By Election in Aldborough Ward

Cllr Mike Figg [Labour] has resigned his position on Redbridge Council and there will now be a By Election. The report in the Ilford Recorder earlier today has been challenged as “inaccurate”. Screen shot below for when it changes. We wish Mike and his family well for the future. Here is his Press Release.

30th September 2011

Dear Editor

It was a great honour to be elected to Redbridge council in May 2010 and I am grateful to the residents of Aldborough for choosing me to represent them.

However, I recently got married and for family reasons we are going to need to move out of the area soon.

Because of this, I have reluctantly concluded that I must step down as a councillor immediately. I hope that an election can be called as soon as possible so that a replacement can be found to represent the interests of Aldborough in the ward and in the Town Hall.

From the moment I was elected, I enjoyed the work of being a councillor, working on a number of committees and working groups. In the future, I will look back on my time helping the Labour opposition to improve the running of the Town Hall as one of the highlights of my life.

Being a councillor also gave me a great reason to meet many more of the people of Redbridge (and particularly of Aldborough Ward) and to help or advise some of them when they were struggling with aspects of the council’s services.

It has been a pleasure as well as an honour to serve the people of Redbridge as a member of the council.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Mike Figg (Aldborough)

click on image to enlarge

UPDATE 6 October 2011: The by election has been called for Thursday 10th November 2011.

A mistaken Spell can be very Costly

You might think that Morris Hickey is a pedant when it comes to correct spelling, and even he can make mistakes, but here on the Interwebby a simple error, like leaving out a dot, can lead to all sorts of problems. Instead of turning the “Finchley Frog” into a handsome prince, you could end up with Shrek.

Here’s a piece from the eBCS Security Newsletter:

Typos are a security risk

Typosquatting is basically when Internet users type in a website address into a web browser, but a simple (usually common) typo accidently leads the user to a website owned by someone looking to profit by selling their domain... or, even worse, a scammer or virus-ridden website.

The combination of your big sausage fingers and ‘the need for speed’ may be a major problem according to security firm Sophos, who took to their blog to discuss the trend of typosquatting and recommended that companies buy up the most common misspellings of their online addresses and also warned people that missing dots out of emails can also be very costly!

The blog reports that researchers (Peter Kim and Garrett Gee) bought 30 internet domains that they believed that people would send emails to by mistake. The domain names they chose were Fortune 500 companies (which is the yearly list of the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations compiled by Fortune magazine) - but with a single dot missed out.

Their results were rather shocking - as having purchased the domains, the duo reports that they then (mistakenly) received over 120,000 emails in six months. Worryingly, in amongst these emails was passwords for an IT firm's external Cisco routers, precise details of the contents of a large oil company's oil tankers, and VPN details and passwords for a system managing road tollways.

Of course, typosquatting is nothing new. For example, Wikipedia uses the examples of Goggle.com, which is obviously a dirty and cheap tactic to lead people searching for search engine Google.com to a nasty website which then promptly infects the clumsy typer’s computer with spyware. However, most people are less ‘on their guard’ when it comes to emails...as they wrongly assume that the mistyped email won’t be seen by anyone. Wrong! You need to check addresses before clicking ‘Send’ or ‘Enter.’

Mark Stockley (who penned the article in question on the Sophos blog) also correctly noted that thieves can actually forward the email to its intended sender so that it is difficult to spot a problem, then when the recipient responds to the email, that's more (potentially dangerous) information that a thief has at his disposal.

So, the moral to this blog post is... wathc out for typos!

Andrew Frowen, Managing Director at computer forensics agency IntaForensics

LFB Launch Fire Safety Blitz

The London Fire Brigade have issued the following statement:

Fire investigators from the London Fire Brigade have today released information about what they believe to be the most likely cause of the worst house fire in the capital in over a decade.

Six people died and two people were seriously injured in a blaze that started in the early hours of Saturday morning in a two-story semi-detached house on Sonia Gardens in Neasden. Fire investigators believe that a chest freezer, which was in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, may have caused the fire. The make of the chest freezer is not known at this stage.

Earlier this week, the London Fire Brigade confirmed that a BEKO fridge freezer was in the house. However, this is not the same type of appliance as the one which fire investigators believe may have caused the fire and it has not formed part of the fire investigation.

Following the incident, the London Fire Brigade will be launching a fire safety blitz across the capital. The Brigade’s schools team will begin a pilot programme to visit secondary schools in Brent, the borough in which the fire happened. It already visits primary schools across the capital.

The Brigade will also be writing to every headteacher in London with fire safety advice they can give to children in assemblies. It will offer every primary school in London the opportunity of a visit, with a focus on children aged 6-7 and 9-10 [Sic!]. Interested teachers should check the schools section of the Brigade’s website. 

Tomorrow, fire chiefs will also be launching a fire safety campaign on Facebook, which it hopes will reach one million people. The ‘Share it to Save a Life’ campaign will encourage people to share one fire safety tip with their Facebook friends every day for a week. People should visit the London Fire Brigade’s Facebook page for more details.

Today, fire chiefs are urging people to take four simple steps to protect themselves from fire:

1. Check your appliances – if you notice any strange noises or smells coming from electrical appliances call a repair person and never overload plug sockets.
2. Get a smoke alarm – fit it and check it regularly. One in ten homes still doesn’t have a smoke alarm. (Department for Communities and Local Government)
3. Plan your escape  – know how you would get out of your home in the event of a fire
4. Get out, stay out – in the event of a fire, get out, stay out. Call the fire brigade and do not attempt to tackle the fire yourself.

Assistant Commissioner for the London Fire Brigade, Steve Turek, said:

“Fire investigators will continue to piece together the tragic events of Saturday morning but early indications are that the fire was caused by a chest freezer in the hallway of the house. Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of those who died. This tragic event should focus people’s minds on how they can make their home safer. Our fire safety blitz will help people to do that. We will continue to work tirelessly to make the homes of all Londoner’s safer.

“There are four simple pieces of advice we are giving people to help keep them safe. Check your electrical appliances and sockets - if you notice anything strange, call a repair person. Everyone should make sure they have a smoke alarm and check regularly that it works. People should think about how they would get out in the event of a fire starting in their home and if it does, they should get out and stay out. Call the fire brigade and do not attempt to tackle the fire your self.”

Via Martin Francis @ Wembley Matters

Update: The funerals of the six family members who lost their lives took place at the Garden of Peace Muslim Cemetery in Hainault yesterday (Wednesday). Our condolences go to Family and friends and our thoughts are with Nur, 16, who remains critical in hospital.

No More Nails

This, below, is the scene looking up the hill in Woodford Avenue towards Gants Hill this afternoon.

And this is the scene on the other side of that road, also this afternoon.

Notice anything missing? Yes, it’s the railings. I actually noticed their disappearance some months ago and my enquiries lead me to believe they were stolen for scrap metal. So, why post now? I’ll tell you. Two items, one in my inbox and one in my RSS feed reminded me of the problem.

First up we have Cllr Andrew Cooper, of Kirklees, accompanying Council Licensing officials and local Police doing spot checks on registered and unregistered scrap dealers. “It was a good thing to do and sent a strong message that the authorities are keen to keep an eye on scrap dealers particularly with the number of lead and copper pipe and wire thefts going on out there.” He suggests a voluntary Code of Conduct but frankly I don’t see that working.

Second up is an item from the Crime Reduction Partnership newsletter, via our Ward Co-ordinator.

Cable theft: an epidemic with unforseen consequences

Thieves regularly put their lives at risk by hacking away live copper cabling to try and cash in on increasing scrap metal prices. While some of them know what they're doing, teenagers are also being used by gangs, sometimes with tragic consequences.

In its article on the subject, the Daily Mail identifies just a few recent cases of cable and metal theft and its outcomes:

• In July, a 16-year-old boy who broke into a disused power station in Leeds was killed after touching a high-voltage cable.
• Commuters are suffering during rush-hour with more than 16,000 hours of delays in the past 12-months.
• Travellers were also left stranded last week when overhead power cables were stolen and caused delays between London Liverpool Street and Stansed Airport.
• Bermondsey in south London was also targeted when 65-metres of cable was ripped up. It led to 146 trains being cancelled with 840 being delayed.
• Callous criminals are also targeting grave sites and and only last week more than 50 brass memorial plates were taken from a crematorium in Crawley, West Sussex.

Homes are also being stripped of highly-prized metal garden ornaments and telephone cables are also being hacked away.

BT has reported 900 cable thefts in just six months and has said 100,000 customers have been affected and left without vital communications.

My advice: don’t nail it down – they’ll nick the nails. Use glue.

Bridge Hits Lorry

Yep! Yet another collision in Forest Road by Fairlop Tube Station earlier today. Obviously the signs aren’t big enough, or perhaps not in the right language? With such frequency it couldn’t possibly be the drivers fault, driving without due care and attention, could it? Has anyone been prosecuted for endangering other road users and pedestrians? I wonder if we can get some stats on this ACCIDENT BLACK SPOT from the Cabinet Member for Highways?

UPDATE: The Ilford Recorder have a picture of the lorry on its side ON the pavement. Scary!

Ah! SO

This is a Guest post from Knowsie following on from The Cowboys are Coming. The title, as you will have guessed, represents Analogue Switch Off.

As those of you who attended last Thursday's Coffee Morning will know, I carried out a survey into the current preparedness - or otherwise - of those present to receive digital TV (DTV).

The results were interesting - if a little frightening ...

A good indication of the likely outcome came early on when, at the periphery of my hearing range, I became aware of a conversation on the lines of "I'm not interested in this - I'm happy with the channels I've got - I don't want all those extra channels ...". Oh dear ...!

Only nine people took part - about half of the number present - and, of those, four are, so far, unable to receive DTV.

All five of the digital viewers have more than one TV but only one can receive DTV on the other set(s).

On an optimistic note, of the seven people who answered the last question, although two don't know when Digital Switch Over (DSO) is taking place, the other five correctly opted for the first half of 2012. Of course, they could be the same five who already have DTV installed! In fact, DSO starts on April 4th and ends a fortnight later on April 18th. After that, anybody who hasn't converted will be faced with a blank screen - in perpetuity.

The fortnight between start and finish - during which only BBC2 analogue will be switched off - is really intended to give viewers who have had poor or non existent digital reception from the existing low power transmissions to assess the impact of the permanent increase in power and take any necessary action. It is not really the time to start making arrangements to go digital if you can avoid it!.

The cowboys will undoubtedly be ready to fleece the panic stricken who wake up to reality at the last minute!

If you get your TV by satellite or cable, you are already watching DTV and don't need to take any action at all. If, on the other hand, you still get your TV via an aerial, the you must be ready for DSO in April.

Provided that you have good analogue reception - analogue is the old sort of TV that's been around since 1936, in case you were wondering - then, to receive DTV:

You do NOT need to buy a new TV
You do NOT need to have a new aerial fitted
You do NOT need to pay a subcription to anyone ...

What you MUST do is to ensure that every TV that you want to use can receive DTV.

If you have bought a new TV recently, it probably already has a digital tuner fitted but, if not, you can adapt it or any older non-digital TV by the use of a Set Top Box (STB).

Unless your set is very old, it should have one or more SCART sockets (a large, roughly rectangular socket like these) on the back. If in doubt, look!

Got one? Good! Now all you want is an STB. There is a wide range with a price range to suit but you should be able to find one from about £20 upwards. Make sure it says it is suitable for Terrestrial reception or has DVB-T on the box. You will also need a SCART lead to connect it to the TV. It may come with one in the box but, if not, you will need to buy one. You should be able to pick one up in a Pound Shop, so don't pay silly money for one!

If you haven't got a SCART socket, you will need to look for an STB with an RF Modulator in it. They cost a bit more than the standard STB and they may not be easy to find, due to low demand but, if you are persistent, you should be able to find one. This type of STB connects to the TV via the aerial socket and you will have to tune the TV to match the output of the modulator - like tuning in another TV channel.

If you have any problems, always remember my Golden Rule:

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!

[Editor: Or get your 4 year old grand child to do it for you.]

Update:

I had just posted the above when I came across this tale of woe ...

"I've lost ITV! Oh no I haven't - it's popped up in place of BBC2!"

Exactly what will happen here on 4th April ...

Just to prove that the horrors of ASO can afflict anybody, the original poster, who is quite unprepared for the loss of all of his TV reception in less than a fortnight, later tells us that he has an MSc and "...for what it's worth, I have been involved with RF TX & RX - Radio (frequency) transmission and reception - for many years so I know my onions ..."

He had also told us quite early on that all his neighbours are similarly affected. If he is regarded as the resident neighbourhood 'expert', it could well be the case of the blind leading the blind ...

Dick Turpin Rides Again

Guest post from Ron Jeffries:

Now I am not one to boast. In fact, I am the original shrinking violet. Honest! But I have to stand up to be counted on this one.

Long, long ago - in fact, as long ago as 2006, would you believe - I contacted Miller and Carter, who are part of Mitchells and Butler, to ask them why they had dropped the name DICK TURPIN from our local hostelry.

I met a man from M & C (or it may have been M & B) at the said establishment who told me that there was no way that they would ever countenance a return to the DICK TURPIN. He went further and said that they did not wish to be a pub with a restaurant attached, but a classy steak house. They introduced rules of dress. No jeans. No farm labourers (of whom we have a dwindling few). No muddy boots. Certainly no bare chests - and that was just the ladies! No children - dread the thought (and they tore down the playground out back just to make sure that no snotty-nosed infant should dare to darken their doors again). Teenagers were discouraged and anyone who walked stood a good chance of being knocked down by the limousines of the M & C Executives who frequented the place.

But things did not go well for M & C as folk started to stay away. And so they relaxed the dress rules a little - but still no farm labourers or muddy boots, and certainly no children and as for teenagers, well they were nowhere to be seen, having moved to more friendly places in the town.

Then M & C - or was it M & B - went bust . . . sort of anyway. They were in financial trouble and the PR Man I had met and who had sent me so many emails about upper crust dining and brand names and all that jazz - well, he departed faster than I can walk from here to the Dick Turpin.

But we kept calling it the Dick Turpin. It is listed in the telephone directory as the Dick Turpin. If you ring to book a table (which you cannot these days!) they say "Dick Turpin". And your credit card slip (so I am told, for I have blacklisted the place and not darkened its doors until the name was back) says Dick Turpin.

But earlier this year I considered the time was right to have another go at having the name put up there in lights. The former PR man had produced a sketch with a small board below the main sign with the words Dick Turpin - and I sent this off to M & C. A nice man called Oliver told me that never, never, never would they put the words on a sign. Not until the tide failed to come in at Southend-on-Sea or Her Majesty The Queen did cartwheels down the Mall. He was firm in this - and told me all about brands and branding and PR and all that jazz.

But I was not going to take all this laying down with my legs in the air - which is not a pretty sight when the sun is shining, let alone when it rains. Emails went back and forth - and even forth and back at times. No, no, said Oliver. Yes, yes, said I.

Then I brought out the BIG GUNS. I asked my good Friend Alan to place the story on the Barkingside 21 website. He did so in July of this very year - and that got Oliver rattled for sure! So rattled was he that he promised to reconsider. I waited - and waited. I hinted that I might involve the Ilford Recorder - which sent a further wave of shock through Oliver. I asked what was happening? I am travelling to Russia and then on holiday said Oliver - and I will make a decision in September. I asked Oliver in early September what was happening. I am still on holiday he wrote.

Then Councillor Vanessa and I met in August with two men from M & C at Cuckoo Hall (which is another saga with which I will not bother you today - but might at some future time) and one of them told me that the sign had been ordered. But I decided not to count my chickens before they bolted the sty.

And so it came to pass that this very morning at around eleven the Good Mrs Shirley Rudge of Aldborough Hall Farm rang me on her mobile from her car on her way to visit her daughter Sally. Shirley had just driven past the Dick Turpin and saw two men up a ladder fixing the new sign. In fact one man was up the ladder, the other was standing below. Grabbing an umbrella and my camera, I was up the road before Yvonne could bake a few mince pies or make another batch of lemon marmalade.

Two rather startled workmen wondered what had happened when I puffed up before them - just as a class of children from the William Torbitt were returning down the footpath from Fairlop Waters. The men were most interested in what I had to tell them about our fight - and happily posed for pictures - in spite of the fact that their work was done and they really wanted to get back in their nice warm van as by this time the rain was fairly bucketing down.

The photographs here make clear that we have won a battle and also the war. Well done all you folk who supported me. And as for those of you who scoffed and said I was fighting a losing battle and watsing my time (and I should know better at my age than to antagonise nice men from the Big Comapnies), I would just say that we British do not give up when PR men thrust their brands at us. The Dick Turpin dates back to Victorian England when the first Dick Turpin was a Beer Hall in a cottage just north of the present bulding and near to Mrs Rudge's House - as will be revealed in my new book which is being written and researched as I write (although it has to be said that compiling this message has put the book back by a few hours!). To be published in the early part of 2012 (DV) in full colour, the provisional title is Aldborough Hatch - A History - but I am working on that and will have a title to entice readers.

I apologise for the quality of the photographs - for it was pouring with rain. The sun is shining now, but I will have to have a lie down after all this excitement - and I may not get back up there today.

Ron Jeffries

Local Development Framework

I have been struggling with this post since last Wednesday’s Area Committee 3 meeting, item 5 and item 6. My problem has been how to make a really boring subject interesting and capture the imagination of you the reader. Even turning my compost, which usually gets my cognitive juices flowing, has failed. So here it is in all its boring glory.

Redbridge is one of the few Councils who do actually have a Local Development Framework, much to our surprise given the lack of school places and swimming pools. It is the new version of the old Unitary Development Plan where the council sets out its vision for how the borough will be developed over the next few years. The interesting part, if you have an unhealthy fetish for Maps, is the Yard square full colour map of the borough showing all the sites earmarked for development, but the LDF as opposed to the UDP has a bunch of supporting documents which outline not just where development will take place but how and to what standards.

The other flies in the ointment are the changes being proposed by central government which are designed, supposedly, to give greater control to local communities. We have experience in these here parts of how local democracy and accountability can be put through the wringer by the unelected Planning Inspectorate based in Bristol and the final arbiter, the Secretary of State. The Repton Park development which went ahead and the Racetrack on Fairlop Waters which didn’t.

So, the upshot is this. If the Local Development Framework is going to be the standard by which any proposed development is judged then we, the local community, need to make sure it is what we want, via our local and democratically elected representatives.

It’s out for consultation and the closing date is …… various depending on which bit but mostly in October. Details here.

It's up to you. It's no good complaining after the event.

Battery Recycling at Redbridge Libraries

We are informed that there are new battery recycling points in the borough, for the recycling of non-lithium portable household batteries – basically in our libraries, assuming they are not closed for refurbishment.

We are also informed that an article will be placed in the next edition of Redbridge Life, which is now published quarterly and as one is now being delivered we assume that to be in 3 months time.

This is probably just as well because when I popped into Fullwell Cross library yesterday after our coffee morning to take a picture of what the receptacle looks like so you all know what to look for I could not find it. When I enquired I was told it’s still in the cupboard ….

The recycling points (assuming they are not still in the cupboard) are at:

· Central Library, Clements Road
· Goodmayes Library, 76 Goodmayes Lane
· Keith Axon Centre, 160-170 Grove Road
· Aldersbrook Library, 2A Park Road
· Wanstead Library, Spratt Hall Road
· Gants Hill Library, 490 Cranbrook Road
· Fullwell Cross Library, 140 High Street, Barkingside
· Clayhall Library, 1 Claybury Broadway, Woodford Ave
· South Woodford Library, 116 High Road
· Hainault Library, 100 Manford Way
· Seven Kings Library, 670 High Road
· Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre

Parish Notices

Group Blogging

The more observant readers will have noticed that B21 has joined the new trend of Group Blogging (see the strapline at the bottom of each post to see who wrote/ published it). We now have two more authors/ publishers apart from myself - Mira Vogel and Papanomicron. Of course we have had guest posts from them both in the past, as well as from people like Ron Jeffries, Morris Hickey, David Martin and others plus Councillors like Michelle Dunn, but I had to edit, format and publish them. And I will continue to do so. If any reader would like to submit a guest post on a local topic of interest or controversy then please do let us know, you can find our email over in the right hand side bar.

Electronic Notice Board

One of our two other blogs – B21 Resources which started as a place to store more detailed information has now morphed into an electronic Notice Board and has been renamed as B21 Notices. This blog doesn’t get much in the way of traffic yet, so please do have a look to check when you visit. There are links over in the right hand side bar under the heading “Notice Board”. And of course if you have a notice you wish to display then do send it in.

My Favourite Shop

The second of our two other blogs is My Favourite Shop, which again doesn’t get much traffic, mainly because it’s not updated very often. I was amazed, when I looked at it recently, to find that the most recent post was dated 4th December 2008 and was from Ron Jeffries writing about a shop which is now closed – our old mate Danny’s Barkingside DIY. So I published a post on Veena’s written by Flesh is Grass back on 9th September 2009. I’m not sure what to do with this blog, but what with the Barkingside Business Partnership’s blog having gone moribund too there does seem to me to be an opening here to promote the local economy. I have tried, not too successfully, to find websites and links to local shops and I have written a post on PG Creed, although that shop is in Seven Kings. What I need is customer reviews from you the readers … How about it?

The Boundary Review – Redbridge

Apparently we are not supposed to know about this until tomorrow, but Guido has published the full proposals and it’s all over Twitter and elsewhere, so why not here too.

Here’s the map of the Wards in Redbridge, which will remain the same, but the parliamentary constituency each ward is in may well change.

At present we have two constituencies wholly within the borough boundary. Ilford South (Mike Gapes, Labour) comprising the 9 wards to the south of the A12. Ilford North (Lee Scott, Conservative) comprising the 8 wards to the north of the A12 and east of the northern section of the Central line railway. There are two contituencies that are only part within Redbridge. Chingford and Woodford Green (Iain Duncan Smith, Conservative) which includes the two wards west of the northern section of the Central Line railway. The remaining 2 wards to the south west are part of Leyton & Wanstead (John Cryer, Labour).

So, where are they now the music has stopped?

We will still have two constituencies wholly within the borough boundary, but Ilford South disappears being hung, drawn and quartered with its four parts distributed by the points of the compass. Clementswood and Loxford join up with East Ham in Newham. Goodmayes and Mayfield become part of Barking & Dagenham. Chadwell, Newbury and Seven Kings will be part of a revamped Ilford North which loses Bridge, Roding and Clayhall, but remains wholly within the borough. And Valentines and Cranbrook, along with Clayhall in addition to the 6 wards in the west of the borough will comprise the ressurection of the Wanstead and Woodford constituency, which again will be wholly within the borough.

There you have it. Please address any questions to your local councillor or MP.

What’s Missing?

As I have mentioned before it is sometimes more revealing to look at what is missing rather than what is present. Here is our Chair’s [and the Chair of Redbridge Swimmers Association] letter published in the Ilford Recorder on 8th September 2011 in response to the article in the previous week’s edition reproduced below that as an image:

I was interested to read [in last week’s Recorder] about Vision running the leisure activities for Redbridge. Mentioned was control over 24 allotments, 12 libraries, 10 parks etc. passing to Vision. The statistic missing was swimming pool – ONE!
At the end of this month the two pools at Seven Kings have been closed for three years. Yet we are not aware that there are any plans for their replacement, which is exactly the same position we were in at their closure. At that time there was a great outcry, meetings, a march and a 5,000 signature petition leaving our Council in no doubt that a new pool should be built as soon as possible.
The Council was reminded that Redbridge is the worst London borough for swimming facilities and [based on a per-head of our population] we should have four pools not one. But what is more frustrating is to be told that there is ‘no money available’ both now and in the foreseeable future when requesting a replacement pool. Does our Council not care?
As a consequence the drive has gone out of our campaign – no one likes to keep bashing their head against a brick wall especially when the brick wall is not sympathetic to the request.
It seems that this particular Olympic legacy is not coming to Redbridge. All we can ask is that both Redbridge Council and residents do not give up on finding a way to replace our pool.

John Sharrock. Chairman Redbridge Swimmers

click on image to enlarge

The past and future of Barnardo's, Barkingside

Last night about 50 people made their way down the winding road through the former Barnardo's Girls' Village off Tanners Lane, to the Barnardo's Past and Future event in the church hall (some, it emerged, did a clever thing and came through reception).

After some words from the Chair, B21's own Derek Wills began the evening with a chronological review of the development of the Barnardo's Girls' Village in what was then rural Essex, and how it grew into a site with three greens, schools for dress-making and cookery, and cottage after cottage housing small groups of girls and their house parents.

click on image to enlarge

We found out from Derek that the clock tower, iconic building of Barnardo's, used to take somebody an hour to get in, climb to the top, wind the clock, and climb out again - twice a week. The church's organ, which arrived in 1935, was built locally in Leyton. Around that time, a swimming pool was also built - filling that diverted so much mains water that the local residents had to be warned in advance. In the 1960s, the local authority took over control of the childrens' homes, and in a move away from institutional living, sold a lot of the site. The most alluring cottage name, if I heard correctly, was Dr Truffle - like many of the others, that's now Tesco. The artesian well which used to supply the site is now sealed with many tonnes of concrete.

So what about the future? After a break for tea and coffee and a look at some site plans, Barnardo's Director of Property and Facilities Management Tony Cripps presented plans for the site's new headquarters and residential development. He reported that the five storey 60s concrete headquarters hadn't been built to last and will be demolished, replaced with a new two-wing three storey build in a shallow V-shape. This will contain open plan office space (at least a few of us would question whether open plan is contemporary as such - whether or not it's a good idea depends on the kind of work being done).

click on image to enlarge

The headquarters will be constructed to the BREEAM Very Good standard (BREEAM is an environmental assessment method for the built environment; Very Good is the standard required for all government buildings). What this means is that there is high efficiency of energy and resource use, minimal greenhouse gas emissions and toxins, and occupants have maximum control over their working life including access and aspects of their environment such as noise, light and temperature. I wasn't blown away by the outward appearance of the new building, but it seems like a very positive prospect for those who work there - and since over half of Barnardo's employees come from a 5 mile radius, this is a good local development in many ways.

The new headquarters will be funded entirely from the residential development. This will be on the site of the demolished Mossford school, and will contain mixed apartments and family houses, constructed using the bricks and roof tiles reserved from the demolished cottages. The buildings of the conservation area (round the last remaining green on the bend of Tanner's Lane) will be renovated and sold as private residences.

There were some questions about affordability - I don't get the impression that these houses will be affordable in the sense that they'd be available to those buyers who aren't able to stump up the money to buy on the inflated open market. However, we did learn from Tony Cripps that there will be some modestly sized properties - which will (of course) cost less than the family homes - and that Barnardo's had rejected proposals to build luxury homes. Barnardo's also decided against commercial proposals to build at high density, in favour of more spacious homes with larger gardens. Not sure what to make of this. At any rate, if the gardens remain gardens rather than being concreted over by their owners, the local wildlife will have a chance to benefit.

I appreciate Barnardo's cashflow needs to fund its new headquarters so its residential development decision is understandable. That said, it's often been observed that even an affordable private home is only affordable once. I hope there will at some stage be genuinely affordable social housing in Barkingside and we can begin to move away from this current model of private ownership with all its exclusions. As things stand, you can see here the dilemma of a charity whose very reason for existing is to prevent societal exclusion, but at the same time is obliged to participate in a system which embodies that exclusion. Redbridge currently has 13,696 families on the local authority's housing waiting list. At current letting rates this will take over 32 years to clear. Barkingside will continue to fare poorly on social housing for some time to come.

There was a somewhat longer conversation about the welfare of the older trees. Barnardo's intends to build around the trees and to only sacrifice some of the old orchard and one particular large tree which is diseased.
Additions: two more points of interest I omitted from the original post. The first is that a condition of planning permission, I understand, is that Barnardo's make make the green a public space. The second is that Barnardo's don't seem to be boasting about the environmental credentials of the homes in the same way they are about the headquarters.

The Forgotten High Street

John Sharrock and Alan Howe with the Feasibility Study Report in September 2009

At last Tuesday’s Redbridge Cabinet meeting our Chairman spoke on Barkingside Town Centre Regeneration, or rather the lack of it. Here’s the relevant paragraph in the Cabinet report, item 20 page 31.

1.8 Area 3 Committee requested a contribution of £100,000 towards projects in the Barkingside Town Centre Improvement Plan, in particular the proposed parking and streetscene improvements in and around Virginia Gardens. Details of the vision for the town centre are still only outline and it is not possible to carry out any assessment on the likely benefits. The Virginia Gardens scheme might well be beneficial but the total cost could only be part funded from the Claybury Section 106. Unfortunately there is no certainty that the balance of funding would become available within the timescale stipulated in the Section106 agreement and consequently there is a risk it could be lost if it was committed at this early stage with no supporting funding in place. It may therefore be better to use the Section 106 money on simpler projects which can be delivered more quickly to achieve the expenditure deadlines set out in the agreement.

So, having spent some £75,000 on a Feasibility Study in 2009 they have not yet had the time to follow it up and secure the necessary funding to support the Section 106 monies. That’s called priorities and Barkingside High Street does not fall into that category despite being described as “badly in need of a face lift” at a Cabinet meeting back in 2007 by, I think, the Deputy Leader at the time.

Well, there was a report in the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian published this morning at 11:46 but it appears to have been pulled. I wonder why? Note: It's back again and slightly different. Extract:

The ten items listed for improvement in the plan include improving the Fulwell Cross roundabout, creating community focal points in the side streets and removing the defunct outdoor paddling pool in Virginia Gardens and the brick wall behing Fulwell Cross Leisure Centre, in High Street, to create a place for people to socialise.

Mr Sharrock said: “That one (Virginia Gardens) seemed to stand out, it’s something that would really tie the community together. It’s an eyesore at the moment but could be a great place for locals to use. The community’s quite divided here so this would really help solve that.”

The plan said about the project, estimated to cost over £100,000: “This is a popular scheme and consultations/ negotiations associated with the demolition of the leisure centre’s paddling pool should be advanced as soon as possible.”

Cuckoo Hall

An 18th Century house in a walled garden stood on the East side of Aldborough Road North, occupied in 1777 by a Captain Williams. This was probably the Old Clock House, demolished in the early 19th Century except for the red-brick garden walls and a former gazebo. (Source: British History Online – the Borough of Ilford)



Photos:

1. This photograph is dated circa 1950 and was scanned from a booklet published by the Dick Turpin at around that time.
2. The same elevation in 2010.
3. The rear of the gazebo and wall after the ivy and some undergrowth had been cleared – August 2011.
4. The roof seen from inside the building – August 2011. The first floor and ceiling to the ground floor has disappeared and two doorways boarded up.
5. The front elevation and wall – seen through the undergrowth – August 2011.

Today the gazebo and wall stand within the grounds of the Dick Turpin – leased to Miller and Carter by the London Borough of Redbridge. Both the gazebo and the wall are Locally Listed. Following presentations in 2011, Miller and Carter and the Borough agreed to carry out essential repairs to maintain the building for any possible future use, but there is no public access at the present time.

Ron Jeffries

The Cowboys are Coming

This week’s Redbridge License applications included one from Ilford BID to place a trailer on the pedestrian precinct in Ilford Town Centre on 29th September 2011 from 10am - 4pm on behalf of BBC Switchover Help Scheme. The trailer will be manned by 2/3 staff giving face to face advice to the public about the switchover and inform them of what help is available.

So, I thought it would an opportune time to re-post the piece below from Knowsie which first appeared on Redbridge Eye.

ASO? Analogue Switch Off, part of the DSO - Digital Switch Over - process which happens in Redbridge next year.

As the ASO/DSO process has moved from area to area around the country, there is evidence to suggest that vast sums of money are being extorted from those most vulnerable - many, but by no means all, elderly - with the veiled threat that they will lose all TV reception if they do not do so.

This example of the kind of thing we can expect comes from Bill Wright, a long established aerial installer 'oop north' and acknowledged expert in the field:

In Yorkshire we have DSO in few months, so all the old people have had a fat and important looking envelope through the letter-box telling them about the help scheme. Although the thing is not worded to cause alarm, it is causing confusion and already the reports of outrageous rip-offs by aerial firms are coming in.

Snip. To see details click here.

The government's attitude has always been that rip-offs are 'collateral damage' and are unavoidable. Could you all spread the word about this, warning any vulnerable people you know? It isn't just the elderly; the adult mentally handicapped living independently are also targets.

See http://www.paras.org.uk/

Bill

There is a government help scheme for those aged over 75 but the government's own web site isn't exactly helpful with what must be the smallest print of any web page on the internet!

A 16 page leaflet from Help the Aged, now Age UK, who have recently released an 11 page updated version may still confuse many, who will become prime targets for anybody offering what appears to be an easy way out - at a (substantial) cost.

Nobody in this area who has reasonable reception of the analogue channels but has, so far, resisted the idea of upgrading to digital, should need to spend more than about £20 for a digital set top box and, despite what they might hear, There - Is - No - Such - Thing - As - A - Digital - Aerial, so they won't need one!

If you know any neighbours, friends or relatives who you think might fall into the vulnerable category, now might be the time to broach the subject - before the cowboys start rounding them up!

A Free First for Redbridge

Congratulations to Aldborough Free School which opened on 1st September and became the first free school in London. Redbridge has a massive shortage of school places and so any new places, particularly in the south of the borough, are to be welcomed. We wish them every success in the future.

However, we should not forget that in order to open this new school in the Downshall Centre many voluntary and community groups were evicted with little or no consultation. The 50+ protesters and the 1700+ signature petition only succeeded obtaining some small concessions from Redbridge Council.

So is Redbridge in the vangaurd of a transformation in how schools will be run and will the current government manage to take all schools out of any local authority control?

Well lets hope not because it seems that in the name of choice local people and community groups are marginalised in the decision making process about free schools. These decisions are now taken centrally by the Secretary of State who cannot possibly be as well connected to the local community. As we have seen with the Downshall Centre negotiations and discussions happen mostly behind closed doors and are only subject to public scrutiny once the decision has effectively been made anyway.

Also we are beginning to see that the real plan behind free schools is not to provide choice to groups of motivated parents and teachers. According to the Observer today Gove and Cameron were hoping to boost the numbers of free schools by allowing them to be run by profit making companies. Not quite the vision we were sold of small parent/teachers groups with freedom from control and licence to experiment. Further evidence that this is the real plan can be seen here at the Adam Smith Institute who have produced a report which amongst other things argues free schools won't really make a difference unless they are allowed to be profit making.

We will now be relying on Nick Clegg to stop this happening so fingers crossed!

A couple of topical updates if you want further reading,

First FactCheck (the Channel 4 independent fact checking blog) reports on whether the first free schools are really reaching the most disadvantaged.

And secondly some thoughts on what free schools are for from the Centre for Market and Public Organisation at the University of Bristol.

Drinking Fountains

Does anybody know if they still have drinking fountains in school playgrounds, or have they fallen foul of the Health & Safety Regulations?

I ask because there is this new campaign to improve the public’s access to free drinking water – the Find-a-Fountian project. Except it isn’t quite like that from what I can see. It is a place for restuarants, pubs and cafes to publicise themselves as providing free tap water, but I doubt they would do so if you just walked in off the street and asked them to fill your bottle without actually purchasing anything else. I may be wrong of course, perhaps I might try it next time I’m up in town. They say:

The maps on the website also include data provided by tapwater.org, a not-for-profit organisation that shows the location of indoor taps where you can refill your water bottle for free. This currently includes over 1000 restaurants, pubs, cafes and shops across the UK.

However, it does highlight the problem of bottled drinking water. Not the water but the bottles. They are plastic and disposable – they don’t get re-used. A typical local authority will dispose of 10 million of these plastic bottles a year and (are you paying attention Sven?) at a significant cost to us taxpayers. It’s not just the ones that get recycled, it is also those that end up in our rivers, in our parks and on our beaches.

Which leads me to something I don’t normally do – product endorsement. The campaign is supported by Aquatina who make collapsable pocket water bottles. I want one! They are “Made in England” which is not something you hear a lot these days unless it’s a “mess”.

They also hope that this campaign will lead to a second phase which will facilitate the installation of new drinking water fountains around the country and the restoration of old fountains which have fallen into disrepair.

Bin the Bureaucracy – Free our Councils

Local Works is pushing a proposal made under the Sustainable Communities Act that will give parish and town councils new powers to better assess major planning applications.

Currently they have great difficulty doing this, often having to try to assess thousands of pages of technical documentation.

An astonishing 1,100 parish and town councils have given their support to this proposal, that originated in Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council in Suffolk, which currently faces an application for a large Tesco. This has impressed and put pressure on the government: we are now in talks with senior Whitehall civil servants.

What seemed like a ‘long shot’ now looks to have a real chance of success.

On Monday next week MPs will return to Parliament. It would be great if you could contact them before then asking them to write to the relevant Minister asking him to agree the proposal.

Note: You can find your MP's contact at Find your MP and Greg Clark’s address is Greg Clark MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

Further information and background

The full proposal can be viewed here: http://www.localworks.org/node/135

We have had an amazing number of responses from many local councils where they have described the boxes of documents they receive when having to consider large planning applications - the problem is clearly happening all over the country.

I emphasise that the proposal enables and empowers councils if they wish, they are not required to do anything. It would help councillors when making recommendations on large planning applications.

Steve Shaw
National Co-ordinator of Local Works

Elsewhere on local planning:

Councils 'to have final say' on greenfield sites under planning proposals; Planning minister Greg Clark says local communities are the best judges of what is important in their area - The Guardian

But:

Ministers have launched an unprecedented attack on two of Britain's leading environmental charities for opposing the Government's planned shake-up of the planning system – The Telegraph

And as Tescos has been mentioned above:

The genteel Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate is about to yield its status as the last postcode in Britain not to host a Tesco supermarket – The Independent

And from Newsthump: Destroying the High Street is our job, Tesco warn rioters!

And there's more:

Localism agenda at stake as battlelines are drawn over planning reform; The government appears shocked and in disarray over the reaction to the draft national planning policy framework - The Guardian

The Coalition’s controversial planning changes could lead to more than 1,000 extra “major developments” being approved every year, Whitehall documents suggest - The Telegraph

In place of the strict curbs on building in rural areas enshrined in the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act – curbs that have helped preserve the matchless beauty of rural Britain – there will be a new “presumption in favour of sustainable development” - The Telegraph

Aldborough Road Works – Access to King George Hospital

I’m probably jumping the gun here, as BT, Sky and Transco have not got involved yet…..YET!

Ron Jeffries Reports:

Back in July Essex and Suffolk Water announced that they will be renewing the water mains in Oaks Lane and all the roads which the Lane bounds - Leyswood, Mendip, Brendon, etc. Work would commence on 1st September.
No problem you may well believe - and you would be dead right but for the fact that in August London Underground informed us that they will be renewing the embankment on the Central Line between Chase Lane and Barkingside Station, East Side, starting on 15th August. Entry to the embankment would be made through Aldborough Hatch Farm, starting where Oaks Lane and Chase Lane converge. Again, no problem, but for the fact that there would be six lorries a day bringing rubble onto the site and six lorries returning empty - and these lorries would trundle down Oaks Lane where the water mains are erupting. Both jobs would run for a few weeks and even months!

To cut a long story short - and it is a long story, involving Cllr Vanessa Cole and me trying to rouse not only Essex and Suffolk Water, but London Underground and Redbridge Council as well. At first we were assured that they had told Redbridge Council, but it soon became crystal clear that whilst some bits of Redbridge Council might well have been told about all this, other parts had not - and no-one had thought to tell the other bit nor the other part. So Environmental Health and Highways knew some of this, other lads and lasses in their centrally heated offices knew nowt, honest Govenor!

Vanessa and I suggested that a meeting on the ground might be a good thing and thus it was that just before eleven on 18th August Vanessa and I met with seven men dressed in yellow jackets from Essex and Suffolk Water, although why they needed to send seven was never explained, nor did we dare ask the question.

Shortly afterwards Solomon from Redbridge Council arrived, but there was no sign of the Man from the London Underground (MFTLU). He eventually turned up 30 minutes late having been delayed on the London Underground. With that we walked up Aldborough Road North and into Oaks Lane. The MFTLU admitted that this was the first time he had been in the area, for he did all his planning from maps and Google Earth. As we approached the junction with Roy Gardens, we came upon a yellow sign put there by Essex and Suffolk telling us that they were starting on the water mains on 1st September.

I will not bore you with the discussions which followed, except to say that they involved pavements and lorries, diggers and pipes, plant and machinery in the roadway, and such like. Suffice to say that the Project Man from S & E and his opposite number from LU swaped mobile numbers and have agreed to liaise very closely over the next few weeks to make sure that when lorries are rumbling along Oaks Lane, there are no water mains erupting.

The MFTLU agreed that there must have been some funny business going on with delivery of letters advising residents as the homes in Oaks Lane nearest Chase Lane (and the most involved in all this!) had not received a letter. Barbara (who walks the area with her little white dog) came out to confront the MFTLU and gave him a few bits of her mind in such a polite and gentle way that the MFTLU almost burst into tears on the spot. The first Barbara (and her little white dog) knew about this was last Monday morning when men started laying a roadway into the field opposite where she lives.

And so we all shook hands and wished each other well as we went about our lawful business once more.

And so another day ends here in Aldborough Hatch. Except……..

We then learn that Transport for London want to close off the A12 Eastbound for two nights in September - diverting traffic to Forest Road where we have the infamous low bridge at Fairlop Station. Thankfully Cllr Vanessa Cole sorted that one out and the diversion is now to the south.

And there’s more ……..

Today 1st September, Irene Kirby, Secretary of the Ilford East Scouts received this. I do not know where the first page eminated from - presumably the Gas Company. But you will see that they only talk about the 296 and the 396 - not the 66.

I am now trying to find out if anyone at the London Borough of Redbridge knows about this? And if so, are they aware that in addition to having the 296 up ARN, we also have lorries with gravel? And is anyone going to tell us about all this? I assume that bus stops for the 296, 396 and 66 going East will not be operating between ARN and Barley Lane. And folk - especially the elderly - need to be told.

Those with appointments at King George Hospital may also wish to note that between 26th September to 6th November:

Traffic will be banned from turning left or right from the Eastern Avenue into either Hainault Road or Barley Lane. Hainault Road will be reduced to one lane, between Billet Road and Eastern Avenue, which will operate one way only in the southbound direction. Traffic will be allowed to turn left or right from Hainault Road onto the Eastern Avenue but will not be able to cross into Barley Lane.
Barley Lane will be reduced to one lane, between Chadwell Heath Lane and Eastern Avenue, which will operate one way only in the northbound direction. Traffic will be allowed to turn left or right from Barley Lane onto the Eastern Avenue but will not be able to cross into Hainault Road. There will be no left turn from Chadwell Heath Lane into Barley Lane.

Parking – The Council Listens…..

….Sometimes!

Here’s the Full Press Release.

So, having spent our Council Tax money introducing a 12 hour per day, 7 days a week parking regime in Barkingside High Street earlier this year, our Council are now going to spend even more of our money reversing that scheme and going back to what it was before. Provided, that is, the new proposals are agreed at Cabinet next week on 6th September.

The introduction of Pay and Display in a number of small and isolated shopping parades will also not go ahead due to negative feedback from the public consultations – what did anyone expect?

However, there are some areas where the proposals have been welcomed, and presumably these will be implemented.

The above of course is a legal U-Turn so the Cabinet Member will not be receiving a Penalty Charge Notice but she may have to adjust her budgets…..