And yet… the more Wansteadium thinks about the new look for these Redbridge vehicles, the more it feels a bit unnecessary.
The blue and yellow checkerboard marking, known as the Battenburg livery, was developed in the 1990s to make police cars, ambulances and fire engines uniformly recognisable across the country. It’s already been somewhat co-opted by private ambulances, highway management and private security.
Redbridge Neighbourhood Enforcement is responsible for dealing with:
fly-tipping
graffiti
littering
overgrown front gardens
illegal advertising
drinking in places where it’s forbidden by a public spaces protection order
unlicensed street trading
some traffic violations including blocking the highway
Labour has held Redbridge with a reduced majority. The Conservatives remain with five seats, and the Greens also now have five seats for the first time.
Two of those five Greens were elected in Wanstead wards, where familiar Labour councillors Jo Blackman, Daniel Morgan-Thomas and Emma Sheppard-Mallinson will now be joined by Sue Whitehead and Milli Richard-Clack. Congratulations to all the winning candidates.
And a hat tip to another familiar Wanstead figure, Paul Canal, who for the first time in many years was not elected as a councillor – he was standing for a South Woodford seat.
Voting for Redbridge Council takes place on Thursday 7 May from 7am to 10pm – in our new five party system it’s become a hotly contested battle. Canvassing and high street stalls have become the order of the day, as have the infamous bar charts which ‘prove’ that one or more parties ‘cannot win here’.
Wanstead Village assorted literature
These are the candidates:
Wanstead Village Ward
Md Kabir Ali
Green Party
Jo Blackman
Labour Party
William John Collins
Reform UK
Corbyn Leon D’Alanno
Conservative and Unionist Party
David Davies
Reform UK
Mark Gitsham
Liberal Democrats
Sharmon Lewis
Reform UK
Daniel Huw Morgan-Thomas
Labour Party
Humza Sair
Liberal Democrats
Mark Evan Scannell
Conservative and Unionist Party
David Smith
Conservative and Unionist Party
Rabiya Tehseen
Green Party
Mohammed Ohid Uddin
Liberal Democrats
Neal Krishan Vithlani
Labour Party
Sue Whitehead
Green Party
Wanstead Park Ward
Milli Richards Clack
Green Party
Nadir Iqbal Gilani
Green Party
Neil Hepworth
Liberal Democrats
Andrew Malcolm Joyce
Reform UK
Simon John Miller
Labour Party
Yit Chan Phoenix
Reform UK
Emma Selina Shepherd-Mallinson
Labour Party
Paul Anton Smith
Conservative and Unionist Party
David Alexander Thom
Conservative and Unionist Party
Alan Howard Thomas
Liberal Democrats
Details of where you should vote are on your polling card (if you can’t find it but are on the electoral register, YOU CAN STILL VOTE). You can find out where you should vote based on your postcode at this excellent site, wheredoivote.co.uk. Redbridge has information here.
If you don’t know WHO to vote for, that sounds like a you problem. But you will be able to hear from the candidates at a hustings event on Tuesday evening at Wanstead Library.
This website has been on a bit of a work-induced hiatus over the past few months. In that time lots of things have happened which would otherwise have been full-blown posts here… things like Must Wine becoming Can’t Wine. More Italy becoming Zafiro. Hermon Hill being closed for weeks and temporary traffic lights sprouting up everywhere. A TV advert apparently being filmed in someone’s front garden. Rumours that Idris Elba is moving to Wanstead. TV’s Andi Oliver saying in the Guardian that “she loves [Wanstead] so much” because it’s “almost like a little village”. The cafe formerly known as Caesar’s getting another rebranding (actually we might come back to that one). An election candidate for Wanstead Village – yes, Wanstead Village – being exposed in the Times for saying multiple racist things documented here by Hope Not Hate. The second anniversary of Snaresbrook car park standing empty. The Bull getting a serious bit of Ground Force on its front garden. A mysterious green railing being installed on top of Wanstead’s favourite factory. 100 other things besides.
But we’re back now, with a reminder that you can always tell us about things that are going on – just email us at info@wansteadium.com to let us know. You won’t find us on Facebook or Twitter because they are awful companies who do disastrous things to society. But we are on Bluesky, along with some other Wanstead folk. If you have an event you want listed, you can do so here. And if you just want to keep in touch, sign up for our newsletter here.
