March 2024

Any vehicle bringing waste from a DIY project to the Chigwell Road Reuse and Recycling Centre now requires an appointment.

“This will make it easy for residents to use a new increased allowance of DIY waste while helping to protect the centre from misuse by those who are required to pay to dispose of waste,” said an East London Waste Authority statement. DIY waste includes rubble, kitchen units, structural wood and metal and soil. Bookings can be made between 24 hours and three months in advance.

Visit wnstd.com/diy

The three cows that had been grazing in Wanstead Park since October were removed last month.

“Our wonderful Longhorns have now moved on to pastures new, rejoining the rest of our 180-strong herd in Epping Forest. I know how much joy they brought to visitors whilst also supporting important conservation efforts. They will be back later in the year,” said Benjamin Murphy, Chairman of the Epping Forest and Commons Committee.

Grazing improves biodiversity by removing course vegetation from the acid grassland.

Inspector Chris Russell, who oversees neighbourhood policing for Wanstead Village, Wanstead Park and surrounding wards, explains how the Baroness Casey Review is improving local policing

A warm hello from your new neighbourhood policing inspector for north Redbridge. I recently joined the team in January and am based at Barkingside police station, where I oversee neighbourhood policing for Wanstead Village, Wanstead Park and 10 other surrounding wards.

I joined the Met in 2014 after a period of neighbourhood policing in South Wales, where I am originally from. I then took a leap of faith and moved to the bright lights of London. I initially worked in Barnet for six years on both neighbourhood and response policing. I then joined the Met’s counter-terrorism command, working at Heathrow and London City Airport before gaining promotion to sergeant. After that, I worked as a custody sergeant, later returning to response policing in Hammersmith and Fulham. Most recently, I’ve been working with police forces nationally on how we can improve the vetting of new officers and enhance the checks we do on serving officers to ensure our officers and staff are fit for purpose.

This takes me on to the Baroness Casey Review, which I’m sure most of you have heard of and has probably affected your opinion of us here within the Met. We invited the Baroness into our organisation and asked for a candid review of our culture and standards to identify how we can improve. The Commissioner then introduced the New Met for London plan in response to the review, which is a multifaceted approach to delivering more trust, less crime and high standards. The full report and a summarised version are available on the Met website. The key bit that will impact on the people of Wanstead is the plan to put more resources in to local policing and building the strongest neighbourhood policing ever. Work has already begun on this with the introduction of a dedicated neighbourhood superintendent for the Redbridge borough alone (compared to one for Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham and Havering previously) and three inspectors split across the north and south of Redbridge, along with Ilford town centre.

But what does this mean for you? We aim to prioritise the community’s needs in everything we do. We are listening to you and working with our partners to deliver better policing for London. Every ward will have at least two dedicated ward officers (police constables) and one police community support officer responsible for that area. It also means that, as an inspector, I cover less area and can fully focus on my wards to drive specific improvements. I’m more available to you, the community, and will have a better oversight on what is going on. I specifically requested this role and look forward to making Redbridge, and specifically Wanstead, a safer place to live, work and spend time in for us all.

For more information and to contact local police teams, email:

Wanstead Village SNT: sntji-wanstead-village@met.police.uk

Wanstead Park SNT: sntji-wanstead-park@met.police.uk

South Woodford SNT: sntji-south-woodford@met.police.uk

Churchfields SNT: sntji-churchfields@met.police.uk

The current operator of Aldersbrook Medical Centre handed in their notice last month. Paul Wildish from the patient participation group explains the troubles at the ‘island’ GP practice

Bounded by Bushwood, Wanstead Park, the City of London Cemetery and Wanstead Flats, the Aldersbrook and Lakehouse estates and close neighbours can seem like an urban island in the midst of green countryside. However, ‘islands’ have their problems and because of its setting, Aldersbrook Medical Centre has its fair share of issues. The demographic is changing, with an above-average ageing patient list, with complex medical needs, coupled with incoming younger families needing GP attention.

In the past, patients at Aldersbrook Medical Centre have seen a succession of providers, trying, but always failing, to deliver clinical service that met patient expectations. The money just wasn’t there; one, or even one-and-a-half doctors gave a barely adequate service and never matched the need, forcing providers into penny-pinching or taking out less profit. Naturally, they didn’t stay long.

This was the Aldersbrook Medical Centre norm that the patient participation group came to expect as we brought concerns to practice managers, who promised much but offered little to meet patient expectations. That was until five years ago when the Richmond Road Practice from Hackney took on the Aldersbrook Medical Centre GP contract on a five- plus five-year basis. Their coming was transformative, providing holistic clinical practice and innovative outreach to the community. The patient participation group and the patient community were delighted with the professional quality of the doctors working at Aldersbrook Medical Centre. 

Nothing lasts forever, for then the bombshell dropped. The first five years should have been followed by another five, as Aldersbrook Medical Centre had met all its targets and grown the patients list by 1,700-plus. However, it seems that clinical success doesn’t cut much ice with NHS managers. After demanding and protracted negotiations the Richmond Road team was offered continuation of the Aldersbrook Medical Centre contract only on the basis of a 10% cut to their budget!

Richmond Road felt forced to hand in their notice. The budget wouldn’t allow them to break even. Couple this with NHS managers reneging on promises that they would be offered continuation without competitive retendering, they felt misled and let down.

Well, having experienced best practice, the patients of Aldersbrook Medical Centre are in no mood to let NHS managers force a cheaper GP service upon us without a fight. We called the patients to a public meeting, we’re leafletting the estates and lobbying NHS managers and local politicians to get negotiations reopened. We want to keep our doctors. But if we can’t, we want ‘like for like’ cover and we aren’t going to settle for less.

For more information on the Aldersbrook Medical Centre patient participation group, email ppg.aldersbrookmedicalcentre@nhs.net

Environmental charity Thames21 is making improvements to the River Roding adjacent to Wanstead Park. River Restoration Support Officer Tyler Randall invites you to get your hands dirty (and wet)

Throughout history, rivers have undergone extensive modifications to align with human needs. The River Roding, the third-largest river to traverse London, flowing through Wanstead Park, presents a rewarding area of intervention for Thames21. In this wide and deep stretch, where banks rise to heights exceeding 2m, the river has carved a profound trench in the landscape due to its rapid flow.

Prior to human intervention, the Roding’s shape and the landscape were in constant flux, the lines between river and land far less defined than now. However, to build cities and civilisations, controls were implemented, and certain banks in this Wanstead stretch are concreted, particularly where houses border the river or where erosion tends to occur.

These types of interventions have led to many rivers lacking character, particularly in urban settings: fallen trees are removed to prevent flooding and rivers are straightened in areas to simplify the landscape. Rivers have been dredged and banks raised, separating rivers from their floodplain. All of these actions ultimately remove habitats and make rivers less diverse and more ecologically simple.But nature is inherently messy and thrives on complexity. So, in this section of the Roding, Thames21 is installing large wood debris into the river, otherwise known as deflectors.

This intervention aims to mimic the natural process of trees falling into the river. Ash trees that were suppressed or dying from ‘Ash dieback’ (a fungal disease afflicting many Ash trees across Europe) were felled and cut to the correct size. We then positioned these deflectors in the river and pinned the trees to the bank and riverbed with stakes and wire to stop them from moving.

Deflectors influence the river in many ways: slowing water around the banks and accelerating water in the centre, creating turbulence and complex flow patterns which oxygenate the water, providing food and habitat for invertebrates, fish and bird species, creating varied sediment types which, in turn, promote plant growth and cleaning gravels for fish spawning. It also acts as a place for biofilms and algae to grow, which purify water and reduce the impact of pollution. Prior to our interventions, this complexity was notably absent in this stretch of the Roding. This is a fairly simple intervention, but it can have a profound effect on the biodiversity within a section of the river. Imagine a whole catchment, a whole city.

Volunteers have been playing a crucial role in completing this work. If you are available and eager to contribute to the work Thames21 does, improving the health of London’s rivers with community support, please get in touch.

Volunteer sessions will take place on 4, 7, 12 and 18 March from 10am to 2.30pm. For more information and to take part, visit wnstd.com/restoreroding or email tyler.randall@thames21.org.uk