STAY TOGETHER

Valerie Lewis and others organised an amazing meeting tonight at St Joseph's School to discuss the road closures in Capworth St and Vicarage Road. The hall was filled to over-flowing with many having to stand and some not even able to get into the hall. The "Stay Together" campaign has only been running for a very short time, so this was an amazing achievement to get so many people to a meeting on a cold dark night.

There was a lot of anger and frustration in the room. Even the headteacher spoke about the problems the closures were causing for parents, staff and visitors. Resident after resident spoke about the difficulties the road closures were causing them. Many also complained that they had not understood the consultation process, and that the closing of the roads had come as a complete surprise. People said that questions asked if you wanted roads to be safer, and of course everyone said "yes" but it was not clear that this meant the Council considered you had then agreed to having roads closed.

Residents also complained that no councillors were present, and a key demand was that the 6 councillors from the wards affected should meet with the residents at the earliest opportunity.

Wendy Davis, from Waltham Forest Streets for All, addressed the meeting and explained that WFS4A was an umbrella organisation for all groups in the borough who are fighting road closures and other aspects of Mini Holland. We can all share information, research and experiences. Most recently there has been a campaign in Markhouse area which has proved particularly successful. Wendy congratulated Stay Together on the huge turnout and Val said she welcomed being involved with WFS4A and appreciated their input. Wendy said there were lots of resources on the WFS4A website which could be useful.

Val then spoke about the group's strategy going forward. She called for volunteers to be representatives for all the streets in the area so that residents had a known point of contact. Everyone was encouraged to leave their contact details or to email wfstaytogether@yahoo.com. Val explained that it was important for everyone to object in writing to the Experimental Traffic Management Order that is behind the current road closures in order to try to prevent them becoming permanent. Stay Together will help residents with this process.

The next task is to organise a meeting with the local councillors. Although it is believed that all six support Clyde Loakes initiative the meeting felt it was councillors' duty to represent the local residents, and it was clear from the numbers attending that there is huge opposition. To quote Cerys Matthews yet again "councillors need to learn that they are here to serve us not to rule us"