Imaginative housing plan but utilisation of open space for community use needs to be a priority

Redbridge Council do seem to have come up with an imaginative plan to meet the rising housing demand in the borough.

The projections suggest there will be another 60,000 people living in Redbridge come 2030.

The plan focuses most of the development on Ilford (6,000 units) and around the cross rail corridor (4,700). The plan, in the main, avoids building in the green areas around the borough.

There has been concerns expressed over the proposed building on the Oakfields playing fields site. The concreting over of such areas must ofcourse be regretted and avoided where possible.

However, the Oakfields example does open up the question of how land is best utilised in the borough. I think of the area alongside the River Roding, where as part of the cycle path development new allotments are due to be created near the old sports ground. But on the other side of the cycle track what is going on with the old sports ground itself – not a lot it would seem. The site is deserted, the goalposts remain in the ground as the surrounding grasslands grow ever higher. Surely this is a site that could be better utilised for the common good. It could be brought back into public use as playing fields or if that demand does not exist maybe turned into allotments. It is vital that we use our green spaces wherever they are for the good of all.

- published Ilford Recorder - 4/8/2016