Mile End Park Public Consultation 29th July - who knew?

"High Street 2012" is finally coming to Mile End! A public consultation meeting about changes proposed for Mile End Park is being held on Thursday 29 July, 7pm, Guardian Angel Community Hall, 377 Mile End Road, E3 4QS.  

This clashes with the Safe Neighbourhood Panel Public Meeting being held at the British Street Estate Community Centre at the same time on the same night.

Mile End Park public consultation: 29th July 210

The proposed changes are part of the High Street 2012 project 

High Street 2012 will improve and celebrate one of London’s great high streets, which links central London to the Olympic Park, to create great places for local people and visitors during the 2012 Games and beyond. The project aims to create a thriving high street where there is a sense of history, diversity, community, fun and well being. Find out more at www.highstreet2012.com.

To date the only people involved are the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the London Development Agency.

Consultation with this Residents Association has been limited to one telephone call when we said we would very much want to see some council priority being given to enhancing public safety through:

• increasing the safety of Mile End Road for all road users given the frequent number of nasty accidents on the stretch of the A11 (Mile End Road/Bow Road) between the Burdett Road traffic lights and Tescos
• increasing the safety for local residents in Mile End Park - particularly at night.  Better lighting is needed along the towpath.

The proposals are

• Improvements to the Green Bridge
• Planting new trees
• Creating a safer park
• Possible enhancements by the canal

View of Mile End Road looking north east

(north to the left, canal bottom left and green bridge top right)

Have your say!

You can find out more about the proposed improvement works and have you say about them at the public consultation meeting in the Guardian Angel Community Hall.  Access is via the Guardian Angels School playground on Lawton Road.  The meeting starts at 7pm.


What MERA Thinks

Benefits for the residents

• Every time an Olympics in a country, the local residents of the area comment on the amazing efforts which suddenly pop up to try and make an area look good.  What's happening is not at all unusual 
• MERA recommends we seek an emphasis on real and lasting benefits for local people from the money being spent, rather than attempts to simply make the place "look nice".  There's no problem about making the place look good too but the priority needs to be on making life safer and better for residents. 

Public consultation

• Yet again Tower Hamlets Planning manages to hold a consultation event without informing a local Residents Association!!!  This is despite the criticism levelled at the Council by the Planning Inspector in her report on the examination of the Council's Core Strategy  
• Local residents gave not received any letters nor are there any notices in the street about the consultation.  We can't quite work out who Planning think they are consulting with.
• At least this consultation meeting is in the evening when people who work can attend - so long as they know the meeting is happening!
  
• Next time public consultation meetings are planned:
• there should always be a check to see whether there are any other meetings held by statutory bodies in the area on the same date.  This meeting clashes with the Public Meeting of the Mile End East Safe Neigbourhood Team - who will also be very interested in public safety issues to do with Mile End Park.  These meetings are schedule on the website with plenty of notice
• Planning should ensure that ALL local Residents Associations in the vicinity are formally notified.  We all have mailing lists which can alert people to consultation exercises if given adequate notice.

[Update:  The Chair did a patrol round the area at lunchtime today.  We wouldn't be surprised in the least if there is a poor turn-out for this meeting given that there are no public notices anywhere on the street, only one notice in Budgens Supermarket and abolutely no consultation notices have been delivered to residential accommodation nearest to the Park on the other side of Burdett Road.  Does anybody in Planning understand the catchment area for a Park?] 

Mile End Waste public consultation

There is also a consultation meeting next week on proposals for Mile End Waste.  The meeting is the day before on Wednesday 28 July, 6.30pm, Genesis Cinema, 93 - 95 Mile End Road E1 4UJ

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