I grew up in Walthamstow, where I lived for 27 years before moving to Chingford. Five generations of my family have called Walthamstow home, going back to the 1880s. My connection to Waltham Forest is undeniably strong, with family spread across the borough to Leyton and Leytonstone.
I’m a 45-year-old father of two, and a web developer for an IT consultancy. I was originally a Labour voter, before becoming apathetic and disillusioned with their policies. After reading Green Party policy on socioeconomics, education, and of course, the environment, I joined the party in 2014 becoming joint coordinator in my first year of membership, active in local campaigns on housing, education, cuts to local services, and air quality.
I stood as a candidate in the general elections of 2017 and 2019, and in local elections.
I’ve seen my old school demolished and replaced by an Academy, as have many other schools in the area.
As my home town, I have seen how much Waltham Forest has changed over the years. I’ve seen my old school demolished and replaced by an Academy, as have many other schools in the area. I’ve seen the bus at Walthamstow Central built and rebuilt more than once, and the roads around it re-modelled multiple times. I’ve seen communities destroyed in the name of progress, social housing stock reduced, and primary schools turning from one or two form entry into three and four form entry. I’ve seen green spaces and recreational land reduced to make way for even more housing, but without the necessary infrastructure to support it.
But I’ve also seen how much remains the same. Waltham Forest is still a lively place to live, full of diversity and always evolving, just as – my older family say – it has been since before I was even born. Walthamstow market is as busy as it was when I was a kid, it’s still quicker to walk sometimes than get a bus, and we’re still producing brilliantly talented people in all areas of sport, art, science, business, music and more.
We can’t solve the environmental crisis and create a sustainable planet without also tackling social and economic problems
I grew up in a council house with parents on benefits, an experience which taught me the value of social housing, and the importance of local services to low-income families. Now privately renting, I’m acutely aware of the rising cost of housing and the effect it has on the people in the area.
In many areas of Waltham Forest, we’re seeing renters forced to move due to ever-increasing rents or landlords selling their buy-to-let properties. Social housing tenants being moved on, in some cases forced beyond Waltham Forest and away from friends and family. In some areas, we have incredible resident groups, but in others, we’re losing a sense of community.
I raise this because we can’t solve the environmental crisis and create a sustainable planet without also tackling social and economic problems, and Waltham Forest, for all its great points, still has its fair share of those to deal with.
I’ve no doubt that the same can be said across many parts of London, and indeed the rest of the UK.