March 2025

Redbridge Cycling Campaign will host a family-friendly bike ride from Wanstead Park to the Olympic Park on 16 March.

“The ride will be gently paced and marshalled. It is suitable for all rider abilities and all styles of bicycle. We encourage families with children and novices to join these local rides,” said a spokesperson. Covering 15km, the ride will depart from the park’s tea hut at 2pm and return by 5pm. Visit

wnstd.com/16mar

Whipps Cross Hospital has confirmed it has no objections to the W14 bus passing through hospital grounds and has expressed concern about the service being reduced to once an hour.

TfL changed the route last September, with the bus now stopping a quarter of a mile from the hospital entrance. TfL claimed Whipps didn’t want the W14 to stop in its grounds, but the request was for the route not to terminate there.

Redbridge Council officers will meet hospital managers to discuss the issues ahead of a TfL review of the changes.

The Leader of Redbridge Council has responded to the announcement that the rebuilding of Whipps Cross Hospital will not start until 2032 at the earliest.

“It’s vital that these plans are not left to gather dust. We are committed to working with Waltham Forest and other partners to bring these plans to life as soon as possible. I will also continue dialogue with the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to champion our joint objective of delivering the very best health outcomes for the residents of Redbridge.”

Plans are being made for Wanstead’s VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations.

“Thank you to those who attended the VE Day event planning meeting in February. There were lots of ideas and we were pleased to whittle these down to a rough idea of what we hope will take place on the bank holiday on 5 May, which is as close as we can realistically get to VE Day on 8 May,” said Rev James Gilder.

The events – which will also raise money for the restoration of the war memorial – will include a display of photos of Wanstead at war, a film screening of local residents’ recollections of the war, a talk by a local historian and a tea dance in the afternoon.

“If you have any local wartime photos, or if you are old enough to remember the war and would be willing to be interviewed, please get in touch.”

The next planning meeting will take place at Christ Church on 19 March from 7pm.

Email jbgilder@hotmail.com 

Acting Inspector Reshma Sher celebrates the opening of a new police hub in Woodford, which she says will improve local policing. Photo by Geoff Wilkinson

In partnership with Redbridge Council, a new police hub has opened in Woodford, within the heart of the community in the Orchard Estate, off Broadmead Road. There will be up to 20 officers based there, covering six wards: Bridge, Churchfields, Monkhams, South Woodford, Wanstead Park and Wanstead Village.

The opening of our police hub in Woodford provides Safer Neighbourhood officers with a dedicated base, which means officers will be stationed within walking distance of their wards and able to respond more effectively to issues such as antisocial behaviour, theft and vandalism.

The hub will also help to improve police response times across the west of Redbridge by reducing the current travel time from Ilford and Barkingside, giving officers more time for local patrols and tackling issues.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “We are totally committed to making neighbourhood policing stronger than ever before so we can focus on tackling the crimes that matter most to Londoners. It’s an important step towards the Met’s mission of delivering our strongest-ever neighbourhood policing, which has already seen an additional 500 officers dedicated to working in communities across London, ranging from Superintendents to PCSOs.’’

I hope to provide you with some great results from the hub in the near future, but for now, I would like to share some good news stories from across Redbridge. There has been an almost 13% reduction in the number of offences in the previous 12 months, including fewer reports of violence, drug offences and violence against women and girls.

Some of our recent local operations have seen:

• 65 bags of cannabis and nine wraps of white powder – along with approximately £2,000 – seized when a car was stopped on Goodmayes Lane.
• A man, later found to be wanted for three other burglaries, pursued and arrested after officers noticed an alarm at a commercial premises near Ilford station.
• Officers on routine patrols around Churchfields recovered two machetes and a hunting knife from a building known to be used as a squat.
• Four arrests as part of an operation focused on offenders targeting victims making ATM withdrawals in Ilford town centre.
• Three machetes, a firearm, white powder and brown substance found in a property in Mayfield Ward as part of an intelligence-led operation. A man ran from the property, was located by a dog unit and arrested.
• Three vulnerable women rescued from a brothel by neighbourhood officers in Ilford.
• Two robbery suspects arrested by officers in the Orchard Estate after they stole a victim’s coat and recorded the attack on a phone.

The Woodford Police Hub is located on the Orchard Estate, Broadmead Road. For more information and to contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team, visit wnstd.com/snt

Redbridge Council has published the Principal Inspection Report for Broadmead Road bridge, which has been closed to traffic since July 2023 due to significant structural defects.

“To make these technical reports easier to understand, we have also prepared a progress summary document, which includes an overview of the inspection, hammer tapping and concrete testing findings and details of future works,” said a spokesperson. The council is awaiting further reports to determine the repair options available.

Visit wnstd.com/brb

Work to improve Chestnut Avenue in Wanstead Park has been completed.

“This double avenue of chestnut trees, with an iconic view towards the Temple, is an important feature in the park… By removing lower branches and opening up the northern side of the avenue adjacent to Chalet Wood, we are helping improve the avenue’s health and ensure definition to the park’s heritage features,” said a spokesperson for the City of London Corporation, which manages the park as part of Epping Forest.