A note for readers…
This is a personal blog, which aims to scrutinise the powers that be in Waltham Forest, from the Council (hereafter London Borough of Waltham Forest or LBWF), both elected members and staff; to our MP... »
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Walthamstow resident and community activist Charlie Edwards dismantles LBWF’s claim that it ‘consulted’ before installing 500 new bike hangers
In the past, this blog has been somewhat sceptical about LBWF’s Mini-Holland and associated ‘active travel’ interventions, primarily because when the bombast was stripped away, careful investigation o... »
LBWF councillors: what do they do, and is it value for money? An update.
In essence, the relationship between residents and councillors is an informal contract. Residents agree to pay councillors from the public purse For their part, councillors, amongst other things, atte... »
LBWF’s fiefdom: ‘borough of culture’ or borough of dysentery?
One recurring theme in LBWF’s endless self-promotion is that, thanks to the Town Hall’s efforts, Waltham Forest is an unusually appealing place, the borough of ‘the Stow’ and ‘the Stone’, ‘quirky... »
Hate crime in Waltham Forest: setting aside the scary rhetoric, is it as bad as LBWF claims?
Introduction In the last few years, LBWF has regularly asserted that Waltham Forest is afflicted by ‘an unprecedented rise’ in damaging hate crime – especially, according to senior councillors, racist... »
Looking back at the past, an occasional series. Part three: Private Eye reports on LBWF’s feeble attempts to curb Islamist extremism
From Private Eye No.1407, 11/12-18/12/15 As a previous post noted: ‘Perhaps curiously, given LBWF’s decidedly chequered record in identifying and addressing Islamist extremism, Martin Esom, the ... »
After 64 working days, LBWF Director of Governance and Law, Mark Hynes, is still to complete his asbestos inquiry, ratcheting up public unease
In an e-mail of 30 January 2023, LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes writes: ‘Although I was hoping to have concluded my review into the concerns you raised about asbestos management compli... »
Local journalist Michelle Edwards reveals pressing fire safety issues at a newly built LBWF housing block, but from the Town Hall there is only silence
The respected Waltham Forest journalist Michelle Edwards has recently moved to a flat in a low-rise block at Pinder Road, Wood Street, completed by Countryside Partnerships in early 2022 and now owned... »
Has LBWF Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes’ Town Hall asbestos inquiry gone seriously awry?
As previously reported, following my request that LBWF examines whether it may have recently contravened the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, Director of Governance and Law Mark Hynes is emb... »
Waltham Forest council is the sixth most complained about in all of England
Over recent years, LBWF has incessantly boasted about its achievements, all the while stressing that it prioritises ‘listening’, and is on the side of residents, or as one past Leader was fond of sayi... »
LBWF in Private Eye yet again, this time over dodging key questions about whether it consulted the emergency services prior to implementing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
A further story highlighting what happens when a resident questions LBWF about an unarguably important local issue, receives an absurd response, but persists. And, making matters a whole lot worse, Mr... »