'Skull Cracker' Michael Wheatley arrested outside Eastend Homes Offices in Mile End

A number of local residents might have wondered why we had a helicopter hovering over the area for so long on Wednesday afternoon.

The Police and the BBC have provided the answer (click the link to view the video) - and some of those living in Ennerdale House might recognise the view!

Escaped prisoner Michael "#SkullCracker" Wheatley was found in Tower Hamlets, east London, police say http://t.co/4KxvnizPmO
— Tower Hamlets MPS (@MPSTowerHam) May 7, 2014

'Skull Cracker' Michael Wheatley was apprehended by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday afternoon at the corner of Hamlets Way and Southern Grove - right outside the entrance to the Eastend Homes offices. This is also opposite the entrance to Tower Hamlets Cemetery ( top left in the video) and the school (latter not in the video).

It just goes to show that when we're notified that a escaped prisoner is on the run that they can turn up anywhere - including very near to your front door!

Incidentally, when a helicopter hovers overhead for a long time, it's generally the Police following somebody who has absconded or who they are trying to catch. The helicopter then directs police on the ground. As we all know the really fun ones (not!) are at night when the fugitive goes to ground in the cemetery and they have to get out the heat seeking technology!

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Southern Grove: Lines and Beatrice Tate School

Painting lines for a redundant facility in Southern Grove

We were wondering if anybody had told them that:
1) The building has closed
2) It's about to be demolished.

The proposal to relocate the Beatrice Tate School to the southern part of the Southern Grove site requires demolition of a single storey extension to Southern Grove Lodge - which falls within the Conservation Area.  A report on this site has been to the Development Committee.  The application to demolish all existing buildings to the south of the Victorian Southern Grove Lodge was referred to the Secretary of State at the end of 2011.  We're not clear yet whether there has been a decision.


Development Committee - Wednesday, 16th November, 2011 7.00 p.m

7.4

40-50 Southern Grove, London E3 4PX (PA/11/01919)  PDF 813 KB Decision: Update Report Tabled. Councillor Marc Francis proposed an additional condition agreed by the Committee that an approved plan of demolition be submitted covering the retention of materials from the existing buildings and the making good of the lodge. On a unanimous vote the Committee RESOLVED 1.         That the application for the demolition of all existing buildings to the south of the Victorian Southern Grove Lodge be referred to the Secretary of State with the recommendation that the Council would be minded to grant Conservation Consent subject to conditions and informatives set out in the circulated report AND an additional condition requiring a plan of demolition to be submitted covering the retention of materials from the existing buildings and the making good of the lodge.

Traffic Management

There are issues about the traffic management plan for the Southern Grove site which at present doesn't recognise the existence of another major building contract on the Eric & Treby Estate - which already has an accepted traffic management route in and out of the area.

The view of MERA is that any works on the Southern Grove site must follow the already established route in and out of this area - which is compliant with all traffic regulations and which residents are now used to.  Drivers also need to be aware that they are operating in an area where small children live.

Our Chair, Mark Taylor, is on the case! Highways are now looking into it.

Proposed Beatrice Tate School

This is the link to the developer's website and the proposed project to relocate Beatrice Tate School on to a new development at the southern end of the Southern Grove site.

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Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park celebrates!

Aerial view of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park 

London Open House - Tower Hamlets Cemetary Park

London Open House - 1st Walk @ 10am, last walk @ 2pm Visit the park during the Capital's biggest architectural event where London is turned into a living exhibition for 48 hours. Learn more about the park's historic importance.

170 years of Tower Hamlets Cemetery

Tower Hamlets Cemetery celebrates 170 years of existence this year.  This extract from The Morning Post Monday dated 6th September 1841 is posted on the THCP website

The opening of the City of London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery

On Saturday the City of London and Tower hamlets Cemetery was formally consecrated by the Bishop of London previous to its being opened for the reception of bodies. Though the weather was exceedingly unfavourable owing to the heavy and unintermitting rains the attendance was numerous and respectable.

The temporary chapel in which the service took place was densely crowded. Amongst those present were the Lord Mayor, Mr Sheriff Farncombe, Nr Sheriff Gibbs, Mr Deputy Alderman Green and various others.

The Bishop concluded the ceremony of consecration by pronouncing the apostolic benediction; on which the company separated, the largest portion of them adjourning to a neighbouring marquee, in which a cold collation was provided. The number of persons who sat down to the collation was about 200, among whom were a great number of fashionably dressed ladies.

The City and London and Tower Hamlets Cemetery embraces an extent of thirty acres of ground, and promises when finished, to be very tastefully laid out. It is a curious fact that the first interment took place on Saturday afternoon very shortly after the ceremony of consecration had taken place.

Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park - 21st birthday and AGM

This year the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery celebrate their 21st birthday.  You can join in the celebrations to day - Sunday 18th September when there will be a Victorian celebration in the Park

The AGM will be held at 4pm on Sunday 18th September 2011 at the Soanes Centre

Light refreshements will be provided. The AGM will be followed by one of Ken's very popular guided bat walks!

Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park - Facebook Page

The Tower Hamlets Cemetary Park Facebook page has changed. If you want to be kept up to date please like us via the following link: http://www.facebook.com/FoTHCP

How to get to THCP

• The Cemetery Park is located in the heart of East London with good transport links.
• The main gate is situated in Southern Grove, E3, with the Soanes Centre just inside on the right.
• The nearest Underground station is Mile End on the Central, District, and Hammersmith and City lines. 
• You can also travel to Bow Road on the District and Hammersmith and City Line
• DLR to Bow Church
• Local bus routes are: D6, D7,D8, 25, 205, 277, 323, 339 and 425.

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Southern Grove Site Survey - The Council responds....

Percussive tools used at 08.30 on Monday 25th October 2010 outside centre on Southern Grove

Result!  The fastest response yet to an email from Mile End Residents association.  Mr Shirras's response arrived within 18 minutes of despatch of our email!

Dear Mile End Residents Association

Firstly, I apologise for not including contact details in the letter. We included a telephone number and a named Council officer because the drilling at Southern Grove is only taking place during normal working hours. We wanted residents to be able to talk to us directly. We will contact you in future, directly, as well as distributing letters to local residents.

The Council has not reached a decision on the future of the Southern Grove site. The drilling is the first stage in preparing information to help a decision be reached. No decision will be reached outside of the normal process and I am not aware what the timetable is for a decision.

I hope that the drilling has not caused any disruption to you. Please contact my colleague Greg Unson or me if you have any further questions.

Kind regards
Andrew Shirras
Service Manager - Business Support and Programme Management
Adults Health and Wellbeing Directorate
7th Floor, Anchorage House
E14 2BE
020 7364 2140

If you would like to contact either of the officers their email addresses are:

• Andrew.Shirras@towerhamlets.gov.uk
• greg.unson@towerhamlets.gov.uk

We will be seeking to discuss with them why noisy work started this morning at 8.30 when the planning condition relating to noise controls on all the site work on the Eric & Treby Estate ban all noisy work starting before 10am.

This is a very residential area and all site investigations need to respect that fact.

[A further update from the Corporate Complaints Team.  It would appear that Mr Sherras doesn't know who he's emailing!

Dear Sir/Madam,

Having looked at the staff directory, I believe you have the wrong spelling for Mr Eunson.

His email address is: greg.eunson@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Kind Regards,
Pollyanna Moore
Complaints Officer
Corporate Complaints, 6^th loor Mulberry Place(AH)]

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Site Investigation Survey in Southern Grove

Letter about the Site Investigation Survey - right click and open in new tab to see larger size

Residents of Brokesley Street were last week advised that a Site Investigation Survey would be conducted this week at the mothballed council site at 40-60 Southern Grove.

This letter:

• failed to contact the Mile End Residents Association to explain what was happening 
• failed to explain the context of the site investigation survey.  For example are there plans to develop the site?
• failed to provide an address or email address for the person who was the signatory - Andrew Shirras, Business Support and Programme Manager, adulys Health and well Being
• failed to provide an email address, job title or name of the employer for the person who was identified as the person to contact if there were any queries.  The failure of an email to the named individual Greg Unson appears to indicate the person to contact in case of queries is not a Tower Hamlets Council employee
• failed to provide the number of the Noise Nuisance hotline

Council officers might live their lives on the phone but they fail to understand that not everybody else does and some of us like to know who we are dealing with and to have a record of their responses in writing!

We have written to Mr Shirras and Mr Unson as follows

Could you please explain:

• why has Mile End Residents Association (MERA) not been advised about the Site Investigation?
• what is the purpose of the investigations in relation to the planned development of this site?
• why is the Council is sending out letters which have neither an address nor an email address as contact information?
• why does this letter not advise what the noise nuisance hotline number for if residents are NOT minded to be patient with the levels of noise being generated?

We expect those doing the site investigations to use all available machinery to contain noise to a reasonable level for a residential neighbourhood. 

Please note should the noise become excessive we shall be enocuraging ALL the residents to call the Environmental Health Noise Nuisance Hotline 020 7364 5007

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Eric & Treby Site Traffic "out of control"

What exactly is the point of planning conditions if they are ignored and flouted on a daily basis?  That's the question MERA will be asking Stephen Irvine, Head of Development Control at Tower Hamlets Council.

MERA's "spy in the sky" has an excellent view of all the SITE TRAFFIC on the Telford Homes development on Eastendhomes' Eric & Treby Estate.  

The site traffic is giving our spy lots of practice at photographing and videoing.  The "spy in the sky"'s latest effort is a slideshow demonstrating how trucks regularly reverse without a banksman (see below).



Note the pedestrian who is behind the truck as it starts to reverse without a banksman.

Also note that this truck is removing contaminated soil from the site - an operation which is supposed to be strictly regulated to avoid creating health and safety issues for local residents.  We are not impressed with the operation to date.

We're also photographing trucks

1)  driving across the site with loads which have not been secured in any way - missing local residents' cars by very little. This is the dumper truck moving around site fencing - which was bouncing around within millimetres of residents' cars.  This is EXTREMELY UNSAFE.

2)  driving the WRONG WAY up Southern Grove causing all sorts of problems for other traffic

2)  exiting the site the wrong way - turning left into Southern Grove and exiting on to Mile End Road (A11) at a point not agreed with or approved by Transport for London for site traffic

Today, the MERA Secretary today witnessed a cement truck employ a female passer-by as a "banksman" (the person who is qualified to supervise reversing trucks).

MERA is currently thinking of starting a residents' sweepstake for how many incidents of breaches of the Traffic Access Management Plan it can log before the end of this contract!

Except of course there is no approved Traffic Management Plan at the moment because the Construction Management Plan (which includes it) was REFUSED.

Why was that?  Could it be because the details about site traffic management were so INADEQUATE?

In the meantime, site traffic continues to behave as it pleases.......and we continue to photograph it.  We'll be sending copies to the relevant agencies who monitor health and safety on construction sites.

In the meantime we'll be asking Mr Irvine exactly what is the point of planning conditions to protect the residents if they don't do anything of the sort.

Plus we're also in correspondence with the Health & Safety Executive.

Maybe our local councillors for Mile End East - who of course are also members of the Eastendhomes Board - would also like to follow up on this?

Alarming Tower Hamlets Council Offices in Southern Grove

Residents living around the empty Tower Hamlets Council offices in Southern Grove will be well aware that the office alarm has been ringing incessantly for hours on end on quite a few occasions of late.  On one weekend recently it rang for 30 hours non-stop.

Despite representations from both MERA and local councillors and assurances from the Council that the problem has been identified and addressed the alarm continues to ring at night for hours on end. 

Last night the alarm rang from midnight until 2.45am and the Council's noise abatement service refused to do anything about it.

So one of the residents of Brokesley Street has decided to take matters further - and has given us permission to reproduce the email that was sent - at 2.58am this morning - below. 

Dear Sirs,

I am writing regarding the persistent noise nuisance caused by the intruder alarm at the council's premises on Southern Grove, which constitutes a nuisance actionable in tort

I am writing in my capacity as owner occupier of (number) Brokesley Street, E3 4QJ.

At the time of writing the alarm has been sounding continuously for over two hours, and sounds for at least this period during unsocial hours at least once per week, and once sounded for a single period exceeding 30 hours over a weekend.

I understand that the Tower Hamlets Noise Abatement Team will not investigate or take action with respect to this nuisance on the basis that it is caused by a council property.

Please be advised that the general law is not subject to any such limitation.  Unless the nuisance identified above is addressed in the near and long term to my satisfaction, I will apply for an injunction requiring the Southern Grove intruder alarm to be deactivated and reserve my rights in any event to bring proceedings against the Tower Hamlets for damages for nuisance.

I trust this matter will receive your immediate attention.

Yours faithfully
(name of resident living in Brokesley Street)

The Mile End Residents Association are also today making an official complaint to the Council about the alarm and its impact on the people living in properties either side of Southern Grove. 

Do please comment below if you have also been disturbed by the alarm.

We'll keep you in touch with what happens next...........