Darren Beale

I’m extremely lucky to have Wanstead Flats at the end of my road. The southern end of Epping Forest, it used to be called Wanstead Heath and one of the options being considered in the current consultation exercise is to give it back its old name. Whilst I imagine locals who’ve lived in the area for along time might not like this idea, as someone who moved to the area three years ago and had no idea what Wanstead Flats were (a council estate?), I think it’s a good idea. ‘Heath’ or ‘Common’ are terms that more readily describe a free open space and it’s the sort of term that people would identify with when choosing their next place to live.

If you are interested in the future management of Wanstead Flats, the most southern area of the Forest, you may be interested in obtaining a copy of our current consultation document. We are producing an Integrated Site Plan for the area – a way of bringing together all the nature conservation, landscape, recreational and heritage management issues into a co-ordinated management plan that takes account of the views of local residents and visitors as well as those of statutory authorities.

I would urge anyone local to the area to make their views known by downloading the documents below and the sending them in to epping.forest@corpoflondon.gov.uk.
The closing date for public responses is 25 October.

Consultation documents:

Wanstead Flats Intergrated Site Management Plan (background info) (4mb)
Wanstead Flats consultation (the questionnaire) (100kb)

Related:

• Corporation of London Epping Forest page
• Corporation of London press release
• Jubilee Pond page