Features

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

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

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 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

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

The Wren Wildlife Group, London Wildlife Trust and Wild Wanstead have compiled a list of 10 species at risk of local extinction. In the first of a series of articles looking at each species in turn, Tony Madgwick, London Natural History Society Recorder for Bees and Wasps, explains how to help the tawny mining bee

Wanstead teenager Grace Wolstenholme invites you to watch her YouTube channel for an insight into life with cerebral palsy. In the seventh of a series of articles, Grace confronts those who give her a strange look

Wanstead resident Jean Medcalf has published her first poetry book at the age of 89. To Everything There is a Season is a collection of lyrical, spiritual poems about nature. In the fourth of a series of articles, Jean introduces her poem entitled February, which prompts her memories of Nightingale Lane in the 1960s. Background artwork of the old Gravatt’s shop window by Sally Medcalf

Russell Kenny and Paul Hayes have devised a series of self-guided history walks around the Wanstead area, which can be followed on a phone or from a printable map. In the second of a series of articles championing these tours through time, we rediscover Wanstead House

The Party Wall etc Act 1996 provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to building works near neighbouring properties. Adem Esen from local solicitors Wiseman Lee explains

Redbridge Council’s Principal Arboricultural and Horticultural Officer Peter Marshall heads up a team responsible for thousands of trees across the borough. With Wanstead’s felled trees due to be replaced over the next two months, Peter explains the scope of his team’s work. Photo of Christchurch Green by Geoff Wilkinson

In the fourth of a series of articles by Refugee Welcome Wanstead – a community group planning to welcome a Syrian refugee family to the area – Eleanor Taylor reports on the family’s imminent arrival