Letter to Guardian Newspaper Nov 7th 2013
It is with mixed emotion that we write to you today
Firstly we at WARA are very happy that the proposed development for Knolly’s Nursery was refused at the recent planning committee meeting. We would like it to be noted, the strength of feeling against this development from local residents was as strong as ever at our public meeting held to gauge residents opinion for the proposal. Since many planning applications have previously been refused for Knolly’s it could be easy to become complacent and not bother objecting to fresh planning attempts, but this outcome goes to show if we stick together we can make a difference.
WARA say well done to all concerned and would like you to remember the role played by the majority of our local councillors who, after listening to our objections, used common sense and voted against this development. We are often quick to sound critical of our elected representatives when things go wrong, but this time they have done the right thing, so let us say ‘A Big Thank You’ to those councillors who opposed this development in our very precious Green Belt.
Secondly, it is with regret that we have to inform you that our chair Sue Mitchell Calvert and also our treasurer Jo Rata have stepped down from the Association, to concentrate on their ’Keep it Local’ business venture. I am sure all those who came into contact with these two stalwarts of WARA would like to join our committee in wishing them every success in the future. We have a precedent with outgoing chairpersons going on to serve our local community; our previous chair is now the current mayor of Waltham Abbey Cllr Ann Mitchell MBE.
WARA would like to assure all residents that, it’s business as usual, we have many long standing committee members remaining and look forward to continuing our work with and for you. Sue has made assurances that as soon as Facebook contact her she will reset the log-in details and pass on to the new committee so we can continue with the WARA Facebook page.” It is hoped that the new WARA website will also be up and running in the very near future.