Please Feedback: Litter/Street Cleanliness Concerns

 

Every Litter Helps?

MEOTRA have a meeting with the council on Wednesday morning about various street cleaning issues in the area:

• NOX cannisters in Tredegar Square
• No recycling bin bags distributed for ages
• Street bins overflowing, moving over to "big-belly" bins in problem areas
• Ongoing issues with Onyz House Eurobins not being put back and often left in the road
• Issues reported via the LYN app (on Android or iPhone) being "closed" without the problems resolved (e.g the orange barriers have been around a hole on Mile End Road for months)
• Siting Eurobins on Grove Road at the southern end where all the shops are

Please let us know if there are any "street" issues you'd like us to add to the list and we'll pass them on.

👍

Free Family Cycle Training - book your place

 

The wonderful Bikeworks are putting on some FREE family cycle training that some of you with families might want to book onto. The training takes place in the east side of Vicky Park.

There's also a Dr Bike there from 9-12 on 14th February.

Full details are on the dedicated Bikeworks Page. If you are unable to provide your own cycles, they will be able to supply one for free with a helmet at their Victoria Park Cycling Hub.

#NotALottaPeopleKnowThat: The founder of Bikeworks, Jim, is a local and is often found in the Morgan Arms. He manned the decks as DJ for their NYE party

#MorganAFeeling

Increasing the Number of Tall Buildings in our Area: Council webinar tonight 5-6.30PM (Thursday 27-01-2022)

 

Today, Thursday 27th January between 5-6.30PM there is a webinar to discuss allowing more tall buildings in our area of Bow. Please attend if you can as this could significantly affect our area

Please click on this link to access the meeting:

Thursday 5pm 27 January 2022 (5.00-6.30pm): Central Area – Victoria Park, Globe Town, Bow, Stepney, Mile End, Lime House, Bow Common and part of Wapping, Shadwell and Poplar.

The consultation documents can be found at Tall Buildings SPD | Let’s Talk Tower Hamlets.

The consultation doesn’t specifically mention the Benjy’s site which you will recall at one point was potentially going to be 43 storeys high! It will be worth asking about that at the meeting as that would significantly impact the Bow/Mile End Area in numerous ways.

The key area of concern is the proposal that a large part of the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) campus site be designated as a Tall Buildings Area. This would involve demolishing the reasonably short line of buildings on the canal front (currently used as mature student accommodation) and replacing them with ones over twice the height (30m+, 10+ storeys). There are concerns this would significantly negatively impact Mile End Park’s Art Zone, particularly regarding the loss of afternoon sunlight.

Additionally, it has been suggested a pedestrian/cycle bridge would link the park and the QMUL site. Many locals object to this for several reasons including that:

• Any bridge would have to be very long (it needs to be tall enough for boats/bikes/pedestrians to go under and yet the slope has to be gentle enough for wheelchair access). Hence it would take up a significant amount of the park’s limited green space.
• Areas under canal bridges often have ASB activity associated with them (including muggings etc).
• This portion of the park would in effect become an annex of the university and it would suffer from overuse. It is already at saturation in the summertime.
• There are already TWO bridges within 300m of each other and further bridges are unnecessary.

We propose QMUL seriously consider the Guardian Angel's school site (which is a significant size and has been closed for around two years). This would save the area being blighted by tall buildings and importantly stop creating a precedent for tall buildings in the area.

(We will be writing another post shortly after the above meeting to detail how you can input to the consultation process)

Queen's Platinum Jubilee Party - Pop in to the Lord Tredegar tonight or tomorrow @7PM for a chat

We are going to have an amazing time. That's a promise. 1977 (see attached) looks like a hard act to follow. The main street party was in Alloway. By the time of the next Jubilee an even bigger party was put on in Lichfield. Big boots to fill pic.twitter.com/Z47RLZHHE5

— MEOTRA (@MeotraE3) December 11, 2021

Last December Tower Hamlets Council launched the Jubilee Celebration Events Fund for events and parties to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. In the past Meotra have celebrated the 1977 and 2002 Jubilees with street parties and we would love to do the same again this Summer centred around the Lord Tredegar.

It has been a rotten couple of years where our usual Meotra events haven't been possible, but finger's crossed we can put on a good "do" this Summer and bring us together as a community.

The Jubilee weekend is 4 days long from Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June and we would like to hold our celebrations on one of these days with the whole of the MEOTRA community invited. MEOTRA approached the the Lord Tredegar (the Pub not the person) about this a few weeks ago and they are onboard.

The deadline for the grant application is Monday 31st January at NOON and we are keen to hear from anyone ASAP who would like to be involved in whatever capacity and/or just wants to put forward their ideas. Some of us will be in the Lord Tredegar tonight and tomorrow (that's Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th) from 7PM for 45 mins or so to look at options. Pop along and have a chat. Just ask for us at the bar.

We are hopeful of obtaining the £500 grant and Meotra could donate something like £1000 from our reserves.

As mentioned in a previous article on 22nd December in memoriam to Stan Jones when I discussing the street party ideas with a friend, Stan was always a key part of the celebrations and they meant so much to him. It would be great to find a way to honour Stan on the day.

I hope to see some of you either tonight or tomorrow to answer any queries or just exchange ideas 😃

Where would you like to see more EV chargers?

Tower Hamlets Council has been given some government money to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers across the borough, and the council want to know where you'd like them put.

If you click along to the council's dedicated page at https://talk.towerhamlets.gov.uk/evchargers you can read more about the initiative and put a pin where you think new EV chargers should go on a Tower Hamlets street.

As far as I can see from the Zap Map website, the MEOTRA area only has THREE existing street EV points (all in Tredegar Square).

There is a discussion on Andrew Wood's Canary Wharf and Isle of Dogs Facebook Group which gives a community-based overview of the various types of charger and issues surrounding them (non-electric cars parking there, folk overcharging vehicles etc).

Your Views on the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Plan - Consultation is Live

 

After five years of community development and consultation, a draft Neighbourhood Plan for Roman Road Bow has been validated by a meeting of the Tower Hamlets Council Cabinet on Wednesday 24 November, and is now out for public consultation until the end of January. If you can please spend some time responding to the  consultation and give your views on the development and use of land in the area.

Alex, Chair of Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum continues:

If successful, the Neighbourhood Plan will for the first time give local residents the power to shape the planning decisions, economic development and growth in the Roman Road Bow area, by setting neighbourhood priorities that the Borough Council must take into account when making planning and funding decisions.
 
The Neighbourhood Plan area extends from Globe Town to the west, Victoria Park to the north, Mile End to the south and the London Legacy Development Corporation area to the east. It therefore covers key local landmarks including Roman Road Market, parts of Mile End Park and Bow House Business Centre, as well as tens of thousands of local residents.

How was the Neighbourhood Plan developed?

The Neighbourhood Plan has been developed by the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum following its establishment in 2016. Over the last five years, the Forum has sought to engage as many different groups and individuals as possible to shape the community’s priorities for local planning and community development.
 
The key themes and policies in the plan are as follows:

• A thriving high street and local economy – encouraging the flexible use of premises
• Green streets that encourage walking and cycling – improving safe walking and cycling routes
• Beautiful public spaces – enhancing public spaces and designating local green spaces
• New life for our local heritage – conserving and enhancing Bow Wharf and designating unprotected local pubs as heritage assets
• High quality affordable housing – supporting affordable, high quality, low-carbon community-led housing
• A resilient and well-networked community infrastructure – supporting new and improved sports and play facilities, and improving existing community facilities

If it is successfully adopted, it will give local residents significant power over the local area up to 2031, including the ability to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, to have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and to grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead.
 
How can I have my say?
 
The Plan [is out for consultation until the end of January], through the Council’s website.
 
Details of the neighbourhood plan and supporting documents can be found at https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/planning_policy_guidance/neighbourhood_planning/Roman_Road_Bow.aspx


Due to restrictions relating to the coronavirus pandemic, hard copies of the neighbourhood plan will not be made available at the Town Hall. Please contact the Plan Making team on the details below if you have difficulty accessing the plan.

Responses to the consultation can be submitted through the consultation web page, or by email to neighbourhoodplanning@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

Responses must be received by 5pm on Monday 31 January 2022.

Please speak up! This is a key time to respond, as after this latest consultation, the Forum will be reviewing and updating the plan in the light of feedback received.

What happens next?
 
After the consultation, the plan then goes to an independent examiner to consider if it meets certain basic conditions and other legal requirements. The examiner can ask for changes to be made, but if the examiner agrees the plan meets legal requirements, it will be recommended to proceed to a local referendum. Everyone in the plan area who is entitled to vote in local elections will be able to vote to approve or reject the plan in the referendum.
 
If approved, the neighbourhood plan will help shape developments in Bow up to 2031, and it will be a material consideration in the Council considering planning applications. It will form part of the planning framework, sitting under the Local Plan 2031 for Tower Hamlets, which is under the London Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework.

How can I get involved?

• You can join the Neighbourhood Forum on our website