Posts

Walthamstow resident and community activist Charlie Edwards dismantles LBWF’s claim that it ‘consulted’ before installing 500 new bike hangers

March 17, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

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 often showed that the underpinning evidence was surprisingly weak, as case studies of, first, a consultation about bike hangers in South Leytonstone, and, second, the King’s College Environmental Research Group analysis of local air quality vividly illustrated (see links, below). Regrettably, a more recent development suggests that this unhealthy approach to due process, perhaps also the truth, remains alive and kicking. In early December 2022, LBWF issued a press release which announced: ‘People... »

,

LBWF councillors: what do they do, and is it value for money? An update.

March 7, 2023 LBWF, Local government reform

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, attend (and in some cases chair) council meetings; read and digest the associated minutes and papers; promote the interests of those who live in their wards, or at least make sure they are not left behind; and help any residents in need of assistance. A post published in February 2020 looked at how this arrangement was going, and the following is an update. To start with, what do councillors receive in terms of remuneration? Remuneration All councillors receive a basic allowance, and on top of that ... »

,

LBWF’s fiefdom: ‘borough of culture’ or borough of dysentery?

February 16, 2023 Cllr. Clyde Loakes, food hygiene, LBWF spin

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, individual creative businesses’, a vibrant night-time economy, and an exciting and diverse ‘cultural offer’, in short, a honeypot for what one of LBWF’s more influential consultants calls ‘the rising prosperity’ demographic. Yet the amusing thing is how often reality intrudes, how often the glittering images collide with the tawdry realities. In 2021, the Evening Standard reported that ‘Waltham Forest tops the list as London’s least hygienic borough for food’. And now an interactive ... »

,

Hate crime in Waltham Forest: setting aside the scary rhetoric, is it as bad as LBWF claims?

February 13, 2023 Policing/crime

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, Islamophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and transgender hate crime.  As a response, and leading on from a specially convened Citizen’s Assembly, it has put in place various high-profile awareness, intervention, and training programmes, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. With the Town Hall’s example before it, the local police force has followed suit, employing a dedicated hate crime officer; offering ‘an anonymous email inbox…for those experiencing hate crime’; mounting patrols at ‘... »

Looking back at the past, an occasional series. Part three: Private Eye reports on LBWF’s feeble attempts to curb Islamist extremism

February 7, 2023 Prevent

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 council CEO, chaired the pan London Prevent Board…from 2012 to late 2018’. »

Page 17 of 90«‹1516171819›»