I’ve been contacted consistently since I was elected twelve years ago about problems occurring on Wanstead Flats, the large green area which sits just to the North of Forest Gate North ward. Indeed, I live right next to it, so this special green space is very familiar to me, and I see first hand how important it is to so many local residents, for football, parties, dog walking, youth groups, exercise, or simply getting out and enjoying some green and some peace.

Wanstead Flats is formally part of Epping Forest, and is managed by the Corporation of London, and this border can sometimes lead to some issues – for example the issue of whose job it is to pick up litter or to collect fly tipped rubbish on the verges of the flats right by the road. Generally this works out, but I have personally had the odd fly tipping report rejected incorrectly, and have pursued some reports by residents where they have flagged up fly tipping only to be told that they’ve reported it to the wrong place.

More recently, Matthew Carlile and I received a long email and attached report detailing several concerns raised by Capel Road residents, on various issues including fly tipping, litter, sex work, drug related activity, and vehicle misuse. One of the issues residents were really concerned about was how the division of responsibilities between the Corporation and Newham, or between local government and the police, was leading to what they perceived as isolated action without a co-ordinated approach to the whole area and some real improvements being realised.

We were therefore delighted to hear back that a piece of joint work was being planned right along this area, bringing together the police, Corporation of London staff as well as the Council’s Enforcement officers.

As per the instagram caption above, there are two more ASB surgeries planned on the Flats:
– Wednesday the 5th August 11 – 3pm
– Thursday the 6th August 2 – 7pm

I will update this post to give more information about exactly where the gazebo will be on these dates as soon as I have it.

If you have information or experiences to contribute, or questions to ask, and you can’t get to either of these last two sessions, do feel free to drop me and Matthew an email and we’ll happily pass this information on to colleagues.

I had an interesting chat with officers today about different topics including how closely they work with the local police. They told me that the Corporation of London has already installed two CCTV cameras along Capel Road, and one of these captured a fly tip which is being pursued just over the last weekend. These cameras are helpful but limited in what they can capture, so Newham is also looking to install a camera, and hoping to use information from residents to determine where would be the best place for that to go.

An officer was doing a weapons sweep in the undergrowth whilst I was there, and residents who were walking on the Flats or who lived nearby stopped to share their experiences too.

As always, more information to come!