September 2022

With this month’s Wanstead Fringe offering three separate theatre productions, Fiona Gordon explains why Wanstead should be proud to be turning ‘luvvie’

Wanstead has come over all ‘luvvie’ of late. We first smelt the greasepaint and heard the roar of the crowd back in April with the launch of Wanstead’s very own professional theatre company, and now not one, not two, but three theatre productions will be coming to Wanstead this month as part of the annual Wanstead Fringe.

There is something for everyone. Black comedy, drama, farce, tragedy – all waiting to capture an audience in a venue on or just off the High Street. What a delight to have quality theatre on our doorstep! What makes it even more delightful is that all three theatre companies have their roots in our village.

Wanstead resident, Marissa Landy, brings her self-penned show fresh from the (slightly) cooler climes of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A Non-Emergency is a contemporary comedy based on Marissa’s real-life experiences of working in the ambulance service. Upstairs at The Bull, join a couple of crewmates and the patients they meet on a day at work. It should have you in stitches of the right kind! 

Born and bred Wanstead stalwart, Jon Fentiman, known by all for his epic comedy nights, both at the Fringe and throughout the year, brings his directional debut to his old comprehensive school, Wanstead High. DNA by Dennis Kelly is a modern-day black comedy with a dark heart. Centred around a group of adolescents, this explosive play calls into question society’s response to cruelty, bullying, peer pressure and pack mentality. Are these behaviours societal and learned or are they inherent in us all?

And finally, after a sell-out debut of Bazaar & Rummage in April, Wanstead Theatre Co are back with their second show. TWO by Jim Cartwright (The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Road) is a tale of love, laughs and loss in your friendly local. Come meet the landlady and the landlord of this busy boozer and let them introduce you to the regulars. The production is, once again, site-specific. Set in a pub, and so, performed in The Bull.

It is a testament to our Wanstead community that so many local theatre practitioners want to be part of the ninth Wanstead Fringe. Yes, we are an arty lot who love to be entertained, but we also love to get involved. From the support of businesses, schools and churches willingly providing venues or financial support or creating window displays, to individuals offering their time and talents to promote the shows or to residents sourcing or loaning a much-needed prop or set piece, we are shaping up into a proper theatre community. 

Theatre for the community with the help of the community – now that is something worth seeing!

For more information and to book tickets for all Wanstead Fringe events, visit wansteadfringe.org

A presenter from BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World will be the guest speaker at this month’s meeting of the Aldersbrook Horticultural Society.

“We are pleased to welcome garden designer, writer and presenter Arit Anderson to give the first talk in our new season of events. Arit has a wealth of gardening knowledge and will be giving a presentation about growing greener,” said a spokesperson. The event will take place at Aldersbrook Bowls Club on 13 September from 7pm (visitors: £5).

Visit wnstd.com/ahs

Eastside Community Heritage is seeking feedback as it works to make its social history archives available online.

“We are digitising our Hidden Histories archive so everyone will be able to access our amazing oral histories, photographs and memorabilia wherever they are. Please complete our two-minute survey to help us include what is important to you and your community,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/echqs

Redbridge Council has announced £180,000 of funding for the autumn 2022 round of its Community Crowdfunding programme.

Groups can receive up to £10,000 from the fund to support their community projects.

“Alongside our partners Spacehive, the council will provide you with support to develop your initial idea, right the way through to launching your project,” said a spokesperson.

Visit wnstd.com/cc22

With a planning application for the development of Evergreen Field expected to be submitted this autumn, Geoff Horsnell of the Wanstead Society provides a potted history of this patch of land, which has lain unused since 1944. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

For those who don’t know, the Evergreen Field is that square patch of fenced-off land on Wanstead High Street beside Christ Church Green. The site has not been inhabited since 1944, when two homes which stood there were bombed and then demolished in 1967.

Some 25 years ago, the field was owned by the Metropolitan Police and was intended to serve as the location of a new Wanstead Police Station to replace the smaller, iconic Spratt Hall Road building. Unfortunately, before any plans could be drawn up, a new directive was issued by the Met which said any undeveloped land owned by the Met must be sold, so the site was put up for auction.

A group of local Wanstead residents clubbed together to crowdfund a bid to purchase the site. They were unsuccessful. However, not all the sponsors wanted their money back and the residents were left with approximately £10,000. It was decided to give half the money to a local charity and then, in May 1997, the remainder was used to form the Wanstead Society. 

A committee was formed and their first task was to try to look after the site that had eluded their bid. When the successful developer submitted a planning application, the Wanstead Society lodged an objection. Redbridge Council agreed the proposal was not in keeping with the area and refused the application. The developer took the matter to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol on appeal. After a site visit, the inspector dismissed the appeal (the planning inspector decided the view of the spire and the east end of Christ Church – a Grade II* listed building – from the High Street was of paramount importance). At this point, Redbridge Council issued a CR1 protection order for the site, declaring it to be an “important open urban space” that should not be developed.

In 2012, a local businessman purchased the site saying he could overturn the protection order. He met with the Wanstead Society saying he would ‘donate’ half the site to public use if the Society would lobby the council to have the protection order lifted. We responded by saying we would get our solicitors to meet with his and agree the terms of the transfer. This was not what he wanted. He would retain ownership of the entire plot. The society was not prepared to spend money maintaining a plot they did not own and which could therefore be reclaimed at any moment, so the ‘deal’ fell through.

A couple of months ago, some 10 years after that meeting in 2012, a very similar proposal emerged from Caerus Developments, this time being put to local residents with a quasi consultation. The plans now are for a four-storey building containing 24 homes (nine one-bed, 11 two-bed and four three-bed apartments) and a ground-floor nursery, again with half the site being ‘donated to the community’.

There is insufficient detail in the glossy brochure that has been issued which, frankly, raises more questions than answers. For example, we need to know exactly what is meant by the word ‘donate’ used in the brochure to whet the appetite of some land for public use. Who will own the ‘donated’ land? Presumably, it should be Redbridge – especially if it is an adjunct to Christ Church Green. Has the council been approached to determine the viability of this proposal? Who will pay to make the land safe for public use? Who will maintain the land over time?

These are just some of the questions raised by this proposal and a recent meeting with the developers did little to enlighten us. Without all the answers, the consultation is meaningless. So, just as we did in 1997 and 2012, we’ll be watching this space very closely indeed.

For more information on the Wanstead Society, visit wnstd.com/ws

To view the Evergreen Field development proposals, visit wnstd.com/field

Residents are invited to join a climate picnic on Christ Church Green this month.

“Bring a picnic and a blanket, and show your support for climate action while finding out more about what you can do to help. Organised by The School of Simple Swaps in partnership with Wanstead Climate Action, the event will include talks by Wanstead Community Gardeners, Redbridge Cycling Campaign and the organisers of the Urban Orchard,” said a spokesperson.

The picnic will start at 1pm on 11 September.

Visit wnstd.com/picnic22

The popular Wanstead Fringe jumble trail will return this month.

“This is a great opportunity to clear out your wardrobe and free up some space in the toy cupboard – assuming you dare to open it! It also provides a great excuse to get out there and meet the neighbours, steal ideas for your garden and just have a general wander around the area. Who knows who you might meet or what you might find?” said a spokesperson.

The event runs from 11am to 2pm on 17 September (£5 per house with goods to sell).

Visit wnstd.com/jt22

Redbridge Council has ringfenced £830,000 of funding to support a package of flood defence measures across the borough over the next few years.

“The money will be used to introduce flood alleviation schemes in areas previously seriously affected by flooding, and ensure the borough’s risk management and surface water management plans remain up to date. A range of sustainable drainage systems are also being designed for areas affected by the flash floods in July 2021,” said a spokesperson.

The developers behind plans to build a four-storey block containing a nursery and 24 homes on Wanstead’s Evergreen Field are analysing the feedback from their recent consultation.

“Over 850 residents have visited the website in addition to almost 100 face-to-face interviews. It was a fantastic level of response from residents and interested parties. The feedback given by the community was great, and we are now analysing that information to implement necessary changes to our scheme,” said a spokesperson.

More planes will be flying over Wanstead if London City Airport’s latest proposals for expansion are approved, says John Stewart of campaign group HACAN East

Wanstead will be hit with more London City planes on Saturdays and in the early morning and late evening if the airport’s expansion plans are approved. 

London City Airport wants to:

• Get rid of the current curfew on flights (12.30pm Saturday to 12.30pm Sunday) to allow flying on Saturday afternoons and evenings.
• Double the number of flights permitted between 6.30am and 7am.
• Have ‘more flexibility’ for delayed departures and arrivals in the last half hour of operations each day (10pm to 10.30pm). 

The measures are to accommodate an annual increase in passengers from 6.5m to 9m. It will mean that, by 2031, the airport will be just short of the annual cap on flight numbers of 111,000. That is more than double the flights expected this year and up from the 80,000 that flew in 2019, the last full year before Covid.

The reason behind the proposals is London City’s desire to attract more leisure passengers. For many years, City was seen as a business airport but the proportion of business passengers fell before Covid and, post-Covid, the growth is in leisure.

London City is claiming that ‘quieter, cleaner’ planes will be used. But the aircraft will only be noticeably quieter in areas fairly close to the airport, and only on departure. Wanstead can expect, at best, a two- to three-decibel reduction in noise from each plane, barely perceptible to the human ear.

The proposals will also result in an increase in climate emissions.

The big problem for Wanstead is that since 2016, when London City concentrated its flight paths, the area gets no relief from the noise. On days when the prevailing west wind blows, all departures come over Wanstead, at a height of around 3,000 feet. London City is looking again at its flight paths with a view to alternating them to give communities like Wanstead some relief. The airport is also being urged to work with Heathrow to separate the two airport’s flight paths. At present, City flights over Wanstead are lower than they need be as they are held down by Heathrow flights above them.

I welcome those moves, but the new flight paths are unlikely to be in place before 2027, three years after City’s current growth proposals would come into operation.

The current consultation is open until 9 September. Whatever plans London City takes forward will need to be submitted to Newham Council, the planning authority.

To take part in the London City Airport consultation, visit wnstd.com/lca22

Redbridge Council has trialled the use of eco-friendly road asphalt in South Woodford and Wanstead.

“Containing 15% recycled content, the new asphalt mix is produced at a lower temperature leading to reduced emissions during the manufacturing process and less virgin material used, leaving behind a lower carbon footprint,” said a spokesperson.

The road resurfacing programme – delivered in partnership with Kenson Highways – included Ashbourne Avenue, Cadogan Gardens, Charnwood Drive and Colvin Gardens.