A survey carried out by the Liberal Democrat Focus Team found that the majority of the residents of Belmont Park Road and William Street were in favour of a residents Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ). 

The survey was passed to the Council who have promised the Focus Team that they will be carrying out a consultation with residents by the end of the year with the view, if agreed by residents, to implement a CPZ

A Welcome Motion

A motion requesting the Mayor of London to review the decision by Newham Council to support a 50% increase in flights at London City Airport was unanimously supported by a cross party majority at the GLA. The motion raised concerns that flight path changes across many East London Boroughs would worsen the quality of lives of 100,ooo’s of residents, many of which already suffer considerably as a result of aircraft noise and air pollution.

Liberal Democrats Parliamentary candidate for leyton and Wanstead, Cllr Farooq Qureshi has welcomed the success of the motion in GLA.

Cllr Qureshi said: We have been working with FTF to oppose the expansion of London City Airport and its detrimental impacts on the residents of the neighbouring Boroughs. We hope that the Mayor of London will put pressure on City Airport and Newham Council to review the expansion and the changes in flight path.

FORA has been awarded a £5000 grant such that Leytonstone School’s Computers may be used on a Saturday morning by local residents. Tuition will be supplied through the School and will be of the user-friendly kind whereby individuals will be able to work at their own pace learning how to access the internet, send emails and generally use a computer for all those activities which save money and enable individuals to communicate and follow their interests. No previous experience or knowledge is required and the format will be of the walk-in type for the duration of three school terms. The only qualification is that of living in Forest Ward.      

Litter bins are placed in our ward to keep it clean,                                  

They are there for us to put our hand rubbish in as we walk past

Rather then having to hold it all the way home.

So why do the streets of Forest ward end up like this,

This is not walking by hand rubbish, this is disgusting.

Our ward does not have to look like this these bins have not been placed to attract all sorts of house hold rubbish, due to several complaints we may lose these litter bins spotted around our ward so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be more considerate.

You may remember back in September Cllr Qureshi and my self approached the council for Bakers Arms to become a dispersal zone for anti social behavior.

A dispersal order will provide the police with additional powers to disperse groups of two or more people where the officer has reasonable grounds for believing that their presence or behaviour has resulted, or is likely to result, in a member of the public from being harassed, intimidated, alarmed or distressed. Once asked to disperse it will be a criminal offence for that person to return to the dispersal area for a 24-hour period.

If a young person under the age of sixteen is stopped in the area after 9pm and is not accompanied by an adult the police can escort them to their home address, if they are either:                

• At risk or vulnerable from anti-social behaviour, crime etc
• Causing, or at risk of causing, anti-social behaviour

Well a dispersal order has been put in place and commenced from 12noon on 23 November 2009 and will end at 11.59am on 22 May 2010 after which the council will review this again.

Lib Dems working hard for the community!!!!!!

Following guidance from the Health Protection Agency, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust has remained closed from most activity to enable the norovirus to clear, but will now begin the process of reopening parts of the hospital.

The A&E department reopened to ambulances on Friday 30 January 2010 and 10 wards are now back working normally.

The Maternity, Paediatrics and the Outpatients departments continue to operate as usual, as does the Emergency and Urgent Care Centre.

Elective surgery, where patients would require an in-patient stay after a procedure, remains closed at this stage.  

There continues to be no visitor access to any of the wards at Whipps Cross due to heightened infection control precautions and these will remain until further notice.

For the Maternity Department only, one birth partner will be permitted onto a ward during this time – no children will be allowed.

For Children’s services only one parent per child will be allowed.

Individual patient’s needs can be discussed with the ward Sister, who can grant permission to access in exceptional circumstances.

Security are present at entrances and their role is to question the need for access to the site.

Strict infection control safety measures remain in place and have been taken in closing the shops, restaurant and Jobs Junctions to the general public.                        

Norovirus is a common winter ailment, which can be highly contagious and causes symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.

   LIB DEM CLLR BOB BELAM’S HARD WORK PAYS DIVIDENDS

Waltham Forest council launched a plastic bag amnesty scheme at the “Energy Fair” at Walthamstow town square.

The Cabinet member for environment, Cllr Bob Belam has been working on this scheme for two years. This is partly a result of the successful Liberal Democrat’s climate change motion to full council in December 2007.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidates, Cllr Farooq Qureshi (Leyton & Wanstead) and Farid Ahmed (Walthamstow) were amongst Lib Dem councillors and activists, who attended the Energy Fair.

Members of Lib Dem Focus teams from across the Borough have congratulated Cllr Bob Belam on his hard work and commitment to tackle the climate change issues.

WELL DONE BOB 

While local labour group are claiming to support a reduction in carbon emissions, their Government is sailing in opposite direction.

Last Wednesday, Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes MP secured a debate in the Parliament on climate change. The purpose of the debate was to call on the Government to sign up to 10-10 campaign and commit to a 10% reduction in carbon emissions by the end of 2010.

AND GUESS WHAT?                           

The Government defeated the motion by 297  to 226 votes.

Harry Cohan MP voted against the motion.

Neil Gerrard MP voted for it.

SO MUCH FOR LABOUR SUPPORTING THE CLIMATE CHANGE

Leyton and Wanstead Parliamentary candidate, Cllr Farooq Qureshi presented a motion to the full council against the increase in aircraft noise pollution over Leyton and Wanstead, which was accepted unanimously.

After the proposed amendments, the contents of the motion are:

This Council recognises residents concerns over the expansion of London City and Heathrow Airports, and believes that the increased number of flights using these airports and the associated noise nuisance and environmental impact is detrimental to Waltham Forest residents. This council welcomes steps already taken by the Leader of the council requesting:

• That the officers respond to the current BAA Heathrow consultation programme Noise Action Plan.
• The Noise Level Assessment Team investigate whether any residents are entitled to the London City Airport(LCA) sound insulation grant scheme.
• That Waltham Forest Council be able to join the LCA consultation committee which at the moment is only open to Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich and Tower Hamlets.
• An all party working group be set up so that all parties can come together to tackle this issue.

 Therefore this council requests that the Chief Executive:

Carries out an immediate investigation into the consultation process undertaken in respect of the expansion of London City airport and the flight path changes by the Civil Aviation Authority, the London Borough of Newham or any other party. This investigation will include consideration of:

• Whether or not Waltham Forest council was consulted and if it was, what response was provided by Waltham Forest council and, if no response was provided, why not.

Upon the completion of this investigation, this council requests that the Chief Executive takes appropriate action which should include:

• Writing to the Mayor of Newham, condemning the decision to allow further expansion of London City airport and stressing the negative impact this decision has had on residents of Waltham forest.
• Writing to Mayor of London, condemning plans for a new four runway airport in the Thames Estuary and asking why he supported the expansion of London City airport and what consideration was given to the detrimental impact of the expansion on residents of Waltham forest.
• Writing to the Civil Aviation Authority and NATS to ask what action they took to consult residents of Waltham Faorest on the changes to flight paths and London City expansion.
• Seeking an investigation by the EU commissioner into the expansion of London City Airport and the impact it has had on residents of Waltham Forest and East London.
• Considering the merits of legal action in relation to the expansion of LCA and/or flight path changes.
• Signing up to the 10:10 campaign which aims to tackle climate change by cutting carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. 

This council requests that the Chief Executive reports his findings back to councillors at the earliest opportunity.”

Cllr F Qureshi said: We accepted the Labour amendments because we welcome the cross party consensus on this very important issue. We need to unite and fight against this attack on the environment and the quality of life of our residents.