Drainage problems highlighted during recent excessive rain fall.

Our volunteer stands in Puddle on High Road Seven Kings.

Whilst delivering our Mayfield and Clementswood Ward Newsletters and taking a break at O'Neills Pub Seven Kings.  We discovered a large number of drain faults and pavement cavities creating large puddles on our streets.  We have asked the council toinvestigate along the following roads.  Belmont Road, Gordon Road, Grange Road and Sunnyside Road.  If you are aware of blocaked street drains in your area, please let us know.

Kicking water to illustrate depth.

This is not a canal just a large puddle on Belmont Road.

Free Spray art classes for Children during half term holidays February 2014.

Image of previous spray art work completed on walls of Clementswood Community Centre, with some of the participants.

The East Ilford Betterment Partnership are holding  free Spray Art workshops, for children aged 6-10, at Clementswood Community Centre, From Monday 17th February - Tuesday 18th February 2014.

Time:          10:00 - 16:00
Dates:         Monday 17th - Tuesday 18th February 2014
Venue:        Clementswood Community Centre
Cost:          Free
Food:         Children must bring own lunch, fruit and squash will be provided.

The classes will be conducted by Professional Artist Matt Ryan AKA MYCO.  Children will take home a Spray Paint T-shirt and will create an art board remembering the end of the Great War (World War 1), one hundred years ago.   Children will also influence the design of a large scale permanent art feature on one of the main pillars to the A406, near the cross road section with Romford Road, at the entrance to our borough.

Their courses are popular so please get in contact as soon as possible if you would like your children to participate.

Further details can be sought through Wilson Chowdhry tel: 020 8514 0861 or email wilson@aasecurity.co.uk.

Rogue drainage men steal £5000 from pensioner!

A pensioner on Green Lane has reported theft of £5000 through fraud and deception.  Apparently an Asian man purporting to be a Government funded sewage worker commissioned to clear our local drains, knocked at his door requesting access to his front garden property to remove a blockage.  He advised the owner that the work was paid for through Government funding, however a £5000 returnable deposit was required for the work to be carried out.

Despite having his telephone number de-registered under the ex-directory scheme, the homeowner received a call from the drainage company confirming all the details stated by the workman.  This led him to believe that the caller was genuine. The caller confirmed he would have to pay the deposit in cash and organised a vehicle with two Irish men, who drove the victim to his bank for a withdrawal.  After obtaining the £5000 and returning home, a further call was received stating the workmen had discovered some complications and that a further £23,000 was required to complete the work.

The homeowner called 101 from his landline to undertake some checks on the validity of the works and the company.  Whilst speaking to an apparent Chief Inspector, he was advised that the works being undertaken and the company were both legitimate.

At this point the homeowner refused to pay the additional £23,000 and requested a return of his £5000. The workmen refused and fled the scene.  The homeowner then  walked to Ilford Police station to report the shady practice of the company and was advised that no call had been received by 101.   Leading the Police to believe that these fraudsters had managed to divert his landline calls to their own control centre.  The police also confirmed that no government funded scheme to clear blocked drains was in  place, in fact such local work is undertaken by our own Council.

We write this to warn other residents of the potential fraudsters in our area and will be organising a crime meeting with local police, who will provide advice on how to avoid distraction theft of this type

Details of crime meeting:

Time:                     7pm
Date:                     Monday 10th March 2014
Venue:                  Clementswood Community Centre, 14a Connaught Mews, Ilford, Essex, IG1 1RN.
Guest Speakers:    Mayfield Ward Police, Adrian Simpson - Trading Standards and Danny O'Brien Anti-knife UK.

Gordon Road repairs needed urgently!

In response to concerns received about the state of Gordon Road, after an elderly man from Gordon Road spoke of the pain he suffered, after tripping on three ocasions.  Wilson Chowdhry asked the Borough's reactive maintenance team in the highways department to investigate. Wilson met with an officer and inspected the whole road.  They found several defects that were immediately put into the repair programme, of which many have now been completed. Today Wilson requested a full report from Bernie Kavanagh head of this department, he said:

"Further to our earlier telephone conversation, this is to confirm that twelve footway repairs (a mixture of paving, tarmacadam and kerb repairs) have been carried out in Gordon Road, Ilford, since the beginning of October 2013. There is one outstanding low priority job (paving repair o/s Woodlands Nursing Home), which is due for completion by March 10."

There were many areas that we found fault with,  that teh reactive maintenance team were simply not willing to accept.  The council have strict rules on what they deem serious faults, requiring repair.  Juliet has asked the Manager responsible for more permanent repairs, to see if we can have a complete refurbishment of this road and we will keep you informed of progress.

TV star Paul O’Grady speaks out at Russia protest in London

All Out petition with 131,447 signatures handed to McDonalds

Russian national anthem played. Mass salute with P6 sign

London - 6 February 2014

Three hundred Londoners braved atrocious weather and a transport strike to rally last night (5 February) in Whitehall in solidarity with Russian LGBTs against the country’s anti-gay law and escalating homophobic violence.

They urged governments and Olympic sponsors to speak out in support of Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits discrimination.

All Out announced at the rally that its petition making this demand had secured 131,447 signatures.

Details of the petition were delivered to the Whitehall branch of McDonalds by Marie Campbell and Peter Tatchell. The hand over was accepted by the company’s head of communications in the UK, Ray Farrelly.

As the Russian national anthem was played, the crowd saluted with five fingers and a thumb to make the Principle 6 sign. There was a live performance by music artists Ooberfuse.

The protesters chanted: “2-4-6-8. Putin, stop the hate. 3-5-7-9. LGBTs are mighty fine.”

Photos of the protest: http://bit.ly/1bt7E9H
Free use. For high resolution versions, click on the desired photo or contact us - our email address is below.

Gathering by the Montgomery statute in Whitehall, the crowd heard TV star Paul O’Grady (aka Lily Savage) denounce President Putin as a “tyrant” and condemn Russia’s anti-gay law as “shocking” and “appalling”. He also joked about the “homoerotic” pin up photos of Putin riding bare-chested on horseback; suggesting that the Russian president seemed to have issues with his sexuality and might well be a closet case.

There were also speeches from Marie Campbell from All Out, Labour MP Chris Bryant, Liberal Democrat peer Liz Barker, Edwin Sesange of African LGBTI Out and Proud Diamond Group, Wilson Chowdhry, Chair of the British Pakistani Christian Association, performance artist Jonny Woo and Peter Tatchell.

Timed two days before the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics, the protest was part of a Global Speak Out against Russian homophobia that took place in 20 cities around the world on 5 February.

The London protest was organised by the international LGBT pressure group, All Out, and the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“Our protest urged the British and Russian governments, and the International Olympic Committee, to uphold Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits discrimination. We also called on Olympic corporate sponsors - such as Coca Cola, McDonalds and Visa - to speak out against Russia's anti-gay law and homophobic violence. So far, they have failed to do so,” noted protest co-organiser and speaker, Peter Tatchell, Director of the human rights organisation, the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

“We want government leaders from around the world to boycott the opening and closing ceremonies at Sochi. Empty VIP seats would be an effective gesture to show President Putin that his crackdown on the gay community is an unacceptable abuse of human rights.

“None of the Olympic corporate sponsors have explicitly condemned the Russian anti-gay law or homophobic violence in Russia. They’ve made only general, vague equality statements. This isn’t adequate. Instead of standing up for human rights, they seem more interested in maintaining their Russian profits and kow-towing to the Kremlin.

"I would have expected them to make a simple statement such as: 'We are deeply concerned about new Russian legislation that discriminates against the LGBT community. We deplore the homophobic violence that is taking place in Russia.' It is shameful and cowardly that they feel unable to say this.

“The intensely homophobic atmosphere in Russia, much of it orchestrated by President Putin’s government, means it would be very unlikely for an openly gay athlete to be selected for the Russian Olympic squad. The Kremlin has banned a Pride House - a social meeting space for gay athletes and spectators, like the one at the London 2012 Olympics.

“These are clear breaches of the anti-discrimination Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter. Yet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said and done nothing. It is allowing the Russian government to ban a Pride House and has not required the Russians to give a written undertaking that they will not discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes in the selection of Russia’s team for the Winter Olympics.

“The IOC has hinted that any athlete who expresses support for LGBT equality during the events or ceremonies could face disciplinary action, possibly including disqualification, expulsion and being stripped of any medals won.

“The IOC’s doesn’t seem to be prioritising Olympic values and human rights. It appears to be driven by primarily commercial interests. The Olympics are big business. The host nation and corporate sponsors are supreme. Nothing is being permitted to detract from financial success and ‘good news’ PR - certainly not the plight of Russia’s persecuted LGBTs.

“The 1936 Berlin Olympics took place in an atmosphere of anti-Semitic hatred incited by the Nazi government. The 2014 Sochi Olympics echo this hatred, only this time the victims of demonisation are LGBT people. There are no Nuremburg laws or concentration camps but the hateful anti-gay propaganda is similar to the anti-Semitism stirred by the Nazis in the early 1930s.

“There can be no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime like Putin’s Russia. The Kremlin stands accused wide-ranging attacks on human rights, including the arrest of opposition leaders and peaceful protesters, state censorship of the media and the harassment of journalists, lawyers, environmentalists and civil society activists,” concluded Mr Tatchell.

“Olympic sponsors are failing to live up to their commitments", said Andre Banks, Executive Director and co-founder of All Out. "The IOC has confirmed that Principle 6 includes discrimination based on sexual orientation. Athletes all over the world are speaking out. We’ve just heard that the Russian government is considering amendments to the anti-gay laws. But sponsors continue to look the other way while gays and lesbians in Russia suffer.”

"The Global Speak Out means a lot to us here in St. Petersburg, Russia", aded Dmitry, one of the local LGBT rights organisers in St. Petersburg. "Together with thousands of people around the world we are going to show Russian authorities they can't attack lesbian, gay, bi or trans (LGBT) Russians with impunity, without risking their international reputation and the success of our Olympics. We will not be silent anymore! We will fight back! For our rights! For our human rights!"

The 50 current and former Olympians supporting Principle 6 include Sochi-bound athletes Belle Brockhoff (Australia), Heath Spence (Australia), and Mike Janyk (Canada). To see the full list of Olympians backing Principle 6: http://www.principle6.org

Our thanks to Wilson Chowdhry, Chair of the British Pakistani Christian Association, for providing the generator and PA system at the rally. Wilson does great work defending Christians and other minorities persecuted in Pakistan: www.britishpakistanichristians.co.uk The Peter Tatchell Foundation has been proud to work with him and his association.

Peter Tatchell
Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation

Antisocial Behaviour a thing of the past

Wilson successfully led the campaign for expansion of the Controlled Drinking Zone that now covers all of Clementswood Ward and much of Mayfield Ward.  Working with local people, Police and the Local Council he was also responsible for introduction of the "No Drinking" Signage along Green Lane and banning of local super strength beer sales.  This has drastically reduced the alcohol related antisocial behaviour that was once everywhere in the area.  

See what the Ilford Recorder said:

(Click here for more info)

Read full report here:

(Click here for more information)

Fighting Crime in partnership with local people.

Wilson Chowdhry with Gordon Brown.

Wilson has beenholding crime meetings in the community for over 11 years.  After reports from local residents in 2010 about drug dealing on Gordon Road, at one of these meetings, an undercover Police operation led to several arrests and eradicated the problem.

 Wilson was also named a Community Crime Fighter by Gordon Brown, the then Prime minister in 2009, and in 2012 he was given an award for his work towards reducing local knife crime by Anti-knife UK.

Receiving Antiknife UK Award from Chairman Danny O'Brien.

Prostitution in Ilford South

Your Greenlight team welcomes the actions taken by local police in Operation Clearlight to

reduce the problem, particularly in Ilford Lane.

Of particular concerns are the actions of kerb crawlers whose actions can lead to the unwelcome propositioning of innocent local residents. The successful prosecution of these people can make prostitution in the area unprofitable and hopefully the problems in Ilford South will cease.

But we would ask residents to be aware of problems surfacing elsewhere, as history has shown that when an area is cleared of the problem it resurfaces elsewhere. Recently Wilson, acting on information from concerned local residents, has highlighted such a problem by reporting a brothel at 74 Gordon Rd

It’s only by working together that we and the police can finally clear this problem from our streets 

Loxford Academy and Green Party concerns about eroding community influence!

During the last few years Redbridge Council has invested heavily in the Loxford School of Science and Technology which was rebuilt as a 40 million Pathfinder project, A new four form of entry primary school at Loxford School of Science and Technology by expanding the age range creating an all through school.

Now we learn that it has been granted Academy status as of 1st December 2013. Academies were originally introduced under Labour and have been vigorously pursued by the Tories appear to want to further weaken Local Education Authorities by removing the democratic control by local authorities from institutions that are financed by national and local taxation Academies can also take power away from parents, teachers and pupils regarding how the school is run. The Green Party is opposed to creating more Academies

In the short term, where Academies are in operation, we would instigate a maximum 25% voting rights for sponsor appointees to ensure proper democratic and community representation on Academy boards.

Welcome to your local Clementswood and Mayfield Green Party Blog!

Welcome to the first posting  from  your Clementswood and Mayfield Activists, the first of regular blog posts newsletters from the Redbridge Green Party. Your GreenLight  Action Team

are here to represent you,  your views and concerns to Redbridge Council  and to keep you informed of important news for our local community.

Wilson Chowdhry has been resident of Gordon Road, Ilford for 39 years with his Juliet living here for 11 years. Both are directors of a local security business giving them unrivalled insight in to the needs of Ilford South and are responsible for the Clementswood Community Centre, that has served the local community for over 3 years and the Redbridge Carnival which started in 2007, and is now currently the longest running annual event in the borough and arguably the largest.  The event provides much needed volunteer skills in event management to over 60 beneficiaries.  The diverse event has enhanced cultural awareness and brought statutory service provider and community groups together with local residents, improving access to information and support.

Both Wilson And Juliet have a proven record of success in local campaigning. During his tenure as the first ever Chairman of Mayfield Ward Safer Neighbourhood Police Team panel, Wilson set a local policing priority that led to the arrest of a sexual assailant in South Park whilst Juliet led a campaign that successfully led to the installation of security gates to the alleyway at Connaught Mews and the two of them worked with Police to remove squats which were located there.

Antisocial Parking targeted!

Success in the Adoption of the London Local Authorities and Transport Act 2003 (section 14)Another article on the LLATA 2003

The early campaign

Many residents complain about the antisocial parking they are affected by in their local areas. This is parking to the fore of a drive with a drop down kerb, which inhibits ingress and egress to and from a residential property's safe parking area. The matter came to the fore in recent times, as increased car ownership and reducing parking provision, is causing community friction in areas with high traffic flow i.e. near schools, hospitals, clinics, colleges and businesses.

A London-wide Council motion resulted in the forming of the "LLATA 2003". However, by the end of 2004 our council had failed to adopt the act within our own borough. The East Ilford Business Partnership and East Ilford Residents Association (both for which Wilson is  Chairman), collaborated in a campaign to adopt the Act locally. After speaking at an; Area 5 Meeting, Area 6 meeting, Cabinet Meeting, a 7 man deputation to a full Council Meeting and much media attention -we convinced our local Councillors, that adopting the Act would be to the benefit of Redbridge people. This decision was made in May 2005

The act is enforceable day or night irrespective of whether you have a vehicle present in your drive.

Call 020 8554 5000 and ask for Parking enforcement.

Residents should expect a maximum 20 minute delay from initial call to a response visit. You must also be prepared to sign an authority to penalise the bad parker. Moreover, only a resident of the offended property can authorise the fixed penalty notice.

I hope this brings some solace to residents...?

The service is undersubscribed, so please do start to use this service if you are hearing about it for the first time.

Key campaign messages – reasons for voting Green

Don’t let Lewisham become one-party state – with support for the Lib Dems and Tories collapsing in the borough Labour could end up winning every single seat on the Council -unless you elect more Green councillors to speak up for you.

A Strong Green Voice – Electing Green councillors will provide a strong voice for residents on the issues that matter to them and a genuine Green voice on the Council, speaking up for a greener, fairer Redbridge.

Green councillors will work for all ofRedbridge’s diverse communities – Greens will work hard to tackle inequality, protect the most vulnerable and challenge bigotry and discrimination.

Green Party Key Local Policy Messages

Context

We are facing a crisis of growing inequality, dangerous levels of pollution and increasingly unaffordable housing, out of reach of ordinary Londoners.

What we stand for – A Green vote is a vote for:

SAFER AND HEALTHIER STREETS – reducing traffic to cut pollution and introducing a default borough-wide 20mph speed limit to make our streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

STANDING UP FOR LOCAL SERVICES – Opposing the Government’s austerity cuts  and working with local community groups to protect our schools, health services and fire stations and provide proper care for the elderly.

PROTECTING THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT – Setting up green energy co-ops,  re-instating the tree-planting budget and encouraging more community gardens and local food growing.

GENUINELY AFFORDABLE HOUSING – Building new council and social housing as well as pushing for rent controls on private landlords to protect tenants from unaffordable rent increases.

TACKLING INEQUALITY – Pushing for all local employers to pay at least the London Living Wage, an end to zero hours contracts and tough action on racism and discrimination.

Key achievements - Greens making a difference

With elected Greens in the European Parliament, Westminster, the London Assembly and Many local Councils, Greens are making a difference. Over the years campaigning Greens in Redbridge have achieved a lot, including:

·         Introducing a zebra crossing opposite the Keith Axon Centre (Library) in Chadwell Ward along Grove Road.

·         Responsible for Borough's uptake of the "Operation Payback" scheme, that now uses offenders to clean up graffiti and flytipping across the borough.  Saving the council millions of pounds!  Wilson Chowdhry our Green Candidate for Clementswood in conjunction with then Sergeant for Clementswood Dave Somerville introduced this in 2009.  Wilson later awarded Sgt Somerville for his work towards this: (click here for more info)

·         Successfully challenging Redbridge Council to extend "Controlled Drinking Zone," that now covers Clementswood and Mayfield Ward.  Moreover, ensuring "No Drinking" signage is placed at pivotal locations within newly extended zone!  (Click here for more info)

·         Activist Wilson Chowdhry was responsible for the adoption of the London Local Communities and Transport Act, creating a by-law that now protects local residents against antisocial parking before their drop down kerbs. (Click here for more info)