Last month’s public meeting on the future of Christ Church Green was overwhelmingly positive, says organiser Colin Cronin, with residents now invited to join a new Friends of Christ Church Green group
Christ Church Green has long been Wanstead’s ‘village green’. It is a place where many of us will have fond memories of family and community events, or just strolling under the canopy of its trees on the way to the High Street.
With this in mind, residents met with Councillor Paul Donovan and Deputy Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Kam Rai, at Christ Church last month to discuss many aspects of the Green and what we can do to work more effectively together in the future. Such meetings always produce a range of equal but opposite opinions and whilst this meeting was no different, there was an overwhelmingly positive tone during the two hours we spent together, and it clarified a number of points, including:
- The new café kiosk will not have its own alcohol licence, so will only be able to serve alcohol at separately licensed, limited events, such as the Wanstead Festival.
- The kiosk itself will be a sustainable venture with a green roof and in-operation foodstuffs will be locally sourced, with avoidance of single-use plastics.
- There will be a new team operating across Redbridge green spaces to address anti-social behaviour and it will include Christ Church Green in its scope.
- There will be an enhanced capacity for litter collection on Christ Church Green.
- There will also be refurbishment of the toilet block on the Green.
Most importantly of all was the excellent suggestion to form a Friends of Christ Church Green, a non-political residents group that would work collaboratively with Redbridge Council and Vision RCL to ensure all voices in the community are heard and that residents are getting the most out of our village green. Councillor Donovan, along with fellow residents, was very supportive of the idea, stating that: “We hope the new Friends group will provide a constructive forum for engagement. Moving forward, let’s hope this point marks the start of a new collaborative, empowering relationship involving all stakeholders in the community concerned with the future of our much-loved Christ Church Green.”
It is indeed a fantastic idea in a community that has never shied away from making its opinions known or its voices heard, and over the coming weeks, we will begin taking the first steps to forming this important group. Wanstead residents will always be united by wanting what is best for our community and I remain convinced it will be the same case in supporting our efforts to work together for the betterment of Christ Church Green.
For more information on the Friends of Christ Church Green and to get involved, email friendsofccgreen@gmail.com
