May 2nd, 2011 by Mark Rusling

A new report by the Campaign to End Child Poverty has shown that child poverty in Walthamstow is nearly double the average in England. 37% of children in Walthamstow live in poverty, against an English average of 21.3% (in the borough as a whole, 35% of children live in poverty).

The previous Labour government created a target of ending child poverty by 2020. The current government has kept that target. The report shows that, from 1998 to 2010, the number of children living in poverty dropped from 4.4 million to 3.5 million. This didn’t happen by chance – it happened because the government wanted it to happen, and created policies like Sure Start centres (now called children’s centres) to help families to raise their children free from the blight of poverty.

However, the independent report makes clear that the Conservative and Liberal Democrat government’s spending cuts are hitting areas with high child poverty the hardest. Areas like Walthamstow that need the most help are being hit with the biggest cuts.

Government funding for children’s centres has dropped by 11%, and Waltham Forest is facing a drop in funding of £80 per person. I recently wrote about the ways in which we are trying to help our poorest young residents – have a read. Our own children’s centre on Church Hill has just been rated by Ofsted as providing a good service with outstanding features, but surely they will be hit hard by the government’s spending cuts?

Conservative and Lib Dem ministers try to convince us that ‘we’re all in this together’, but it doesn’t look that way to us. People living in places like Walthamstow are bearing the heaviest load. We will continue to reform the way the council provides services, to protect residents as far as we can. However, make no mistake – the government’s children’s centre cuts will hit this borough hard.

February 27th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

We have joined forces with the Aubrey Road and Milton Road Residents Associations to fight drivers who ignore speed limits and road signs and put residents’ lives at risk. Drivers often speed down Aubrey Road, Milton Road, Tower Hamlets Road, Browns Road and Byron Road to get between Hoe Street and Forest Road, and to get to Church Hill.

The speed limit on all the roads is 20mph, but that doesn’t stop many drivers. We are contacting residents to warn them of this danger, and to ask them to sign our petition. We’ll then take up this issue with council traffic officers. Below is a press release we will be sending to local newspapers.

Speed Demons
Chairs of two Walthamstow residents associations have joined local councillors to say ‘enough is enough’ to speeding cars. Milton and Aubrey Roads are often used by drivers to cut from the Bell Corner on Forest Road to Hoe Street, and as a dangerous short-cut to Church Hill.

Both have 20 mph limits, as do the surrounding streets – Tower Hamlets, Byron and Browns Roads. However, that doesn’t stop many thoughtless drivers, who often clock up speeds of over 40 mph and ignore one-way signs.

The local councillors, Saima Mahmud, Ahsan Khan and Mark Rusling, are visiting residents to warn them of the dangers of speeding cars and to ask them to sign a petition calling for action.

They said: “We are very concerned that drivers are blatantly ignoring the speed limit. By ignoring the speed limit, they are ignoring the right of residents to be safe in their own streets. We’re going to work with Barry and James to sort this out”.

Barry Coidan, Chair of Milton Road Residents Association said: “These are quiet residential streets with a lot of families and older people living in them. It is totally unacceptable for drivers to put our lives at danger just to shave a few seconds off their journey”.

James Phillips, Chair of Aubrey Road Residents Association, added: “The number of new families with young children has increased on our street and residents are worried that it’s only a matter of time before a child is struck by one of these speeding one-way drivers”.

Residents can contact the councillors through www.workingforhoestreet.org.uk to find out about the campaign.

February 19th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

Last week, Ahsan and I visited residents and staff in Electric House and Kevan Court, on Church Hill. We were made very welcome and will be working on some of the issues that we were told about anti-social behaviour outside the properties and improved facilities. We helped to organise social events for the residents and had a tour around the house.

We will be writing to every resident to let them know what we are doing. Thanks to everyone for their tea, biscuits and chat!

January 12th, 2011 by Mark Rusling

Hoe Street ward is bidding for money under Project Transform, which is working to get Waltham Forest ready for the Olympics. The funding will be used to make the corner of The Drive and Church Hill a more attractive location for residents.

The work will be carried out with volunteers from the area, so let us know if you would like to be involved. When the funding is announced, we hope to be involved with the works ourselves!

February 18th, 2010 by Mark Rusling

Street drinkers in the Church Hill area have been a problem for residents for some time. The cold weather has kept them away recently, but we are working to make sure that the problem doesn’t return with the Spring.

Cllr Saima Mahmud has been liaising with the Hoe Street Safer Neighbourhood Team and the council to obtain ASBOs against the worst offenders. We are also looking into helping those drinkers who are willing to accept assistance with housing and health issues. We’ll use all the carrots and sticks available to us to remove this issue.

Let us know if street drinking is a problem in your area and we will work with you to eradicate it.