(image supplied by Woox, and used with thanks) A resident writes: ‘Of course, Leytonstone councillors are always on Twitter and so on….. But what about people who haven’t got mobile phones or computers? I checked the 2021 State of the Borough Report and it’s got these interesting figures: That noticeboard is on a corner right in the centre of Leytonstone. Hundreds pass it e... »
In the autumn of 2021, complaints were made to the Charity Commission about two Waltham Forest Muslim charities, the Miftahul Jannah Academy and the Masjid-E-Umer Trust (which runs Walthamstow Central Mosque). At the centre of the complaints was ‘Islamic scholar’ Muhammad Patel, who had taught young people at both charities from 2008 onwards, with live recordings of his weekly lectures then b... »
From issue 1586, 18/11/22-01/12/22. »
Local Democracy Reporter Josh Mellor yesterday posted a story on the asbestos scandal under the amusing headline ‘Council investigating itself over former town hall asbestos’, here: https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/council-investigating-itself-over-former-town-hall-asbestos#article What follows is a complementary commentary, looking initially at how my own concerns have developed, before turning to... »
A resident writes: ‘We opened a community café and foodbank near that notice board, and wanted to put one of our A4 posters on display in it. We found out that – inexplicably – a local shopkeeper held the key, went to see her, and gave her a poster. She promised to put it up straightaway. Nothing happened. So we went to see her again. This time, she said she’d been busy, but promised to act.... »
From issue 1583, 7-20/10/22. »
(Reproduced by kind permission of Woox) »
The LBWF e-mail pasted below is largely self-explanatory. However, the back story is less certain. Are LBWF officers really ignorant of the Freedom of Information Act’s Section 41? Or was this an attempt to pull the wool – to brandish apparent expertise, and bank on it not being cross-checked? Whatever the case, those involved emerge with little credit. In the recent past, because of I... »
As might be predicted, knowing the revelations of the past, the more that emerges about LBWF’s recent attempts to deal with dangerous asbestos in the Town Hall, the dodgier the local authority looks. Consider the following. On 13 January 2020, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) informed LBWF that a complaint had been made about construction work in the Town Hall basement, which it summarised th... »
Michelle Edwards is a respected local journalist who in the past campaigned on transparency and accountability, while at the same time writing a regular column for the Waltham Forest Echo about what it was like to live through her estate’s regeneration. More recently, Ms. Edwards has started writing a Twitter feed – https://twitter.com/NewBuildHell – about her move into a new... »