It will be open to the public from 10.30 am until 4.30 pm on Saturday 22nd September as part of the national Open House event.
There will be a display of vintage buses as well as displays of the history of bus travel.
In addition there will be vintage bus tours to Stagecoach London’s newest bus station in West Ham, which will depart every 15 minutes.
As the Paralympics has drawn to a close, local people will be thinking about what is going to happen to the venues and the Olympic Park as a whole. The following update has been received from Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat Leader on the London Assembly:Earlier this year the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) was established to deliver the physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and surrounding area after the 2012 Games. This new mayoral body takes over from a number of organisations and will have planning powers from October 2012.
Much work has been carried out to ensure that there is a permanent future for each permanent venue in the park.
The Stadium has received four bids: from West Ham United, Intelligent Transport Services in association with Formula One, UCFB College of Football Business and Leyton Orient. They are now being evaluated ahead of negotiations. These bids would add to the legacy uses already secured for the Stadium such as host to the IAAF 2017 World Athletics Championships.
The Aquatics Centre will be operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited and will cater for all levels of swimming ability and aquatic disciplines for the community and training athletes. Similarly the Handball Arena LINK will be transformed into a multi-use arena used for a wide range of indoor sports training and competitions as well as cultural and business events.
The Velodrome will be owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and will be known as the Lee Valley VeloPark. The velodrome will need very little transformation and will become the hub of the VeloPark. The BMX track will remain, but be reconfigured, and a road cycle circuit and mountain bike courses will be added.
The Press and Broadcast Centre now has a preferred bidder iCITY to become the long term tenant. iCITY aims to create a leading centre for technology, design and research with the potential to generate more than 4,000 jobs. The digital hub would harness innovation and creativity in east London. The iCity vision also has a community focus including a conference centre and a pedestrian square for broadcasting major sporting events, along with cafes, restaurants and bars.
After the 2012 Games, the park will be closed and works will start to take down temporary venues and to adapt some of the existing venues for future use, as well as building more housing. The park will be re-opening in phases starting in 2013.
During this period the following temporary buildings are scheduled to be removed:
The recent failures of Worknet highlighted by Nick Tiratsoo still leave questions to be answered.
We know that £2 million was allocated for the contractor Widows and Orphans but we still don’t know what the targets and outputs were in each case or how much money the council actually paid the contractor in total.
Councillor Sullivan has now asked the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny committee for a review into the failure of the programme and will be pressing the council for further answers over the coming weeks.
“In normal times this failure would be damning for Labour councillors but in these difficult economic times it is unforgivable.”
“It is unforgivable that they have let down our Borough’s unemployed, it is unforgivable that they have allowed this failure to go on unreported for nearly three years and it is unforgivable that most of this money will now not be spent on employment programmes for our Borough at all.
“The failure of this contract could even have implications across the council. We know we’ve had problems with our schools contractor and our waste contractor and taken together it starts to paint a worrying picture for council contracts as a whole.
“We clearly need a full enquiry to get to the bottom of how this happened before the council goes down this road yet again.”
On 27 July 2012, in a press release on the Council’s website, Portfolio Holder Cllr. Mark Rusling described Leyton Market as ‘“a great opportunity for Waltham Forest to celebrate the Olympics”’, and claimed:
‘We have worked with the whole community – including local retailers – to get their support for this unique project.’
The final sentence of the press release was unequivocal:
‘Waltham Forest Council created the new food market through an innovative partnership with North London Business and Skateco UK’.
Three days later, Waltham Forest News made the same point:
‘Waltham Forest Council created the market to help local businesses capitalise on the extra visitors that will be flocking to the borough during the Games’ (WF News issue 71, 30 July 2012, p.7).
“The Chief Executive of North London Business has already resigned over this, so traders are right to expect some compensation.”
“Cllr Rusling was eager to take credit for the market before the Olympics and he and this Labour council must now take their share of the blame.
“Clearly at some point in this saga one part of the council didn’t know what another part was doing.
“I asked the council weeks ago whether they will be giving out compensation to the traders and they have refused, putting the blame squarely with North London Business.”
“As a board member of North London Business, Cllr Akram is also in a unique position to influence this decision. I think most local residents would expect him and Cllr Rusling to be considering their respective positions.”
“At the very least councillors and Cabinet members should be putting pressure on North London Business and Skateco UK Ltd to reimburse some or all of the money to the traders who were sold promises of customers that never arrived.”
500 Leyton High Road - entrance in Dawlish Road
Planning Application Number: 2012/0047
PROPOSAL: erection of a 2.05m high wall to the High Road frontage and part of the Jesse Road and Francis Road frontages.
DECISION: REFUSED – The applicant, through failure to provide suitably detailed drawings and a Heritage statement, has failed to demonstrate that the proposed boundary treatment would adequately preserve the setting of the special architectural and historic character of the host Grade 11* listed building.
Further details of the refusal may be found on the Council’s website, under the Planning Explorer, by quoting the application number
The Waltham Forest Guardian has reported that campaigners in Walthamstow living near the Line have grown increasingly concerned over a recent increase in the frequency, length and weight of the goods trains which travel along the track in the early hours.
Network Rail has finally agreed to investigate whether these freight trains are causing structural damage to their properties.
They have said that the investigation would last for a ‘decent amount of time’ and would include installation of monitoring equipment in several properties. No indication was given of a time span.
Network Rail admitted that the number of freight trains on the line may increase in late 2013, when the London Gateway ‘super port’ opens. The campaigners are demanding that monitoring should also cover this period.
This campaign has centred on Walthamstow, so far, however the Liberal Democrats would like to know how residents are affected as the freight trains go through Leyton and Leytonstone.
When the Council and the ODA decided to implement the temporary Olympic Controlled Parking Zone, it was clearly stated that it would be withdrawn on the 9th September following the closure of the Paralympic Games.
The Council also stated that they would be undertaking a consultation with the residents to find out if, in the light of their experience during the Games, they wished to make the Controlled Parking Zone permanent.
The Lib Dems have now discovered that the Council has already published a Traffic Order allowing them to extend the temporary provision for 18 months. It also states that the Council will be considering ‘in due course’ whether the provisions of the experimental orders should be continued in force indefinitely by means of permanent Orders.
Liberal Democrats feel very strongly that there is no need for permanent parking restrictions in most of the roads in areas GO1 – GO10, as they do not have a history of parking problems.
All residents are urged to send in written objections to both the temporary 18 month extension and the permanent CPZ to the Council at:
Closing date for objections: 8th February 2013
Proposal: Ground floor rear extension and formation of a two bedroom flat at the rear of 266-268, and formation of new access to upper floors.
This application was refused by the Planning Officers at the Town Hall.
Full details of the decision can be found on the Council’s website, in the Planning Explorer, under the application number.
Councillor Liz Phillips has raised concerns about Waltham Forest council’s contractor Babcock after it was revealed that almost 15% of the Borough’s schools are now in special measures following their two years as the council’s contractor.
In a written answer to Cllr Phillips, the Labour Cabinet member, Cllr Clare Coghill described the council’s risk analysis programme for schools as ‘a work in progress’ and said that the council’s priority had been ‘savings of £2m from the contract at an early opportunity’.
Councillor Liz Phillips, Waltham Forest Lib Dem spokesperson for Children and Member of the Council’s Corporate Parenting Board, said:
“Almost 15% of our schools are now in special measures and yet the council won’t be seeking any compensation from the contractor who presided over this mess.”
“Surely there should be something in our contract with this company that means at the very least they must pay for failing local kids and their parents?”
“In Waltham Forest we are now on our 4thLabour cabinet member for Children’s Services in just over two years. Perhaps if someone with a bit of experience would take responsibility for more than a few months then we wouldn’t be in this situation?”