Wansteadium

UPDATED: The former Barclays bank on Wanstead High Street appears to have acquired squatters. Sainsbury’s, which now owns the building, has told Wansteadium it is sending bailiffs to the site as soon possible.

An upstairs window at the building is open but it’s not clear how the building was entered. Police attended the scene, and according to one eye-witness, debated with the people inside and shook hands with them. One eye-witness said: “The police have been called twice and there is nothing they can do. The squatters are in now – got dropped off in a van with all their goods. They are all hanging outside the bank as they don’t have a garden.”

Squatting in non-residential property in England is not normally a crime in itself, though causing damage or using electricity in the building could lead to police action.

The former bank has been empty since July 2014, and is currently waiting for Sainsbury’s to decide what it is going to do with the site. The supermarket is reviewing its plans “and looking at a number of options for a store on the site”, a spokesman confirmed today.

A couple of Wanstead food-obsessives are starting a weekly opportunity for people to buy from local farmers and foodmakers.

Vaia Ikonomou and Alex Wing are launching the Wanstead Food Assembly next week – a weekly event when people can pick up the food they have ordered online from local producers.

The products on offer through the scheme include Leyton-roasted coffee from Curved Brick Roasters, honey produced just three miles from Wanstead, and other goods from slightly further afield, including NW1-based soft drinks from Nix and Kix, grass-fed meats from Marsh Produce and Brick House Farm, and meal kits from Wapping-based A Very Nice Idea.  Other goods include spray-free tomatoes and peppers, seasonal veg from Brockman’s Farm in Kent and British quinoa and roasted pulses.

On average, they say, food bought from a supermarket has travelled 600 miles before it is bought – but with the food assembly the average distance will be 28 miles.

Vaia says: “The food assembly is aimed at people who would normally online shop for all their groceries once a week – it’s not designed to replace our greengrocers. Hopefully this means people move away from Ocado and begin to buy locally.”

Launched in the UK in July 2014, The Food Assembly is the UK branch of a European network that began in France three years ago.  It won the “best food initiative” category in the BBC Food and Farming awards.

The Wanstead Assembly launches on Tuesday 21 June at 6.30pm. The venue is The Manor House, High Street Wanstead. Locals can meet farmers, foodmakers and their neighbours, taste local food samples and see where their food comes from. New members can sign up at:https://thefoodassembly.com/en

 

McDonalds has told Wansteadium it has no plans to open a takeaway in Wanstead “now, or in the near future”.

Sainsbury’s earlier told Wansteadium that it was reviewing its options for the conversion of the former Barclays Bank site after it found the necessary construction work would be more extensive than it originally thought.

The supermarket said it was still developing its plans for Wanstead. Rumours had been circulating that the site had been sold to the burger chain, but this is now clearly off the menu.

 

Updated 1.50pm

Sainsbury’s has decided “not to proceed” with its plan to open a branch in Wanstead, a source has told Wansteadium, though the supermarket says it is continuing to consider future options for the site.

The supermarket chain had been expected to open a branch in the former Barclays bank on Wanstead High Street by Christmas last year. However it discovered that the necessary construction work would be more extensive than it first thought.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are continuing to develop our plans for a new convenience store in Wanstead.”

The spokesperson added that, following the assessment of the site, the company is reviewing its plans and considering a number of future options for a store on the site.

The statement may go some way to end rumours which are circulating that the property has been bought by McDonalds. We have contacted McDonalds for comment.

If the rumours were true, however, the burger chain would have to apply to Redbridge for “change of use” permission – and this is not automatically granted. In 2012 an application to convert the Wanstead Domestic Appliances shop into a takeaway was rejected by the council which said the conversion would “contribute to the further decline in the attractiveness and function of this area as a shopping centre”. Parents of children at Wanstead Church School also opposed the change.

The factors the council would take into account, if an application was made, would include the proximity to other takeaways, the overall number on the high street, and the general character of the area.

 

Three loud bangs soon after 11pm on Sunday which could be heard across Wanstead and Woodford mystified many Wansteadium readers.

One news website suggested the bangs might have been sonic booms, but this is not confirmed. That site also had this line from the Met Police:

“We had reports from Ilford and had a look but there was nothing untoward,” said a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service.

Other theories, including one that they might have been fireworks to mark the start of Ramadan, don’t seem to have any stop supporting voices. As of Monday lunchtime it feels like this is a mystery which might not be solved.

Even Mail Online tried to explain it, reporting that one person claimed the bangs could have been caused by a meteorite. They then reported that the Royal Observatory had dismissed the notion. They did however include a video from someone who captured the bangs.

Some of the tweets about the bangs:

Just heard three huge explosions @Wansteadium.

— Slamin140 (@skyellis666) June 5, 2016

Am I going nuts or was there three loud bangs just now?

— nils (@nilli33) June 5, 2016

Three flashes of lights followed by three massive bangs in Woodford. Then sirens. What's going on? #wokeme

— Luan Roberts (@luanroberts) June 5, 2016

Anyone else hear the 3 loud bangs in Wanstead?!?

— Lucy porter (@lubyluporter) June 5, 2016

Oi did anyone else in Woodford hear those 3 loud bangs???? wtf

— nicole (@nicconner) June 5, 2016

Anyone else hear those three big bangs across Wanstead just now? Just me..?

— Tom Bellwood (@TomBellwood) June 5, 2016

@MPSRedbridge heard three explosion type noises in Barkingside/Hainault/ Woodford bridge area – any idea what they are please?

— Stollins (@stollins2015) June 5, 2016

https://twitter.com/xjnaaaa/status/739582347952164864

@alicej_clarke @Wansteadium was it something related to #Ramadan2016 #ramadammubarak perhaps?

— Slamin140 (@skyellis666) June 5, 2016

The long-awaited refurbished playground on Christ Church Green is official open for business. Officials from Redbridge Vision have given the site the go-ahead and, following a slightly false start on Monday when some families thought it was already open, all will now be welcome.

So this is the completion of a mighty act of community self-help, something which started right here on these pages when, in October 2014, Louise Cutler kicked off fundraising with a letter to other readers.

Since then, a huge effort by the Wanstead Playground Association – recognised for their efforts by a Redbridge Mayor’s award for community champions – and the rest of the community, supported by various grant-giving bodies, has raised the funds necessary for the renovation.

And so as the children get playing, Wansteadium encourages anyone reading to doff their cap to Nicola, Sarah, Danielle, Louise and all those involved in this great thing. And children, fill your boots.