Chadwell Heath pensioners win two-year battle to get their bus stop back

Pensioners living in a Chadwell Heath retirement complex have finally won their two-year battle to get a bus stop reinstated.

Residents of Rosewood Court and Cunningham Close, in Chadwell Heath Lane, have been campaigning since the stop was removed from outside West View Cottages in 2011 by Transport for London over safety concerns.

A pilot stop was installed outside Cunningham Close in October but withdrawn after complaints from residents, leaving no southbound stop between Little Heath and 199 Chadwell Heath Lane.

Residents told area committee five, which met on Monday in Barley Lane Primary School, Huxley Drive, Chadwell Heath, that the long walk was too much for many, confining some pensioners to their homes and restricting their freedom and social life.

Phyllis Santer said she had to pay for expensive taxis to the hospital to visit her husband, who passed away.

Rose Lewis said: “When I looked at Rosewood Court I thought the bus stop was a bonus but it didn’t turn out like that.

“I can’t walk down because I can’t breathe that far.”

The committee voted unanimously to reinstate the bus stop at its original location outside West View Cottages.