During the hottest days of this summer, one patch of Wanstead remained verdant and lush. It now too has dried up.
The oasis on Elmcroft Ave – also known as the Sinkhole, and the Elmcroft Marsh, was until last week green and thriving, thanks to a leaky pipe buried beneath the grass. That has now been fixed (good job too when water restrictions are just around the corner) and the patch has been made good.
Sadly for the grass seed put there, there’s no sign of rain. Just a few pigeons filling their bellies.
The Wanstead branch of Ikea, which is technically in Edmonton, has just two weeks left before it closes – with an uncertain future for what will take its place.
The Swedish company decided to close the branch following the rise in online sales, and also said the local council’s plan to increase the number of houses in the ‘Meridian Water’ development influenced its decision – though that logic is not immediately clear.
But from many a Wanstead Billy Bookcase owner come the thanks to the 450 staff who will be losing their jobs.
The redevelopment of the zebra crossing on Wanstead High Street is complete, and we think the solution that the relevant traffic planners have come up with is pretty good.
You’ll remember the problem, which we highlighted in January following another accident on the crossing – it is that the trees could possibly obscure people about to cross. Solutions discussed at the time were that the crossing should move, that the trees should go, or that traffic lights should be installed.
The solution eventually gone for was to build out the pavement outside the Corner House, and introduce a raised platform for the crossing. This means cars are slowed, that pedestrians are on the road for less time, and – crucially – that the visibility of people waiting or about to cross is far more obvious for drivers. The trees survive, and the flow of traffic isn’t slowed down by the constant red lights of a pelican crossing.
An architect’s impression of the development. Source: Caerus Developments
It had to happen sooner or later.
A new development for a block of 24 flats and a nursery is being proposed for Evergreen Field, the undeveloped but tatty space opposite the Wanstead High Street shops.
Letters are being sent to residents asking their views on the proposal, which has yet to be submitted to Redbridge planning authorities.
The proposal is for:
A four-storey building
Space for a nursery for children up to five-years-old
“Onsite affordable housing”
Some land at the back of the development to be “given back to the community”.
The developers promise that full details will be included in brochures which are soon to be delivered.
Though news about the site has been quiet for several years, it was the subject of a previous planning application which did not go anywhere. The reason it can be used for housing is that at one stage (when London had police stations) there was a police house on the site.
It was an early proposal for development on the site which led to the formation of the Wanstead Society, the group which among other things goes through local planning applications on behalf of good taste.
