Redbridge Neighbourhood Watch Trust - Launched

Apparently, as part of the new London Policing Model, all London Boroughs have been directed by MOPAC, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, to set up a Borough wide Safer Neighbourhood Board and a Neighbourhood Watch Association.

We don’t know, but we suspect that the Safer Neighbourhood Board will replace the current Redbridge Police Community Engagement group, unless someone changes their mind again …

Many of you will remember that Redbridge did have a borough wide Neighbourhood Watch Association some years ago, set up at the instigation of the local Police and then disbanded at the request of the local Police. The posts on this blog referring to that RNWA were removed some time ago, so I can’t link you to them but there is another local blog which you may find by Googling “RNWA”.

This time the idea is for the RNWT to be truly independent (from the Police) and to gain charitable trust status. An executive committee and co-chairs were elected at the inaugural Annual General Meeting on 21st March 2013, and they have now agreed their name, constitution and working arrangements as well as launching a new website containing all sorts of relevant information for local community groups and watches.

graphic designed by Debbie

The trouble is that the Police can’t (or won’t) pass over the details of the current co-ordinators due to the Data Protection Act, which is a bit silly because most co-ordinator’s details are public domain (how can you co-ordinate if people don't know who you are or how to contact you?) and the Police (MOPAC) are the ones who want the RNWT in the first place. This is where you come in. We know that quite a few watch co-ordinators are also members of Barkingside 21 so we are asking you to get over to the RNWT website and register for membership.

Of course, you don’t have to be a member if you don’t want to, but I think it is advisable to be in the loop and take advantage of the services and support they hope to deliver shortly, and it would be nice if watch co-ordinators were part of the process which defines that support, i.e. what you want/need.

It is also worth noting here that the new RNWT is open not just to Neighbourhood Watches but any community group with an interest in reducing crime, target hardening and/or enhancing their local environment (designing out crime).

For further details contact Mark at RedbridgeNHW@london.com

The Worst on the High Street

I was rather intrigued with the selection of graphic to depict a typical High Street on this news report on the yahoo news feed…

Do you see any cars? Or even the facility to park a car outside the very shop, even the worst one, that you wish to visit to make a financial transaction to support our ailing GDP? Or perhaps 15 minutes free parking as advocated by Paul Ziles of Mayfair Stationers in our own High Street?

No! Quite. The High Street in the early 20th Century thrived because there were no cars and the modern High Street is no different. It’s a Shopping Mall. And the sooner our high street traders realise this and stop pandering to the car the sooner our High Streets can regenerate.

You’ll have to Google to find who the “worst” is but suffice to say they are not present on our High Street!

The New Homes Bonus

Sent in by “Save Oakfield Site”.

While Redbridge Council considers the feedback on its Core Strategy Review, including the possibility of a new “Garden village” of some 750 homes on the Oakfield site, Redbridge continues to have a considerable number of empty or unoccupied properties. According to the Redbridge “Empty Properties Strategy 2012-2015” – “As at 1st April 2012 there were a total of 1,686 homes empty. Many of these are short term vacancies that are soon reoccupied without the involvement of the Council.”

However, quite how *many* is not specified, nor is the reliance on the prospective occupant being able to get Housing Benefit, something that has become a little more difficult since that date….

To the New Homes Bonus which is a grant paid by central government to local councils for increasing the number of homes and their use.

The New Homes Bonus is paid each year for 6 years. It’s based on the amount of extra Council Tax revenue raised for new-build homes, conversions and long-term empty homes brought back into use. There is also an extra payment for providing affordable homes.

If you scroll down and click on “New Homes Bonus final allocations for 2013 to 2014” you will find that Redbridge receives £2.8m, ranking it 54 out of 326 LAs. Money is paid on each qualifying build for 6 years.

There is, if you are interested in this subject an open public meeting on “Housing, Homelessness and Support Systems in Redbridge” on 13th June 2013 and hosted by Redbridge Faith Forum

Environment, Air Quality and Health

At the Sustrans Air Quality Champions training day last week we learned that the percentage of people rating the Environment as a major concern has been falling over recent years and now stands at only 8%. This is, or should be, a major worry for The Green Party as well as environmental campaign groups like ourselves. It means that the drip drip feed of the mainstream media is winning their propaganda war, for that is what it amounts to. The fact is that the environment is a major factor in the issues that people are identifying as major concerns, none more so than Health and Traffic Congestion.

Air quality, and obesity through lack of exercise, has a major impact on Health and costs the Health Service (paid for by you, the Taxpayer) billions of £s per year. Lack of effective action to make walking and cycling, in the face of the petrolhead lobby, more enjoyable and safe just results in a viscious cycle of more car use leading to more pollution which makes walking and cycling less attractive.

There are three air pollutants that the experts are worried about. Ozone, which we can’t do much about because it is a natural process. Nitrogen Dioxide, NO2, which is a toxic gas and Particulate Matter, PM10, which is basically dust.

In London, where there is little in the way of industrial processes, approximately two thirds of both NO2 and PM10 comes from ground based transport the majority of which is cars. The PM10 comes from wear and tear on the tyres and brake pads.

So, where there is a lot of road traffic we would expect the levels of these pollutants to be high. So, when you see someone jogging along Woodford Avenue, as I did while on the bus on my way to the training day, you have to wonder whether they know, and if they did, would they choose to jog somewhere else, like a park. They are making their lungs work harder and inhaling the pollutants at a much higher rate than if they were just ambling along to the bus stop. On the other hand, cyclists tend to know and stick to the back roads which makes the cycle lanes in Woodford Avenue pretty much pointless and a waste of taxpayer's money.

This is not an anti-car message. The car has it’s place and most of us need one for certain journeys. It is a campaign to make cars less polluting and to educate people about sensible use of cars and the dangers of, for example, leaving the engine idling whilst parked outside a primary school. Young children are much more susceptible to the harmful effects of these pollutants as their lungs are still developing and their breathing apparatus is much closer to the source (ground) than yours.

So, as these pollutants are pretty much invisible, we can’t see or smell them, how do we know if the air we are breathing is clean or polluted? Well, dotted around London we have Air Quality Measuring Stations.

They are all shown on the Kings College Air Quality Site and you can look at the data for each site. We undestand, although Redbridge Council has not yet confirmed, that these sites are funded by local councils at approximately £2,000 per site per annum. It also appears that two of the four sites in Redbridge have been closed down in the last 2-3 years due to withdrawal of funding. These are the stations at Fullwell Cross Roundabout (pictured) and in South Woodford at the A406 where it is 10 (TEN) lanes wide. We have asked Redbridge Council for an explanation. Both of these locations are outside London’s Low Emission Zone which was introduced in February 2008 and the data up to 2010/11 for both these sites show that they were exceeding recommended limits by quite some margin.

More to come on how to spot natural indicators of air quality …

Further reading:

Our Chair speaks at Area Committee 4

Children who live near busy roads may be at greater risk of developing diabetes later in life
Or perhaps go to school near a busy roundabout?

Engine idling in Havering will get you a PCN

Cheating on pollution

UK Government is breaking air pollution laws

British cities may have to ban cars to dramatically reduce harmful effects of air pollution

Illegal Air Pollution in London

Government to remove councils’ obligation to carry out air quality assessments

Redbridge bids for £100m to improve cycling infrastructure

Celebrity Bubbles

Despite the forecast for rain the weather held out for the Valentines Mansion May Fair this afternoon and we took our MIRA (Magentic Induction Rotary Appliance) along for a ride. This is to demonstrate how bicycle power can be converted into electricity to run a Disco Bubble machine, amongst other things.

Here (below left) we have someone who must have felt at home as he usually spends his Saturday afternoons at Upton Park supporting West Ham United, soon to be renamed West Field United when they move to Stratford. Alas we could not persuade the elected Member of Parliament for Ilford South, Mike Gapes, to generate something more useful than hot air on our bicycle.

We did get Councillor Shoaib Patel (Valentines Ward) our Redbridge Cabinet Member for Environment, Transportation and Crime (I think that means reduction?) to generate some bubbles though.

And our newly elected and game Mayor Cllr Facility Felicity Banks was also enticed to saddle up ….

As was our former Fullwell Ward Police Sergeant Andy Hobson, now with Valentines, who took the opportunity to work off the effects of those special recipe donuts available in the canteen at Barkingside nick.

Apparently Iain Duncan Smith MP was also there and was last seen disappearing down Cranbrook Road on a Penny Farthing budget ...