12:55pm Wednesday 10th February 2010
By Carl Brown
THERE has been a growing conflict in recent months between the urgent requirement for more housing and the need to retain the borough's leisure facilities and open spaces and prevent over-development.
The number of controversial planning applications will only increase in the next few years if the council is to meet its target, set by Boris Johnson, of providing an extra 7,000 new homes by 2021.
The plan to build 144 flats at Essex Wharf, Leyton, is the latest in a line of applications where councillors will be asked to weigh up the benefits of extra housing against the effect to the area.
The Tesco application in Highams Park, London & Quadrant's plans for the Stow, and the development of the former Louisa Oakes adult education site, have all provoked fierce opposition from residents.
The fact remains that Waltham Forest urgently needs more homes and Cllr Marie Pye, housing cabinet member, who regularly makes the case for housing to planning committee members, is right to ask that the 6,000 people living in overcrowded conditions in the borough be remembered.
But that does not mean every plan for more housing should be accepted.
The Essex Wharf proposal, while providing extra housing, will sit in a park close to protected waterways and green space.
It's nine storeys will dominate the skyline and change the character of the area forever.
We desperately need more large housing developments in the borough, but Essex Wharf is not the place for it.
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