REPRESENTATIVES of the local community have given their unanimous backing to a proposed Speakers’ Corner in Waltham Forest.
A committee to manage the project, earmarked for Stoneydown Park in Walthamstow, will now be established in the coming few weeks.
If established, the Speakers’ Corner will be only the third created since an act of Parliament paved the way for the original in Hyde Park in the 1870s.
Charity the Speakers’ Corner Trust has been consulting with Waltham Forest Council, which backs the project, after being approached by Stoneydown School and Friends of Stoneydown Park.
A meeting to discuss the plans at Queens Road Community Centre in Queens Road, Walthamstow, was attended by various interested parties, including Friends of Stoneydown Park, local young people and the head of St Patrick's Primary School.
Speaking after the meeting yesterday (November 19), Peter Bradley, director of Speakers’ Corner Trust, said: “This has been an important first step and we’re delighted with the tremendous local support we’ve had.
“We’re excited too about the plans which the Committee will be drawing up shortly. I’m sure they’re going to capture the public’s imagination as well as reminding the rest of London what the communities of Walthamstow have to offer.
“We want to create new opportunities for local people to speak out about the things that matter to them and be heard by the policy makers and decision takers in Waltham Forest and beyond.
"Sharing our ideas and opinions with our neighbours not only helps build stronger communities but also increases our influence on the way our lives are run.
“At a time when many people have lost faith in our political system, that is particularly important.”
He added that the committee will be in place by the new year and will be set up to allow it to change and broaden its membership in the long term.
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