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18 Most Recent News Stories
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Fri 6th Jun 2008
Whilst welcoming last week's Government announcement that charges for the use of municipal pools were to be scrapped for under 16s and over 60s as part of its Olympic Games legacy commitment, Dr Geoffrey Seeff, the Liberal Democrat's parliamentary spokesman for Chingford and Woodford Green, strongly criticised both Redbridge and Waltham Forest councils for the paucity of provision of swimming amenities for the 80,000 residents of the constituency. Within its boundaries there is a small community pool, Larkswood Leisure Centre, in New Road Chingford but the nearest alternatives, Fullwell Cross baths at Barkingside and the Walthamstow Pool and Track are outside the constituency and considerable distances from the northern wards. Accessibility is clearly a problem for those aged under 16 or over 60 - the Government's target groups - a high proportion of whom have to rely on public transport.
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Read "Free Swimming - But Where to Go? PPC Seeff Condemns Lack of Pool Provision." in full.
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Tue 3rd Jun 2008
Here is an interesting situation that has arisen on the boundaries of the boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest but is contained within the constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.
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Read "Time to Bang Heads Together" in full.
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Tue 3rd Jun 2008
We are pleased to report that this year's Mayor of Waltham Forest is the Liberal Democrat councillor for Hale End and Highams Park (a Chingford and Woodford Green constituency ward), Sheila Smith-Pryor.
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Read "Waltham Forest Welcomes LibDem Mayor" in full.
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Mon 21st Apr 2008
Following our story on Crossrail in November, we have an update on the issue of the Hall Farm Curve. The good news is that Network Rail is seriously considering relaying this short stretch of line to connect St James Street with Stratford, a critical interchange for 2012 and beyond. However, the bad news is that, because it forecasts a requirement for additional capacity on the Lea Valley line between Cambridge, Stansted and Liverpool Street, Network Rail would route ALL local trains to and from Chingford via Stratford. This would obviously speed up the intercity services but would mean that there will no direct connection with Clapton and Hackney Downs stations for Waltham Forest residents. Those wishing to use those stations would either change at Walthamstow Central, go to Tottenham Hale and wait for a slow downline train or travel to Liverpool Street and wait for a slow upline train.
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Read "Update on the Hall Farm Curve" in full.
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Mon 21st Apr 2008
Redbridge Liberal Democrats councillors recently secured a couple of successes on planning matters, the first concerning a development that had exceeded its agreed conditions, the second on preventing the demolition of some character houses and the development of yet more apartment blocks.
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Read "LiBDem Councillors Score Planning Successes" in full.
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Sat 19th Apr 2008
Chingford and Woodford Green LibDems have selected Dr Geoff Seeff as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the next general election - due in May 2010 at the latest. The founder convener of the SDP in Redbridge, Geoff has been active on local political scene for over 27 years and, amongst other things, was the candidate for the constituency in 1997.
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Read "Dr Geoff Seeff Selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate" in full.
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Wed 27th Feb 2008
Although this good news story involves stumps, runs, deliveries and, above all, fair play, it is not about cricket but about a very Liberal Democratic activity - Focus distribution. Waltham Forest Cllrs John Beanse, Noel Penstone and Sheila Pryor (the Borough's Deputy Mayor for the year), out on the stump, organising runs and making deliveries, have notched up their 100th edition of the Hale End and Highams Park Focus - the ward newsletter that keeps residents up to date with local issues, views and campaigns. As befitting such a milestone, a party was held for workers and supporters but as John Beanse said "It is a a good score ..........but it is not the end of the innings and we have no intention of retiring at the moment"
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Read "Hale End and Higham's Park - 100 Not Out ".
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Tue 26th Feb 2008
Controversy continues to rage over the Queen Mary's Gate development. Its originally planned density, and the extension which was subsequently allowed under delegated authority, has appalled local residents (and probably anyone who drives northwards from Charlie Brown's roundabout on the A406). But the developer, Telfords, has added insult to injury by seeking to renege on its section 106 obligations to provide public art on the site. Some £457,000 was required to be set aside for this purpose but Telfords is seeking to use some of the funds to provide a water feature in the gated (and private) part sector - something that was incorporated in the original design.
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Read "Queen Mary's Gate - Telfords Trying it On " in full.
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Tue 26th Feb 2008
A fifth of all post offices in London are facing closure as part of a wider move to shut 2,500 branches nationwide. The Post Office has begun a a six week consultation on plans to close 169 of the capital's 850 post offices. It says that Londoners would see no change to their nearest branch under the proposals - yet Liberal Democrats have revealed figures highlighting the fact that London has twice as many people for each branch as the rest of the country. Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate, Brian Paddick, in a BBC interview (see Liberal Democrats national website) has condemned the proposed closures as exhibiting complete disregard for the needs of local communities.
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Read "Threat to Our Post Offices" in full.
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Sat 16th Feb 2008
Following on from our last story, we received a response to Geoff Seeff's letter of 29th November to Councillor Huggett on 29th January (see attached) - the day of the Area 2 Committee meeting. It appears that Geoff's letter was lost in the Christmas post, which we accept can most certainly happen, but it had not been chased because delays in responding to earlier letters suggested a reluctance to reply.
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Read "Charteris Road Car Park - The Current Situation" in full.
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Sun 9th Dec 2007
We reported in October (see news story October 2nd) that the Cabinet had been forced to rethink its land sales strategy, particularly in connection with the Woodford car park sites. This followed the presentation of petitions against the sale of the Derby Road car park in South Woodford and the Charteris Road car park and Woodford Library sites, and the full Council's resolution to ensure that the impact of any proposed redevelopment is assessed and residents properly consulted before completion. Geoff Seeff has now received a letter from Cllr Linda Huggett which appears to contradict this position and, therefore, reawakens our concerns over high density development on these sites.
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Read "Charteris Road Car Park - What does the Cabinet have in mind? " in full.
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Tue 6th Nov 2007
CROSSRAIL, which is to provide a new link through London between Maidenhead in the West and Shenfield in the East, has at last been given the go-ahead. Due for completion in 2015, it will certainly improve public transport generally but the original planned link to Chingford, admittedly conceived prior to the successful bid for the 2102 Olympics, has been quietly dropped from the scheme.
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Read "Cross(about)Rail - Chingford Residents Get Raw Deal" in full.
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Tue 2nd Oct 2007
At the September 20th 2007 meeting of Redbridge Council the Liberal Democrat group tabled a motion calling on the Tory Administration to reconsider their policy of allotment and car park sales. They were enthusiastically backed by a public gallery full of allotments holders and residents opposed to the sell off policy. Immediately after the Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Hugh Cleaver had spoken the Tory Leader of the Council announced that his group accepted the Lib Dem motion.
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Read "Tory Cabinet Climbdown on Land Sales" in full.
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Sat 29th Sep 2007
Early in 2007 Cllr John Beanse proposed a motion supporting the retention of Whipps Cross hospital. This was seconded by Lib Dem Cllr Sheila Smith-Pryor and passed unanimously by all members of Waltham Forest Council. At a Council meeting in July John condemned the disgraceful conduct of the Secretary of State for Health for not even having the courtesy to reply to the petition. Following this, Cllr Liz Phillips, the portfolio holder on the Waltham Forest Cabinet wrote for the third time and this at least has elicited an apology. A substantive response is of course, still awaited.
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Read "Whipps Cross: Waiting for a Decision " in full.
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Mon 24th Sep 2007
At a packed Area 2 Committee meeting held at the Hawkey Hall on 11th September Monkhams Focus editors, Geoff Seeff and Anne Crook, presented a petition containing over 900 validated signatures from local residents and users of facilities on the Broadway that called for a halt to the process for the sale of the Charteris Road car park and the Woodford Library sites.
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Read "Monkhams LibDems Challenge Redbridge Council on Land Sales" in full.
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Fri 6th Apr 2007
Redbridge's Tory Council has committed itself to spend over £150 million on capital projects in the next 6 years. That's very exciting you may say - it will create jobs, business opportunities and provide new facilities that will benefit us all. The only small problem is that Redbridge does not have the cash and cannot get it from Central Government. So now the Council is trying to sell off every public asset over which it has control.
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Read "The Redbridge Big Sell Off" in full.
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Fri 6th Apr 2007
44 & 46 Snakes Lane West, 2 lovely Victorian semi-detached houses are to be demolished. Despite the objections of local residents, the Regulatory (Planning) Committee, which met on Wednesday 28th February, decided to approve McCarthy & Stone's revised plans to build a 3 storey development of 21 retirement apartments with 9 parking spaces. Liberal Democrat councillors on the Committee dissented.
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Read "Going Going ....................Gone" in full.
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Archive of earlier News Stories.
 News Story Feed(v1.0).
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