Save Our Square E17 Children's Gallery

Save Our Square E17 Children's Gallery
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This page and the ones that follow contain images of some of the artwork and open letters to Waltham Forest Council sent in by local children in response to the competition organised by the Save Our Square E17 Facebook group This group is campaigning to stop a redevelopment scheme for Walthamstow town square which would result in the loss of one third of the public open space to extend a privately-owned shopping centre, the construction of four tower blocks of luxury flats up to a maximum height of 29 storeys, the destruction of 81 mature trees and the re-siting of the children's play area to beside the bus station with its toxic diesel fumes.
The children of Walthamstow, who have perhaps more of a stake in the town's future than any other group, have expressed their views here. We put it to the leader of Waltham Forest Council, Cllr. Clare Coghill, to explain to them why they can not have what they want. Should she wish to answer any of their letters individually she can do so by email to Forest Radio and we will make sure that it reaches the child concerned.

**Here is a complete set of links to download scans of all fifteen children's letters to the council individually**
Adam's Letter Alexis' Letter Coner's Letter Hafsa's Letter Hamza Khan's Letter Hassan Mahmood's Letter Kevin's Letter Kneesha's Letter	Markesha Williams' Letter Munsat's Letter Nyan's Letter Ryan's Letter Saadia's Letter Umar's Letter Yun Jing Yan's Letter

**Here is Cllr Clare Coghill's general reply to all the children's letters, received on 7th November, some 14 weeks after the letters were forwarded**
Dear Mr Gardiner, Thank you for your letter as well as the children’s letters concerning the trees in Walthamstow Town square and my sincere apologies for the delay in responding. In the current funding environment for local government, the mall development will bring much needed new homes, including 52 at social rent, and investment in our town centre including almost 800 jobs both during the construction phase and once work is completed. Walthamstow Central station will also be rebuilt to improve capacity, provide a much needed new entrance to the station and to enable full access to wheelchair and other users with restricted mobility. We would not have been able to secure the funding from TfL to provide step-free access at Walthamstow Central without this scheme. We are committed to tackling air pollution and to protecting and investing in trees throughout the borough. In 2007, 58,000 households or around half in our borough were living in areas with emissions above acceptable levels. Following a number of interventions, particularly through the Enjoy Waltham Forest programme, that number dropped to just over 6,000 last year. Almost £4m will be invested in the Town Square to improve the public realm as part of the mall development. This will see a net increase in the number of trees on the square. More widely, the Council is planting 800 additional trees as part of our tree planting programme this financial year. Between 2010 and 2020, Waltham Forest will have lost more than half a billion pounds of funding from central government. However, despite the enormous challenges this has posed at a time of growing demand for services such as social care, we are determined to take action to improve our environment and build the homes we need to tackle the housing crisis, with the mall development just one part of the pipeline we are putting in place to deliver social and affordable housing for our residents. With best wishes, Cllr. Clare Coghill Leader of the Council

Hamza's picture

Hamza's letter

Dylan and Kami's picture

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