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WALTHAM FOREST: Council declares war on takeaways

12:23pm Wednesday 19th March 2008

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WAR has been declared on takeaways by the council.

The eyes of the world will be on Waltham Forest when the 2012 Olympic Games comes to town and council leader Cllr Clyde Loakes said he wants the borough to be neat and tidy and not full of takeaway litter.

He said: "As we move towards 2012, do we want the world to think Waltham Forest is just full of chicken boxes?"

Cllr Loakes added that the council's war on what he calls the blight of the chicken shop was the first part of a strategy to improve the centre's of borough's main areas.

He said that the authority was getting tough on fast food shops after its sustainable community consultation, conducted by Ipsos Mori, revealed residents were unhappy about the number of takeaways and the litter they produce.

"Waltham Forest is a borough that should be synonymous with change, progress, achievement - not grease, chicken and litter.

"They are sick of seeing discarded chicken boxes and bones in the street and sick of Waltham Forest being known for junk food and not culture, education and Olympics," Cllr Loakes added.

"In our borough there is a cafe or takeaway for every 370 residents and a lot of them are selling junk. Enough is definitely enough.

"We're not just picking on chicken shops, but all junk food outlets."

The council says trading standards officers will carry out more spot checks, anti-social behaviour teams will clamp down on disorder hotspots, and licensing officers will make sure businesses do not breach licensing conditions.

The authority will also look at what powers it has under planning law to limit the number of takeaways in a particular area.

Earlier this year, health cabinet member Cllr Liz Phillips called on the Government to take action to stop chicken shops opening before 5pm to make sure school children were unable to use them.

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technomist, walthamstow says...
1:20pm Thu 20 Mar 08

If Councilor Loakes does not like the area being thought of as having a fast food culture, he should try talking up the many very good eating places in the area and drawing peoples' attention to them, instead of stereotyping this vibrant and interesting community. Litter is the last of our worries. The biggest barrier improving the neighbourhood and creating a night-time culture of good eating is not fast food, it is fear of crime: he needs to get a grip on the hotspots round the Town Square, and Walthamstow Central and St James's Street stations. He should get the Safer Neighbourhood Teams to open their police station in the evenings, make some arrests and actually patrol after dark: but we need real police, not the plastic kind or soft-touch street wardens. There should be a major clamp-down on organised gangs to bring back business confidence: no more shell game scammers, dvd pirates, hoodies and street drinkers should be tolerated. He should also tell his enforcement teams to stop persecuting cafes that want to put tables out in front of their businesses, so that an evening cafe culture can develop and the streets are no longer given over to the hoodies. My final point is that people eat fast food chicken because it is cheap: Maybe after being forced to pay too much tax under this government and the council's ridiculous rates, people don't have much cash left over for fine cuisine. Perhaps he should ask himself why the local economy is so weak under his administration.

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Mr. T. C. Hull, Walthamstow says...
2:33pm Thu 20 Mar 08

I think the word that technomist should have used was
'maladministration'!
!

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CG, Chingford says...
3:15pm Thu 20 Mar 08

If Clr Loakes is so bothered about the vast numbers of fast food outlets WHY does the council still continue to give permission for these places to open up????

these shops should be made to clear up the litter they produce, that would soon get them to cut down on the amount of packaging they produce

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mdj, e10 says...
4:17pm Thu 20 Mar 08

Can the Council not make the connection between imposing voucher parking on what were free short-term side-street parking bays and the spread of fast-food outlets?
Shops with daytime business lose their passing trade; shops with evening business do not - these are mostly take-aways. Therefore, the Council's policy effectively subsidises the take-aways it claims to deplore.

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mr khalid, walthamstone says...
7:26pm Thu 20 Mar 08

i am agreing with mr technomist that is why is bleming shop for the rubish not peple who is droping on flor in street? mr lokes is wrong to i agreing. if you go no go arae lik the central station of leytonstone is dangros plac becose to many drugdring peple hangeded round in nitetime and scardeded peple and beging mony and shoteded you if no giv them mony for by new drugdrink? chuck this peple from stret and [plac be nicer for evrybode. kebab chickn chines al food shop is good veritey

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Morris Hickey, Chigwell (Redbridge) says...
10:52am Fri 21 Mar 08

Fine words, Councillor Loakes. But you know as well as I do that local planning committees can refuse applications for very good reason, and the Secretary of State allows them on appeal. Similarly, the council can refuse a lkicence, or grant one with strict conditions, and the licence is granted, or conditions relaxed, on appeal to the magistrates' court. So don't just rattle your sabre unless you can be certain of delivery.

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md250, ilford says...
5:35pm Fri 21 Mar 08

technomist wrote:
If Councilor Loakes does not like the area being thought of as having a fast food culture, he should try talking up the many very good eating places in the area and drawing peoples' attention to them, instead of stereotyping this vibrant and interesting community. Litter is the last of our worries. The biggest barrier improving the neighbourhood and creating a night-time culture of good eating is not fast food, it is fear of crime: he needs to get a grip on the hotspots round the Town Square, and Walthamstow Central and St James's Street stations. He should get the Safer Neighbourhood Teams to open their police station in the evenings, make some arrests and actually patrol after dark: but we need real police, not the plastic kind or soft-touch street wardens. There should be a major clamp-down on organised gangs to bring back business confidence: no more shell game scammers, dvd pirates, hoodies and street drinkers should be tolerated. He should also tell his enforcement teams to stop persecuting cafes that want to put tables out in front of their businesses, so that an evening cafe culture can develop and the streets are no longer given over to the hoodies. My final point is that people eat fast food chicken because it is cheap: Maybe after being forced to pay too much tax under this government and the council's ridiculous rates, people don't have much cash left over for fine cuisine. Perhaps he should ask himself why the local economy is so weak under his administration.
like the exchange centre in ilford, parts of walthamstow have simply become no go areas, the police are a joke, town square planners clueless,and up their own arse

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mr khalid, walthamstow says...
11:38am Sat 22 Mar 08

im looking high stret and seing so many rubishes today. kenturky fry chick fishchip pizabox al trowing down flor likeded the anemeles go mad pepal. only one man brooming swep flor alday no good?

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h.porter, Walthamstow says...
9:53pm Tue 25 Mar 08

Technomist has got it right when saying the Council would be better off talking up the restaurants and cafes in Waltham Forest that are providing good food.
I would go even further and say the Council should be promoting vegetariansm in the Borough, in line with their vow to tackle global warming. Changing to a vegetarian diet is one way to reduce land, water and energy use and to reduce your carbon footprint.

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caroline, walthamstow says...
11:20am Mon 31 Mar 08

i can't believe that anyone thinks the most important aspect of 'sustainable community' is really to reduce chicken shop litter. the council clearly wants to distract attention away from more important failings, especially in relation to waste, recycling, and supporting a vibrant community scene.
in picking on an apparantly minor 'scapechicken' perhaps they should have waited til they'd read this article in the national guardian http://lifeandhealth

.guardian.co.uk/food

/story/0,,2268045,00

.html
about chicken shops, and who uses them (clue - its about class, poverty - and race).

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Chuckles, Leyton says...
2:01pm Wed 2 Apr 08

Caroline, you forgot one other important factor in why fried chicken shops are so popular: laziness.

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Comments are closed on this article.

Council leader Clyde Loakes with five sacks of takeaway litter found in Walthamstow High Street Council leader Clyde Loakes with five sacks of takeaway litter found in Walthamstow High Street

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