It’s the #SummerOfAwards in Waltham Forest

Waltham Forest has been recognised with multiple accolades and recognition for its work in fighting the climate crisis in the past few weeks, so much so that it is starting to feel like the #SummerOfAwards in our borough. 

The Council was delighted to announce earlier this week that Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality has been awarded an MBE from His Majesty The King for services to local government.

It comes after more than two decades of service to Waltham Forest Council, which has included a vital role in securing and delivering Enjoy Waltham Forest. This programme has seen the borough transformed by major investment in walking and cycling. 

Elsewhere, Waltham Forest yet again earned leading outer London borough status on the annual Healthy Streets Scorecard, which combines key active travel, climate action and air quality indicators to give an overall rank to the capital’s boroughs for the action they are taking. 

Waltham Forest was singled out for its excellent progress around making streets safer and more pleasant for walking and cycling, with its work around 20mph speed limits and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) scoring particularly highly. 

There was even more recognition for the borough’s walking and cycling programme at the recent MJ Awards, which celebrate excellence in local government. The Council’s sustainable transport team received ‘highly commended’ for the Ten Years of the Enjoy Waltham Forest Programme (Best Transport Decarbonisation Project).

Finally, The Council’s hugely successful campaign to reduce flood risk won  at last month’s Susdrain SuDS Awards – winning for the best Catchment based SuDS Solution and gaining Highly Commended for Community SuDS. This showcased Waltham Forest’s overarching approach to flood mitigation including an exemplary approach to community-led flood action. 

The Lower Floods campaign, which ran from November 2023 to March 2024, saw the Council work closely with ServiceStore and the National Flood Forum install 1,000 free water butts and water saving household devices in areas of the borough most susceptible to extreme rainfall. To date, Lower Floods diverts 150,000 litres of rainwater from the sewers during heavy rainfall, which helps to avoid stormwater exceedance and reduce local flooding events. 

'Well deserved recognition for our wide-ranging climate action programme' 

Councillor Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality said: “It certainly is a #SummerOf Awards here in Waltham Forest! We’ve earned excellent accolades recently for a number of our programmes and initiatives and I’m delighted to receive this well-deserved recognition for our wide-ranging climate action programme. 

This includes our ongoing walking and cycling programme, and Enjoy Waltham Forest, a pioneering programme which continues to transform our borough. We have once again been recognised as the top outer London borough on the Healthy Streets Scorecard for active travel, which is a great achievement.

“Our roads are safer, our air is cleaner and every year, residents have had more options for safe walking and cycling routes – in fact, there is now 56 kilometres of cycle tracks to travel safely on.

“I’m also delighted that our Lower Floods campaign, which installed 1,000 water butts for properties to help reduce the risks of extreme rainfall, was also honoured on a national level. 

“Our programme of climate action does not stop here. Our ambitious Mission Waltham Forest commitments are set on delivering net-zero for the borough by 2030 tackling the climate emergency.”

“On a personal it was an also honour and a privilege to receive an MBE for services to local government and I’d like to thank the people of Waltham Forest and my own ward, Leytonstone, for their faith, trust and confidence in me.”