Call a cycle taxi, work starts on new health centre and homes, new voting arrangements proposed and more in St James' Quarter News

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St James' Quarter News

Walthom Forest

Work starts on affordable new homes and health hub in South Grove

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The Council has agreed to give planning approval for a new health centre and 83 new homes on the site of former industrial units at 74-79 Brunner Road.

Creating a new health centre on the site is part of the Council’s commitment to including new facilities for local residents in housing developments and a key objective of the adopted New South Grove and St James Street masterplan.

The building work will be managed by the Council’s development company Sixty Bricks with 50 per cent of the new homes being affordable.

Get more details

The latest figures show that 42 per cent of new homes built in Waltham Forest were affordable, which is the highest figure of any London borough and well above the average of 17 per cent across London.

The scheme will include solar panels as part of our work to reduce the impact of the Climate Emergency as well as secure cycle storage to encourage residents to use sustainable transport on this car free scheme.

Work is due to be completed by the end of 2022.

If you live in the area you can come and meet the contractors who will be doing the work at a drop in engagement event on Tuesday 10 March 2020. They will share details of working hours, delivery arrangements and how to contact them in an emergency.

Reserve your free place now

Bin collection day

Take a cycle taxi for a guided tour of Walthamstow

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Are you an older person living with the St James Street area who would like to get out and about more?

If so, you can embark on a free guided tour around the area with the ExplorerCycle service, thanks to St James' Big Local.

Visit old friends and favourite places or discover hidden gems.

Trained volunteers are on hand to provide tailored expeditions on our Christiania Taxi Bike.

There is space for two people and shelter from the elements.

Get more details

Get involved with St James' Big Local

St James Big Local logo

St James' Big Local is a volunteer led group that has a packed programme for the area, including:

  • helping charities working in the St James’ area with grants of up to £10,000 from St James’ Big Local. Application details are on the website but charities need to act fast as the deadline for applications is Friday 6 March 2020.
  • delivering a new Neighbourhood Greening project which will help tackle the Climate Emergency. Over the coming months, they’ll work with local residents and businesses to make five streets greener, healthier and more attractive. St James' will use these ‘seedling’ streets – Brunner Road, Buxton Road, Hazlewood Road, Morland Road and Station Road – to develop a range of simple, effective improvements, from planting trees and wall climbers to creating seats or planters. Meetings are planned for March so if you want to get involved contact them today
  • encouraging more volunteers to become Street Champions to help spread the word about the organisation to other local residents
  • delivering a three year plan of improvements developed with local residents to improve the area.

Find out more

How should we be using CCTV?

CCTV warning sign

Closed circuit television (CCTV) is designed to help reduce the fear of crime and help deter and detect crime including anti-social behaviour and enviro crime.

The council is responsible for choosing the locations and monitoring of public space CCTV.

We are currently surveying residents for their views on CCTV in the borough.

See our CCTV policies

The deadline for completing the survey is Sunday 22 March 2020.

Complete the survey

Have you used a Council service?

Customer experience

If you are a resident or business in Waltham Forest, please tell us about the last time you were a customer of a Council service by taking our short survey.

Your answers will help shape the future of how we interact with residents and customers across the borough.

If you would like the chance of winning one of three £50 vouchers in our prize draw, please leave your details at the end of the survey.

Complete the survey

What's happening with L & Q?

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L&Q is building 518 new homes, made up of one, two and three-bedroom apartments. Over half of the properties will be affordable.

The development will also provide a publicly accessible, linear park through the site, a new cycling route linking the development to the rest of the St James St Quarter and new retail/office space.

The development will also be car-free, except for 24 spaces for wheelchair users and two car club spaces.

See details of the scheme

We caught up with L&Q's Development Director for North London, Jacqueline Esimaje-Heath, about why L&Q is investing in our borough, what progress is being made on building new homes and why the organisation considers Waltham Forest to be a great place to live.

Watch the L & Q video

Drumming up support for St James' Cultural Day

Taste of Africa drumming workshop poster L%Q 2020

L&Q is supporting a number of community events in the St James’s area including the Cultural Day which will take place on Saturday 21 June 2020.

Mbilla Arts, which is based at Crate St James’ Street, is running a free-to-attend Taste of Africa drumming workshop every term-timeSaturday for young people wanting to perform at that event.

Find out more on Facebook

There will also be a special Taste of Africa family session at Crate St James on Saturday 28 March, 10am-12pm.  This is a free drop in and is suitable for children of all ages and abilities with their parents/carers.

Help us help the pollinator - deadline looms to share your views

Honey bee on flower

We all know how important pollinators are for the production of our food as well as the role they play in helping tackle the Climate Emergency.

As part of the Juniper House development we are including open space which will be pollinator friendly, as will the improved gardens at 35-41 First Avenue. The new Pocket Park at the junction of First Avenue and Hoe Street will also include plants to provide food for bees and other pollinators.

Waltham Forest Council is currently consulting with residents to help us draft a Pollinator Action Plan (PAP) which:

  • highlights the steps the Council proposes to take to help pollinators
  • suggests ways that residents, businesses and community groups can help pollinators

Read the Pollinator Action Plan

Before the Pollinator Action Plan is agreed we want to hear your views on the suggestions it contains and also any other ideas you think should be included.

Please complete this short survey by Monday 2 March 2020.

Share your views on the PAP

Potential changes to wards under Boundary Commission proposals

Ballot Box voting

As part of its routine work the Boundary Commission has published its recommended changes for Waltham Forest Council.

The changes aim to make each councillor represent around the same number of residents.

Overall there will still be 60 councillors but there will be 22 wards instead of the current 20.

One of the proposed new wards would be called St James and would have three councillors.

Currently every ward has three councillors. Under the new proposals there would be 16 wards with three councillors and six with two councillors.

Read the full report

There is now a consultation underway which allows any individual or organisation to comment on the Boundary Commission's recommendations before the deadline of Monday 2 March 2020.

Share your views online

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