LBWF spin

LBWF’s ‘traffic calming’ measures again in the dock: an expert paramedic argues they worsen ambulance response times and so may increase fatalities in health emergencies

May 18, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

In a previous guest post (see links, below), a local resident examined the ‘traffic calming’ measures which LBWF is installing across the borough, and pointed out that they have a severe impact of those living nearby, producing amongst other things noise pollution and household damage. What follows casts light on another aspect of the problem, the way that the measures slow London Ambulance Servic... »

A local resident writes in about LBWF ‘traffic calming measures’ that do the opposite! UPDATED

April 27, 2023 LBWF spin, Mini Holland

The post that follows, contributed by a local resident, describes how badly thought-out traffic calming schemes in Waltham Forest are producing damaging consequences. It is a valuable case study in itself, but doubly welcome because it further substantiates two of this blog’s long-standing observations – that LBWF’s traffic calming/ active travel initiatives are often subject to spin, with t... »

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 Resea... »

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 risin... »

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

December 27, 2022 Freedom of Information Act, LBWF spin

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

December 15, 2022 LBWF spin

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…

December 13, 2022 LBWF spin

(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... »

How Cann Hall councillors communicate with residents…

November 7, 2022 LBWF spin

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’

September 15, 2022 Housing, LBWF spin

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’?

August 4, 2022 Housing, LBWF spin

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... »

Page 4 of 7«‹23456›»