TASK Newsletter (25)

From Chris Connelley:


It has been a while so here is a rather packed TASK e-news follows. We hope you enjoy it.

Monthly meeting: Tuesday 5 April from 7-8pm at Gizem bakers, Seven Kings High Road

Each month, a group of us meet up to share news and plan our local activities over a cup of coffee in a very friendly and informal gathering, where all new faces are guaranteed a warm welcome. Last time we talked about improving the quality of the rented sector, crime and policing and how we can support the continued working of our local libraries as part of the Council's effort to improve community input into their running.

This month, amongst other things, we will be picking up on the recent changes at the Downshall Centre, planning our presence at the upcoming St. John's Community Day in May and deciding if we want to be part of the Council's local community festival in September.

March and rally for King George Hospital - Friday April 8th

It feels like the A and E and maternity services at KGH have been under threat for an eternity, with the government now demanding a full review on the closure threat, as pressure mounts on Queens at Romford following a number of bad news headlines and apparent difficulties even satisfactorily meeting existing demands upon it.

The latest public stage in the protest, which TASK has fully supported from day one, is a march and rally next friday, April 8, starting from Queens Hospital and processing along the Romford Road all the way through to Ilford Town Centre, where a meeting convened with local MPs will follow from 615pm at the Town Hall.

Recognising the ambition of the march, and the difficulty for many of us joining in during working hours or taking part over such a long route, organisers are asking residents to either join in from their home location or to turn up outside the Town Hall for a short rally at 6pm for just a few minutes to welcome the hardy marchers and demonstrate the maximum show of strength.

Library next steps: top authors come to town

Having saved our local Goodmayes Library after a fabulous cross-community campaign, we are now keen to see more book readings and events hosted locally here in the south of the borough, having been surprised at the dominance of libraries in Wanstead and Woodford and the north of the borough as host locations in the upcoming book and literature festival. That said, we do have some author sessions in our local sites, including

• May 7: Sagheer Afzal, author of The Reluctant Mullah at Seven Kings Library from 2. 30-4.15pm: a free event bookable online at 07931 740
• May 18th: Nikesh Shukla, author of Coconut Unlimited, at Goodmayes Library from 7.15- 9pm. Tickets £2.50 from 0208 708 7750

We ask that all our supporters attend if they can; and share this information with family and friends so we can secure best possible turnouts. We also welcome your ideas for future readings and events to this email address, which we promise to pass on to our contacts in library HQ as part of our regular conversations with them. And with the first anniversary of Seven Kings Library coming up in July, we want your ideas on how you think we can best celebrate its first birthday.

Redbridge Citizens

Looking forward a little, to May 18, TASK will be taking part in a public meeting for faith and community group leaders organised by top London community organising group Citizens UK, the aims of which are to develop relations between different parts of our diverse community sector, to share areas of interest and- if the will is there- to forge a common front to improve our borough in partnership with each other. The session will happen at the Kenneth More theatre from 6-8pm and more details can be obtained from Sheilla Patel at London Citizens on Sheilla.Patel@cof.org.uk.

Cafe de amore

We always like to support local small businesses and welcome the new owners at our Seven Kings station cafe, rebranded in smart new livery as cafe de amore, and offering great coffee and snacks at highly reasonable prices. They are now open until 2pm each weekday, and on Saturday, so even if you do not commute regularly, why not pop down to the London platform and give them a try.

That's it for now. See you all soon, Chris

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lift To Experience - With Crippled Wings.

Manipulative inter-action on behalf of forgotten communities

Great to see Steven Saxby and Chris Connelley featuring in a story from The Guardian about community organising.

Steven Saxby says his church joined in December to benefit from the network of organisations that Citizens UK engages with in the field of social action. He wants to help immigrants who have been in this country for years, but are paid below the minimum wage and have no permanent right to remain.

Chris Connelley came on the Citizens UK training course because he is a founder of Take Action for Seven Kings and has been campaigning against the closure of Goodmayes library. He has used the techniques taught to good effect:

"The threat to Goodmayes library has been lifted as Redbridge council has removed it from its cuts prospectus after the most massive local campaign – 5,000 signatures in three weeks. I used a number of the methods and ideas from the course. Our sense is that they worked and established powerful new relationships ... which we are all now resolved to build upon and strengthen."

Paul Trathen has said recently that he remains unconverted about Community Organising, liking the idea but being unsure that it resists becoming bullying. I'm reminded on the subtitle to my Dad's second book which was, A Study in Manipulative Inter-action on Behalf of a "Forgotten Community". As a community work pioneer in the UK, he was upfront about what he was doing and took some flack for his honesty in saying it. The reason it is necessary, however, is because the complex and sometimes arcane nature of local and national government processes mean that it is incredibly difficult for those who are already disadvantaged in society to have their voice heard. The idea of community organising, as I understand it, is to train people in understanding and using those processes for the benefit of the local community which does, inevitably mean a degree of confrontation and manipulation through those processes. This is, to my mind, an important element of challenging those who hold power.
 
The Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association campaign to resist the closure of the toilets in Seven Kings Park reaches its climax tonight as our Secretary, Audrey Shorer, and Membership Secretary, Mark Kennedy (who has organised the campaign), speak at the Council meeting where the budget (and its programme of cuts) are to be finalised.   
 
The campaign, which has seen close to 1,000 signatures collected for its petition over five days, is featured in the current edition of the Ilford Recorder. Mark Kennedy has said: “The response we have had from the local community had been fantastic.”
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It.

TASK Newsletter 24

It has been a busy start to the year for TASK, to say the least, as we discovered that the Council member for Culture Cllr Suzanne Nolan has earmarked Goodmayes Library as the single branch site for closure across the whole borough. Meaning that if her plan goes through, the staff working there will lose their jobs, the site will almost certainly be sold to a property developer for more high density housing and the community will lose a vital facility. For ever.

And where will the 100,000 annual users of Goodmayes Library be expected to go under Nolan's masterplan? You guessed it. Seven Kings Library, the small and temporary shopfront on the High Road which barely accommodates 20 people in a single sitting. At every level, it is a plan with fundamental flaws which seems to operate against the Council's own mantra of protecting frontline services.

Unsurprisingly, it has generated shock and outrage and anger, which is now being focused around a huge campaign of opposition involving every section of the local community. For more details, please see the brand new Save Goodmayes Library website and sign up for its dedicated facebook page.

TASK is clearly concerned about the loss of amenity in Goodmayes and the pressure on services in Seven Kings, and frankly worried that if Goodmayes goes, the way is still open for Cllr Nolan to close Seven Kings in future rounds of cuts. Leading to a cruel double whammy of closures in the south of the borough.

Council leader Cllr Keith Prince- the man whose intervention was decisive getting our new Seven Kings branch open- was at last night's area 5 meeting at Barley Lane school from 715pm , when we made our case against closure and offered some fresh thoughts. Thanks to everyone who turned up to support the Save Goodmayes Library campaign, momentum behind which grows daily. We are confident the case for keeping it open was well made and will be maintaining the pressure over the weeks up until the budget is decided in early March.

If you have yet to do so please go to the dedicated website and sign the petition online - http://www.savegoodmayeslibrary.org/ - and remember that the politicians told us we would never have a new Seven Kings library, which we do only because of the huge public support last time. We need to mobilise that level of support again now to Save Goodmayes Library.

We will be holding our first TASK meeting of 2011 on Tuesday February 1 from 7-8pm at a new venue, Gizem Bakers on the High Road Seven Kings- near the junction with St. Alban's Road. We are grateful to the owners for their generous support.

Hope to see many of you there,

Chris Connelley

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stiff Little Fingers - At The Edge.

TASK Newsletter 23

Chris Connelly of TASK writes:

The winter arrived soon after our festive tree this year, adding a distinctly seasonal, and decidedly slippery, feel to our local streetscape.

The situation has improved significantly over the last 24 hours, though, and we hope we can proceed with our final streetscene walkabout of the year this coming Friday, December 10th, starting on the pedestrian island outside Seven Kings railway station at 0900.

The walkabout, started by TASK and now widely used across the borough, does just what it says and involves council staff, police and local residents walking the area and picking up on dumping, graffiti, poor paving, out of order lighting, abandoned cars and all the other things that can make life difficult and miserable for local citizens. In many cases, the walkabout allows for immediate action so do come along and be part of a really positive morning. It only lasts a couple of hours and makes a big difference.

On the same day, the purveyors of local live music, the music lounge, return to the Ilford Sports Club on Cricklefields, High Road, Ilford with an evening of live entertainment including Cheesecloth + Dread Fury playing from 8 - 11.30pm.

Cheesecloth are an early 70's covers band with a difference celebrating some refreshing tracks from that great era of rock music, tracks that remain classics but that are less frequently heard these days, from the likes of McGuiness-Flint, Badfinger, Family and loads more great bands. Totally accessible music whether you know the originals or not! Dread Fury features the talents of Graeme Browne, compelling soulful vocalist, creative songwriter and guitarist, augmented with bass and tabla drums. Dread Fury has recently completed his new 5-track EP entitled 'The Dread Furious EP'. It costs just £4 admission and runs at Ilford Sports Club, The Pavilion, Cricklefield Stadium, 486 High Road, Ilford, IG1 1UE.

The week after, on Tuesday December 14th, we will be holding our final TASK supporters gathering of the year, between 7-8pm when we will look back at our achievements and share some festive food and drink. We are hoping to hold the session in the new Seven Kings Library, the campaign for the return of which was initiated by TASK and supported by politicians of all persuasions including our three local ward councillors.

As we write, issues of local crime and policing attract attention, with some concerns expressed about the visibility of our local police team and the return of regular, hardcore public drinking - and possibly drug taking- outside the railway station. Further concerns relate to the unavailability of the Safer Neighbourhood Team over a number of weekends. TASK will be pursuing these matters as a matter of urgency with local police managers, on the basis we are strong supporters of the police and effective police; and that concerns are best shared and resolved to avoid simmering discontent. Keep reading. We are also pursuing an interest in joining our local police panel from a number of supporters via the Rev Jonathan Evens.

Finally, for now, TASK recently attended the annual assembly of The East London Community Organisation, part of Citizens UK, Britain's largest community alliance. The group is currently hoping to work with local groups in Redbridge, to bring on new community leaders and develop the power of community politics in the borough, and certainly, first impressions from the huge, 600 strong meeting in Walthamstow were enormously positive, with a diverse range of groupings from four boroughs coming together to demonstrate
the strength of collective 'people power'.

For those interested, here is a short summary I wrote the day after:

"On a dark autumn evening, with an icy chill in the air, the magnificent backdrop of Walthamstow Assembly Hall played host to one of the largest public gatherings I can remember in years as east enders of all ages, backgrounds and faiths made their way singly, or as part of larger groups, and by bus, train, bike or on foot into the warmth of the hall for an evening of unique community politics courtesy of London Citizens.

The two hour live event, involving over 600 people, combined music, laughter, pageant , praise, affirmation, spectacle and anger in a uniquely uplifting demonstration of people power in one place, somehow colliding the spirit of a big old revivalist public meeting with elements of a game show, peoples jury and talent contest in the weirdest club mix , albeit one which- and this is the key point- had the power to inspire, anger, excite, and ultimately organise us on the basis that working together we are stronger than just operating in our own smaller, separate worlds.

And there were plenty of big, real stories to prove the point, from the presence of UEL bosses, on the same shared stage as cleaners, students and teachers, having literally just signed up to the living wage; through to the live quizzing of top Olympic officials and government representatives. Let’s be honest, this organisation can bend the ear of the powerful and has clout. Which totally matters if we are to realise the promise of 2012.

And to prove the point, and to show that there all our battles are not won, we were left with a challenge. To ensure that the Olympic marathon happens here on our streets leading in to the Olympic site, rather than through the sanitised, west end tourist route proposed.

So, there’s the hook. Your heard it here first. Watch this space for more on what has the potential to become a massive crossover campaign for 2011.

Meanwhile, I just feel pleased to have been part of something big, something positive and something real. Like so many of the attendees last night, coming for a repeat visit, I’ll be back."

Enough for now. Hope to see you on the walkabout and at the supporters meeting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Show of Hands - Arrogance Ignorance And Greed.

TASK Newsletter (22)

It's time for our regular round-up of what's happening where we are over the next couple of weeks, so here goes.

Keep music live: Friday November 12 at Ilford Sports Club

Over the last year, a new local live music scene has been emerging courtesy of the Green Fair Music Club, which hosts a monthly set at the Ilford Sports Club, 486 High Road, Ilford, IG1 1UE from 8-1130pm . This allows for the showcasing of new talent and this month sees an eclectic set including two very accomplished local bands.

The New Giants have developed their own brand of rock, drawing together influences such as Neil Young, REM, Crazy Horse, Teenage Fanclub, The Who and Tom Petty. They proved a highly popular act at the Wanstead Festival in September this year and now make their debut appearance at the Green Fair Music Club. Band members include Nigel Mear (Guitars, vocals), John Bennett (Lead guitar, vocals), Les Mear (Bass guitar, vocals), Gary Powell (Drums, percussion). Have a taste of their delicious guitar-based rock on
www.myspace.com/thenewgiants.

Dead Flowers are a 7 piece country rock band featuring guitar, keyboards, violin and mandolin who offer classic covers featuring a huge pinch of Rolling Stones flavoured with blues, soul and Americana, with diverse
material stretching from Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello through Bob Dylan and the Temptations to Chuck Berry and the Doors. www.myspace.com/deadflowerscountry.

All in all, it promises a great night of affordable live music with admission for just £4. Call Steve Collins for more information, or to pre-book for a discounted £3.50. His number is 07917 050490.

There will be light: Seven Kings festive lights and Christmas tree unveiling scheduled for Tuesday November 16 at 5pm

There can be no doubting this has been a tough year for many businesses, which is why we are delighted that the Seven Kings Business Partnership and the Council's Area 5 Committee have invested some money in seasonal celebrations in the all important trading run up to Christmas.

Last year, our big tree on the island outside the railway station and its associated lighting lifted the spirits of locals during the bleak winter, and the good news is that despite the cuts, we will have it all again.

The turning on itself is scheduled for 5pm on Tuesday November 16, with free live entertainment in the run up from 4.30pm courtesy of the Kenneth More Theatre, in Ilford, who will be promoting their 2010 pantomime, Sleeping Beauty.

Come along and join in the fun as we all countdown to Christmas.

Seven Kings Library review meeting

The new library on the High road has now been open for over three months, during which time it has attracted quite phenomenal interest from local people, as we always predicted. We will be taking part in a review session on its workings on Tuesday November 9 from 7.30-8.30pm at the library. Any thoughts or feedback on opening hours and services offered are welcome.

For this reason, there will be no open TASK supporters meeting this month. Our last session of the year in December will be on Monday December 13.

Seven Kings police panel: new set up now up and running

Last time we advertised the first ever AGM of the Seven Kings police panel, and are pleased to advise that the meeting took place and that an enhanced new panel is about to start business. It includes local residents,
neighbourhood watch co-ordinators, traders and representatives from faith and community groups, including TASK, whose nominee Tony Wright was accepted on to the panel. There are still a few unfilled places and if you are interested in getting involved, it is not too late to signal an interest.

The panel is important because it sets our local policing priorities, and monitors police progress in terms of these. At the meeting, we made the case that public drinking around the no drinking zone continues to cause concern and should remain on the priority listing; and also asked for more detail on the worrying spate of more violent crimes happening recently on our streets.

TASK will continue to press for vigilance and for maximum police visibility on our streets over the dark winter months.

High Road Lorry Park: what's happening?

Supporters have been asking about current clean-up and gating works on the old lorry park, which signal the arrival on site of the borough's PRU- Pupil Referral Unit. This provides a range of educational services for those students operating outside of mainstream schools, and, we are told, will be based here, in portkabins, for around two years, having been displaced from the rear of the closed down High Road Pool.

In the longer term, there is talk from the Town Hall of relocating college services on the site, maybe as part of a broader education/ leisure complex possibly even including a new swimming pool.

TASK have always maintained the need for the site to offer community services and will be subjecting all plans to forensic scrutiny, having opposed earlier high density housing proposals which were approved but
abandoned due to the recession.

As we hear more, we will share all ideas with you; and will seek your views on best uses of this last major Seven Kings development site.

Area 5 Committee

The final area 5 meeting of 2010 happens on Monday November 22, at Mayfield School in Goodmayes, starting at 7.15pm.

East London Citizens Annual Assembly: November 16

TASK are proud to have been invited by The East London Citizens Organisation to observe events at their annual assembly, a major gathering of 150 plus faith and community organisations working across east London, which will be reviewing the year and considering its campaign agenda for 2011. TELCO have a proud record of successful campaigning, which includes headline work around implementing the living wage for lower paid workers, and promoting local work for local people at the 2012 Olympics. We have two tickets for any supporters interested in coming along to the live event, at Walthamstow Town Hall, starting at 6.45m. To obtain one, just respond to this mail. We will also offer a full report on the meeting next time.

That's all for now. See you in a fortnight.

Chris Connelly, TASK

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Charlotte - We Believe.

TASK Newsletter 20

The Library returns...

Without doubt, the week’s headline news is the re/opening of a library in Seven Kings, 18 years after the closure of its Carnegie predecessor, now Ilford Preparatory School. It is located at 679 High Road- between Costcutter and Asha Jewellers.

The sun shone for the formal opening on Monday, with the ribbon cut by Council leader Cllr Keith Prince, cabinet member for leisure councillor Cllr Suzanne Nolan and our own Ali Hai, who bought along the original petition of over 3,000 names and reminded us all that its return was entirely attributable to the determination of local people to reclaim this facility.

First week user figures are looking good, with a reported 240 visitors in the first two days, giving us a figure that rivals a typical week’s throughput at Clayhall Library.

And that is not all. The library is open unusual hours, as befits its location here in Seven Kings, offering residents the first ever taste of Sunday opening from 1000-1400.

If you have not popped in already, please do so. If you are not yet a member, please join. And remember, basic services- including PC hire- are entirely free.

Seven Kings Lorry park

Our last update included reference to a planning application lodged for the lorry park, which we have followed up. This is from the borough itself for a temporary school site, for the John Barker Centre- a pupil referral unit for students excluded from mainstream education. The facility is currently based in portkabins at the edge of Cricklefields Sport Ground, half a mile away, and we are told the aim is to decant them for two years.

TASK is concerned at any challenge to the local preference for long term community use, and will be studying the plans carefully, having secured an extension to the consultation. We will also be picking this up at our TASK monthly supporters session on Monday August 2 from 7-8pm at St.John’s Church.

Monthly meeting

This is a new initiative designed to help involve more supporters get involved planning and moving forward our campaign activity. It is very informal, and particularly welcomes new faces. Our focus this month will be on agreeing goals for this autumn, and taking up an offer from the police to get involved in our local Seven Kings police panel.

Area Committee 5

Some of us attended area committee 5 on Monday 26 July, at which we:

• advocated tighter regulation of the local rented market, with clear landlord contacts for tenants and neighbours concerned about aspects of that renting;
• heard a brilliant presentation from our friends in the Seven Kings and Newbury Residents’ Association, feeding back on a recent walkabout project designed to improve the appeal of the local environment. It came with lots of good, simple ideas like introducing street art in dull walled areas, planting a community garden at St.Johns’s and working with residents to tidy up the often neglected gardens on Aldborough Road South;
• agreed to do some more work on protecting the character of Edwardian properties near Goodmayes Park by way of declaring it a ‘residential village’.

Community Festival: Sunday September 26

This will be our second Council sponsored community festival, held on the Barley Lane Recreation Ground, opposite TESCO. It runs from 12 noon until 4pm and will include information stalls, kids’ activities, food and live music, with an art exhibition happening in the neighbouring St.Paul’s Church.

TASK will be taking a stall to spread the word about us, and to sign up even more supporters, but we need volunteers to staff it so do please offer us an hour of your time on a fun day out. Email Chris on chrisconnelley@ntlworld.com please with offers.

That is it for now. More mid- month. Enjoy the sun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Aretha Franklin - Spirit in the Dark.

TASK Newsletter No. 19

Welcome to our regular TASK mail out on news from around Seven Kings, including feedback from our first regular monthly supporters session, news on the upcoming library opening, an interesting idea from our founder and former leading member, Cllr. Ali Hai, on declaring Goodmayes Park a 'village' to help preserve its distinctive character; and some other nuggets from further afield. So, read on.

Supporters meeting

TASK is now committed to holding an open monthly supporters meeting, which aims to bring local people together and to agree our campaign focus for the next few months. The first session, in June, held in the garden of St. John's Church, with a healthy 9 attendees, included a mix of established supporters and some very welcome new faces.

The session was entirely focused on setting out attendees key issues for future action, which included the:

• Lack of youth facilities locally;
• New library;
• Long-term use of the lorry park;
• Crossrail;
• likely- further- expansion of the private rented sector here following new housing benefit caps which will see many tenants priced out of many inner London boroughs;
• parking;
• campaigning for a new swimming pool;
• policing; and
• supporting local businesses
  

We are hoping that August’s meeting will allow for us to decide where we most want to invest our energies this autumn, and as ever, we would like as many of you to be there to be part of our conversation. If you have other issues you would like us to raise, remember that it is not too late so email me your thoughts, or just come along on the night.

The next supporters’ session is on Monday August 2, from 7-8pm at St. John’s Church, which sits at the junction of St.John’s Road and Aldborough Road South.

Area 5 meeting: Monday July 26 at 7.15pm/Barley Lane School

Redbridge Council Area 5 committee meetings bring together all the councillors from Seven Kings, Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath Wards every 8 weeks or so to consider local issues, and to give local citizens a chance to have their say on how they would like their neighbourhood to develop and grow.

With two thirds of the area 5 councillors newly elected, we are hoping for a more easy going and welcoming approach. So, come along, see how local democracy Redbridge-style works, and maybe chip in yourselves. On the agenda this time is an innovative item from the Goodmayes councillor team looking to protect the distinctive character of attractive Edwardian housing near Goodmayes Park by way of declaring it a designated residential precinct they would like to call Goodmayes Village.

Seven Kings Library opening: July 26 at 2pm

It is now just a week away. The culmination of our three year cross-community campaign to get a library back here in Seven Kings, to right the injustice of the 1992 Carnegie Library closure and ‘sell off’.

Initially, the politicians said it could not be done but a massive petition and door to door campaigning eventually helped change their minds, leading to Monday’s historic opening. The formal ribbon cutting by Council leader Keith Prince happens at 2pm, with normal opening starting at 9 am on Tuesday July 27th. Do pop by for both if you are around.

The new Seven Kings library is at 679 High Road, between Costcutter and Asha Jewellers.

It is all very exciting stuff, and is happening just in time for the summer holidays so local youngsters can take part in the legendary summer reading scheme on their doorsteps for the first time in a generation. We are also delighted that at least one of the new staff team lives locally and that the library has special Seven Kings friendly opening hours including early mornings, late nights and- for the first time ever in a Redbridge library- Sundays.

As TASK see it, distinctive arrangements for a distinctive place.

Lorry park school plan: latest news

Word reaches us that a planning application has been lodged by the borough for portkabin classrooms on the lorry park, the last major development plot in the area and one that TASK has campaigned should be dedicated to community use, such as a permanent library, hall and/ or pool.

Our enquiries with the borough planning department reveal a two year proposal for classrooms and play space for the John Barker referral unit, serving pupils removed from mainstream education.

TASK will be scrutinising the proposals carefully to ensure that our long- term preference is not thwarted, and to ensure that any even temporary use allows for a high quality and appropriate development.

As ever, we welcome your views

Your Square Mile website

This is an interesting new idea from the government, picked up in yesterday’s Sunday Times, which flags plans to develop a nationwide website called Your Square Mile this autumn, allowing for more local involvement in community projects. The site will apparently cover all 94,000 square miles in the UK, and will allow a whole range of community transactions from details of local clean ups and volunteering to promoting discount services, reading groups and babysitting opportunities. A prototype scheme in Southwark, the Southwark Circle, now run independently of the council, and even offers locals access to both volunteer and charged DIY and care services, in a project they call “the neighbourly way to sort the everyday”.

Keep watching this space for more.

That’s it for now. Keep sending us your local stories, ideas and suggestions.

Chris Connelley

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom Jones - Did Trouble Me.

TASK Newsletter No. 18

Here's the latest from Chris Connelly of TASK:

England world cup football may be totally dire but there are some welcome distractions for angst- ridden fans and non footballing audiences as TASK looks towards:

• the next community walkabout on Friday 25 June from 0900 until 1200, starting from Seven Kings station. It is our regular opportunity to pick up on all local streetscape concerns, from dumping through graffiti through untidy front gardens and it can make an immediate difference to where you live, so please sign up to join in and/or let us know your hotspots. Together we can begin to turn things around.


• the first of our regular TASK supporter meetings on Monday 28 June from 7-8 in St. John's Church at the junction of St. John's Road and Aldborough Road South. All are welcome as we start a new phase in our journey to improve the area, designed to focus on new areas of interest and concern, and to involve new supporters. Come along. Meet the team. Have your say and be part of our future.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Show of Hands - Roots.

TASK Newsletter No. 16

It's been a little while since we have been in touch, in large part due to our main communications man and founder Ali Hai having been involved in local elections for Redbridge Council on May 6th.

As he has already indicated, he was successful in his bid to become a- Labour- councillor in Goodmayes, and will be taking more of a back seat role in TASK from now on, which means that I (Chris Connelly) step up to the plate to take over our regular email bulletin.

The headline news is that it is business as usual for TASK. We will continue to work with the new Council, and all its mainstream political parties, as well as health and other public service providers, to generate the best possible deal for local people in Seven Kings, and we plan to initiate a number of new campaigns as the summer progresses.

These will focus on securing clear arrangements for the opening of our new, hard- fought for local library on the High Road, now expected to open around July 2010, planning for, and costing work on, long-term community use of the lorry park, whilst also working for an interim arrangement that would see it cleaned up and used for a range of creative, but more temporary, events. Like specialist food markets, boot sales or summer sport and play activity for our local youngsters, any funds from which come back into the local economy better regulating the huge local rented sector, to improve conditions for tenants and to smarten up the often shabby and neglected dwellings which reflect so badly on the neighbourhood working with hard- pressed traders to improve our local shopping streetscape, and to reduce the overall volume of fast food and takeout outlets as part of a longer term goal of enhancing retail diversity and choice in Seven Kings.

To do this, we need your help and will be starting a regular series of short supporter meetings from June. These will hopefully allow for new supporters to get involved, and will help us plan our work for the rest of 2010.

Watch this space for more detail of meeting times and dates, and do please share your local news with us as you are our eyes and ears across the area.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Housemartins - Build.

TASK Newsletter No. 15

On the day most of us trudged back to work, here's a new year message from your friends in TASK - Take Action for Seven Kings- as we commit to keeping up our reputation as one of the borough's liveliest and mostimpactful community groups.

Our overall sense is that 2009 was a rather good one, with some very positive developments, including:

* Real progress securing a definite commitment for a new Seven Kings library, almost 20 years after the closure of the original, on the corner of the High Road and Kingswood Road. This arises out of our campaigning in 2008 for a replacement facility, which saw over 2000 local residents sign and submit a massive petition. We are currently working with library managers and local politicians - including ward councillors and Council leader Keith Prince - to secure an affordable site to refit and stock. Our original hope was that the new library will open for business in the Spring, although this may slip slightly as things are running behind schedule because sourcing a keynote local building proved more difficult than imagined. Keep watching this space for more details.

* An improving shopping environment, with high levels of occupancy and some quality refurbishments even in these most dire economic conditions. Top marks to local traders like Gizem bakers for investing in their premises, and a warm welcome to the various new traders - like the High Road car audio sounds, HiQ, Pretty Women beauty parlour and GF electricals - and returning businesses, like the Joker pub. We still resent the excessive number of take-out food outlets and want to see strong enforcement action on opening hours and food hygiene in 2010, with a longer term vision for much greater diversity of local shopping choice. We wish the new business partnership set up this autumn all the very best, and hope we can work together to attract good publicity and new investment funding to our neighbourhood. The Christmas tree and festive lights worked well as a symbolic start, sending off good vibes and establishing a feel good factor. We hope to build on this.

* Regular walkabouts and clean up activity, picking up on unsightly dumping, graffiti and many other street scene issues. TASK have been leading on this for two years now and continue to set the pace for rapid clean-up action. We will soon be publishing 2010 walkabout dates and welcome new faces and suggested locations to visit.

* An award winning railway station. A couple of years ago it was inconceivable we could have entered, let alone won, an award for a well-kept station. However, a combination of local pressure and operator commitment backed up by small scale practical actions over two years have turned things around, with much needed new investment in the building, a new platform level cafe and planting for the first time in 40 years. The recent installation of a new audio system with soothing sounds has made the station all the more pleasant. All reasons why we were one of few urban stations invited to Norwich, for the annual first great eastern station awards.

* A popular community festival in early September, funded by the Council's area 5 committee, covering Seven Kings, Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath. This brought thousands of local residents together in a specially made-over Barley Lane recreation ground to hear live music, take part in cycling and other activities; and to find out more about some of the groups and activities on offer where we are.

As the new year begins, we will be focusing on a number of campaign themes, including:

* Ensuring the new library is delivered as promised
* Hosting election hustings for the upcoming local and general elections so that voters can meet and quiz those wishing to represent them
* Campaigning for an even stronger and more visible local police presence, to include a fulfilment of their promise to site an outreach portakabin by the railway station
* Bringing top quality public street art to the area, thus further improving the street scape and hopefully bringing in more shoppers and visitors
* Greening the area, with more street trees and effective planting.

To achieve all of this, we really need your help. The more volunteers we have, the more we can achieve and the smaller the load for the few. At present, we particularly struggle to attend daytime meetings at the Council and other public bodies, so any help covering these is mostwelcome. Please contact Chris at chrisconnelley@ntlworld.com if you can assist and any particular areas of interest you have. That's enough for now. Here's hoping 2010 is happy and healthy for us all!

TASK

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Social Distortion - Don't Take Me for Granted.

Our Community Festival

Councillor Thomas Chan (Mayor of Redbridge), Fr. Benjamin Rutt-Field (Vicar, St Pauls Goodmayes), Mrs Chan, Myself and Gwen Nneji (St Pauls Goodmayes) on the United Churches' stall at the Our Community Festival yesterday.

The United Churches' information stall at yesterday's Our Community Festival.

Peter Shorer at the Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident's Association information stall.

Audrey Shorer telling the Redbridge Carnival Queen about SK&NPRA.

Chris Connelly & Ali Hai on the TASK stall.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Curtis Mayfield - It's All Right.

TASK Newsletter No. 14

Welcome to our latest TASK e-newsletter as the sun shines and we move towards spring. As ever, there is a huge amount going on so please read this as a thank you to all our volunteers, and as a set of summary headlines.

Seven Kings Library

This was undoubtedly our big campaign of 2008, and efforts continue to develop permanent library provision in the area, as demanded by residents from all parts of the community. Meanwhile, though, we are generating valuable additional outreach services for local people, to include a 'beefed up' mobile service and regular family reading events at St. John's Church.

A regular programme of children's Storytelling sessions is now happening at St John's Seven Kings on a monthly basis. Future dates include Friday 13th March; Wednesday 1st April; Friday 24th April; Wednesday 13th May; Friday 5th June; Wednesday 24th June; Friday 17th July; Wednesday 5th August; Friday 28th August; Wednesday 16th September; Friday 9th October; Wednesday 28th October; Friday 20th November; and Wednesday 9th December. The times of these Storytelling sessions will be: Fridays - 11.30am to 12pm; and Wednesdays - 2.00-2.30pm.

A book group is also being started. Intended as quite a casual set up, without set questions or structured feedback and just an open ended discussion about how each person responded to the book. It will meet about four times a year and the first book to be discussed will be Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet. The group will meet to discuss this book on Thursday 23rd April at 8pm. The venue is to be confirmed but will probably be at St John's. The group is open to anyone who wants to come along and for more details, contact Huw Jacob on: huw.jacob@gmail.com.

The next Library Services Coffee morning at St John's is being planned for 11.00am on Wednesday 8th April and will feature a talk on gardening by Nick Dobson. Finally, for the moment, an Evening of Poetry featuring Tim Cunningham and Naomi Foyle will be happening on Monday 27th April at 7.00pm at St John's as part of the Redbridge Book and Media Festival. Tickets are just £2.

Money for Westwood Recreation Ground

Good news- funding has been secured by the Council to allow for an upgrade to play facilities at Westwood Recreation Ground, on Meads Lane. The sum, thought to be around £60 000, will allow for an upgrade to the old school style play equipment, and officers are consulting with the community on how it might best be spent.

TASK have offered some opening thoughts on the desirability of imaginative free style play kit, maybe using the same kind of interesting and stylish designs now being installed at Valentines Park, and suggested leisure staff talk first to the young audience - and their families - who we hope will make good use of it.

The hope is that consultation can happen fast over the spring, allowing action in time for this summer's peak use season. If you have any thoughts on this development, do please address them direct to Leisure Officer, Edward Smith, at Edward.Smith@redbridge.gov.uk, or by phone to 020 8 708 3745, mentioning you are responding to a call for input from TASK.

As we go to press, we have also just heard that there will be a public consultation meeting on Thursday March 26th, starting at 7pm at Farnham Green School. All local residents are welcome so do please let your family, friends and neighbours - and their kids - know so the borough can benefit from the widest possible pool of ideas.

(Yet) more consultation on the Roman Road

It seems like public authorities love to consult more and more often, and having made some input in January to a group looking at the design of urban high streets on behalf of London Mayor, Boris Johnson, we are now giving feedback on a much more specific project aimed at regenerating the Roman Road- basically the road out of Ilford to Romford, covering the entirety of run down Seven Kings High Road. The local press have made much of this new action plan, and we are hopeful too that with political will and funding support, real advances can be made.

Our initial points are summarised below:

• although we are committed to consultation and action for change, the creation of Action Plans that don't result in action does over time lead to the building up of cynicism amongst local people;
• local people strongly associate with the High Road but think it has been run down over generations;
• currently it has a limited and inadequate shopping base dominated by too many takeaways;
• a mixed economy is needed along the High Road; we need a greater variety of retail outlets and community facilities/organisations with a new local library as the major priority;
• introducing this mixed economy may involve changing usage in some instances to enable community services to be delivered from what are currently retail outlets and/or using existing community building (such as schools and faith community buildings) for the delivery of local community services;
• new developments should be high quality which includes environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing;
• equivalent parking to that which is currently available should be delivered in new developments in order to sustain business levels for local traders;
• encouraging walking and use of bikes will be best achieved by locating community facilities locally. When libraries and post offices are more than one mile away most people will use cars to get to them; locate these and other community facilities locally and many more people will walk/cycle;
• attention should be paid to enhancing local heritage, where it exists, and enhancing awareness of that heritage. Public art could play a part in doing so;
• the area looks generally run down and needs: better street cleaning; trees/flower displays; enhancing of shop frontages; aesthetic new developments; and public art;
• the area in front of Seven Kings station is dangerous because it is used as a cut through; pedestriansing the area would be an option;
• although the railway is a major barrier, there would be little benefit to building more pedestrian crossings over the railway. Attention should be paid to traffic congestion caused by limited road crossings over the railway.

Special thanks are due to Jonathan Evens for setting things up and taking a bold lead on this project.

Blood and guts on Cambridge Road

Residents on Cambridge Road have been having a tough time recently, with a spate of violent incidents, racist taunting and anti-social behaviour coming from tenants of two rented houses on the street. Despairing residents contacted local councillors and TASK, who, after hours of feverish email exchanges with cabinet member Cllr Vanessa Cole, council staff and the local safer neighbourhoods police team managed to get the tenants moved on. Overall, it was a good team effort that worked on this occasion, but not before time, and with some evident service lapses we need to learn from. The real worry is that these tenants will simply be shuffled to a new location, possibly even locally, where they will reproduce the violence and mayhem once again. This cannot happen and TASK hope that we can all learn lessons, and develop practical strategies and actions, that allow other residents in other streets to benefit from much more rapid responses to displace this kind of offensive behaviour.

It is an issue that is bound to come up at our next Area 5 meeting at 7.15pm on Monday 23 March, at Barley Lane School, which majors on crime and policing. All major players will be there and it really has never been more important to come along.

Next walkabout date

The next community walkabout is scheduled to happen on Friday April 24 starting at 0900 from outside Goodmayes station heading towards Seven Kings station. It is designed to get local residents to join council officers, the police and councillors to pick up on, and immediately address, irksome streetscape issues like dumping, graffiti, public drinking, vandalism, highways, planning and licensing breaches. This time round rail operator national express will also be taking part, and can update us on what is happening at and around our station, the subject of radical and much needed upgrade throughout 2008.

Area 5 festival

Plans continue to develop a small community event at Barley Lane Recreation Ground this summer ahead of a much bigger festival idea for 2010 and a dedicated working group now meets regularly on this to work up a programme and schedule. Already confirmed are martial arts displays, dancing, community group stalls and sale of allotment products. With scope for lots more to happen.The hope is that this will run on Sunday September 20 from noon until 5pm The next working group meeting is on Wednesday April 1 at 7pm. The venue is Barley Lane Primary School.

Redbridge Green Fair is on Sunday 24 May

The biannual Redbridge green fair has now been running for the best part of 20 years and comes around again over the late May Bank Holiday weekend when Melbourne Fields - at Valentines Park - is appropriated for one day only as a giant community and environmental festival space. Its always an inspirational event, with live music, a solar powered cinema, brilliant food outlets and lots of community information and stalls. TASK are hoping to be one of the exhibitors and need volunteers to run our stall across the day. Please contact Chris at chrisconnelley@ntlworld to find out more and/or offer time.

That is it for now. Expect more soon. And do please share your news and stories with us at chrisconnelley@ntlworld.com or ahai@deloitte.co.uk.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the Rhine - The World Can Wait.

TASK Newsletter No. 13

With the new year well underway, welcome to our first TASK e-newsletter of 2009, setting out a whole host of local news and activity.

Crime

Latest figures reveal that our council, the London Borough of Redbridge, has seen the biggest hike in crime across the whole of London, with Seven Kings leading the table on increases in burglary (we have heard this week of a breakout of burglaries predominantly in Cambridge and St Alban's Roads).

This confirms our view that the local situation is more fragile and less rosy than we have traditionally been led to believe, which is why we have argued strongly for a full complement in our safer neighbourhood team at all times, having discovered that police team members are often loaned out for other borough-wide duties and are not always working locally.

A story in the Ilford Recorder this week suggesting that major drug trafficking at Goodmayes Hospital has led to the setting up of a local Seven Kings police team presence there worries us too, since it also pulls officers off the streets, where a high profile presence and the constant intelligence gathering that comes from good local relationships is constantly required.

TASK supporters and local councillors will this week meet with the new borough police commander to make our case for special attention, given our many local issues and the unique negative effects of our having such an abormally large night time/takeout economy, which can be a major magnet for resident misery and crime and disorder.

More licensing misery

As if we have not got enough challenges already, the Council continues to grant late licences for takeouts, even with strong local councillor and community objections, with yet more applications coming in from new outlets. It frankly beggars belief that councillors on licensing committee are unable to understand an obvious truth- that we are saturated with fast food outlets, which cause a whole host of problems- and it is credible to argue that Seven Kings is now being explicitly targetted by fast food entrepreneurs as a 'soft touch' in ways that might not be tolerated elsewhere. We are angry and and will now be taking up this issue directly with senior Redbridge Council staff and the London Mayor, Boris Johnson.

We were told by a Licensing officer recently that the people of Seven Kings do not object in big enough numbers which is why our objections do not make enough impact on licence decision making committees. We would therefore ask you to object to any licences that you become aware of by emailing the Council's Licensing officer at ed.chaplin@redbridge.gov.uk with the grounds of the objection and your name and address.

We are already being consulted on a new bit of research funded by Boris looking at the future shape of the suburban High Street, having met with his architectural advisers in early January. Our points then were simple and linked. That the High Road is a major artery, with which local people strongly associate, albeit one that has been run down over generations, with a limited and inadequate shopping base dominated by way too many takeouts. Out view is that it requires systematic regeneration, over a longer peiriod, but that firm action now on late licenses and still further booze applications can at least begin to stop the rot. Keep reading to see more on how this story unfolds.

We are also aware that some of the takeaway outlets are below the standard health and safety requirements and pose a potential hazard to customers. A copy of the health and safety ratings is available from us if you require and a copy of it is on the Community noticeboard outside Seven Kings station.

Library campaign

The battle cry remains the same: we want a new library- and we want it now, having registered overwhelming support in support of this campaign during our 2008 petitioning. A recent meeting with Ilford South MP Mike Gapes ensured he too is fully up to speed on the issue.

In the short term, though, we continue to work with library officers to develop and market mobile library services and have obtained at least one new regular stop for the 400 plus pupils at at Downshall Primary School. We will also benefit from regular local storytelling activity and a local poetry event as part of the upcoming Redbridge Media and Book Festival in May, both positive developments which are unlikely to have happened without our campaigning.

The offer is also there for a new readers group to be set up in Seven Kings, where local people come together regularly to choose a book, and share their reading experiences. There are hundreds of reading groups all over the country, and they are a great way to make new friends, share your love of books and promote new types of reading. Please contact Chris on 07852 960685 if you would like to be part of this. If you are worried about the cost of buying book, don't worry- the library service will provide all the books for free, so there's absolutely no cost other than an hour of your time every month.

Area 5 festival

The idea of a local community festival covering Seven Kings, Goodmayes and Chadwell Heath has been knocking around for some time in the local Council and it was originally planned to run an event during summer 2009 in a local park. A planning group has now been set up, bringing together many local groups, including TASK, to agree a format and timing. The current sense is that a big festival this year is a tall order and that it is more realistic to run a smaller family fun day in the summer, to test the the water for something bigger and bolder in 2010. We are looking for a volunteer to sit on the planning group for TASK, and encourage all supporters to send in their good ideas about what a festival might offer and how it might run. Supporters with PR/ marketing/events experience are especially welcome.

Westwood Recreation Ground

Good news! Tired old Westwood Recreation Ground on Meads Lane is in line for play improvements from April this year which will hopefully transform a rather jaded and forgettable space into something beautiful and uplifting. We are currently talking to Council play workers and will push for major local input into the eventual design, and will be recommending they talk primarily with local youngsters, the key users and beneficiaries of the site.

Swimming

With our local pool boarded up, but not forgotten, Redbridge Council was name checked in a recent TIME OUT magazine article as the worst place for public swimming opportunities in London. Another unenviable record for our shabby and underperforming Council. Shame on you!

TASK planning group

Over the last year, TASK has developed a high profile, much respect and many great local contacts. For this new year, we plan to run regular planning group sessions to help co-ordinate our various campaigns, draw more fully on our supporter talent and make an even greater impact. A first date and venue will follow later this week.

Seven Kings Events this month

11 February 7.15pm at Barley Lane Primary School - Area 5 Council meeting

27 February 9am starting from outside Seven Kings station - walkabout with council officers from Cleansing Department

That is it for now. More soon.

Please remember. We always welcome your news, your issues and your feedback, which should be sent to ahai@deloitte.co.uk or c.connelley@lse.ac.uk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

16 Horsepower - Cinder Alley.

Learn for Lent (and Eastertide)!

Philip Ritchie has posted a timely reminder of the Diocese of Chelmsford Lent & Eastertide Schools 2009. Information about the courses on offer can be found at Lent Schools 2009 and Eastertide Schools 2009.

Courses on offer cover subjects including: The ministry of the Evangelist; Dance and worship; The faith we share; Churches together today; Children, community and church; The Reformation in Essex and East London; Is the Old Testament Christian? Mission shaped ministry; Walk thru' the Bible; Christian poetry; Old Testament lucky dip; Signposts into life (vocation); Pastoral care; Christian art; Myers Briggs refresher; Prayer workshop.

I and some of my blogging colleagues are also running courses. These are:

• The Big Picture 2: Exploring the engagement between Christianity, Christian Artists and Popular Culture. Led by Jonathan Evens, Paul Trathen and Philip Ritchie.
• Let Us Be Human: How might we put our theology, our global questions and our choices of lifestyle into a constructive dialogue? Led by Sam Norton and Paul Trathen.
• Living With Other Faiths: Exploring why Christians should engage with other faith communities and how we can go about doing this. Two courses, one led by Angus Ritchie and Sean Connelly, the other led by Jonathan Evens and David Driscoll.

The Lent and Eastertide Schools are a collection of education, training and skills events across the Diocese of Chelmsford during Lent and Eastertide each year. The courses are open to all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Innocence Mission - Black Sheep Wall.

TASK Newsletter No. 12

Welcome all to our latest TASK e-newsletter, letting you know what's happening in and around our neighbourhood this November.

TASK meeting

Around 20 supporters got together on the bitterly cold evening of November 21st for our autumn public meeting. The debate was lively and engaging, as ever, and we were especially pleased to welcome a number of new supporters and longer standing supporters attending a meeting for the first time. This newsletter aims to summarise much of our discussion, which took in a wide range of topics including

Ilford Swimming Pool

Tragically, this is now closed for good with only the vaguest commitment for a future leisure development in south Ilford- worryingly still undated and uncosted.

TASK supported the recent protest march in Ilford Town Centre and has also recently discovered that the equipment from the former pool gym is lying unused in the closed down building. We are currently working with local councillors to get a new local gym site opened until firm long- term decisions have been made, salvaging something from a ghastly political mess. We have already made overtures to the agents looking to rent the empty Joker pub- a large space ideally suited for easy conversion to gym use- but are advised that the owner will not even let us view the property so our quest for space goes on. The recent closure of the Ford outlet literally opposite the pool offers another opportunity we shall pursue over the next few weeks. More next time.

Allotment sales

Much better news, with sale plans now seemingly abandoned. The key now is to ensure all local plots are working, an outcome more likely to be achieved in these difficult times, when 'grow your own' becomes a necessity for many affected by the credit crunch and redundancies. If you don't have a plot and would like one for 2009, let us know and we can make contact with the local allotment society for you!

A new library for Seven Kings

Our whopping 2000 signature petition has now been formally submitted to the Council, which still maintains that it does not have the money to develop a new static site in the area, even though funds were made available a year or so ago to open a new library in affluent Clayhall, with no public campaigning required. We continue to press for funds to be released and urge the Council to look at developing something as part of the High Road car/ lorry park development, but are meanwhile working with library managers to develop local mobile library and outreach services.

A library information and coffee morning is now scheduled for the morning of December 10 from 11.00am at St. John's Church and all supporters around are asked to make time to attend and support the cause.

There is also the option of setting up a local reading group, where local readers come together regularly to select books they would all like to read and share their thoughts and experiences. The group could be supported by library staff and all the books selected will be sourced by the library service, so it costs nothing. Nationally, reading groups are all the rage and we think a local group would be a great idea. If you are interested in joining one, or would like to know more, please let us know by emailing Chris at c.connelley@lse.ac.uk.

Seven Kings walkabout

All year we have undertaken regular bi-monthly walkabouts with council staff, designed to clamp down on dumping, graffiti and other highways and cleansing issues. This has seen a significant improvement along the High Road, with additional bin and cleaning services now offered along the 'takeout mile'. The last walkaround of 2008 is scheduled for Friday December 12, starting at 9am outside Seven Kings railway station. All supporters are welcome to join in and we welcome your ideas on suitable locations to cover. Some of the long term benefits of the walkabouts have been more and well positioned litter bins, gum boards, cigarette bins, evening as well as morning shift litter picking along Seven Kings High Road and installation of cameras to capture fly tipping offenders. We also noted a special thanks to Russell Ward who has our vote as the most helpful Council Officer and the one who has made the greatest difference to Seven Kings.

Takeouts - Food Safety Rating

Following a TASK request the Council has provided us with a list of takeouts in Seven Kings alongwith their respective food safety star rating. Star ratings range between 0 and 4, 0 being the worst and 4 the best. Unsurprisingly most takeouts are rated between 0 and 2 but we also have a few with 3 and 4 star ratings. If you would like a copy of this table please contact Ali, ahai@deloitte.co.uk. We are also asking the Council to introduce restrictions to takeouts near to schools as neighbouring Waltham Forest has introduced.

Environment

The Mayor of London has recognised Seven Kings as one of 20 locations across London worthy of funding for tree planting to improve the barren landscape. This should see almost every road in Seven Kings become tree lined in the next couple of years.

Seven Kings station

Major improvements have taken place at the station over the last 6 months, driven by systematic complaints from TASK members. We now have a wonderful station with security staff dealing with troublemakers over the weekend hours. There are further improvements planned such as a better and safer pedestrianised entrance.

Crime and policing

We continue to encourage our local police team to make full use of their speed gun, and are advised that Pembroke Road is especially bad at present.

We also note the re/emergence of large drinking gangs around the station and by the Shannon Centre, and will be demanding rigorous enforcement of the 'no drinking' zone. We are also heartened that the Council is now working to make Seven Kings an 'accumulative impact zone', which recognises the high volume of premises with licenses to sell alcohol and alcohol related crime in the area. We are also seeking to gain more police resource for Seven Kings justified on the high crime levels and wide geographic coverage for the current allocated safer neighbourhood team.

TASK has insisted on better no drink zone area signs and enforcement and we are starting to see this area being better controlled.

Facebook

TASK now has a presence on mass social networking site Facebook. This offers the best coverage of local issues and we urge all supporters with PCs to sign up as a friend to get all the news fastest. Its easy to use- just go to Facebook and search for TASK.

Getting more involved

We are still less than a year old, and our deeply proud of our achievements as a campaigning group. We have definitely made an impact in terms of the major funding upgrade to the station, local walkabouts and in more general terms, the sense that Seven Kings is on the map and will not continue to tolerate the type of neglect characteristic of the last few years. We do need more help though and in early 2009 will be setting up a small operating group so we can focus our energies even more effectively. Please let us know if you would like to be part of this or if you have specific interest and expertise you can offer. Contact Ali at ahai@deloitte.co.uk in the first instance.

Finally, we would like to round up some upcoming activity at the busy St. John's Church, at the junction of St. John's Road and Aldborough Road South.

Lights of Advent: Christmas lights, mulled wine and mince pies in the Church garden from 2.00pm until early evening on Friday 28th November

Christmas Bazaar: Saturday 29th December, 10.30am - 3.00pm. Christmas gifts, Children's toys, Handicrafts, Preserves, Cakes, Plants, Refreshments, Raffle and many other stalls. Visit Santa in his wonderful grotto (digital photo and present included).

Advent Art Installation: Churches in Redbridge have created an Art Installation which will be displayed in six churches, including St John's Seven Kings, throughout the Advent season. The aim is to create a restful space that would enable Christians and non Christians alike to relax and reflect as an alternative to the busyness that the Christmas period brings. The theme of light was chosen as a symbol that crosses faiths and cultures which would therefore would have as wide an appeal as possible. The Installation comprises three panels of mirrored perspex mounted on wooden backing panels with the mirrored surfaces painted to an abstract design using differing textures and densities of paint while leaving unpainted areas forming the shape of a star and the repeated word ‘peace’. A quiet, reflective environment will be created around the installation using music, candles and scatter cushions. One of the key concepts of the artwork is that people will become a part of the installation by viewing themselves in these mirrored surfaces. The Installation will be at St John's in December on: 9th - 10.00 am – 1.00 pm & 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm & 7.00 pm - 9.00 pm; 10th - 10.00 am – 1.00 pm & 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm; 11th - 10.00 am – 1.00 pm & 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm & 7.00 pm - 9.00 pm; and 12th - 10.00 am – 1.00 pm & 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm.

That's enough for now. See you again in December.

Take Action for Seven Kings ("TASK")

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nu Colours - What In The World.

TASK Newsletter No. 11

Hello again from TASK.

As autumn sets in and the days get shorter, so do our tempers, following a truly turbulent month which has seen the premature closure of the Ilford pool, local business shut downs, worries about the High Road lorry lorry park project and the submission of our huge 2000 signature library petition.

Lets have a quick round up

Ilford pool: gone but not forgotten - march planned for Saturday October 25 - we offer to develop site as a community development trust

The pool was originally due to close just before Christmas but councillors decided to pull the plug at the end of September, citing emergency health and safety hazards. The closure deprives us not just of two pools but a popular gymnasium and host of leisure and fitness classes, inconveniencing literally hundreds of people who now have to trek miles to use the only other public pool facility in Barkingside, now hideously over stretched. No substantive plans are in place for a replacement and citizens must despair for their leisure futures if Redbridge Council operate at their usual speed and efficiency.

Which is why TASK have made the audacious offer to the Council to sell us the site for a peppercorn sum - we suggested a fiver - so we can develop it as a community development trust committed to opening a replacement pool and leisure facility on the site asap. The benefit of this approach is that it is safeguarded as a leisure site for the future, is taken out of the troubled Council's portfolio and can be worked on in a more focused way, drawing on appropriate local and specialist talent. A development trust can also seek funds from a wide variety of sources, including the lottery and private sector, with many examples of successful achievements using this model. One of the best London examples is at Coin Street on the south bank, whose development trust has transformed the area and now runs scores of profitable community businesses employing hundreds of locals.

Not surprisingly, the Council has failed to respond to the proposal, which local paper the Ilford Recorder - in a front page feature - described as stunning the Cabinet member responsible.

Meanwhile, TASK will be supporting the upcoming march planned for Saturday October 25th to deplore the closure. It is a chance for local swimmers and the wider community to come together and condemn yet another blow for the area and pressure Redbridge to develop a feasible plan for the site. At the very least, it will further embarrass them and the larger the march the greater the impact. Organisers are asking people to meet up outside the Ilford Recorder building on the High Road, Ilford at 1.30pm to walk to the Town Hall where there will be short speeches at a rally. Do please make every effort to attend.

Shops shut in hard times

It has been the toughest economic news month for years and our own small shops are feeling the pinch. Both new coffee outlets- Toscana and Viva la Mocha- have now gone and are empty. TASK fear they make be stalked by yet more fast food operators, with a further chicken outlet recently opened by the station, and will be monitoring the situation closely. Following the controversial re/licensing of the Shannon Centre and the award of a new local alcohol license we have also just been made aware of new powers that allow local councils to set up cumulative impact zones in areas of leisure/alcohol industry saturation, which are basically designed to limit the future stress on such areas, and we think may now be approppriate in Seven Kings. More next time.

Library petition now submitted: thanks to all our trader helpers and signatories- offer of talks now on the table

The huge 2000 strong petition in support of a local library has now been submitted to Council Cabinet, with strong speeches from Jonathan, Ali, local Councillors Bob Littlewood and Gary Staight in support of a new facility. The official line is still that we are reasonably served by mobile and other services and do not need our own static library but the strength of the campaign has opened up a new negotiating flank with the offer of a series of meetings with library officials to explore new outreach services. They begin at the end of October and we hope to offer details of specifcally what is on offer in next month's newsletter.

Meanwhile, huge thanks to everyone who helped gather signatures, especially local traders, almost all of whom enthusiastically signed up. Amongst these, Station Superfoods , PG Creed, Costcutter, Taqwa Carpets, Brothers Fish and Chip shop deserve special mention for their sterling efforts. In addition special thanks to the Headmasters of Downshall Primary School and Canon Palmer School for the hundreds of signatures they helped obtain.

TASK public meeting- make it a date for 21 November

The date is now set for our autumn TASK supporters meeting, which will happen on Friday November 21 from 7,30pm at St. John the Evangelist Church, at the junction of Aldborough Road South and St. John's Road. It is a brilliant opportunity to meet other local residents, make new friends and find out what is going on in other parts of the area. As well as a chance to bring your ideas for making the area a better place.

If you did not come along to our spring gathering, please make an effort to join us this time. We aim to be welcoming and informal- and want to assure you that its definitely not just another boring meeting. If you did come in the Spring, we hope to see you again.

High Road Lorry park development: is continuing silence golden?

It may be a sign of building business meltdown but it has all gone ominously silent on the lorry park site, where developers Swan Housing were due to consult locals over the summer on their service preferences for this major new build development before submitting plans in the early autumn. We have heard nothing thus far and are trying to re/establish links with Swan following the departure of our contact there in June.

Seven Kings Station: yet more improvements

The planting is still in place and the station is looking even better following the resurfacing of the stairs, making acces and exit quicker, easier and safer. Well done again, station operator national express, which is rapidly becoming our favourite local agency.

Area 5 Meeting

The next opportunity to raise issues to the local Councillors is the Area meeting on 10 November starting at 7.15pm at Barley Lane Primary School. Alternatively they have a weekly surgery at the United Free Church on the corner of Norfolk Road and Meads Lane every Friday between 6pm and 7pm.

That is enough for now

See you in November

Chris, Take Action for Seven Kings ("TASK")


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Nanci Griffith - It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go.

TASK Newsletter No. 10

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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Billy Bragg - Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards.