Posts

LBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: the appalling case of Northwood Tower in Walthamstow (2)

July 8, 2019 fire safety, LBWF spin, Northwood Tower, Redevelopment

In response to ‘[s]everal recent articles in local newspapers’ about Northwood Tower, LBWF has just issued a PR release which predictably claims that the latter contain unspecified ‘misunderstandings and inaccuracies’ and seeks to reassure ‘residents and the wider community’ that the building is ‘safe and secure’. No doubt local newspapers can respond for themselves, but as far as this blog is concerned, the PR release does not challenge any of the facts already posted. LBWF admits that the 2018-19 Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) of Northwood Tower did indeed identify 65 necessary remedial actions, and adds the wholly new (and as yet unverified) inf... »

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LBWF and fire hazards in its housing stock: the appalling case of Northwood Tower in Walthamstow (1)

July 3, 2019 Asbestos at St. Mary's School, Cllr. Clare Coghill, fire safety, Martin Esom, Northwood Tower, Redevelopment, Town Hall asbestos

In the past few months, journalists James Cracknell and Michelle Edwards of the Waltham Forest Echo have done sterling work in exposing the serious safety flaws that currently blight many of the 22 tower blocks in the borough, see here https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/fire-safety-flaws-at-borough-tower-blocks/ here https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/tower-residents-fire-safety-fears/ and here https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/returning-to-northwood-tower/ What follows examines one of the tower blocks in detail, documents the dreadful situation that pertained there as of mid-2018, and reveals that many of the flaws then existent also had been clearly identified several times previously, indeed incl... »

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Cllr. Clare Coghill responds to a polite inquiry about Universal Credit: first there is prevarication, then she complains about ‘sexually aggressive’ abuse

June 26, 2019 Cllr. Clare Coghill

I try not to post about issues where I am directly involved, but sometimes it’s unavoidable, and what follows is a case in point. During September 2018, I signed a joint letter to LBWF Leader Clare Coghill inquiring about what steps the council was taking to mitigate the disastrous introduction of Universal Credit. The tenor of the letter was thoughtful, evidenced, non-partisan, and of course about a pressing current issue, and the other signatories included some political figures, but of greater personal consequence, colleagues from the community and voluntary sector who were working directly to address poverty. The letter was dispatched in early October, but despite some chasing, week foll... »

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The Connecting Communities Programme in Waltham Forest: everyone’s welcome (except the disabled and poverty-stricken)

May 31, 2019 BNI Community Cohesion Projects, LBWF spin, Redevelopment

In March 2018, the government launched a new £50m. Integrated Communities Strategy (ICS), ‘to tackle the root causes of poor integration and create a stronger, more united Britain’. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that LBWF was to be one of five authorities in England involved in piloting the ICS to 2019/20, supported by an initial grant of £1.2m.; and subsequently, LBWF has published Waltham Forest Our Place. A Shared Plan for Connecting Communities [hereafter Our Place], an implementation document aimed at the general public. What follows outlines LBWF’s intentions, and then offers a critical evaluation. Our Place opens with some background. Waltham Forest’s population increased by 17... »

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Health inequalities by ward in Waltham Forest: an investigation in eight acts

April 15, 2019 LBWF, Redevelopment

Prologue In the early 2000s, it was often noted that health in Waltham Forest varied noticeably from ward to ward. For example, the Primary Health Trust’s Public Health Report 2003/04 included the following graphic: What this showed, to take one example, was that men and women in Cann Hall at that date were likely to die 5.3 years and 4.4 years earlier that their equivalents in Endlebury. For a short while, such figures were also at the forefront of public debate, but subsequently they slipped from view. Recently, however, the subject has been referenced again, and what follows recounts the story that has subsequently unfolded. Act One On 28 January 2017, Councillor Ahsan Khan, Cabinet... »

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