Ferndale Area Residents Association (FARA)

Olympic police base compensation money to be spent on Jubilee Pond

faraleytonstone — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:07:26 +0000

FARA members may recall a recent consultation on how to use the £170,000 that the Met Police will pay for their controversial police base on Wanstead Flats during the Olympics. A limited range of options was given: FARA favoured restoring the tree avenues in Bush Wood, but the final vote went to relining Jubilee Pond. (People who pass this part of the Flats regularly will be aware this pond is somewhat leaky and prone to drying up.)

The decision has not gone down well with some locals, who think the Corporation of London should have stumped up for the repairs, allowing the new money to be used for something else. See the local Guardian for more on this story.

Davies Lane School to double in size – consultation happening now!

faraleytonstone — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:22:27 +0000

The Council plans to double the number of pupils enrolling at Davies Lane School from this September, which involves building on the Pastures site to increase the school’s capacity. There are no plans available yet for what the new buildings would look like. A public consultation is happening now (deadline is 5 February) so please feel free to make your own response on the Council website, and if you are a FARA member please let us know what you think as we will be making our own response and would like to hear from as many residents as possible.

FARA is due to meet a senior school governor next week and we will update our members, and this website, with any useful information we may receive.

From the consultation document:

“The proposal for Davies Lane Primary School is to enlarge the school to increase the physical capacity by two forms of entry, utilising the Pastures site. The number of pupils to be admitted to the school into Reception from 1 September 2012, and subsequent years, would increase from 60 to 120. The number of pupils to be admitted to the nursery will remain at 45 full time equivalent places.”

Lincolns to be a film set

faraleytonstone — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:37:14 +0000

On Wednesday 23rd November the outside / forecourt of the former Lincolns pub will be used for a film shoot, for The Magnificent Eleven film. There will be a fight scene followed by an arrest. Exciting!

Parking from outside 2-20 Davies Lane will be taken by film crew vehicles on the day. After the filming, the building will be left in its new guise as an “Indian restaurant”.

Demolition will now take place in the New Year.

Missing cat – have you seen Izzit?

faraleytonstone — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:08:20 +0000

A cat has been taken from the Chillout Lounge without the owner’s permission. An “older woman with short hair” went into the Chillout Lounge, said “I’m here to collect the cat” and took it (we don’t know who she was).

The cat is fluffy, grey and white (part Persian) and is called Izzit.

Anyone seeing such a cat should contact Flash or the Chillout Lounge as they both have the owner’s details. Thanks!

All change on the shopping parade…

faraleytonstone — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:06:18 +0000

We’ve heard through the grapevine that the former Tyre World shop (used to be Age Concern before) is to become a bathroom and tile shop.

Also the former ‘La Mama’ cafe is being refurbished but we’re not sure for what business yet – if anyone knows already, please drop us a line!

Tow truck car theft appeal

faraleytonstone — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 17:57:11 +0000

Following sightings of a tow truck operating in our neighbourhood very late at night, our Safer Neighbourhoods team thinks that it may be being used by car thieves. So if you see a tow truck with a car on its back at an unusually late hour, please take the registration number if you can and call 999 to report it.

FARA ‘spring cleans’ the neighbourhood

faraleytonstone — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:09:46 +0000

Spring Clean volunteers with their haul

Today FARA participated in the borough-wide Spring Clean, and appropriately we had a beautiful spring day and warm sunshine. The Council supplied us with litter pickers/sacks/gloves and high-visibility vests, and also a council official to take part alongside us (and get her ear bent about some of our local litter and recycling issues!). Some of us went round the streets in the FARA area, de-littering the roadsides and noting various flytips and dirty front gardens to report to the Council. Others performed a thorough clean-up of ‘our’ section of Wanstead Flats. Altogether we gathered about a dozen sackloads of assorted rubbish which the Council later sent a truck to collect. Thanks to all the volunteers who took part!

Missing cat – have you seen it?

faraleytonstone — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:15:00 +0000

A cat has gone missing from the FARA area. The cat pictured is missing from the top of Montague Road, where it borders Wanstead Flats.

The cat is black and white, and notably has an all-black nose. He answers to the name of Ben.

Please check your sheds in case he’s trapped inside!

If you find Ben, please call 07765 004602 – even if the worst has happened his owner wants to know.

Lincolns pub to be demolished to make way for flats?

faraleytonstone — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:47:11 +0000

The Lincolns site is in the process of being bought by CBHA, a housing association. FARA chair Flash met with Freya Johnstone from CBHA to find out more.

The site is still owned by Trust Inns at present but CBHA expect to complete the sale soon. Their current plans include:

Demolishing the existing building
Creating a new building, which will be level with the back and front of the neighbouring block, and the same height (4 storeys)
This new building will contain 3 flats on each floor, and the top two floors would be shared ownership with the bottom two being social housing rentals
There would also be two houses along the side in Davies Lane, similar in size to the existing terraced houses

FARA expressed concerns about amenity space, the lack of parking space, loss of the historic frontage of Lincolns (historically known as The Elms), and the number of people which would be accommodated. CBHA had considered each of these issues, although their plans do include loss of the historic frontage. We then had a site visit and looked at issues like the niche behind Lincolns on Pastures Path which attracts anti-social behaviour, so this could be designed out.

It was a productive initial meeting in which we could establish a dialogue and find out the early stages of CBHA’s plans. In due course, CBHA will complete the purchase of the Lincolns site and put in a formal planning application – at that point FARA will take an official view on the plans, and of course keep you posted!

New Council policies out for consultation – have your say

faraleytonstone — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:52:30 +0000

The Council is consulting residents on a new Core Strategy Document. This provides the strategic vision, objectives and policies for the Borough up to 2026. It covers key topics such as housing, transport, education, climate change, job creation, health… all the things we care about in fact! You can participate in the consultation online here.

There is also a new set of planning policies covering issues such alterations and extensions, how much amenity space/garden each new home should have, etc. Participate in this consultation here.

For both consultations the deadline for responses is 5pm on 28 February. You’ll need to register and login to leave your comments.