Forest Gate North – Rachel Tripp's councillor blog

Rachel and Seyi write…

With all the awful events going on in the world, it’s difficult to remember that the General Election was in fact only a week and a half ago. It was a rollercoaster of an election in so many ways: the shock of it being called at all, the sharply compressed campaigning period, the media scrutiny, and the wonderful rise in the polling of the Labour party.

Seyi and I wanted to write a blog post to say a very heartfelt thank you to our residents for your support. Thank you for re-electing Lyn Brown in such an overwhelming way and returning her as our wonderful MP. Thank you for your constant and much appreciated support for the Labour party. Thank you for bearing with us whilst we have been busy campaigning, we are sorry if any of the work we’ve been doing has slipped at all, and we will get back to it now that the post-election exhaustion has abated.

And most of all thank you to all of you for being so encouraging to all of the local activists during the campaign. Local Labour members were hard at work here in Forest Gate North, across West Ham, and especially in local marginal seats. That includes long standing party members, newer members, people who’ve been involved for years and people who came along for the first time.

The residents we all met shared our dismay at the callous disregard the Tories have for all of us, and were a constant source of positive reassurance. Every person who gave us a quick thumbs up, who smiled at us on a street stall, who told us on their doorstep we could be sure of their vote, or stopped us to express their support, you all helped buoy us up through a tiring time, and we appreciate it more than we can say. We never ever take your support for granted, and will keep on working as hard as we can to make Forest Gate North a better place.

Seyi writes…

Quick live update from our second West Quadrant Community Neighbourhood meeting: Keep Newham London Moving programme has started & these are the roads & lamp posts to be done next.

It’s also been confirmed that all new lamp posts will have non-sticky paint so no more annoying massage stickers!

On 27th @NewhamLondon took someone who fly-tipped on Maryland Sq to court & he was fined a total of £8,841 to pay in full within 6months!

Also, are you interested in designing your ideal home in #ForestGate? @gemma_john is holding a Co-living workshop on Wednesday 24th May.

Rachel writes…

Every year, Osborne Road in Forest is given over for one Saturday in June to a day of festivities. There is food, drink, entertainment, dancing, singing, items for sale, and a general atmosphere of celebration and love for the area and community during our Forest Gate Festival. Last year you might remember that this great event was funded by local people to make it happen, and this year the festival organisers are asking that we do the same.

You can donate to the Forest Gate Festival online here

The Festival is organised and run by a team of volunteers, so every penny you give will go into making the festival as big a success as ever. There are even some rewards you can claim if you give a certain amount of support, from having your name on the ‘heroes wall’, free cake, to having a banner on the stage.

Every penny counts. Please support the Festival, and ask your friends and family to do the same.

Seyi writes…

Inspired by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s use of questions from the public during Prime Minister’s Questions, I asked Forest Gate North residents to submit questions they wanted me to consider asking at the next full council meeting on January 30.

I received a total of seven great council related questions from a diverse range of residents (good mix of female/male names and non-British surnames). Topic questions ranged from litter, cycling, crime and supporting small businesses. Here is the question I selected and asked Councillor David Christie.

What is the future strategy on improving Newham streets for cyclists and to provide better facilities for pedestrians in the residential areas such as Forest Gate so as to encourage a healthier alternative to our increasingly congested roads?

Response from Councillor David Christie:

Newham is currently developing a strategy for increasing the levels of cycling in the borough over then next 10 years. The strategy will cover options aimed at making cycling a normal choice for a wider range of people in Newham by creating a better cycling environment. It will explore assessing existing infrastructure to see where improvements can be made to make cycling safer and more attractive; providing education and cycling proficiency support to children, families and adults; improving access to hiring and maintenance of bicycles; more long term and cheaper cycle hire schemes; solutions to reduce theft of cycles; and promotion and community engagement to spread cycling take up. Any strategy that is developed will need to consider how Newham can work with a range of partners including Transport for London and the highways agency to deliver increased cycling rates as issues such as road and junction safety will require a joint approach.

I then asked a supplementary question:

Some of the roads in the scheme are for 20 mph zone. Will you be extending this into Forest Gate and Stratford?

Response from Councillor Christie:

I think there is a very good augment in some areas. It is a good symbol in wanting to make the roads safer. I will look at the data and explore this in the coming months.

Following my visit to Emmanuel Church on Romford Road on Christmas Day I was stunned at the number of homeless and vulnerable members of Forest Gate and also with the new government grant awarded to Newham  so my question was:

On 28th December I was very pleased to learn that Newham Council has been awarded nearly £400,000 of government funding to provide help for its rough sleepers. Can the Mayor please provide a copy of the strategy to help rough sleepers including a critical evaluation of our current approach and how this new funding government grant will be spent.

Here is Councillor Andrew Baikie the then Mayoral Advisor for Housing’s response:

We are all aware that there are many homeless in London and that the number is increasing.There are many reasons for this, but any of us here today are at risk of losing our job or our health and from there it is only a few short steps away from being street homeless. Nobody should have to spend even one night on the streets, which is why we responded to a DCLG funding round which focused on rough sleeping and we are pleased to have been awarded nearly £400,000 which can be used to give rough sleepers in Newham access to the much needed support they need to move off the streets. While this funding is welcome, there is still much more work to be done in central government to address rising levels of homelessness across Newham. Our bid focused on prevention and early intervention. We know this is the best way to deliver good outcomes for rough sleepers but still mindful of getting value for money for the community as a whole. In particular, our grant will fund:

• A new, joined up assessment hub which will provide a safe and supportive environment in which homeless people can be triaged and a plan developed getting them the help and treatment they need
• Analytical work to help us identify the vulnerable at risk from rough sleeping earlier so that we can intervene before they find themselves on the street.

Wider strategy on rough sleeping

This project will complement Newham’s wider approach to rough sleeping. Sadly many people living on the street have serious mental and physical illnesses and substance dependency. It is therefore vital that we strike the right balance between making sure we intervene early and support residents with complex needs but without neglecting effective enforcement to prevent illegal activity.

Operation Alabama is Newham Council’s award-winning, multi-agency response to rough sleeping. Operations include our substance misuse and enforcement teams, the Police, the UK Border Agency, and Thames Reach –our commissioned outreach service. Operation Alabama provides a holistic, balanced and practical response to rough sleeping.

As our first priority is to meet the immediate needs of vulnerable people who find themselves on the street, this is why Thames Reach provides emergency support to those who need it. This is backed up by referrals to: health, mental health, substance misuse service, and other appropriate services.

With Operation Alabama, Outreach staff and local police worked together to help rough sleepers in Newham off the streets: a total of 145 people were moved safely from the street into hostels and other accommodation, 35 were referred to drug and alcohol services, and 20 supported to return to their home countries.

We also provide access to pan London hostel accommodation provided as part of the Mayor of London’s No Second Night Out initiative and range of other accommodation. During the recent cold weather, we increased patrols, specifically to engage with those very entrenched rough sleepers who have previously refused all offers of support.

 The Council currently funds 163 units of Accommodation Based Services for single homeless people. We can, and do, make a difference. We are all aware of rising homelessness – driven by factors beyond our Control and with an unsympathetic government – so it is especially important to ensure that local government is doing everything possible to help. That is why I have asked council officers to review our current offer to make sure it is suited to the needs of our homeless population, including assisting those with the most severe barriers to living independently. I will update Council on this work in the coming months.

I then asked a supplementary question

I have been out with officers on Operation Alabama. We are doing amazing work, but this has not been translated to residents. Is there anything we can do to publicise the amazing work being done.

Response from Councillor Baikie

There will be a communications programme as it develops. I hope that other members will support it.

On the whole I think #FGQs pilot was a success and I am willing to give it another go. The next Council meeting is in May 18th but this will be an Annual General Meeting if there is provision to ask questions I will trial FGQs again if not the follow Full Council meeting is Monday 10th July (deadline for submitting questions will be Monday 26th June).

There are  a few rules to make this pilot work please read here before submitting a question.

You can also submit a question at my advice surgery, Saturday 1st April, 29th April, Sat 20th May 10:30am, The Gate Library, Woodgrange Road E7.

Seyi shares…

We are looking for a new group of volunteer mums who would like to train as Breastfeeding Peer supporters throughout Newham. 

The training is free, we are looking for a very diverse group – all ages/ethnicities/languages. We would love your help in finding these women. 

I have attached the recruitment flyer with all the details, please could you help us get it out through your local networks.

 This is a fabulous opportunity for local mums to support other mums.

Rachel writes…

I just (this moment) responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on the schools funding formula. Today is the last day for submissions, so I thought I should take a moment to write a blog post about why you should respond too.

Respond to the consultation here.

The consultation is long and detailed which may put some people off (though surely that is not the point? What are you suggesting?!), but when I did my response I only answered the first question where I set out my concerns, saying that despite their socioeconomic disadvantage, Newham pupils now enjoy enormous success after investment in their education, and that risking this by reducing funding now is something I would urge government to reconsider.

I then clicked past all the others and clicked ‘submit’, so it took only a couple of minutes.

There has been plenty about the schools funding consultation in the news, but the top and bottom of it is that most schools, and particularly London schools, stand to lose out substantially if the government’s plan to review how they are funded goes through.

There have been several campaigns against it, of which I think the most interesting and vibrant is schoolsjustwannahavefunds which you can find on twitter, and their website is here. Newham teachers have also published a great set of briefings and information that you can read here.

The most crucial reason to respond now is that there have been some tentative signs that the Tories may be wavering. This could be a great time to respond, and potentially make a difference. If you are, like me, a little weary of surveying all the various ways in which you’d like the world to change, and sometimes pessimistic about our chances of success, this could be a great and targeted use of a small amount of time and energy. We can only live in hope!

Rachel writes…

Make a difference in Upton Lane
Monday 20th March, 5.30pm – 7pm
Pie Republic , 80 Upton Lane, London, E7 9LW

Do you have an idea for a community event or group? Come to our drop-in and find out more about the funding and support available from Newham so you can make it happen. Meet local councillors, meet other interested residents and get the information you need to make a difference to your local area.

For more details, or if you are interested but cannot make this event, please contact:
glennette.bowlesdove@newham.gov.uk
or call 0203 373 8382 or 07817 385000

Now, those who have been reading this blog closely, or those who are as fascinated by ward boundaries as we are, will notice that this is taking place in Forest Gate South, not North. Avid readers will also remember that I am no longer lead councillor for Forest Gate (Forest Gate North and South). This is all true. But whilst I was lead councillor, a drop-in surgery in Upton Lane was one of the things I was planning. And we’d even got a date in the diary, so it seemed churlish to cancel once there had been a reorganisation.

The idea was prompted by several things. Firstly, exactly like our drop-in in Maryland last year, by the idea that the constant availability of Let’s Get the Party Started funding, and Go for It grants is all very well, but it’s also great to get out and talk to people about them, and to focus on a particular area. Also, there was some discussion in a break out session at the Faith Conference last year from participants from Upton Lane that they would like to see some more community events there, and in particular they wondered if there could be an Upton Lane food festival. I thought this was a great idea, but also an ambitious one, and that trying to encourage some smaller community action would be a useful first step.

So here we are. We’ve printed leaflets that have gone out to the surrounding area, but I thought I’d blog about it too. If you live on or around Upton Lane and you are free, please do pop into Pie Republic tomorrow to buy a hot drink, say hello, and chat with me, Mas Patel, and officers about how you could get involved in creating a group or holding an event. Or just pop in to say hi. I hope to see some of you there.

Rachel writes…

For ages now, I’ve been meaning to do some advocacy on behalf of all Forest Gate residents who feel frustrated by the train service. As I mentioned in my ward report, we’ve been hit by various overlapping bits of work and overunning work: temporary stairs, weekend closures,  poor service at rush hour, delays to the ‘Goblin line’ improvements, and delays to the work at Forest Gate too.

Although I appear to be included on every single email update and bulletin list for any kind of train news (for which I try very hard to be grateful), I do still have difficulty sometimes getting straight in my head exactly who is responsible for what: the service from Forest Gate to Liverpool Street, the new Elizabeth Line, the station improvements, the Overground service from Wanstead Park, the electrification works on that line… I rang up one of the people from my email inbox and got some useful contact details but not much more. So it was with no small amount of gratitude that I read an email from Vicky, a local resident who’d taken matters into her own hands one morning, bumped into someone official looking from MTR Crossrail at the station, and arranged a meeting with him to which she invited me along as well. That was last Friday, it was chucking it down with rain, and we quickly decamped to everyone’s favourite mobile office, CoffeE7 for tea and some questions.

The man we met was Julian Dixon, Head of Security and Community Engagement at MTR Crossrail. We had a very helpful discussion and, although I didn’t take notes on everything, I wanted to summarise some of the main points here.

One of the first points that he made was about the increased footfall and use of the trains, how this is leading to overcrowding, and how the new carriages that are being brought in will help with this. The current trains that go from Forest Gate station are apparently 38 years old (a splendid age to be, by the way. In case you were wondering.)  From the end of May they will be bringing in one new train every 2 weeks, which means that very gradually we will see more and more of the new trains on our service. They not only have a bigger capacity, but they also have three sets of doors, which should reduce the amount of time we all spend banging on the windows begging people to move down. Eventually the service will use the new trains, with 9 carriages rather than the current 7, which will almost double the capacity on each train*. With the additional train services on the Elizabeth line, this will make a huge difference to us.

Another improvement with the new 3 door carriages is that currently people often pull the passenger alarm if they are concerned that they can’t get off the train at their station. This has a huge knock-on effect on later trains. The new trains are easier to exit, with much stronger doors, and the alarms can also be reset from the driver’s cab.

We asked about giving people better information, and made the point that station closures often happen very quickly, with no notice, no information about how long the closure is likely to last. It appears that relatively junior staff trying to manage angry crowds of commuters are doing the best they can, but don’t have access to much information. We particularly emphasised that if people know before they leave home, say from twitter, that the service is delayed or getting overcrowded, they might choose a different route into work, perhaps walking to Stratford for example, rather than heading to the station and being frustrated.

We suggested better information for staff, early information on twitter, and a sign or board on the cabin at the station that people could see as they approached it. Some of that was in Julian’s power to influence, and some wasn’t. Transport for London, for example, run the twitter information, and information about how the service is running has to fit into the predefined categories that we all know from the boards at underground stations: ‘good service’, ‘slight delays’ etc. But he is going to take our plea for better information on twitter back to TfL, and especially took on board our points about early information helping people in their journeys, and limiting frustration. He’s also going to speak to colleagues about the idea of a board at the station.

We also talked about improving information for residents generally about the works at the station, how they are coming along, when people can expect key milestones to be finished, and giving more information generally as residents are interested. Vicky made the great point that Forest Gate residents want to be positive about the improvements – we know that Crossrail will bring huge benefits, but it’s hard to feel positive when everything is over-running, weekend closures seem never ending, and the temporary arrangements are so inconvenient.

We talked about information on boards at the station, and also discussed holding an information event at the Gate one evening for any interested residents. Julian was really keen on this, especially on arranging something jointly with TfL, and we left feeling really positive about the prospect of setting up something where residents could bring their questions and queries, and we could all learn more about the work going on, what’s been achieved thus far, and what we can look forward to.

Reading through my notes there were a few other things we touched upon. Since Julian’s responsibility is both community engagement but also security, he told us how many of the station improvements will improve the safety of the line. Sadly where lines are accessible, there is a risk of people getting onto the tracks, either by accident or when they attempt suicide, and over the last 21 months TfL staff have saved 61 lives as part of their suicide prevention work. He also said that crime on the local line is relatively very low, and although there has been an increase nationally in crime on the railways, there has been a 5% drop on our line.

Overall, it was a very useful chat, and I’m particularly hoping that we can make the session at the Gate happen. There is plenty more inconvenience to come on the train, and Seyi and I will keep finding out more, hassling people, and posting more information here and on twitter.

*I will check this, as I wrote down that capacity would be nearly doubled, but Vicky remembers it as ‘50% increased’. Obviously there’s a big difference between it doubling, or going up by 50%, but either way, once we have not only new carriages, but 9 carriage trains, there’ll be much more space.