Cheap Hotel for Lea Valley

Flying in the face of the reason they were set up Lee Valley Regional Park Authority are trying to get a 'Cheap Hotel' built in front of the Ice Rink / Riding Stables area. One of the guiding principles behind the LVRPA was "No open land, whatever its present use - should be built on." However in the interest of raising some cash at any cost they are hoping to sell off a strip of land to a 'Cheap Hotel' [insert appropriate name of low quality, eye-sore hotel brand]
Since they don't actually own the land, but manage it for the community, it should not be possible for them to pursue this plan, but stranger things have happened.

http://www.brind.tv/marshes/hotel/executive.html

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Solum branded a "bad neighbour"

Watch out Walthamstow because if Solum gets planning approval for its horrid tower blocks on Walthamstow Central station car park there will be sleepless nights ahead...

That's the message we've been given by campaigners in Epsom, the first station unfortunate enough to have been targetted by Solum. The council was apparently bullied into giving planning permission even though CABE recommended it be refused (the usual strongarm tactics from developers - councillors and officers were told that if they refused permission then Epsom would miss the boat and there would be no regeneration at all!).

And now nearby residents are being woken in the early hours of the morning by work on the new development. Thankfully the local council there has now told Solum that it isn't allowed to work through the night. But residents are left with a nasty taste in their mouths that the developer thought it was appropriate to do so - on one occassion they woke up residents by cutting down a telegraph pole at 2am!

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Meeting: Leyton Marshes threatened with high-rise development

A message from our friends at the New Lammas Lands Defence Committee... The Leyton Marshes area (just north of Hackney Marshes on the east side of the River Lea) is threatened with high-rise ribbon development along Lea Bridge Road all the way from Lea Bridge to the Railway station under the emerging Northern Olympic Fringe Legacy Masterplan, and if more residents - especially in Waltham Forest, as almost all the Users' Forum attendees are from Hackney - don't wake up to what is being proposed it could actually happen!

There will be a presentation about the proposals at the start of the Leyton & Walthamstow Marshes Users' Forum meeting next Tuesday (16th November, 6:30-8:30pm) at the Lee Valley Ice Centre. It's in the evening (email dmiller@leevalleypark.org.uk for more info on the meeting agenda).

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Drum roll please... St Modwen out!

If we hadn't, ahem, forced developer St Modwen to take down its horrid flags from the Arcade site, they'd be flying at half mast today because - according to this Walthamstow Guardian report - St Modwen and the council have now parted company!

Is this good news? Undoubtably, in our humble opinion. St Modwen repeatedly made it clear that it had no interest in working with residents and its tower block plans had little merit other than making a change from the then Arcade bombsite.

Now that the council has tidied up the site, there can be no doubt that it's worth taking the time to come up with a good quality development that will benefit the area and stand the test of time. We really hope that the council, and whoever it teams up with next, will work with residents... rather than excluding us.

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