Entries tagged with “olympics” from Working For Walthamstow

This past week I attended the Labour Party Conference in Manchester to participate in the policy debates regarding the future direction of Government. I'm proud Labour will put into law the pledge to end child poverty in our country to make it a legal obligation for all future governments whatever their political persuasion. I'm also proud that it is Labour proposing ending prescription charges by introducing free drugs for a quarter of a million cancer patients from next year. The plan is for this eventually to be extended to all those with long term medical conditions- meaning that in the future no one should need to worry about their ability to pay for vital medication if Labour is in power. The commitment to offer free nursery places for all two year olds within the next ten years will also make a real difference to local families, as will plans to make sure that a million children from low income backgrounds get access to computers and the internet. These were my highlights - I would be interested in your views on these ideas and how they will change life here in Walthamstow.

My personal highlight of the week was meeting Ed Clancy, a member of the British gold medal winning men's cycling team from the 2008 Olympics. The velodrome for the 2012 Olympics in London will be at the Lee Valley Park so I look forward to welcoming Ed and other members of the British cycling team to our part of the world to build on their successes in 2012.

Now we have a big screen in the town square for the Olympics I think it's really important that we residents speak up for what we want to watch. The Council have started doing some consultation about this and already people are talking about this new addition to our square. However, I know I find it hard to picture what it will be like to watch without it being switched on but I am sure once we have seen it in action during the 2008 Olympics people will have even more to say. That's why I've put together a short survey about the screen which you can complete on-line here. I hope too local filmmakers and groups who could provide content will use the survey to register their interest. Please note the planning application which agrees the hours of use for the screen will be heard on the 5 August. I will send the details of responses so far to the committee on that issue for them to consider but I will also keep the survey open for responses until the end of September so that you can comment after you've seen the screen live during the Olympics! 

 

Can't wait for the screen to be on to watch films in Walthamstow? The Walthamstow Film Cafe will be showing a series of short films this Friday 1 August at the Rose and Crown Theatre Pub on Hoe Street starting at 8pm. Details of the programme can be found here.

The Hall Farm Curve is a short piece of track, which linked up the Liverpool St - Chingford Line with the Lea Valley Line. This enabled trains to run between Stratford and Chingford. It closed over twenty years ago but since then there has been a long running campaign for the line to be reopened. It would be especially important in the light of the transport needs for the Olympics but there are many positive repercussions to the local economy in getting an easier connection to the Jubilee line, the DLR and Canary Wharf.
 
I'm pleased to report talks have recently started with Network Rail about reopening the line and so connecting Walthamstow with Stratford during the 2010-2015 time period of transport investment. Getting this line reopened, and making the case for the station at Lea Bridge to be reinstated as part of the route too, would be a vital boost to public transport links for Walthamstow. As plans develop I'll keep readers posted.