What do we want then?

It's all too easy to take a pop at the plans for an Arcade tower block without putting anything constructive forward as an alternative. So here are some thoughts on what the residents of Walthamstow want in its place:

A development
First and foremost, we do think the Arcade site is ripe for an appropriate development that has the right physical impact on the local area and offers Walthamstow something different. We don't think the site should be turned into a park - we have a park next to the town square. And we don't think it should be left as rubble. But we'd rather it sat as rubble for a couple more years than an unsuitable development be built and sit there for decades!
Height that fits
Previous plans were a maximum height of 7 storeys on the corner of Hoe Street and the High Street. And the Prince's Foundation say 6 to 8 storeys should be the max elsewhere in central Walthamstow. If the council hadn't forbidden them from including the Arcade in their report, we believe they would have recommended a maximum of 6 to 8 storeys for the Arcade too.
A low-rise development with a landmark tower on the corner of no more than 8 storeys sounds reasonable.
Shops not chain stores
We need to think carefully about what Walthamstow could and should offer residents and visitors over the coming years. For example, with the huge Stratford City development just down the road - a shopping destination that will be bigger than Bluewater and Lakeside combined - is there really any point in trying to be yet another me-too High Street offering the same shops as everywhere else?
The council can't wait to open E17's doors to the Starbucks, Pizza Expresses and Navarros of the world. But we think their arrival would just be the kiss of death to our home-grown VK, Mon Dragone and The Windmill. Is that really what we want?
See the New Economics Foundation's report into Clone Town Britain for more on how me-too high streets have killed the vitality and identity of towns all over the country.
Something different
What does St Modwen have in mind for the shoppers of Walthamstow? Primark! No, really, they're in negotiations to be the key retailer in the new development. Now, we're not trying to be snobby. We've got nothing against cheap clothes. We wear cheap clothes! It's just that Walthamstow isn't short of cheap clothes. There are plenty of cheap clothes shops in The Mall and up and down the High Street. And the market has plenty of cheap clothes stalls. If this new development is supposed to be a landmark building that kickstarts regenerations, shouldn't it aspire to give us something new?
Something creative
Countless great ideas came out of our public meeting about the future of Walthamstow, including linking to the EMD cinema, some green/public space, performance/display space, community space, and small shops, bars and restaurants rather than chains. Read more about the ideas that came out of the meeting.
Real community involvement
We want the politicians and planners to start over. And this time to genuinely sit down with Walthamstow residents and let the community decide together what belongs on the site. Sadly the council recently did a big consultation exercise with the Prince's Foundation, but the council excluded the Arcade from the consultation - sad because it's the one site that urgently needed it!