses in order to “prevent terrorism“. The Austrian tourists were also asked for their passport numbers and details of the hotel where they were staying.

The Guardian reported the story, along with ITV News (see clip above).

Earlier in the year Walthamstow blogger “Crap Cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest” was instructed by police to delete photographs of a bus that had crashed into McDonald’s on Hoe Street.
To download a handy PDF detailing your legal rights to take photographs – visit here

Save Our Stow put together this handy guide to help but phone WF on 020 8496 6775/6777/6774/6773 if you’re stuck

1. Go to this page: http://walthamforest-consult.limehouse.co.uk/portal
2. Register as a private individual with your name and email address. You’ll get a confirmation email which will allow you to log in.
3. Look at the bottom of the page for the document marked ‘Core Strategy Issues and Options’
4. Click on the link marked ‘Core Strategy Issues and Options’ and then click ‘Read Document’
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Next’
6. The document outlines the options facing the borough for the future and gives you points to ‘Add Comments’ throughout.
7. When you get to a page which is pink and blue, click ‘Add Comments’ – below the comments box is a summary of the options and issues and a summary of some options.
8. Please fill in the comments part of the form with anything you feel relevant. Select options A,B,C or D etc where you feel they are appropriate. You can select more than one at a time.
9. You can make comments and select options in Chapters 3 to 11.
10. When you finish writing each comments for each section, press ‘Submit’.

The document takes about half an hour to an hour to fill in but you can always fill in whats most important to you first and then return to it.

The following points may be of relevance:
Issue 3.1 – A locally distinctive borough
Issue 3.5 – Flood risk
Issue 5.1 – Sustainable Economic Development (Walthamstow Dogs is one of the biggest employers in the borough)
Issue 8.4 – Access to social and community facilities

Business will include reports on activities, the establishment of working groups and the election of committee members.

Looking forward to seeing as many residents as possible there!

2008 AGM Agenda