West Ealing has 3 of the worst streets for fly-tipping in Ealing. What can residents do to help?

According to an article in this week’s Ealing Gazette West Ealing has three of the five worst streets in Ealing for fly-tipping. The five worst are:

  1. The Broadway, West Ealing
  2. Leeland Road, West Ealing
  3. Valetta Road, Acton
  4. Uxbridge Road, West Ealing
  5. Northcote Avenue, Southall

The ratings are based on the number of reports of rubbish being dumped that are received by the Council.  The Council’s clean-up teams clear over 100 fly-tips across the borough every working day.

To say the least, this is disappointing news for residents of West Ealing. Yet, does the answer lie mostly in our own hands?  I regularly use the Council’s ‘Report It’ app to tell them about the fly-tips I see on local streets and my impression is that much of the fly-tipping is done locally.  Yes, some of the big fly-tips may well be done by people who don’t live in the area but it’s the black bags, mattresses, pieces of broken furniture and so on that constitute many of these fly-tips. and I suspect many of these come from local residents.

Too often it’s easiest just to walk by and ignore the fly-tips or hope someone else will report it. Maybe it will improve when the Council brings its street cleaning services back in house. But what can we all do as local residents to help tackle this blight on our streets?   For example, should West Ealing Neighbours organise some regular clean up days around West Ealing?  Would you be willing to help?  Should we crowdfund for an extra street cleaner to focus on the worst local streets? What ideas do you have?  We’d love to hear from you either by leaving a comment here or emailing us at westealingneighbours@gmail.com

 

St James Church in West Ealing to close after 100 years

After over a century, St James Church in West Ealing is closing its doors – this time for good. It was closed down for a period some years ago. I can remember it boarded up and with broken windows. This time though it looks like its closing for good. Services stop this month and classes in the church hall are coming to an end as well.  It looks like a combination of a dwindling congregation and the cost of the church’s upkeep . St James along with St John in Mattock Lane make up one of the Church of England parishes.

It’s been a feature of the local community for over 100 years and we now await a decision by the church authorities as to what next for this building. West Ealing Neighbours and other local groups would dearly love it to become a community venue. It could host a wide range of activities for all age groups from a space for older residents to meet and socialise to a vibrant space for teenagers in the evenings. Alongside these uses it could be a space for live performances, music rehearsal,  and a temporary gallery for the artists and craftspeople who will occupy the second floor of the nearby co-working hub Ealing Works due to open in St James Ave later this year.

No decision is likely until early next year.  We will update this story as more information becomes available.