As our damp squib of a summer gives way to autumn, TASK has been very much back in action and here is our monthly round-up of some of what's been happening where we are.
Cleaning-up the area
Even before the school holidays were over, TASK were out and about on the streets, running a High Road tidy-up- where supporters, the local safer neighbourhood police team and councillors quite literally collected and bagged rubbish on a saturday morning using pick-up kit loaned by the council cleansing team. In just over an hour, over 9 bags were overflowing with all kinds of waste, clearly demonstrating that a 24/7 location like Seven Kings needs constant vigilance to keep things barely ticking over. We will be making a funding bid to Council Area 5 committee so we can buy some pickers and do the pick-up regularly across our patch. Thanks to all of the volunteers and hope to see even more of you next time
A week later, we hosted our regular walkabout with council officials, monitoring the state of our streetscape in terms of things like uncollected rubbish, ilegal dumping, signing and graffiti. Our sense is that whilst people tell us things are much better than a year ago, improvements are fragile and we need to maintain constant pressure so there is no slippage. Helpfully, and for the first time, we were joined by licensing team members on the walkabout, picking up on our concerns about late opening and proper licensing for the vast number of takeouts. We are also concerned that still more takeout franchises continue to open, despite the over concentration of such outlets locally. We will continue to oppose all inappropriate developments, although it sometimes feels that we are fighting a David and Goliath battle.
Much more positively, Seven Kings station has been given a major makeover, having been selected as one of just two stations on the whole Liverpool Street line to benefit from special attention. On the 13 September, rail operator national express sent a number of their senior officers and executives to do some hard practical graft,supported by a small army of workers. As a result, we now have a shiny, clean, newly painted and freshly gardened station that harks back to the glory days of the 1960s, when Seven Kings apparently held the award of best -dressed station. Congratulations to all concerned, and most especially TASK's own Ali Hai, who has kept up the pressure, and the excellent Sailesh Satyani, from national express, who has led from the front.
Seven Kings library
There's no doubting that this is the big news story that just refuses to go away. It has received strong local newspaper coverage and regional interest from BBC London, whose online news carries detailed coverage
To recap, TASK have been campaigning for a new library in Seven Kings on the basis that
1) the old one on the corner of Kingswood Road should never have been closed and flogged off
2) a new library is consistently identified as the key local service need by residents- quite simply, almost everone wants one!
3) we are the only part of Redbridge that does not have access to a static library within one mile distance
4) shockingly, in a cruel double whammy, we also get a less comprehensive mobile library service than other areas with static libraries
5) a number of local locations are available, most notably the High Road car/ lorry park development, whose planning brief talked about having a strong community component and would kick- start a desparately needed wider regeneration of the neighbourhood
Having recently opened a new library in Clayhall at record speed, despite having no local campaigning for one, and attracting limited custom, the Council Cabinet- made up of the most powerful councillors- maintain that the existing service is acceptable and that Seven Kings can expect nothing more. All of which rather confirms our view that as far as the Cabinet are concerned we are second class citizens who can go sing.
If that is their view, they have misread the mood. TASK will not back off, and is currently promoting a petition to get a library back at the centre of Seven Kings. This will go to full Council as a sign of how much support we have. Copies are available in almost every High Road shop or at the local stations and we urge you to sign yourself, and to encourage friends, neighbours and family to do likewise. Our goal is for an ambitious 1000 names.
We are confident that we can win this campaign, but need your support. And your signature. As news breaks, we will provide you with regular e-updates so watch this space.
Meads Lane post office
Closed as part of the national drive to reduce post office numbers, the former Meads Lane PO is now running solely as a school unifomers, depriving postmaster David Shah of an income, local residents of a truly exceptional community service provider and other Meads Lane traders of a valuable business magnet. We urge all TASK supporters who are parents to make use of their local school uniform shop and will be pressing the council on developing it for alternative uses, heartened by news just in from Essex County Council, which has boldly re/opened one closed PO as a Council supported post office cum local service point. The evidence is now there that it can be done . Hopefully Redbridge will follow this best practice example and copy its neighbouring authority.
Facebook
Over the last few years, online social networking site Facebook has attained legendary status and we are pleased to say, TASK are now using it too. We have just signed oursleves up and have a growing presence, which allows us to share news, event details, photos and local discussions much faster than traditional newsletters or email. Over half our supporters have email addressess so do please dip into Facebook, search for Take Action for Seven Kings and hopefully sign up as a friend. We are the fastest growing community group in Redbridge and think this new option will add to the speed and depth of our campaign work . The good news is that you don't have to be an IT wizard to sign up and it literally takes just a few seconds.
Area 5 Festival
Local councillors are looking to run a festival in the Goodmayes, Chadwell Heath and Seven Kings areas during summer 2009 and we have been invited to offer our thoughts as part of a planning group. The first meeting is at 4pm on Monday October 23 at the United Free Church on Norfolk Road and we are looking for someone able to attend and represent us. All offers of help pleas to Chris Connelley at chrisconnelley@ntlworld.com
That's enough for now. More next month- including dates of our autumn TASK supporters get togethers. Now please pass this on to a friend, relative or neighbour who lives locally and might be interested in supporting us. Word of mouth and direct recommendation are our best recruiters and the more support we have, the more we can achieve as its harder for powerful people to ignore us.
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Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards.
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