Ashley Gunstock is the Green Party candidate standing for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency at this month’s General Election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 12 December The Green Party will be standing to promote solutions to the important matters of the day and through the eye of the climate emergency storm. There may be doubters, deniers and downright liars who challenge the science that says we are, at the very least, causing the quickening of our own extinction. Yet, we will address all issues from an integrated environmental perspective, as follows. Education: would be comprehensive in the truest sense of the word (no division of intakes on the grounds of religion, race, gender, disability or social status). University fees would be greatly reduced and Ofsted scrapped. Pupils, alongside the core subjects, will be taught an eco-curriculum, to encourage them to respect...

Dr Noshaba Khiljee is the Conservative Party candidate standing for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency at this month’s General Election. Here’s why she thinks she deserves your vote on 12 December My name is Dr Noshaba Khiljee and I am the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency. I was raised in Walthamstow and have many friends and family in the Leyton and Wanstead area. I understand there are a number of issues that voters in Leyton and Wanstead are concerned about. Ending the uncertainty over Brexit More than three years after the referendum result, the country needs to be able to move on. A Conservative majority government will implement the new deal negotiated with the EU, and we can then fully focus on our agenda for improving people’s lives. Improving the NHS I am a practising NHS hospital consultant and am...

Zulf Jannaty is the Brexit Party candidate standing for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency at this month’s General Election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 12 December At this momentous time in British history, we should all ask ourselves a fundamental question: why is our country in such political and social turmoil, with a huge gulf between us the citizens and those meant to represent us? Well, I think we all know the answer: the politics and established parties of yesterday are no longer fit to serve us today or into the future. This has become obvious to all of us over the past three years. To change politics for good, we need to rebuild our nation’s democratic foundations so that Parliament serves us all, whatever our backgrounds and lifestyles and across all generations. To do this, we must first see the largest...

Ben Sims is the Liberal Democrat candidate standing for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency at this month’s General Election. Here’s why he thinks he deserves your vote on 12 December Our politics is broken. The Conservative Party has abandoned any claim to economic competence for an ever-harder Brexit. The Labour Party spend their time squabbling rather than opposing a Brexit that would do untold damage to our communities. Both are stuck in the past, failing time and again to deliver a better future. Re-electing a Brexit-backing, Corbyn-supporting Labour MP means more of the same. Thankfully, things are changing. In May, the Liberal Democrats won the European Elections in London. We have an ambitious plan for the future of our country, where every person, every community and our planet can thrive. We can stop Brexit and use the £50 billion Remain bonus to rebuild our country....

The organiser of Wanstead’s Remembrance commemorations – which once again saw large crowds gather at the war memorial earlier this month – has insisted the tradition will continue. “There have been suggestions that it should no longer happen, that after 100 years society should ‘move on’… Each to their own view, but I believe our history teaches us a valuable lesson and so I personally pledge to you all that so long as I’m alive, Wanstead will always have its Remembrance commemoration,” said Colin Cronin....

Rising at Molehill Green in Essex, the River Roding passes through the Wanstead and Woodford area en route to the Thames, bringing with it a very real flood risk to local homes. In the sixth of a series of articles charting the River Roding Project – which aims to reduce that risk – Laura Hepworth from the Environment Agency reflects on the project’s recent community events. River image by Anna MacLaughlin Since our last article, the River Roding Project Outline Business Case has been approved, which means we are now working to produce detailed designs. We are aiming to apply for planning permission by spring 2020. We have also submitted a bid for funding to the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, and should hear if we are through to the next stage early next year. During October, we were busy hosting local events, which took place on Ilford...

In the 19th of a series of articles, David Bird discusses the work of Redbridge Music Society and introduces us to local jazz pianist Keith Nichols, who will be performing at Wanstead Library in early December One of the aims of Redbridge Music Society is to bring high-standard live musical events of all styles and genres to local venues at affordable prices, performed within a social and genial atmosphere. On 3 December, Keith Nichols will provide a programme of festive music performed in his own inimitable way at the Churchill Room in Wanstead Library. Keith is considered to be a foremost authority on classic jazz and ragtime and is a widely respected exponent of the Harlem Stride style of jazz piano playing – a style developed in the large cities of the American East Coast during the 1920s and 1930s. He also specialises in all...

At next month’s meeting of the Wanstead Historical Society, Mark Gorman and Peter Williams will explain how Wanstead Flats was used as a venue to spread political and religious messages Take a fascinating journey through the history of the flats showing how this semi-regulated space became the base for the free expression of ideas, whether religious or political, at the end of the 19th century. Some notable local characters from Leytonstone stand out. Bushwood, it turns out, was our local Speakers’ Corner. The talk will also discuss how the conservators, the City of London Corporation, sought to exercise control and some of the court cases that ensued. Political and religious groups have long seen Wanstead Flats as a natural meeting place, as ‘public property’ for the use of the people. However, since the passing of the Epping Forest Act in 1878, the City of London, as ‘conservators’...

In the first of a series of articles, local photographer Geoff Wilkinson discusses his new exhibition – entitled ‘Quick! Before it goes’ – depicting London’s East End, an area which resonates with many residents here. Growing up in London’s East End was a fascinating experience for a young boy. In the 1950s, bomb damage from the war was still very much evident. Living mostly in Stratford, I remember the area just to the right of the old Angel Lane street market which had been completely flattened. No houses or buildings remained; it was just a playground or used for parking vans and cars, such as there were. Perhaps it is the memories of this loss of buildings and architecture that has made me so determined to photograph what is left of the old East End. When I opened my Whitechapel exhibition last year at the gallery,...

At this time of year, many homeowners will be in their gardens pruning back hedges and trees. Just be sure you don’t chop off more than you can handle, says Ruhul Ameen, a partner at local solicitors Wiseman Lee If you are planning to do more than a little light pruning and are considering more major changes in your garden, it’s worth making sure you are aware of your legal rights first – particularly if it affects neighbouring properties. In one case, a Dorset homeowner was prosecuted for cutting down 11 trees on his property. He had not realised they were subject to a Tree Preservation Order. This meant he needed to apply to his local authority for permission before either pruning or removing the trees. One of the consequences of removing the trees was that it increased the light and garden space of the...

Christine Clark will be talking about her experiences of volunteering at Redbridge Foodbank at an East London Soroptimists event this month I volunteer at Redbridge Foodbank, one of the 1200 Trussell Trust foodbanks in UK. We provide a food and hygiene parcel for clients, designed to last around three days. The intention is to tide them over until their situation has improved. Most of the people who come to the foodbank are in financial difficulties due to low income or benefit changes or delays. However, we also have people who are sleeping rough on the streets, or who are having difficulties due to bereavement, health issues, redundancy, or who are asylum seekers.  Last year Redbridge foodbank gave out over 6000 food and hygiene parcels, an increase of almost 2000 on the previous year. The role I play at the foodbank is to meet and greet...

In the 18th of a series of articles charting the Wild Wanstead project, green roof expert Chris Bridgman explains how to turn your extension roof into a wildlife-friendly garden in the sky Living green roofs can be installed on most flat or gently inclining roofs. For an average residential extension, the green roof system is just loose laid directly on top of the roofing material as an extra layer. This can be done when building a new extension or retrofitted onto an existing roof. The green roof system is made up of three main components: A root barrier that stops the roots of the plants getting through and damaging your waterproof layer (most new roofing felts are already root-proof so this may not be needed). A drainage layer, which stores water but also lets any rain seeping through the vegetation run off the roof and into...