LBWF spin

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

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 Resea... »

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

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 pro... »

Waltham Forest council is the sixth most complained about in all of England

Over recent years, LBWF has incessantly boasted about its achievements, all the while stressing that it prioritises ‘listening’, and is on the side of residents, or as one past Leader was fond of saying, ‘our people’. But now the truth is out. For a survey by claims.co.uk, which uses official data for 2016-22, reveals that LBWF is the sixth most complained about council, not just in London, but in... »

LBWF in Private Eye yet again, this time over dodging key questions about whether it consulted the emergency services prior to implementing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

A further story highlighting what happens when a resident questions LBWF about an unarguably important local issue, receives an absurd response, but persists. And, making matters a whole lot worse, Mr. Edwards tells this blog that though on 5 November he wrote to LBWF asking it to explain his treatment, no answer has been forthcoming. Isn’t there anybody in the Town Hall who realises that all of t... »

How Leytonstone councillors communicate with residents…

(image supplied by Woof, 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... »

How Cann Hall councillors communicate with residents…

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.... »

Michelle Edwards launches a Twitter feed about her experiences in one of LBWF’s new low-rise blocks where, as she describes, ‘It has, and continues to be, hell’

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... »

Why is LBWF so poor at delivering ‘affordable housing’, particularly genuinely ‘affordable housing’?

A previous post (see links below) examined LBWF’s recent performance over ‘affordable housing’ (AH). It noted that though the word ‘affordable’ is vague and often used confusingly, what’s referred to as AH in fact encompasses housing let at four different rent levels, two, called Social Rent and London Affordable Rent, specifically designed so as to be genuinely in reach of the less... »

LBWF housing scandal: just 5 per cent of the new homes built in Waltham Forest since 2012 were classified as ‘genuinely affordable’…and this from a Labour council!

As this blog consistently has argued, for some years now LBWF has overlooked its responsibilities to those with least means. Further evidence of this regrettable trend is revealed by examining how LBWF has performed when measured against its oft repeated promise to ensure, using its planning powers, that 50 per cent of the new homes which developers and construction companies complete each year in... »

The Housing Ombudsman Service berates LBWF for its error-strewn response to a resident’s routine request for information

Hardly a week goes by without someone from the Town Hall popping up to insist that, in everything LBWF does, it is ‘resident focused’. However, as previous posts have suggested, whether such a boast can be sustained remains debateable. In this context, a recent complaint that a LBWF tenant lodged with the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) is significant. The tenant had wanted to confirm that her ten... »

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