March 2021

To mark International Women’s Day, Wanstead resident Councillor Judith Garfield MBE talks about some of the problems she has faced as a woman in politics

I have had my fair share of prejudice, stereotyping and aggression, all because I am a woman in politics. Whilst many may expect that to be par for the course that goes with the territory, I am concerned about younger women continuing to face the same barriers in public life. That is why I am supporting #ChoosetoChallenge – enabling women worldwide to challenge gender bias and inequality. 

As a single mum with a five-year-old son, I struggled with finding and funding childcare whilst I attended council meetings. There was no creche, a nominal allowance that was difficult to access and no maternity leave. On one occasion when I pointed this out to the leadership of the council where I served, I was told, ‘make a choice, be a mother or a councillor, you can’t have both’. To think that was just 21 years ago is shocking. Today I am proud to serve on a council that has done more than any other in London to encourage women into leadership positions and to reduce the gender pay gap.

On another occasion, my interest in planning issues was curtailed and I was told that my skillset was better suited to Sure Start and working with children. The failure to understand that I had more to contribute than just my motherhood was both short sighted and meant that areas like planning became even more male-dominated. I am glad to say things have changed, but we still have a lot more to do.

Today our challenge is to make sure that meetings are rid of toxic aggression, that women representatives get to speak as much as men, that our voices are heard, and our advice and experience is valued.

Feminist values offer a new style of leadership – a leadership that is collaborative, compassionate and caring. I am proud to see more of my male councillor colleagues also starting to embrace these traits. Women in public life have come a long way from the days when we were not allowed to vote, but we must continue to challenge discrimination and marginalisation where it occurs – which is my whole reasoning for being in politics!

Happy International Women’s Day, and regardless of your gender, please #ChoosetoChallenge.

Permitted development rights in place since 1 September 2020 allow homeowners to extend upwards without planning permission. But it’s not without obstacles, says Derek Inkpin from solicitors Wiseman Lee

As ever in life, the devil is in the detail, and specialist advice is required if you plan to extend your home upwards. One big no-no is if you have a house built before 1948 (and therefore much of the local area), this relaxation will not apply to you and planning permission will still be needed.

Under the new rules, and subject to height restrictions and pitch of roof, if your house is built after 1948 you can extend your home up to two storeys to contain new flats on top of the existing structure. Extensions on existing extensions are not possible under the new rules and your property will not qualify if you live in a conservation area.

Despite government encouragement to build flats and communal buildings in urban areas on top of existing buildings, the law nevertheless steps in to ensure certain measures are followed. Thus, if you are a freehold owner of a block of flats, you could be up against a number of issues, including:

• The rights of existing tenants under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, with the right of first refusal to the proposed development.
• Breach of a landlord’s obligation to provide quiet enjoyment to the existing leaseholders, who may take legal action if the development is without their consent.
• Party wall matters.
• Overage when selling a building which has a potential for roof space development could result in a substantial payment to the seller if the development proceeds.
• Issues with collective enfranchisement (the right to collectively seek the acquisition of the freehold and the right to manage), which is protected in law.
• Insurance and health and safety issues.
• Service charge issues.
• Dealing with existing telecom masts.
• Dealing with who owns the air space. Get this wrong and the leaseholders affected could halt the development.

A good firm of urban architects will be required and a structural engineer to make sure the existing block is strong enough to support the development. And then comes all the legal work involving all the parties affected and their mortgage lenders. All achievable, but strong determination, hard work and a substantial financial outlay will obviously be required if success is to be guaranteed.

Paul Kaufman, Chair of East London Humanists, introduces their March public event on climate change and explains what the Wanstead-based group is up to in the Covid era

Leo Barasi, acclaimed writer and speaker on climate change, will lead a discussion for our Zoom event this month. It takes place exactly a year after a meeting at Wanstead Library featuring Leo had to be cancelled due to Covid. A lot has changed in that year, but addressing human-created climate change remains more urgent than ever.

In his book The Climate Majority, Leo argues that the battle to convince people that climate change needs to be tackled is largely won. The battle now is against the apathy which allows those with power to avoid taking the action necessary. He will examine how this can be overcome and what lessons we can learn from the way governments and people have reacted to the pandemic.

Our group was initially reluctant to hold events on Zoom. We miss the conviviality of meeting in person. On the plus side, Zoom is now familiar to many and enables our reach to extend far beyond Wanstead. For example, our January event featured the editor of The Freethinker speaking from Spain, joined by human rights activist Leo Igwe speaking from Nigeria. We look forward to resuming events which are more sociable, but in the meantime, Zoom helps us thrive.

Our activities involve more than just staging events. Last year, we celebrated Relationships and Sex Education being made compulsory in state schools. This follows 50 years of campaigning by Humanists UK and marks a historic moment in children’s rights. Our group contributes to the working party for the new curriculum in Redbridge. All children have the right to an education that helps keep them healthy, happy and safe, and we will continue to campaign against the ‘opt outs.’

Another campaign concerns Census 2021, which takes place on 21 March. It includes the leading question ‘What is your religion?’ This falsely presumes we all have a religion. It leads many to say they have a religion when they have no religious belief. They simply name the religion in their cultural background. Underestimating how many are not religious results in unfair provision, for example, of non-religious pastoral care in hospitals, prisons and the armed services, and helps perpetuate anachronisms such as compulsory daily acts of Christian worship in schools. We urge those who are not religious to simply tick the ‘no religion’ box.

The last year has seen its fair share of conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccers, intolerance and backward thinking. It remains as important as ever to have groups like ours which promote values based on evidence, reason and kindness.

A Facebook group has been created to help people in Wanstead arrange to meet for local walks.

“This group was set up to help people meet new friends locally whilst adhering to government guidelines concerning the pandemic. At the time of writing, you are allowed to meet one other person outside for exercise, and we will expand our activities when rules allow,” said Wanstead New Friends founder Lee Withall. “You can join the group to suggest a walk and see if anyone is able to accompany you.”

Visit wnstd.com/wnf

Parent-led group Redbridge For Education was established to help support local parents and to address a number of issues, including digital exclusion, says Wanstead resident and co-founder Vicky Taylor

In March last year, when schools closed, they were put in the most unenviable of positions. With guidelines changing multiple times a day and head teachers having to implement these changes, teachers and other school staff did the best they could to keep our children as safe as possible whilst trying not to put themselves in danger. They went above and beyond for our children and our community.

But where teachers and school staff have their unions to protect them and provide advice and support, where could parents turn? Talking to other parents can be useful, while asking already overburdened schools felt a step too far. Once the novelty of being contained with our nearest and dearest had waned, there was a real feeling of uncertainty starting to emerge.

Through my work with other educationalists and unions, I found I was in a similar situation to other parents. We all had the feeling that something needs to be done to help, to make everything easier and okay, but how and what? We discovered as a group that we all had very different situations and very different concerns, but all of them just as valid and all of them needing addressing. That was how Redbridge For Education came together. We wanted to support local parents during this deeply worrying time.

We set up on social media and organised a few public meetings online with the aim of sharing experiences and information and finding out what the biggest issues were that should be addressed. We had a fantastic turnout and excellent speakers and we found there were three core issues. One was the safety of children in school, another was food poverty and the third was digital exclusion. There were, of course, many more, but these were by far the biggest, and they remain a concern now.

Our laptop and devices campaign kick-started when we were contacted by a parent who told us their child’s school had undertaken no online learning due to the large number of children either without a device or access to the internet. We realised that this was the story in many schools locally and nationally and knew it was time to take real action.

Nearly one year on from the first lockdown, over 30,000 children in Redbridge live in poverty and it is estimated that at least 7,000 have had no access to education since March 2020.

Our belief is that every child in the UK has the right of equal access to education. We have a mountain ahead to climb, but our children are our future and we can’t let them down.

Wanstead Climate Action is inviting residents who have a ‘green’ job – or those seeking employment in a green industry – to take part in a new campaign.

“Green New Deal UK want the government to invest in lower carbon sectors, including green infrastructure and socially useful jobs. If you are looking for a position in these areas, or already have a ‘green’ job and want to inspire others to get involved, we would love you to film a short video for our campaign,” said a spokesperson.

Email wansteadclimateaction@gmail.com

In the fourth of a series of articles celebrating the swans that reside on the lakes of Wanstead, Tracey Adebowale-Jones has tragic news from Wanstead Flats. Photo of Snaresbrook’s visiting black swan by Don Taylor

It has been a time of tragedy and excitement. As the cygnets start to develop their full white feathers, it is time for mum and dad to think about their new family ahead – sadly, this means a chasing off of last year’s brood.

Our Perch Pond family in Wanstead Park have managed to shoo off one of their offspring (to Jubilee Pond) but, at the time of writing, the other six are reluctant to leave home. Maybe they know all about lockdown!

On Alexander Lake on Wanstead Flats, we were distraught to find a long-standing mate badly injured from a dog bite. The back of her neck was severely gashed, and because of the complexity of her rescue, the Swan Support team had to come out with their boat in the darkness of night. She was rescued and taken poste haste to the Swan Sanctuary, but her injuries were severe and she died the following day. There has been no insight into the owner of the dog. But this is a crime and we hope they will one day be held to account.  This swan was a long-term partner and the cob was heard calling for her days afterwards.  Please, if you are a dog owner, keep your dog under control.

Then, of course, there is Bruce, the black swan who appeared to have taken advantage of the relaxed rules of lockdown and came to visit some long-distant relatives on Eagle Pond in Snaresbrook. Black swans are native to Australia – hence the imaginative name Bruce – and their habitat requirements are similar to the more common mute swans.

Bruce was also seen on Hollow Ponds and at Walthamstow Wetlands for a few days’ holiday, and prior to that he was at Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays. Quite possibly, he made his way from Regent’s Park. His arrival caused traffic jams and photographers to go wild. At the time of writing, he had left his Eagle Pond residency, but his whereabouts are a closely guarded secret.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to our swan rescuer Louisa Green – who stepped in to cover Gill Walker when she fractured her shoulder – and to all the people who have been amazing in their support of feeding and watching, and to Swan Support. Also to Sandy Hamberger, who is tireless in her support and feeding regime.

The wheelie bin roll-out begins in Wanstead this month. The scheme will keep our streets cleaner and encourage more recycling, says Councillor Jo Blackman, Cabinet Member for Environment and Civic Pride

Some Wanstead residents may already be familiar with Redbridge Council’s new wheelie bins through a pilot of 7,000 households across the borough last year, which included some streets in Wanstead.

The pilot was a success, with results showing that 75% of participants noticed less rubbish spilt around their property on collection day, helping to improve the surrounding environment. Up to 67% of respondents found it easier to use wheelie bins than rubbish sacks. There was also a 13% reduction in household rubbish and an average of 4.2% increase in recycling in some areas.

Wheelie bins are now being rolled out across the borough and Wanstead residents who weren’t part of the pilot can expect their new bins to be delivered in March. All households that receive a kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service will be provided with one new, free, dark-grey 180-litre wheelie bin for the collection of their rubbish. This new bin will replace the current rubbish sack collection and residents should place their rubbish sacks in the new bin. Your rubbish and recycling collection days will remain the same and you can start to use the new bin straight away.

The wheelie bins should keep our streets cleaner by allowing residents to store and contain rubbish securely, helping prevent animals from ripping sacks, reducing split sacks on collection days and, ultimately, reducing littering and clean-up costs. Wheelie bins are also intended to encourage residents to recycle more to maximise space in their bin, and reduce the volume of waste thrown away. To make the service as effective as possible, we want residents to use the bin provided, but we also understand some households may need an alternative size – smaller and larger bins can be requested by completing a form on the council’s website.

Privately owned wheelie bins and dustbins cannot be emptied as part of the new service. Rubbish will only be collected from Redbridge-issued wheelie bins. We want to be fair to all residents, so we want everyone to use the same size container. Also, our collection vehicles may not work properly or safely with other bins. So, we will be providing details of a bin amnesty, giving residents the chance to have privately owned wheelie bins disposed of free of charge. Cylindrical-style dustbins cannot be collected as part of this amnesty. These can be taken to Chigwell Road Recycling and Reuse Centre.

Redbridge currently disposes of around 22m rubbish sacks each year, which costs £18m. We also collect the fifth-highest amount of rubbish in England. Wheelie bins will increase the efficiency of collections, helping to save money that could be spent on other services like schools and social care.