CHINGFORD: 'Back Stow housing plans' say animal rights campaigners (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)
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CHINGFORD: 'Back Stow housing plans' say animal rights campaigners
4:11pm Monday 1st August 2011 in News By Daniel Binns
ANIMAL rights campaigners are calling on residents to support a planning application to build a housing estate at Walthamstow Stadium before the consultation deadline ends.
The 'Greyt Exploitations' group, who are supported by the Waltham Forest Green Party, argue that greyhound racing is cruel and harmful to animals - a claim denied by the industry.
They want residents to back a plan by owner and housing association London and Quadrant (L&Q) to build a housing complex at the site instead of a rival bid to reopen it as a racing venue.
The stadium closed in 2008 but campaigners from the Save Our Stow (SOS) group want L&Q to sell the site to millionaire businessman Bob Morton, who has pledged to introduce dog racing alongside new affordable housing.
L&Q says such a plan is not viable.
In a statement, a spokesman for Greyt Exploitations urged residents to back L&Q. He added: "The cruelty and suffering must stop."
Campaigners also want residents and supporters to lobby Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy and Chingford MP Iain Duncan Smith, who both support the return of greyhound racing to the stadium.
Mr Morton strongly denies claims that animals would be harmed if the stadium was reopened for dog racing and says he has been working with the League Against Cruel Sports and the Dogs Trust on his bid, which is yet to be submitted to the council.
The consultation deadline for residents to submit their views on L&Q's plans expires this Thursday (August 4).
Visit www.walthamforest.gov.uk, click on 'planning' and search for application 2011/0898 to view and comment on the plans.
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Comments(23)
sensibility
says...
6:47pm Mon 1 Aug 11
It is unfair for greytexploitations to mislead people into thinking that if they dont accept L & Qs proposals that greyhound racing will return.
L & Q have stated whilst they own the property greyhound racing will not return.
For many residents the issue is that we dont want large tower blocks, dense housing, we dont want local resources drained or overstretched and an increase in crime.
Walthamster
says...
7:18pm Mon 1 Aug 11
Are the Greens competing with the national Lib Dem party to see who can lose the most supporters in the shortest time?
Val Wolf
says...
7:31pm Mon 1 Aug 11
Greyhound racing is cruel and inhumane. The greyhounds live in confined, sometimes squalid conditions, and when let out to race, they suffer and die from injuries such as broken limbs, broken necks, paralysis, and cardiac arrest. The greyhounds are short-term investments, valued only as long as they generate a profit for their owners.Their post-racing fate falls to volunteer adoption groups that work tirelessly to adopt retired greyhounds into loving homes. Despite that according to the RSPCA, United Kingdom greyhounds that are injured or are not fast enough disappear at the rate of 20 per day.
For more information on injuries these dogs suffer, please view:
http://www.grey2kusa
.org/azInjuries.html
http://www.grey2kusa
.org/eNEWS/G2K-02281
1Email.html
Dogs play an important role in our lives and deserve to be protected from industries and individuals that do them harm.
Val Wolf Board Member, GREY2K USA
kermitthefrog
says...
8:22pm Mon 1 Aug 11
waltham
says...
10:04pm Mon 1 Aug 11
The application is for 301 homes some 8 floors in height which will blot the landscape and the area would not be able to cope . It has nothing to do with Greyhound racing.
It is for local residents to decide not animal rights or anyone else
moralthinker
says...
11:49pm Mon 1 Aug 11
Maybe then you should be writing to you MP Stella Creasy as she seems to be drooling at the mouth when speaking of the residents wanting the abusive track re opened.
The same Stella Creasy who is a member of the all party greyhound parliamentary group who's purpose it is to promote the greyhound industry in parliament,in return for 2 free nights out at a london track each year.Is your MP looking out for her constituents?
The promotion and selling of Bob Morton's desires,by SC, to the Mayor of London and the sports minister Hugh Robertson to gain political backing for a re opening in time for the olympics, to me does not seem she is looking out for her constituents.
Its quite simple really, the only way no 'harm' (abuse)to greyhounds can be met is to keep the Stow closed.
We live in the year 2011, and it really is time to focus on what people really need in their lives without animal abuse.
waltham
says...
8:00am Tue 2 Aug 11
All councillors and both MP's are inundated by residents who want the family night out greyhound racing and the boroughs heritage.
There are no objections from the dogs trust and league against cruel sports to the re opening because the groups have all had meetings and understand what is involved.
as for the local green party they really should give up . They don't understand what local people want and i think they will have just wiped out their party
Greytexploitations
says...
9:13am Tue 2 Aug 11
Let the people decide....
Lazyfastdog
says...
9:18am Tue 2 Aug 11
greyhounds being exploited.
This "sport" is responsible for the death of tens of thousands of dogs every year, both through horrific injuries sustained during racing around too tight bends at high speeds & also through their destruction when they are no longer deemed profitable to keep due to injury or just getting slower! A greyhound's racing career starts at around 18 months of age & is finished typically by the age of 3 years. A greyhound's natural lifespan is around 14 years. There will never be enough homes for all the thousands of surplus dogs & so the majority are killed; if they are lucky by a humane method, often not, as this costs the owner, to spend money on their unprofitable dog!
Common methods of killing a dog including shooting them through the head, drowning or dumping the poor, terrified animal on a motorway to be hit by a car, among other barbaric methods. Often dogs will have their ears cut off first, so that they cannot be traced back to their owner by the identification tattoos in their ears! Some dogs are shipped abroad to be forced to run & live in horrific condtions, often with already sustained injuries.
That is if the dog makes it into racing. Thousands of puppies are over-bred every year & obviously not all of these will make it into racing. These surplus babies are culled before they even make it to adult-hood! Those that do have a short career in racing are often kept in appalling conditions, and the so-called self-regulation of the industry does little to prevent this.
All greyhounds, even the lucky ones that do find a retirement home, suffer. They often have injuries & arthritis which cause them pain due to the stress put on their limbs from racing around poorly designed & maintained tracks.
http://www.greytexpl
oitations.com/awaren
ess-videos
LoughtonLord
says...
10:20am Tue 2 Aug 11
It was closed because it was no longer financially viable. When i went as a kid (im 35 now) it was packed.....when i went just before it closed it wasnt even half full and that was a saturday so midweek must have been dire.
I understand locals wanting such an iconic place being re-opened. But you cant run a business for love alone. There is no profit in it and thats why it wont open again.
waltham
says...
1:35pm Tue 2 Aug 11
L&Q put a hold to buy in july 2007 while it was still operating as a viable stadium.. It's a goldmine ..
As for usual animal rights ban this ban that .. you show all photos .Show me just one for walthamstow stadium where a greyhound is being treated badly.
You are not from the local area so be concerned with your own issues and of course this is NOT about greyhound racing.
It 301 homes , 8 floors in height and crime den waiting to happen on top of all the traffic. The borough can't cope.
Cllr. Pye who does not represent any of her residents should be voted out of office and I urge people to stand against her. she has caused nothing but harm and been most unhelpful as a councillor in my opinion
Helen, Walthamstow
says...
2:44pm Tue 2 Aug 11
By all means, campaign against greyhound racing if that's what rows your boat.
But please, please don't ally it with a request for support for an over-sized housing estate in a borough that is running out of spaces for children in primary schools, is pressed on health facilities, has very few jobs to offer and with a council that's cutting back its services because of lack of money.
Greytexploitations
says...
3:09pm Tue 2 Aug 11
sensibility
says...
6:16pm Tue 2 Aug 11
Why is it giving the impression that if people dont "vote Yes" for L & Qs current proposals the only alternative is a return to dog racing?
This isnt true by any means.
It also gives the impression that without the current L & Q plans being accepted the dog track will suddenly re-open.
This is misleading and totally untrue.
There is nothing stopping an application being made for housing in alternative design that any resident would be pleased to live in.
There is nothing on your website stating that L & Q have stated dog racing will not return whilst they own the land.
I am an animal lover and against any cruelty. I have absolutely no problem with anyone telling the local council that they dont want a dog track.
What I strongly object to is the fact your website does not give all the facts relating to the local issues surrounding the Stadium Site.
I reckon if L & Q had put in a proposal showing streets lined with family houses of a similar design and height to those already in-situ locally, the current situation would be very different.
moralthinker
says...
6:22pm Tue 2 Aug 11
@walthamstow, if you care to look up the greyt exploitations sit you will see a video of horrific 'accidents' involving greyhounds filmed coming to the 1st bend at WALTHAMSTOW before it was closed.B.Morton CANNOT assure that such 'accidents' will happen again if he got his way with the help of politician friends.
Also YES no profit your right!Huge declines in attendance and income for the GBGB over the last few years,how will Morton be free from the non viability of the finances the rest of the industry feels?
The Stow originally closed because of financial troubles.
as for the Dog Trust and LACS, have you written to them for their stance with Morton?
bishbosh
says...
7:43pm Tue 2 Aug 11
moralthinker
says...
8:42pm Tue 2 Aug 11
From the Independent 19th may 2008
In August, however, the lights will finally go out at Walthamstow. Falling profits and attendances have forced the stadium's owners to sell the land to developers. Charles Chandler, whose family have owned the course since it opened in 1933, said yesterday: "With all of the principal income streams in sharp decline, and general running costs rising relentlessly, the company's operations have become unsustainable."
As for 'continuing' to improve track, and racing surfaces and investment in retirement establishments...the
se are just some of the GBGB 2011 cutbacks in their 23% downfall budget for 2011.
It is simple,as said previously people need houses and allotments not abusive declining industry's.
bishbosh
says...
9:32pm Tue 2 Aug 11
but the Stow was not a failing business. The quote in the Independant is not to be believed because it came from the Chandlers who were deliberately running the track down to enable the new owners apply for a change of use from failed leisure to development and leisure. Campaigners are reasonably sure this was part of the deal. In the last six years of trading the Chandlers paid themselves and their pension fund over 9 million. Hardly a failed business and they employed over 400 full and part time employees, many subsidising their pensions. And NO local residents do not want high rise high density housing that most of them cannot afford (less than 100 will be affordable and only a handful will be social housing. and NO people do not want more allotments when existing ones are undersubscribed. L and Q claim there will be over 5000 visitors a week to their juice bar, creche and community centre. lol
sensibility
says...
12:47am Wed 3 Aug 11
This is to do with the planning applications as put in by L & Q for dense housing up to 8 storeys high in a modernised version of the old council estate scenario.
We dont need any more council estates here.
People want decent housing with decent private space ie gardens and parking etc that they can be proud to live in.
bishbosh
says...
7:34am Wed 3 Aug 11
Walthamster
says...
10:31am Sun 7 Aug 11
I've never spoken to one person here who wants L&Q's tower block, or any other tower blocks for that matter.
first5
says...
10:42am Mon 8 Aug 11
stows wrote:Chingford Hall Estate mark II
The idea that campaigners who do not live in the borough of Waltham Forest have any right to tell residents what to is disgusting and offensive (not to mention anything is better than the plans put forward by L&Q, even if you don't support dog racing.
stows says...
4:22pm Mon 1 Aug 11