Stoneydown Speakers' Corner

Page 1A project to develop a speakers' corner in Stoneydown Park has begun (From East London and...

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By Claire Hack »

A project to develop a speakers'

corner in Stoneydown Park has

begun

11:35am Friday 13th November 2009

A SPEAKERS’ corner could be established in

Walthamstow, following a proposal by teachers

and residents.

Waltham Forest Council is supporting the plan to

use a spot in Stoneydown Park to promote local

democracy.

Teachers from three local schools and the

Friends of Stoneydown Park are working with the

Speakers’ Corner Trust to develop the project.

A meeting will be held on Thursday (November

19) at the Queens Road Community Centre to

discuss the plan and commitee will be

established to oversee the project.

Cllr Marie Pye, cabinet member for communities

and housing, said: "This is a fantastic initiative

which will stimulate debate and provide a forum

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Your Guardian

for a wide range of issues to be raised by

residents.

"I know there are lots of residents who will be

itching to get involved in a speakers corner and

on behalf of the Council I would like to offer my

full support to this wonderful initiative.”

The Stoneydown Park speakers’ corner will be

the first to be established in London since the

original in Hyde Park in the 1870s.

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JonathanB, Walthamstow says...

12:14pm Fri 13 Nov 09

Why not LLoyd park? Stonydown is tiny and

when people go there in the Summer they'll

have to put up with shouting idiots. If it was

in LLoyd park thes loads of space for those

who want peace an quiet.”

WALTptes, says ...

12:30pm Fri 13 Nov 09

A perfectly laudable proposal but, as ever, the

devil is in the detail. How, and by whom, is

this to be monitored and managed? How will

racist, sexist, homophobic , abusive and

extremist opinions be dealt with? Our Safer

Neighbourhood Team is already

overstretched . If this is to go ahead a lot of

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A MAN was taken to hospital after being beaten

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AN elderly woman had her life savings stolen

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very careful thought needs to be put into it

otherwise it could degenerate into mayhem.”

ceegriffin, Chapel End, Walthamstow says...

1:40pm Fri 13 Nov 09

What a really, quite incredibly bad idea.

I often manage Speakers Corner, and it's the

home of utter freaks and blithering idiots.

Sweep my street, Waltham Forest!”

Techno2, Walthamstow says...


I think it is an interesting idea but fear that

after any initial enthusiam, it may end up

being used very rarely and will turn out to

have been quite expensive.

”



JonathanB wrote:

Why not LLoyd park? Stonydown is tiny

and when people go there in the Summer

they'll have to put up with shouting

idiots. If it was in LLoyd park thes loads

of space for those who want peace an

quiet.

LLoyd park only serves a part of the borough.

There are other parks in Walthamstow and

many people in West Walthamstow don't go

the Lloyd park because it is too far.

It is not a bad idea to provide facilities for

those people nearer where they live, even

though what most of them would really want,

if asked, would be other things, like the re-

openning of the St James's Street Library and

access to a cinema and a nearby swimming

pool. ”

KWyatt-Lown, says...


What an extraordinary debate. Techno2 (who

seems to have a view on most things and so,




one would have thought, should know we

already have platforms throughout the

Borough through which residents are

encouraged to debate issues important to

them) along with Cllr. Pye (who claims

Community as part of her portfolio) really

ought to be championing the existing network

of Community Councils.

Let’s all focus on making what we already

have better publicised and better attended

instead of wasting time, effort (and, I don’t

doubt, more ratepayers cash) on the latest

Whitehall whim.

If there are any schools in the North

Chingford area who want to develop their

pupil’s awareness and pro-active

engagement in public debate, they will be

very welcome at the Community Council I

chair. It’s an initiative I’ve been trying to

move forward for ages.

Kevin Wyatt-Lown

Chair, North Chingford Community Council”



KWyatt-Lownwrote:

What an extraordinary debate. Techno2

(who seems to have a view on most things

and so, one would have thought, should

know we already have platforms

throughout the Borough through which

residents are encouraged to debate issues

important to them) along with Cllr. Pye

(who claims Community as part of her

portfolio) really ought to be championing

the existing network of Community

Councils. Let’s all focus on making what

we already have better publicised and

better attended instead of wasting time,

effort (and, I don’t doubt, more

ratepayers cash) on the latest Whitehall

whim. If there are any schools in the

North Chingford area who want to

develop their pupil’s awareness and pro-

active engagement in public debate, they

will be very welcome at the Community

Council I chair. It’s an initiative I’ve been

trying to move forward for ages. Kevin




Wyatt-Lown Chair, North Chingford

Community Council

There is nothing extra-ordinary about this

debate. Its simply a reflection of the fact that

the existing structures don't seem to have

delivered very much for this part of the

borough. Your useful point almost illustrates

this, as you remind us that there ARE

supposedly means whereby residents views

can be put forward, but then focuss

immediately on the concerns of North

Chingford, a place which may as well be the

moon for many local residents. Not many

people outside this part of the borough can

pay attention to its concerns for more than a

few seconds before ignoring it. The current

system does not seem to work for us.

I am not entirely sure why, but t is for those

reasons I have become such a nag about

matters that concern this part of the borough.

Most of the council's resources, when they are

available tend to go elsewhere, arriving or,

more often leaving, as a result of top-down

decisions, undemocratically, ineptly (and

sometimes corruptly) made made elsewhere.

Thus we lost our library for reasons few here

undertsand or accept and are offered dodgy

fixes by the council to sell off the property to

the PCT or shadowy pals of councillors,

decisions taken by councillors who do not

represent this part of the borough. It seems

the voices of locals are wasted breath.

To this extent I have some sympathy with the

aim of the Speakers Corner idea - if it

invigorates local discussion it would be a

great idea. Sadly, I am pessimistic that it will

work in the long run, but very much respect

the motives of the Friends of Stoneydown

Park and the hard work they and some others

notable for their rarity voluntarily put in to

try to stem the rot in our local civic life. ”

Ricardo E17 Art Trail, Walthamstow says...


It is a shame that any available space is not

used for local art and crafts instead of an

'open mike situation'

for potential crackpots. There seems to be






little space afforded to the artists of the

borough?”

KWyatt-Lown, says...


I take your point about wanting to encourage

a stronger voice in your part of the Borough

Techno2 and I’m sorry I can only speak for

my part of the borough but that’s where I’m

elected to act as Community Chair. You do

have a Community Council in your area and I

really would urge you and your fellow

residents to use it not only as a platform for

your own voices but as a conduit for direct

lobbying of your own local ward councillors

– from whom you deserve answers to

minuted questions.

On the subject of hard working volunteers, I

couldn’t agree more. Unlike the Councillor

Chairs (who co-host these evenings and get

over £4000 a year in allowances for doing so)

I and my fellow Community Chairs are all

volunteers who give our time for free to help

ensure our neighbourhood resident’s voices

are better heard. The Council themselves do a

woeful job in promoting the meetings but the

WFBC web site does carry all the dates and

venues. I urge you and you neighbours to get

your voices heard.

Kevin Wyatt-WALT

Chair, North Chingford Community Council”

Panoptes, says...


If it's crackpots you want to avoid, Ricardo

E17 Art Trail, my advice would be DON'T go

to Community Councils (excellent chairing

notwithstanding).”

mdj, e10 says...


'Cllr Marie Pye, cabinet member for

communities and housing, said: "This is a

fantastic initiative which will stimulate

debate...'

..and get all the stroppier critics of the Council






safely out of the way, ranting on the blasted

heath, while the Community Councils become

even more sedated than they usually are

already. If we all push away at the CC's, these

could become genuine public forums (no

criticism of Kevin here at all, BTW), but at

present they're the shadow of what they could

be. This week at the Leyton one, endless time

was (quite deliberately) filibustered on voting

for minute sums of money for worthy local

causes, while questioning over the giant

Cricket Ground boondoggle was shunted into

as small a time as possible. This, along with

many other things, has to change before we

can claim to live in an accountable system.

BTW : do folk realise that Council Chairs of

CC's get c.£4,000 pa for about twenty

minutes work every three months? The

community chair who does most of the

evening's work gets nowt!”

Panoptes, says...


Love boondoggle, mdj. Very appropriate that

argot of the Great Depression should be

recycled in our own uncertain times.”

Investigations, Victoria BC says...

11:18pm Fri 13 Nov 09

Nasty proposal that should do much for the

civil rights and law and disorder lobby! As

freedom of speech has already been seriously

curtailed in Britain it will be interesting to

read about the actions of the "thought" police

if this daft idea ever comes to fruition!

However. there will still be plenty of

"permitted" but dangerous ideas to give work

for the Walthamstow riot squad!”

Panoptes, says...

12:02am Sat 14 Nov 09

Freedom of speech? Hmmm. When one has

been subjected to a nasty, homophobic rant

masquerading as street evangelism one

begins to wonder. As Oliver Wendle Holmes






put it, "My freedom to swing my fist ends

where the other man's nose begins".”

lindasfriend, leyton says...

10:11am Mon 16 Nov 09

Not a bad idea at all. I don't agree it will have

an adverse affect on attendance at

Community Council meetings. I think it is

more likely to encourage people to be involved

in what's going on. I do object to the place,

however, it needs to be somewhere central

where people passing by might just stop and

listen for a few moments. The arcade site

would be ideal! ”


12:38pm Mon 16 Nov 09

lindasfriend wrote:

Not a bad idea at all. I don't agree it will

have an adverse affect on attendance at

Community Council meetings. I think it is

more likely to encourage people to be

involved in what's going on. I do object to

the place, however, it needs to be

somewhere central where people passing

by might just stop and listen for a few

moments. The arcade site would be ideal!

You may not mean it to be the case, but your

comment sort of entirely illustrates some of

the problem.

The council justified destroying the library at

St James's Street because they thought that

people could be required to go to the Central

Library instead. People in the Western part of

Walthamstow are continually fobbed off by

planners who insist they have to walk uphill

for a mile or two before they get to any

facilities they can use, and when they get

there, they have to share them with the

squeeky wheels from the Village or endure

something which a social engineer has

dreamt up for a consultancy fee. ”

backwoods, says...

2:19pm Mon 16 Nov 09






The Arcade 'triangle', what a good idea!

Perhaps we could have speakers on ice (or is

that synthetic ice?).”

Walthamster, Walthamstow says...


I thought this was a joke when I first saw it.

Stoneydown Park is a pretty, quiet, popular

spot that's currently enjoyed by all kinds of

local people. It's a safe place for children to

play games and ride their bicycles round the

lawns. It's one of the very few places in the

area for older people to take a stroll in a bit of

greenery. Even when full of children (as it

often is), the trees and grass dampen sound so

that it doesn't feel noisy.

But there are no passing crowds to stop and

listen to a speaker - people go to the park for a

bit of peace and quiet.

As others have said, why not go to West

Walthamstow community council meetings,

where there's some point in making a

speech?”

Walthamster, Walthamstow says...


I thought this was a joke when I first saw it.

Stoneydown Park is a pretty, quiet, popular

spot that's currently enjoyed by all kinds of

local people. It's a safe place for children to

play games and ride their bicycles round the

lawns. It's one of the very few places in the

area for older people to take a stroll in a bit of

greenery. Even when full of children (as it

often is), the trees and grass dampen sound so

that it doesn't feel noisy.

But there are no passing crowds to stop and

listen to a speaker - people go to the park for a

bit of peace and quiet.

As others have said, why not go to West

Walthamstow community council meetings,

where there's some point in making a

speech?”

Panoptes, says...


Page 10A project to develop a speakers' corner in Stoneydown Park has begun (From East London an...






backwoods wrote:

The Arcade 'triangle', what a good idea!

Perhaps we could have speakers on ice (or

is that synthetic ice?).

To go with the synthetic anger.”



Something tells me that most of the people

attending these sessions are going to be

school children taken there by their teachers,

in which case we can expect a fair bit of surly

boredom out of earshot while the teachers'

pets perform on cue.

But you never know, there may be some good

come out of this. Some people will have heard

of Stoneydown Park anyway. ”

lindasfriend, leyton says...


Well, when I was Brendafriend, (before I was

banned for using a slang word meaning

breasts), I actually did suggest the triangle be

used as a speakers' corner when they were

asking for our ideas. I was being facetious,

thinking it would serve them jolly well right

to have to put up with being lampooned and

criticised on that ridiculous space. Imagine

my surprise to see it being suggested in all

seriousness . But Techno2, I don't really get

your point. Are you saying that certain parts

of Walthamstow constantly get ignored? Cos

if you are - you want to try living in Leyton! If

that isn't what you're saying - would you

mind telling me again?”

larry g, chigwell says...

8:47am Wed 18 Nov 09

can you imagine the nut jobs that would be

queing up for a rant..

no thanks...leave em all in the E17 town

square on a saturday ”




Comments are closed on this article.

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leytonstoner, leyton says...

6:14pm Thu 19 Nov 09

ceegriffin wrote:

What a really, quite incredibly bad idea. I

often manage Speakers Corner, and it's

the home of utter freaks and blithering

idiots. Sweep my street, Waltham Forest!

HEAR , HEAR .......... Sweep my street also

Waltham Forest !!!!”

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