On Saturday, March 12 a public meeting was held in Christ Church about the future of the Green in Wanstead and how we can work together to make it better.

The meeting was organised by a member of the public – Colin Cronin - and Cllr Rai, cabinet member for finance, and Cllr Donovan were on the panel to take questions.

I’d like to thank the organisers, church and the councillors for giving up their time and making this possible.

It was a very passionate meeting, but not an unproductive one. Many residents from around the Green were rightly concerned about the number of events that take place, or could take place, in a small space, some with loud music that negatively affects their quality of life and wanted assurances on this issue.

Many people were also deeply angry their views on the proposed café kiosk and sale of Christmas trees on the site had not been taken into account by the council. To be fair, the local councillors admitted that “communication had been an issue”. But the assumption that the sale of Christmas trees had not negatively affected some local businesses was debunked by the owner of one who said their sales had been hit.

Cllr Rai also noted that it costs £70,000 a year to maintain the Green, which is almost as high as running the large Valentines Park in Ilford. So, we need be considerate in finding new ways to pay for things.

There are still many unanswered questions. Unfortunately, it appears that any revenue generated from the new café kiosk will be directed towards the wider “leisure and culture” pot for Redbridge and not specifically to Christ Church Green. It would not be right for our small Green to be treated as a “cash cow” to fund leisure services across the borough. Although Cllr Rai said, at least ten times, “there are no plans for an alcohol licence for the café” but ended by saying “I can’t guarantee there will never be one”. A way to put this issue to bed would be, as a local priest mentioned, to put a covenant on the kiosk which legally prevents it being licensed for the sale of alcohol. This seems like a sensible idea.

But there was, at least, an acceptance that we should have a “Friends of Christ Church Green” group where all parties can work together to make the site work better. I’m more than happy to work on this, but it must be more than a promise made in the run up to an election. And that’s why, elected or not, my Lib Dem colleagues and I will be at the next public meeting on this issue where we will hold the council to account, or, you can hold us to account.

Scott Wilding

Wanstead Lib Dems