London - Tower Hamlets Council - good?

[simplefree]

Anyone in the area can please give the pros / cons?

Property on the 8th floor - E14 - I don’t have full post code yet. Apparently 5 minutes walking to Canary Wharf station.

I’m interested in cleanligness and safety, I don’t mind an urban feel.

I don’t need primary / secondary schools but nearby colleges will be helpful for DD.

I work mostly from home and no extended family so commute is not a big deal.

But I do require council services like CAMHS and other provisions for a neurodivergent teen.

Hopefully someone will be on soon with more insider info. I live in a different borough. What I know is mostly from reading Private Eye and the Rotten Boroughs columns- plenty of corruption ,cronyism and electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets, and I suspect a highly polarised political landscape including a militant Islamic scene. However, none of that will necessarily affect you so I hope you get the insights you need.

Five minutes walk from Canary Wharf station must be Isle of Dogs or Poplar?

Hello! Also in E14! I moved over from West London a couple of years ago now and am in a similar location to you. It is a very safe area from what I've experienced so far. I work mostly from home too and it's lovely to have lots of quays and waterside walks on your doorstep as well as a whole tonne of cafes and lunchtime eateries.

DH picked the area because it was near his work but also because it was cleaner than other parts of London. And I would agree. There's an Asda nearby as well as lots of little Tesco's and Co-ops and a Waitrose and John Lewis too.

We're currently expecting our first DC and the maternity services have been efficient and helpful so far. I can't comment on the council services beyond that I'm afraid.

Whoever said militant Islamic-ness: you're wrong. The local community are quite friendly and are made up of a population of Asians: Chinese and Bangladeshi. There's a lot of Chinese speciality grocery shops in the area.

Whoever said militant Islamic-ness: you're wrong. The local community are quite friendly and are made up of a population of Asians: Chinese and Bangladeshi. There's a lot of Chinese speciality grocery shops in the area.

Actually there was some notorious "militant Islam-ness" quite a few years ago in Tower Hamlets (Islamic patrols assaulting gay men etc) but I haven't heard anything in more recent times.

Limehouse was historically a hub for Chinese immigrants and until fairly recently, those in the know went to Limehouse for excellent Chinese food rather than Chinatown etc. I think the continued gentrification of Limehouse and the Wharf has pretty much wiped this out though.

Tower Hamlets is one of London's poorest and most deprived boroughs. I believe it has still the highest child poverty levels in England. There are pockets of absolute deprivation alongside pockets of immense wealth. However, if the OP is living near the Wharf and mixes with Wharf workers she probably won't see much of the poverty. But it's there if you look just below the surface.

CAMHS will have nothing to do with the local council it's an NHS service.

Because the Borough has the rich and poor in close proximity it can be an odd place to live sometimes.
I like living here a lot.

Not a parent but know there are loads of services for school aged kids, hot breakfast in the holidays and other holiday clubs, as they are advertised everywhere. Don't know about for older kids.

My gp practice are great.

Canary Wharf itself is clean and safe, as it's private land with its own security. The whole borough is mixed though.

There are a lot of issues with drugs round and about. We have a dealer blatantly sat outside our local shop and the police don't intervene often.
And you will see used nos debris in the street. The council have asked people to report seeing it, so it's an acknowledged issue.

There are also issues with boy racers, quite something to watch them out the window to be fair. Id not be happy to be accidentally driving where they are though.

Yes I think it kicked off around 2013 when there were self styled Islamic patrols and some incidents of non Muslims being intimidated and informed “this is a Muslim area”. It’s true, one doesn’t hear much about it these days. It’s also very unlikely to happen around Canary Wharf, it would be more a Whitechapel or newham issue.

Mudchute City Farm is nice and worth a visit!

That is good to know, so my daughter is under CAMHS and access services in our borough, if we move would she have the same level of services in a different borough? Or be able to maintain her online sessions with her therapist?

@jay55 what do you like about living there?

It depends where you're moving from as obviously NHS provision varies (some times significantly) between areas.

Gosh, in that case I stand corrected @TheGander @HundredMilesAnHour I haven't seen it myself but perhaps it's because we're quite near Canary Wharf itself rather than the other places mentioned. The couple of years I've been here, it's felt safe to me though and have experienced only kindness. The locals I might add are also some of the working professionals who work locally, so I guess a very mixed bag

My friend lives there doesn't like it, says loads of trouble doesn't feel safe in the evening. X

If it is really 5mins walk to Canary Wharf station then it is the very corporate, new build part of Tower Hamlets. It is indeed very clean. Much of the area immediately around canary wharf station is privately owned and run by the Canary Wharf Group, it's not the council cleaning the streets.

It's pretty soulless but there are lots of chain shops and Waitrose in the canary wharf shopping centre plus lots of restaurants and bars for the after work crowd. Much quieter on weekends than during the week.
The Canary Wharf Group put on various events - Christmas lights, summer concert, art trail to try and make the area a bit less sterile.

It may be in the same borough but it is nothing like Whitechapel.

NHS services are not run by the council but by the local commissioning board/health trust.
I doubt there are many children living in the area - properties are aimed primarily at child free singles or couples working in finance. So you may have to travel a bit further afield for schools and colleges but the tube is right there so easy to travel.

The nearest FE college would be New City College in Poplar, I think. There is a specialist arts, film, game design and music FE college in Tower Hamlets as well called ELAM.

There is the docklands watersports centre and outdoor swimming nearby plus the arts centre The Space. Quite a lot of Chinese restaurants and a Chinese supermarket in Westferry.

Why are you moving there of all places? It's fine but it seems like you've never even been to the area?

If it’s literally 5 minutes from the station fine. But otherwise I would stay clear.

Thanks all

@MojoMoon I have been to the area a few times but it was about 10 years ago - have been to Canary Wharf and docklands museum and used to go to whitechapel every 2 weeks or so for a few months - but I don’t know anyone who lives there.

I am a social housing tenant and looking to move, the only way is by exchange and someone from there is interested in my place. Once they provide me with the full postcode it will be easier to gauge but I live in a lovely green part of London with a lovely village feel so moving there will be a huge shock. But we need a change for various reasons and walking near the water really helps my SEN daughter. We are only about 15-20 minutes from the river though so I won’t give up my place easily.

It's probably north of canary wharf around Poplar then - more social housing there.
The area is the total opposite of green. The number of trees on the street etc are minimal. Poplar is a bit bleak to be honest - lots of groups of young men in expensive leased cars (while they live at home with their mums) driving like idiots. Poplar high street is a traffic sewer with some rubbish shops. I wouldn't say I felt unsafe walking around though - apart from the terrible driving standards.

that said, it has good transport connections and it is quick to walk to Canary Wharf.

But if you head south towards Westferry then Mudchute park and farm is good and a big open space. Could be a good place for your daughter to look at volunteering? It's very friendly.

Poplar has historically been quite a deprived area, living alongside the private gated developments around Canary Wharf. There are quite a few major roads cutting through the area. Canary Wharf estate itself is private but open to the public so it is very clean but does have a soulless feel mentioned earlier though there are great amenities and events. Personally there's no way I'd move from a green, leafy, villagey part of London. It'd be the opposite. There are greener and more relaxed part of TH which runs okay apart from the crazy politics.

I agree that I wouldn't choose to move to Poplar from a leafy green area unless you had a very good reason such as needing to work in the Wharf etc. It's certainly not the most visually appealing area and it's a bit of an urban wasteland.

You need the postcode OP so you/we can check out the actual location.