NEWS UPDATE: BROOKS FARM

Skeltons Lane Park is also home to Brooks Farm, a city farm that has been run by the Council for many years.  The farm has recently been taken over by the YMCA who have acquired funding to renovate it.  The farm looks very smart and even has a café.

Focus Team member Bob Sullivan who has been associated with the farm for over 30 years says;

“It is more a venue that has animals than a real city farm, but it is well worth a visit”

Parents protest outside the Farm

Residents protest at YMCA changes

Unfortunately the children who had, over the years, worked at Brooks Farm as volunteers have been told that they are not wanted.  The YMCA has said that there will be events which children can participate on the farm but they will need to pay for the privilege. The children’s parents have been protesting about this and have launched a petition.  They believe the previous Farm Family is being broken up.

Bob Sullivan is currently trying to organise a meeting between the parents and the YMCA to try to get an agreeable solution.

Focus will keep you informed of the outcome.

WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN

Council decides to limit child abuse checks

Waltham Forest Councillors will no longer be the subject of checks to protect our vulnerable children and adults unless they meet them once a week or more than 3 days per month or between the hours of 2am and 6am.

All councillors are Corporate Parents to all of the children in Council care, so they should actively safeguard and protect those who are looked after. Abuse of children has now been shown to have taken place for many years in and out of Council homes across the country. It is important therefore that residents are confident that all of our all Councillors should have a criminal records check even if they never work with children or only do so rarely.

Councillors are people who can be trusted with our children.

Former Liberal Democrat Group Leader Bob Sullivan says, ‘All councillors therefore should be checked.’

PETITION: click here to sign the petition.

LEYTON WARD FOCUS NEWSLETTER 352

The latest edition of the Leyton FOCUS Newsletter has just gone to press.

It will be delivered to every household across the ward by our team of volunteers.

Please contact Bob Sullivan on 8556 8335 if you would like to help deliver the FOCUS near your home. It is usually published about every six weeks and a round should take about 45 minutes. Thank you.

You can access a copy of the FOCUS here: Leyton 352

PROPOSED CHANGES TO TICKET OFFICES

Don’t forget to have your say on Transport for London’s proposed changes to ticket offices by 28 September

Transport for London has recently outlined its vision for the future of the tube which, amongst other things, proposes changes to ticket offices.

As the statutory consumer body representing the interests of passengers in and around London, London Travel Watch wants to ensure that any changes to the way that London Underground operates are in the best overall interests of consumers.

To ensure that this happens, they have been running a six-week consultation on their website  to give passengers the opportunity to review TfL’s planned ticket office changes so that they can tell us what tickets they buy, any difficulties they foresee and the mitigation measures they would like to see implemented at their local stations.

London Travel Watch will then feed back the survey results to TfL to give them a chance to make any amendments before the changes are introduced.

The consultation will end on 28 September 2014 at:

www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/tubeconsultation.

INFLATION BUSTING PAY RISE!

CHIEF EXECUTIVE AWARDED A £15,000 PAY RISE

Waltham Forest’s Labour run Council has voted to give the Chief Executive of the Council a whopping inflation busting pay rise of £15,000 – an 8% increase. This makes his salary £195,000! Even the Prime Minister only gets £142,000.

Labour councillors said it was reward for overseeing council cuts.

Given that the cuts were a loss of 1,000 jobs plus salary cuts to the rest of the council staff should this have been rewarded?

On top of that, Labour councillors voted to give the redundant deputy chief executive a massive £140,000 pay off.

You can be assured that the staff who lost their jobs did not receive any golden pay offs.

Can you believe the way this Labour Council spends your money. Last year they increased the Deputy leader’s pay by 25%.

The Liberal Democrats will keep on reporting the arrogant and wasteful ways that this Council spends your money.

Your Money Down The Drain

 

WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN

Waltham Forest Council decides to limit child abuse checks

Waltham Forest Councillors will no longer be the subject of checks to protect our vulnerable children and adults unless they meet them once a week or more than 3 days per month or between the hours of 2am and 6am.

All councillors are Corporate Parents to all of the children in Council care, so they should actively safeguard and protect those who are looked after. Abuse of children has now been shown to have taken place for many years in and out of Council homes across the country.

It is important therefore that residents are confident that all of our Councillors are people who can be trusted with our children.

Abuse of children has now been shown to have taken place for many years in and out of Council homes across the country.

It is important therefore that residents are confident that all of our Councillors are people who can be trusted with our children.

If you agree with our views on protecting our children click here to sign the petition.

LEYTON WARD FOCUS NEWSLETTER 352

The latest edition of the Leyton FOCUS Newsletter has just gone to press.

It will be delivered to every household across the ward by our team of volunteers.

Please contact Bob Sullivan on 8556 8335 if you would like to help deliver the FOCUS near your home. It is usually published about every six weeks and a round hould take about 45 minutes. Thank you.

You can access a copy of the FOCUS here: Leyton 352

ECONOMY NOW BIGGER THAN PRE-CRASH LEVELS

Liberal Democrats have cleared up Labour’s economic mess with GDP now above pre-crash levels, new figures show.

The UK economy is now larger than before the financial crisis in 2008 according to the latest ONS quarterly data.

It comes as the IMF predicted Britain will be the fastest-growing advanced economy in 2014.

Lib Dem Treasury Minister Danny Alexander has said it vindicated the party’s decision to form the coalition in 2010.

Commenting, Danny Alexander said:

“Today we are passing a major milestone on the long road back to full recovery. There is still a long way to go but Britain has recovered the economic ground lost under Labour and is forging ahead.

“The main reason that we stepped forward to form the coalition was to sort out Labour’s economic mess and rebuild a stronger economy and a fairer society for the future.

“By forming the coalition we gave the country a long term economic recovery plan based on Liberal Democrat values and policies and the stability to see it through.

“Because we have taken the difficult decisions to stick to that plan we are now seeing strengthening growth and the creation of record numbers of jobs.

“Growth and job creation, combined with rising business investment is the only way to deliver the higher living standards that the families of Britain deserve.”

NEWS RELEASE: HELP FOR PUB LANDLORDS

Help for tenant landlords

New rules unveiled by the Liberal Democrats will help pub tenants battling to pay rent or beer costs in Waltham Forest, Liberal Democrat FOCUS Team campaigner Bob Sullivan said.

Landlords tied to large pub companies have said they are struggling to make a decent living, with more than half claiming they earn less than the minimum wage.

The Government will give landlords the right to request a rent review after five years, as well as set up an independent adjudicator with the power to resolve disputes.

Bob Sullivan said:

“Local pubs and their owners play a vital part in vibrant local communities right across the country, as well as making an important contribution to the economy.

Far too many landlords feel their income is squeezed by big pub companies. So, we are taking action to make sure they get a fairer deal.”

Tied tenants have to buy beer from their owning company, and usually pay a higher price for it. This should be balanced out by subsidised rent or other benefits they may receive from their pub company, but this may not happen and rents can be too high.

However, under the new code, pub landlords will benefit from fairer rent assessments.