Posts

Asbestos in Waltham Forest Town Hall: a new LBWF disgrace? Part One

June 10, 2022 Asbestos at St. Mary's School, Town Hall asbestos

I have sent the letter pasted below to LBWF Chief Executive, Martin Esom, and will post his response when received. 10 June 2022 Dear Mr. Esom, Asbestos in the Town Hall Prompted by recent media coverage, I have been looking again at how asbestos was managed in the Town Hall from around 2013 to June 2020, when of course the whole building was closed. I note the following: 1. At various times during the period referred to, you made statements reassuring council staff and the public at large that the asbestos problem in the Town Hall was under control, with the material either being carefully enclosed or removed. 2. For example, in you court statement prior to the HSE’s successful prosecution ... »

Property giant Long Harbour buys up the c.500 ‘build to rent flats’ in the redeveloped Walthamstow Mall, but will leaseholders be adequately protected? UPDATED

June 8, 2022 Housing, Redevelopment

In late 2017, LBWF granted developers Capital & Regional (hereafter C&R) and Mount Anvil planning permission to redevelop the Mall site in Walthamstow, that is, extend the existing retail space, add two new tower blocks with c.500 ‘build to rent’ flats, one third ‘affordable’, and re-model the surrounding public realm. The objective was to transform and so revive what the senior officers and politicians in the Town Hall liked to claim constituted a longstanding ‘focal point for the community’. Subsequently, the Mall scheme (now badged as ‘17&Central’) has steadily proceeded, though not without controversy. In November 2018, Mount Anvil severed ties with C&R and withdrew,... »

Despite being berated by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2020, LBWF failings over the Freedom of Information Act continue

May 27, 2022 Freedom of Information Act, Mark Hynes

Over recent years, there has been growing unease about the way that LBWF responds to Freedom of Information Act requests from the public. Indeed, in July 2020, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) took the almost unprecedented step of issuing LBWF with a Practice Recommendation, which itemised in detail what it had been doing wrong, and what it must put right. However, a recent case suggests that not only is LBWF still failing, but that, more alarmingly, the same mistakes are being repeated. The detail is as follows. In 2021, Charles Edwards, a long-time campaigner for more transparency in relation to Mini-Holland and its offshoots, asked for ‘email and WhatsApp group correspondence’ ... »

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After a complaint, LBWF’s legal eagle, Mark Hynes, rules that Cllr. Anna Mbachu’s register of interests is compliant, but inevitably questions remain

May 20, 2022 Cllr. Anna Mbachu

Some weeks ago, on 6 April 2022, I complained to LBWF Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, that Cllr. Anna Mbachu’s register of interests (RoI) did not make reference to the fact that she was a director of Anna Mbachu Educate Orphans and Support The Widows Ltd. (company number 12321223), incorporated on 19 November 2019, and Association of British Nigeria Councillors UK Ltd. (company number 12956092), incorporated on 16 October 2020. On 11 May, after some further correspondence, Mr. Hynes delivered his final verdict. Cllr. Mbachu, he stated, did not need to declare the two directorships, and so had not transgressed in any way.  However, as is often the case in Waltham Forest... »

New LBWF fire safety scandal: Northwood and St Georges Court towers have had high risk failings for years, and nothing has been done about them

May 10, 2022 fire hazards, fire safety

LBWF is currently embarked on a £40m. programme of ‘building safety works’.  Much of this sum will be spent on its 14 tower blocks, all of which require substantial modifications, to the extent that for many months Waking Watch arrangements (where ‘suitably trained persons continually patrol all floors and the exterior perimeter of the building in order to detect a fire, raise the alarm, and carry out the role of evacuation management’) have been in place throughout, causing considerable public anxiety. Earlier posts have judged this situation to be fairly disgraceful, but new evidence reveals that it is even worse than originally thought. Much of the previous discussion was based on LB... »

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