NEIGHBOURS say Redbridge Council has not followed its democratic duty to publicise an important meeting about garden waste and parking.


Residents have said information about the public meeting at Wanstead House on Tuesday, October 24, is “conspicuous by its absence”.


The public forum meeting is the first being held in just under two years after area committee meetings were scrapped.

Area meetings, which took place four times a year, were informal events offering residents in each ward the chance to put questions to councillors - but it has not been publicised anywhere.


Michael Powis, of Grosvenor Road, Wanstead: “We used to have area meetings where you could get stuff off your chest. They were great because you could speak to councillors about issues that mattered to you. People felt they could raise any issue with their local councillor.


“Why is it so secretive? They don’t want to speak to us. Why haven’t they advertised it more openly?


“Local people think they have lost their democracy. These councillors don’t want to speak to us. I feel let down by the anti-democratic tactics.”


THe 77-year-old a member of the We Want Say action group, which opposes parking restrictions in High Street, Wanstead, said the scheme is unpopular and will ruin the town.


He also fears residents’ social lives will be hit, forcing them to pay more to enjoy themselves.


The 77-year-old said: “Things councils do can kill a place stone dead. The parking system will kill our nice high street.”


Mr Powis also criticised the lack of an option to retain the existing parking system in the high street while the controversial consultation rumbled on.


Another subject for discussion at the meeting is the borough’s paid-for green garden waste collection scheme, which has run for the past eight months, but is due to be scrapped next March.


He said: “We used to get green waste collected because that’s what we paid for. Now they have separated it out and are charging extra. The bags are flimsy, the scheme is rubbish and doesn’t work.”


Conservative councillor Michelle Dunn, representing the Wanstead ward, backed Mr Powis.


She said: “The local residents of Wanstead have waited since September 2015 for another local forum to take place in Wanstead despite there being two parking consultation during that timescale.


 “Area committees worked well in discussing parking proposals including residential parking schemes and the previous pay and display consultation undertaken in 2011, which was dropped due to the overwhelming opposition by businesses and residents.”


The campaigner urged as many people as possible to attend the meeting.

A spokesman for Redbridge Council said: “A list of upcoming local forums appears in each edition of Redbridge Life, which goes to every household in the borough.

"We also feature the upcoming local forums on the news and events area on the homepage of our website as well as substantial promotion through our social media channels in the run up to each forum.

"In addition, to ensure that we also reach residents who may not have internet access, we deliver leaflets a week in advance to 4,000 local residents living near the forum venue."

The meeting takes place at 6.30pm.