Homelessness in Wanstead

A poster on a Redbridge-i forum has raised the subject of homelessness in Wanstead, something which was mentioned in passing at the Area One committee last week. The post reads:

I am finding it both upsetting and surprising to see the incongruous site of beggars/homelss men in Wanstead High Street in the mornings on my commute to work. Twice in the past few months I have given some change. Although I am alwasy quite cynical of whethter they are genuine or not, my philosophy is that if you are desperate enough to be losing your diginity by having to asking people for money, then there must be at least something wrong…and besides, it’s only a few quid. I am wondering where these guys are coming from, as leafy Wanstead is hardly the place you expect to see them, and I would imagine that because this is the case, Wanstead doesn’t have many facilities in place to direct these guys to…such as hostels, support services etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could tell these guys to go to get help within walking distance of Wanstead High Street?

With suddenly much colder nights, the last point deserves some useful information if Wansteadium readers can share, via the comments form below.

Wanstead Magazine Club’s new frontier

The Wanstead Magazine Club – which recycles interesting magazines in public places in Wanstead for the benefit of anyone who’s interested – is from today available in a third venue, Provender.

The club has also been offering a wider range of magazines, including the clearly highbrow (Prospect, New Yorker and London Review of Books), and more populist (Vanity Fair and Wired). Anyone with copies of Elle Decoration, GQ, National Geographic, Good Food, Which or the Beano out there? We think you might, if you examine your conscience, find a small voice telling you that you really ought to share your riches with your Wanstead fellows. Find out more at the Wanstead Magazine Club.

And in the meantime, what better way to make the most of the Farmers’ Market than enjoying a latte and pain aux raisins at the Larder or a spot of petit dejeuner at Provender in the company of some fine reading material.

Is Costa coming to Wanstead?

Rumours abound that Costa Coffee is coming to Wanstead.

A planning application for the Enigma Hairdressers at Clockhouse parade to change its use – which would allow it to prepare and serve food – is currently being considered by Redbridge Council. Enigma is believed by Wansteadium to be closing at the end of January, and rumours circulating around the High Street are that a Costa branch will be taking its place.

The application is made by a firm of planning consultants who list their previous clients as including B&Q, Sainsbury’s, several banks and other clients. Costa (or its parent company Whitbread) is not listed, but with 1300 branches around the country it would be no surprise if they were interested.

Wansteadium has contacted Costa to ask them if the rumours are true. We’ll let you know what they say.

Wanstead News: Parking, speeding and bins

In a Wansteadium first, we live-tweeted the Area One committee, the Redbridge Council meeting which is focused on Wanstead and Snaresbrook. It was held amid heated scenes at the Wanstead Church School on Monday evening.

Wanstead news roundup, 24.11.12; Wanstead’s grip on power, and the future of ironing

• Wanstead’s role in the running of Redbridge Council has increased with the appointment of Wanstead Conservative Councillor Alex Wilson to the Redbridge ‘cabinet’ – the executive part of the council. Now three of the nine councillors on the cabinet are Wanstead Conservatives (Alex Wilson, Thomas Chan and Michelle Dunn) following the resignation of Cllr Sue Nolan, who is admittedly a Snaresbrook councillor. (If you’re expecting Wansteadium to assess whether this shift in the balance of power is going to have big effect on the governance of Redbridge, you must be new here.)

• So it may or may not be good news for residents of Wellington Road who are planning to be out in force at the Area One committee on Monday evening – after they got word that their campaign to stop or slow through-traffic had not succeeded. Motorists coming down Hermon Hill cut down Nelson Road and go on to Wellington Road to avoid the traffic lights at the junction with the High Street. Except on Mondays when the bin lorry completely blocks the road, and said motorists curse, slam into reverse and retrace their tracks. Residents say 60 cars a day speed down the road at up to 70mph.

• Congratulations to Keatings Jewellers on Wanstead High Street which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. And congratulations also to nearby Santa Fe which has marked its 20th anniversary.

• And at the other end of the High Street, it’s reported in the Wanstead Guardian that the owner of the buildings which house Snaresbrook Cars and the much loved Ironing Board outside Snaresbrook Station has applied for permission to demolish the buildings and put the business into temporary cabins. More here.

• Meanwhile reviews of the delicacies on offer at BBQ Express, Wanstead’s favourite talking point, after it apparently opened. The tweet and photograph below were posted on Friday night by Uzii Shaban who uses the hashtag #boss. But Uzii seems inadvertently to have posted a picture of a different branch of BBQ Express since as we all know, Wanstead’s sign now has no flames and is not illuminated as in the picture. Maybe the photo of the real thing just didn’t do it justice.


• And finally, the new subscribers keep on coming. At the time of writing there were 352 people who had signed up to receive Wansteadium by e-mail. Each morning, on those days when we have published a new entry, they get a beautiful and fascinating e-mail with which to wow their friends and colleagues. You can join them by signing up here.