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Another loan shop in West Ealing

This morning I noticed yet another cash/loan shop opening in West Ealing. This one is called Cash Generator and comes on top of the various other loan shops and pawnbrokers already operating the length of West Ealing. These tough times clearly seem to  mean there’s enough business to go round for all these shops. Yet, I just wonder if letting the market rule is always the right approach to regenerating the high street?

One of West Ealing Neighbours’ top priorities is to work towards bringing together the key stakeholders for West Ealing and explore new ways to bring fresh ideas to our high street (see our website for details). So, for example, how can we encourage start-up businesses to take space? It’s not realistsic to expect start-ups to be able to afford the full rent and rates on a shop. Are there ways we can work with the Council and landlords to offer start-ups a small low-cost space in a larger shop for a couple of years so the business has a chance to grow and then move on and let someone else have that space? Could we even think about the idea of a community shop where a range of local groups work together to make it a community hub with information, advice, a meeting place for locals and more. It’s not going to be easy but I just feel we need to look at this sort of option and not always hand over control of our high street to the free market.

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Calling tree lovers – can you help look after newly planted trees in West Ealing?

One of the new trees in Melbourne Avenue

If you live in the West Ealing streets south of the Uxbridge Road you may have noticed new trees being planted in our streets. Apparently, each year one third of Ealing’s wards get new trees and this year is Walplole Ward’s turn.  In order to get the maximum benefit from the annual tree budget the Council has just launched a tree warden initiative. If we residents volunteer to become tree wardens and look after these new trees for their first few years then the money saved by not paying contractors to do this means all the budget can be spent on trees. One of the tree warden’s tasks will be to water the tree/s with 2 litres of water once a fortnight from May to October, so not too onerous. Speaking as a tree lover I’m all in favour of this. So, my wife and I will look after the new trees in our street.

If you’re interested in volunteering to become a tree warden these are the streets with new trees where tree wardens are needed:

 

Glenfield Rd – 1 tree

Melbourne Ave – 6 trees

Coldershaw Rd – 2 trees

Carew Rd – 1 tree

Westfield Rd – 11 trees

Northfield Ave – 1 tree

Disraeli Road – 3 trees

Everyone who volunteers to become a tree warden will get training and the person to contact is Susan Wyatt – susan.wyatt@ealing.gov.uk

 

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Riot-hit Seba Electronics shopowner promises to donate any recovered goods to charity

The owner of Seba Electronics in West Ealing, whose shop was badly hit by the summer riots, has promised to donate any goods recovered by the police to local good causes.  See story at Ealing Gazette online here – http://westealing.ealinggazette.co.uk/2012/03/riot-hit-shopkeeper-promises-t.html

I’ve bought various TVs and other items from Seba over the years and the owner, Mr Sehgal, and his family run a brilliant shop with excellent customer service. I’ve also heard him talk about the impact of the riots and looting and he is just extraordinarily forgiving – a remarkable man and one West Ealing should be very proud of.

 

 

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Free talk tonight at OPEN Ealing 7.30pm

 

Tonight (Monday) at OPEN Ealing Sean Michael Pearce, curator of a new exhibition OPEN Ended, will talk about the exhibition and give people a guided tour.
OPEN Ended is a group exhibition which  explores the different media including sculpture, painting, print – and materials usually found on a building site. Pearce has selected works from people who have inspired him but which also work well together.

There is more information about this exhibition at www.openealing.com.  The talk starts at 7.30pm. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

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Comedy and music this weekend at OPEN Ealing

OPEN Ealing starts its fundraising for its move to West Ealing with two events this weekend.

Comedy @ OPEN on Friday 2nd March from 7.30pm

A night of comedy featuring:

Phil O’Shea – a stand-up comedian who has been performing in Scotland for the last two years and just moved to London.

Alex Holland – award-winning comedian and writer

Hatty Ashdown – stand-up comedian, presenter, writer, actor …and slipper wearer

Tickets are £10 from OPEN on 020 8579 5558 and more details of the night at www.openealing.com

 

Music Showcase @ OPEN on Saturday 3rd March from 7.30pm

A line up of four local bands:

Boss Terror – a band whose roots developed in West London and have now spread with different names and sounds

Du Bellows – formed after and open mic night in Ealing, Du Bellows involve a soulful feel and just the right amount of rhythmic and cadence tension

Blushing Bones – acoustic folk loveliness from West Ealing

Jon Mapp and Johnny Hereward – OPEN’s own resident musician Johnny Hereward and Jon Mapp play with a selection of musicians who perform regularly at the Castle Inn on Sunday evenings.

Tickets £10 from OPEN on 020 8579 5558 and details of the bands at www.openealing.com

Do please come along and support OPEN – and there are fantastic raffle prizes on offer including having your portrait painted, your garden designed or a meal at the Star & Anchor.

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Peacocks in West Ealing now shut

Just noticed that Peacocks has shut down in the high street. Dean on the flower stall said it shut down suddenly on  Friday. I know it’s been bought by Edinburgh Woollen Mill and some stores are likely to close down permanently. I hope the West Ealing store is just shut temporarily as it will be a loss to West Ealing let alone to everyone who was working there.

 

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New gym in West Ealing

Tucked away almost out of sight at the top of the building at 2 St James Ave that backs on to Sainsbury’s is a new gym – Just Add Exercise. I wanted to find out more about it as it’s right at the top of my road and I was curious about its seemingly sudden appearance!

I met Matt Hook the owner and he was kind enough to show be round and explain his plans. At its heart is a gym area with a range of equipment from spinning bikes and treadmills to resistance machines with weights plus all sorts of other equipment to get you toned and fit. He offers a personal training service along with nutrition and weight loss advice, sports massage and physiotherapy.

Sitting alongside the gym is a 1,000 sq ft area for various exercise classes and, interestingly, drama. For as well as exercise this space hosts The Artists Theatre School on Saturdays when drama classes are run for all age groups. The Artists School was founded by Amanda Redman and classes are given by professional working artists.

Matt explained that it the gym is in part of what was once the Primary Care Trust offices above Sainsbury’s but some 3,000 sq ft  had become vacant a while back. This is well over twice the space at his previous gym in Ealing Broadway and obviously allowed him to expand his services. It has taken him a while to complete negotiations for this space but even after being open for barely a week it felt well established.

Peak gym membership is £18.50 a month and personal training is in addition. There are regular Pilates classes run by  Pilates Corps. They offer classes Mondays to Thursdays at a range of times across the day and the classes cost between £8 and £12 depending on how many you book and seniors (which probably now includes me!) get a discount.

So, welcome to West Ealing and more information can be found on their website – www.ealingpersonaltraining.co.uk or call 020 8567 8577

 

 

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We need your help. Come along to West Ealing Neighbours’ AGM Tuesday 7.30pm at OPEN Ealing

We’re holding our Annual General Meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 21st) at OPEN Ealing from 7.30pm. We’re looking for your help in shaping how WEN develops over the next few years. I wrote a piece for this month’s newsletter:

Five years on and if I do for a moment stop and, as they say, smell the roses, I’d say we’ve made a pretty good start. We helped save some of our traditional lampposts; started the annual Family Day celebration; launched our Abundance project; will soon start a monthly craft market and are within touching distance of helping make the Lido Junction safe to cross.
Now though we need to plan for the next five years and that’s where we need your help to answer a vital question: what shall we do with WEN? We need to decide. On Feb 21st we have the fifth AGM and my tenure as Chair, Eric’s as Vice, Andy’s as Treasurer and Gill’s general membership of the committee – well, our time is up. We decided five years ago that we didn’t want WEN to stagnate.
So, the question is, what shall we do now? It’s your organisation and it’s a democracy so we all need to decide. No one has so far come forward to hold any of the posts – can we continue as an un-led organisation?
I think we are at a crucial moment for West Ealing. We have the major development at Green Man Lane, the forthcoming redevelopment of the Sherwood Close Estate and the possibility of creating a Neighbourhood Forum, under the new Localism Act, to propose a design for central West Ealing (see Eric Leach’s blog of 3rd January 2012 for full details). This is an exciting time for West Ealing and WEN needs to be at the heart of it and helping shape our future and not just letting it be imposed upon us.
Here are some of the aspects of WEN that we feel are important but what do you think?
• an information hub for West Ealing
• a think tank
• an incubator for exciting new projects like WEN Abundance, OPEN Ealing, SEAL – the lampost project, the book swap, and much more
• a people resource – we’ve 400+ members
• a social network
• full of potential for becoming an integral part of the re-shaping of the local governance of our neighbourhood
• holding Ealing Council to account
At the moment the floor is open wide – do we re-form as something different? Do we each go our separate ways into our different projects? Do we put ourselves into a holding position until we work out what’s best? Or is there someone/some people out there right now longing to lead WEN into the next phase of its life?
If you’d like to stand for any of the main officer posts – chair, vice-chair, secretary, treasurer – please let us know before the meeting. Otherwise, please come along, bring your neighbours and let’s talk about our town and ways in which we can make a difference.
If you’d like to talk to any members of the committee beforehand, let us know.
Please do come along to our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 21st February at OPEN Ealing starting 7.30pm.