Wansteadium

There is literally a pot of gold at or near the George pub, in case anyone was smart enough to be searching on Monday evening. It’s possible the rainbow actually ended over the new M&S food shop, which makes some sense. Perhaps it will inspire the company to get on with the shop opening.

The campaign against radical reorganisation of parking restrictions in Wanstead, which saw passionate demands for proper consultation among Wanstead residents and businesses, seems to have won the argument.

Redbridge’s revised proposals, following the consultation, were described by the Wanstead and Snaresbrook Residents Alliance as having been “dramatically reduced” from the original proposal, amounting to:

a few extensions to existing permit areas or where local residents felt that parking permits would help the parking on their street… these schemes would be applied from Monday to Friday.

The details of the scheme include the following:

High Street Pay and Display
There will be pay and display on the High Street from Monday to Saturday, using meters which allow a free half hour and accepting coin as well as Ringo payments over mobile phones.  A maximum limit of 3 hours will be applied.

Operate: Monday to Saturday 8:30 am to 6:30 pm
Charges: 30 mins Free
Up to 1 hour £1.20
Up to 2 hours £2.90
Up to 3 hrs £4.50 (maximum stay)
Blue Badge holders: Free

Side roads adjacent to the High Street will incorporate a mixture of Pay and Display and dual use Pay and Display/Business Permit Parking.

Permit Parking
Operate: Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 6:30 pm
Charges: 1st resident £45 per year
2nd resident £82 per year
3rd + resident £108 a year
Visitor (book of 10×1 day permits) £6.30
Business £265 a year
6 month Resident and Business Permits are available for half the annual cost.
Blue badge holders can obtain Free permits.

What happens next
August 2017: Results published online and Residents and Businesses informed of the decision.
September 2017: Traffic Management Order process begins. Notice of Intent is published.
Oct-Nov 2017 21-day objection period. Objections considered.
Final decision made.

If a scheme is approved then:
December 2017: Final design changes incorporated if required.
Traffic Orders issued.
Works Orders issued.
January 2018: Permit Applications and final arrangements sent to Residents and Businesses.
Signs and Road Marking works carried out.
Scheme starts.

The wave of mobile phone snatching by moped riders which has hit central London in the past few months has arrived in Wanstead.

On Sunday morning, Wansteadium reader Azi became victim to the crime which has risen more than ten times since 2014. Offenders steal mopeds or scooters, and then drive past pedestrians or people standing on street corners and snatch the phone from their hands, then accelerate away.

Azi writes:

“I was robbed on Sunday by two men on a motorbike on New Wanstead. They took my mobile. When I called police said the bike was stolen too. They later abandoned the motorbike which police found in the evening. It happened at 11.10 in the morning on a busy road. Just wanted to warn everyone in Wanstead to be aware of it and watch out.”

These figures from the Met indicate the growth in the crime.

The Met has also issued the following advice to pedestrians to avoid becoming victims to the crime.

Gail’s Bakery has launched – on schedule – and many Wanstead people already seem to love it. There has been a sympathetic refurbishment of the inside, including the bank’s original floor, has been kept, and the upstairs offices have been converted into a large seating area.

The site has come a long way in the past 12 months. It’s only just over a year ago that the building was occupied by squatters who both took opportunity and protested against the building being left empty for three years.

But it’s clear Gail’s will now be a key player in Wanstead – and will no doubt put some pressure on other nearby cafes.

Redbridge Council says it will in fact save money from the withdrawal of Meals on Wheels which have been axed across the borough from today (1 August).

The council issued a statement saying it will be saving more than £200,000 a year from the move. Its previous statement, a Freedom of Information response which said there would be no savings, was issued in error, it says. It has apologised for the mistake.

The statement reads:

We wish to clarify some points regarding the recent response to the FOI request about the Community Meal service coming to an end on 31 July.

The Council finds itself in a very difficult situation – its income from Central Government has reduced by 40 per cent. This has meant we have had to make some difficult decisions in these tough times.

One such decision was to remove the subsidy for the Community Meal service over a two year period, resulting in an annual saving of £207K from April 2018/19.  Our hope was that this service would become self-sustaining without the subsidy.  However it became clear earlier this year that this was not viable.

We looked at many different ways to continue the service, but none were financially possible.  This led us to the difficult decision to close the service and support residents in other ways.

Up to the end of July 2017, 197 people were using the service and we are working closely with them to ensure they are able to access other suitable services and support.  As with any resident, if someone has an eligible care need the costs will be met through the relevant care budget.

We know that this may be an unsettling time for some users and families; but we will be providing as much support as necessary to make the transition to alternative options as smooth as possible.

 

EXCLUSIVE
Redbridge Council is scrapping Meals on Wheels from Tuesday but we can reveal that it won’t be saving any money by doing so – even though rising costs were the justification for the decision. A Freedom of Information application has revealed no money will be saved, because the costs were covered by the people who received the meals.

Wansteadium reader Barry, whose mother has been receiving meals, applied for the information and received the following statement:

Earlier this month we reported that the scheme was being axed on cost grounds, and that recipients had been sent a leaflet about their future options, which amounted to private providers, internet shopping or lunch clubs.

The justification for stopping the service was explicitly that the council could no longer afford to provide the service. A statement still available on the council website says:

We looked at many different ways to continue the service but the decision was taken that we would no longer be able to afford to provide the community meals service.

So Redbridge could do with answering some questions, in particular:

1. How many residents were receiving Meals on Wheels up until the end of July 2017? What was the result of the individual assessments which Redbridge promised, and what alternative provision is being made for those residents?
2. What is the cost of any alternative provision?
3. At what point was it known that Redbridge would not actually be saving any money by stopping the scheme?
4. Now that it is known that no money will be saved by scrapping Meals on Wheels will Redbridge reconsider its decision?

If anyone in the council is reading and wants to respond, we will print the answers in full. Just email us at info@wansteadium.com