Wansteadium

It feels like it’s been coming a long time, but the inevitable planning application for a block of flats on the Evergreen Field – at the heart of the Wanstead Conservation Zone – has been submitted to Redbridge Council.

The plan includes a new children’s nursery and 24 flats and is currently being considered by officials. There is also an area described as a “new public open space” including a pond. Public comments are open until 24 August – the papers can be seen at this address.

Evergreen Field, the land next to Christ Church which has for decades been unused, is currently fenced off and overgrown. The lack of development on that side of the High Street has been credited with part of the open feeling of central Wanstead, allowing views of the church.

Previous applications have been rejected by planners and have been controversial with locals to say the least. The shortage of available housing is however putting pressure on planners – a large development on Snaresbrook station car park, which few expected to be approved, was given the green light.

It’s July 17, the day Wanstead folk celebrate by spending half a guinea on a Cherry Pey. And we’re pleased to report that, after a fair bit of lobbying by this very website, the sign on the side of the George which gives the day its name, is looking in better health.

For the past two years a leaking drainpipe has caused water to run down the sign – one of the rare bits of Wanstead’s past which has survived – threatening its future. But after a couple of false starts it looks like the pipe has been mended and the moss cleaned away. Thank you to the Wansteadium reader who put a few words in the right ears.

Let’s hope we can celebrate the sign for many a year.

The group campaigning against the closure of the much-used Wanstead Youth Centre are holding an activity day at the centre on Saturday, hoping to demonstrate to councillors the wide-range of roles the centre plays in the lives of Wanstead young people.

The event will include sports and demonstrations of martial arts – just some of the uses the centre is put to every week.

Redbridge Council is to decide on the future of the centre in September, but the leader, Councillor Jas Athwal, has not sent encouraging signals. In an article in Wanstead Village Directory last month he wrote that “we do need to spend our limited funding wisely “.

The campaign group Save Our Wanstead Youth Centre responded to Cllr Athwal, writing:

“We want to re-iterate our request for the council to grant a moratorium, of at least 12 months, to allow further time to explore and pursue other options and funding streams to retain the only remaining youth centre of its kind in the borough.  And to make available, as previously requested, the necessary financial documents to allow this to happen.

We remind the council that over 5,000 people signed the petition to oppose the closure of the centre; and at the public meeting in March many young people spoke about the importance of the centre to their physical and mental health. We sincerely hope this will be central to the decision making in September.

We urge the council to commence a meaningful consultation with the users of the youth centre, to inform the report being compiled for September’s Cabinet meeting. 

We would also like to ask for clarity from the council regarding the statement in the article that £14 million that is being invested in the borough into leisure facilities, where in the borough is this investment happening and when? We also request further details on the £4million being spent on the lido in Valentine’s Park and substantiation for the claim the lido will ‘cover its own costs’, as we are unaware of a single open-air lido in the country that is self-sufficient.

We invite councillors, as well as the wider community to come and experience the youth centre by attending the ‘Activities and Fun Event’, which is being organised by the campaign group and held at the centre (114 Elmcroft Avenue, E11 2DB) on 15th July  2-5pm.

The group can be contacted by email at SaveWansteadYouthCentre@gmail.com or can be found on Facebook or Twitter.

Wanstead Youth Centre Activity and Fun Event

Wansteadium reader Jeffrey puts the case against the closure of Wanstead’s last remaining bank pretty succinctly:

I was angry when NatWest decided to close their branch in South Woodford which was very convenient for me and my family. I accepted that I would have to travel to Wanstead mainly for cash withdrawals and such like. With the impending closure of Wanstead branch please tell me what kind of service you’re providing for your loyal customers these days. Not everyone is techno savvy. How do we get cash and or coins out (we still use cash where I live)! Both branches were always busy on my frequent visits. NatWest – be ashamed of yourselves.

Meanwhile the bank is explaining to customers a range of options for their future banking. They include the same things all the other banks have relied on – going to the nearest branch (Walthamstow), using the Post Office, using mobile or phone banking and, hilariously, using Video Banking. It says:

“Chat to us face to face from the comfort of your home, at at time that suits you.”

That will go down well with fans of Back to the Future II. For older customers constantly warned of the risks of scammers and hoaxes, one suspects it will be less of a draw.

And a final thought – a word of thanks to the loyal and patient staff at the branch who have given years of service to the community.

NatWest Bank has announced its Wanstead branch is to close, along with 35 others around the country. It means that for the first time in living memory, Wanstead will not have any banks or building societies. Fifteen years ago there were five.

In a statement the bank said: “As with many industries, most of our customers are shifting to mobile and online banking, because it’s faster and easier for people to manage their financial lives.

“We understand and recognise that digital solutions aren’t right for everyone or every situation, and that when we close branches we have to make sure that no one is left behind.

“We take our responsibility seriously to support the people who face challenges in moving online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.”

The branch will close in October.

A multinational advertising company which has been refused permission to install several digital display advertising boards on pavements in the Wanstead High Street Conservation Zone is appealing to Michael Gove to overrule Redbridge’s decision.

JC Decaux, reputedly the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world, is appealing to Gove, the secretary of state, after being refused permission to put the boards in Wanstead earlier this year.

The application is for the boards to include defibrillators. There are however now several defibrillators on the High Street, and the Wanstead Society says it is part of an attempt to get advertising boards “by stealth”.

An unrelated application for another lit digital display board to replace the tatty and largely unused New World payphone outside Tesco has also been made.

The conservation zone on the High Street is an attempt to protect the village feel of Wanstead. One of the most prominent ways this is observed is in shops not being allowed to have “internally illuminated” signs – something which would become a nonsense if Gove overrules the Redbridge decision.

The original decision said the boards would be “at odds with local distinctiveness and character and appearance of the wider conservation area” and would “add to visual clutter which would further undermine the vibrancy of the district centre”.

A spokesman for the Wanstead Society told Wansteadium that if the appeal succeed it would make the conservation area “pretty pointless”.

“We objected when they were first proposed and we are doing so again. Essentially, these are advertising boards with ads-ons to make them more presentable. We feel they aren’t right for a conservation area – or needed. We hope the council will reject them on grounds that they aren’t needed, aren’t suitable for a conservation area and advertising boards by stealth.”