Abigail Woodman, the Green Party’s candidate for the Higham Hill by-election, sits down with the Echo to discuss why voters should pick her to represent the Walthamstow ward on Thursday 26th October

The Green Party’s candidate in the upcoming Higham Hill by-election said she would “collaborate” with residents on policy making and seek to re-introduce scrapped ward forums as a way to improve local democracy.

Abigail Woodman, a resident of Higham Hill, has lived in the borough for over 20 years, and works as a freelance educational publisher for students at key stage three to GCSE level. Abigail also holds a voluntary position as chair of East London Waterworks Park, a community group who are seeking to buy the Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road in Waltham Forest in order to turn it into a publicly accessible green space with natural swimming ponds.

Speaking to the Echo, Abigail said that she would push for the council to factor in the climate crisis and how to reduce biodiversity loss in its decisions on housing and the environment. Abigail added that she would like to see Higham Hill Library also used as a meeting hub for community groups and would campaign for it to be open in the evenings for that purpose. Abigail also criticised the council’s approach to improving Chaney Ray Park, stating that they should have looked into improving biodiversity in the park instead of putting a “big slab of concrete” there.

Read her interview with the Echo below:

Why should people vote for you?

I think a vote for Labour is a vote for the status quo, whereas a vote for the Green Party is a vote for doing things differently. And I’d really like to work with the people of Higham Hill to identify solutions to the problems that we face and then work with the council to implement them. The Green Party has got a growing track record and I think [the Green Party] is the right choice for Higham Hill, Waltham Forest and London as a whole. The party gained over 200 new councillors in the last local elections. So there is a growing movement [of Green Party voters and members].

What are the biggest issues in the ward that you’d like to address?

I’m deeply concerned about the impact of two tower blocks on the Wetlands. The council should be working to protect this Ramsar site and not allow light pollution and pressure of increased population to disrupt wildlife. At the very least, we should be building covenants into leases that insist on measures to limit light pollution. That is just one example of how every decision we make should focus on how it tackles the climate crisis and reverses biodiversity loss.

While it’s really good that Waltham Forest Council has declared a climate crisis, its push for growth, particularly push for housing often comes at an environmental cost. And if elected, I would push the council to put nature first when making its decisions. 

I would also challenge the council to build more social housing; so-called affordable housing is not really affordable, is it? Waltham Forest Council is selling off and building on a lot of publicly owned land. And that should, in my view, be used only to build social housing and not to line the pockets of developers. We should be building homes so that everyone in our community has a good home to live in and so we’re not moving people out of the borough if they’re on the housing waiting list.

What is your stance on the Labour administration’s environmental policies and on Low-traffic neighbourhoods?

I think that efforts to encourage sustainable transport are extremely positive. I think as ever it’s about taking people with you rather than imposing things upon people. Changes to our communities need to be co-designed with communities so that those changes are collaborative and people come along with them.

In terms of environmental actions [taken by the council] Cheney Row Park is a really, really good example of where I think [they] could have done more. They had some money to improve Cheney Row Park and certainly putting in play equipment and everything has seen an increase in usage of the park, which is really positive. But I do question why we have a big slab of concrete in the park. Why don’t we increase biodiversity rather than concrete? 

And if you look at mounds that were created and the mature trees that were planted in those mounds, those trees are really suffering. So it’s about that idea of thinking how to work with nature, to regenerate and to rewild areas and introduce more trees. It’s pretty well known that self seeded trees have the best chance of survival. 

How would you collaborate with residents as councillor?

I think the scrapping of the ward forums was very detrimental to local democracy. Now I know the existing Labour councillors weren’t necessarily pleased about that, so that’s not a criticism directed at them; that’s a criticism directed at whoever manages that democracy process within the council. 

Across the borough, I think wards are really in need of forums where people can come together to discuss the issues. And I think local councillors have a responsibility to facilitate that discussion, so I would be looking to get ward forums back and then put in front of them the challenging issues that we have to discuss to see if we can come to some kind of agreement [on solutions to issues]. And I would work with the council to implement those democratically decided solutions.

It’s often the case in local democracy that a small minority of people who make the most noise  are the ones who get heard and represented best in local decision making. How will you try and ensure that everyone in your ward has a say or feels heard?

I think that’s a really valid question. I think councillors tend to sit and wait for people to come to them and that means the people you just described do have a much louder voice. So if I was elected I would go out to seek opinions; I wouldn’t wait for people to come to me.

So if you hear that there’s an issue in a particular area, it would be about going to that area and asking more widely and making sure you’re reaching out, and understanding the demographics of a particular area, or making sure that you know you’re talking to everybody so that everybody is represented. It takes time and effort but it’s not impossible.

If you are elected as a councillor what would be the very first thing you would do? 

I think it would be to hold a public meeting. And one of the things I’d really like to do and I’ve been trying to make this happen, but I haven’t got it right far, is to turn Higham Hill Library into a place where community groups can meet because I think there’s a lot of will to change things, but it’s very, very difficult to do that in an inclusive way because there isn’t anywhere that groups can meet for free that isn’t a pub and obviously a pub isn’t an inclusive space.

So, I would like to see Higham Hill Library opened in the evenings and hopefully as a councillor I might be able to do that. I might be able to sit there a couple of evenings a week or month and allow groups to come in and use the space to meet.

What do you think needs to be done in regards to crime and improving public safety in the area? 

I think building strong community networks is one way to challenge fear of crime; to feel that you can talk to your neighbours, that you have people to talk to, that you have people to express concerns with is a way to tackle [crime]. This isn’t a subject I’ve given a huge amount of thought to but if it’s of concern to people in the borough it would be something that I would find out about.

How would voting Green be a genuine break and difference from Labour in Waltham Forest?

I think it’s about how we work with people. Labour has been in power for a long time; I’m not sure it’s asking how it can do things differently and better. I think [Labour] has an idea of how do things and I think it’s quite committed to those ideas and I think that as far as I see, a vote for the Green Party is a vote for doing things differently, working collaboratively and building a borough that is inclusive for all of us. And when I say all of us, I include nature in that. It’s about challenging ourselves to put nature first when we make decisions.

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