Wansteadium very rarely writes editorials, but here is one. The reason? It’s becoming obvious that Redbridge is not going to rethink its decision to put permanent market stalls on Wanstead High Street. But it should.
The decision is against the wishes of the people who live here. Wansteadium understands applications have been discussed for a florist and part-time stalls selling souvlaki and jerk chicken, as well as the seven-day-a-week fruit and veg stall outside the George and Dragon.
A public meeting discussing the issue is being held on Saturday 27th at 4pm at Christ Church which it is hoped councillors will attend; further light might be shed on the matter then.
But responses to letters show Redbridge considers it has done nothing wrong in the process, and, in our view, continues to hide behind a consultation which was so ineffective as to be worthless.
There are a number of ways Redbridge could have consulted council tax payers if it had really wanted to. Let’s just note down a few.
- Perhaps a mention in one of the fortnightly emails which are sent out to residents by council leader Kam Rai?
- Maybe a couple of paragraphs in Redbridge Life, the 28-page newspaper the council sends to every house in the borough four times a year?
- Why not a press release to media organisations announcing the consultation?
- Failing that, they could have put public notices on lamp posts?
- Or maybe a sign in the two public noticeboards on Wanstead High Street which Redbridge owns
And yet the biggest reason the council should urgently reconsider is actually something else. It is that Wanstead people feel so strongly that they have been ignored that there is a risk of Redbridge squandering public trust, of undermining the relationship the council itself has sought to foster with residents. Put simply, this is not the time in our nation’s politics to allow that to happen: public bodies need to cherish all the trust they can get.
