Loud hoorays are ringing all round the old Grove Estate. We're a Conservation Area. Cllr. Peter Goody, Cabinet Member for Planning, has "signed it off" and the Council's Chief Officer has agreed.
That means that a whole lovely chunk of Wanstead between Grosvenor Road and Grove Park/The Avenue on the High Street and stretching way down to Buckingham Road at the far edge of the Counties Estate has a much better chance of surviving into the future, looking pretty much as we know and love it.
What's more, Mob's Hole – as Nightingale Green was known in the 1700s when a woman who called herself Lady Butterfield, kept a notorious roadhouse there – has been included in the protected area.
It's good news for all who love Wanstead and its history and an encouraging testimony to community effort. There were times when, despite the heroic efforts of the Counties Residents Assocation and the persuasions of the WS, the chances of being accredited as worthy of protection looked remote. That we won it in the end is down to neighbourly cohesion and sheer doggedness.