Government Examines Ealing’s 15 Year Plan – Day 2 – Housing

As part of an ongoing series, Eric Leach reports from the Independent Examination of Ealing Council’s 2026 Local Development Framework Core Strategy (LDF CS).

DAY 2 – Wednesday 2 November 2011

HOUSING

Less than 20 people assembled today for the second day of Planning Inspector Fieldhouse’s public examination of Ealing’s Local Development Framework Core Strategy (LDF CS). This document outlines the Borough’s spatial strategy – ie how land will be used – over the next 15 years.

The London Mayor tells us that London’s population will increase by 1.3 million by 2031. In order to accommodate these people 32,000 new homes need to be built each year in London.

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Government Examines Ealing’s 15 year Plan – Day 1- Overall Context, Vision and Objectives

As part of an ongoing series, Eric Leach reports from the Independent Examination of Ealing Council’s 2026 Local Development Framework Core Strategy (LDF CS).

DAY 1 – Tuesday 1 November 2011

OVERALL  CONTEXT, VISION AND OBJECTIVES

Some 30 people assembled in Ealing Town Hall for the first day of the Ealing Council 2026 Local Development Framework Core Strategy (LDF CS) Independent Examination. The Government’s Planning Inspectorate Inspector is Elizabeth Fieldhouse. Eight local residents’ and community groups were represented. Five Council Officers fielded questions throughout the day but by far the leading speaker was Steve Barton head of Planning Policy. A Council in-house lawyer also attended the proceedings

The Day 1 agenda covered Overall Context, Vision and Objectives.

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Government Reviews Ealing’s 15 Year Plans

On 1st November 2011 we have the beginning of National Government’s External Examination of Ealing Council’s spatial plans for the town over the next 15 years. Specifically under examination is Ealing’s Local Development Framework Core Strategy. You can examine this here (pdf).

At the heart of Ealing’s plans are the building of 14,000 new homes, almost 10,000 of which will be along the Uxbridge Road/Crossrail ‘Corridor’ and clustered around Acton, Southall, West Ealing and Ealing Broadway Stations.

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Uxbridge Road in West Ealing closed due to shooting

The Uxbridge Road between Culmington Road and Broughton Road is closed this morning (Sunday) following a shooting incident at about 5am this morning.The road is likely to be closed until at least midday. More news when we have it.

Update at 11.10am

Shooting took place at an internet cafe. Three van loads of police have just arrived at the scene so I doubt if the road will be reopened for a while yet.

Update at 1.15pm

The Uxbridge Road has been opened for westbound traffic.

 

Property Developers are Ecstatic about New Planning Proposals. I Wonder Why?

Along with the draft Localism Bill, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) promises to simplify planning law and empower residents to have more say in how land is used in their own neighbourhoods. All very laudable intentions. However all of this draft legislation is based upon and biased towards economic growth. In the NPPF there is a presumption in favour of development. Development in Ealing, as we all know, means demolition and new build (mostly of private sale flats)

Growth is stalled in the UK and none of us really believe experts who tell us that economic growth is just around the corner. So do the plans facilitate us all making the best use of what we’ve got? Oh no. With 1.8 million people on Council Housing lists throughout the country one might expect that the new draft plan to directly address this social housing shortfall – but a sadly it doesn’t.

You can make your own mind up about these new national plans and submit your feedback at:

www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuildings/draftframework

Also Eric Leach has his own colourful slant on the proposals which you can view here.

West Ealing and Ealing Riots – WEN gallery link.

Monday night and Tuesday morning saw looters attack a number of shops in the West Ealing shopping centre. The looted shops include Seba Electronics, Blockbusters, Goldmine jewellers (next to Swami newsagent), mobile phone shops and London Joggers. Many shops had their windows smashed including Wilkinson’s, PDSA charity shop, Salvation Army shop, Barclays Bank, Santander and more.

Photos showing the damage in West Ealing and Ealing Broadway can be seen in our album: 2011-08-08-West Ealing and Ealing Riots.

West Ealing high street badly damaged in night of looting

I walked up to the West Ealing shopping centre about about 6.45am this morning to see rubbish and glass strewn everywhere. The main targets seem to have been banks and shops with goods that were deemed worth looting and that’s what it was – looting.

I couldn’t count the number of shops with smashed windows and one of my favourite shops, run by one of the nicest men in our community, Seba Electronics had had its shutter ripped down so the looters could get in and steal the goods.

I just hope that the looting isn’t the final straw that finishes off any of our local businesses. Times are more than tough enough without looting by people who don’t care about our neighbourhood or anyone’s else’s neighbourhood.

David Highton

 

 

Demolition of Sherwood Close Estate gets closer

209 homes built and maintained by Ealing Council make up this estate. Many of the homes are what we used to call council houses but some are privately owned. The estate fills almost four acres and is bounded to the north by Tawny Close, to the west by Seaford Road and to the south and east by Sherwood
Close/Northfield Avenue.

The Council, effectively, admits it designed and built an inadequate estate and has failed to maintain it properly. Now it wants to knock it down. We’ve heard all this before at Green Man Lane Estate and at Copley Close. (For reasons not immediately apparent the Council has abandoned its current plans for Copley
Close).

The Council says that it’s consulted the Dean Gardens Estate residents who say they want the estate demolished and a new estate built. The Council pulled this stunt with GMLE residents. What is now being built at GMLE is actually fewer Social Rental homes than existed in 2010 (from 369 to 334). Best estimates are that at the completion of the new development less than half of the current 799 residents (ie around 400) will be part of the new community of 2,000 residents.  Those who owned their own homes are being driven out by the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders which value their homes at very low levels.

This week local residents in the area and WEN received a letter from the Council seeking our views on the redevelopment of Dean Gardens Estate. No proposals were included in the letter. So I called the Council and was told that there are no development proposals and no design requirements that might be included in an Invitation to Tender document. I then asked whether a short list of developers had been assembled. I asked who they were and was told that there is a short list of developers but that their identity was confidential. Now all this is very strange. At the same stage with regards to GMLE, WEN was told that there was a design specification but that we couldn’t see it as it was confidential. As to the shortlist of developers the Council told us who they were.

The most idiotic part of this Public Consultancy process is that WEN and local residents are being asked their views on an unknown set of requirements and designs. All we do know is what is in the as yet unapproved September 2010 Local Development Framework Development Sites DPD. It proposes ‘Council-led housing regeneration involving redevelopment and replacement of existing dwellings with a mix of new dwelling types and tenures’. It is proposed to demolish 209 homes and build 290 new homes and if the GMLE model /template is applied we will finish up with fewer Social Rented homes here than we have now.

So I guess the question we are being asked here is do we want this estate to be redeveloped. My answer is no, I want this estate to be refurbished and caretakers installed to run and maintain the estate effectively. Both national and local government keep on telling us that we have huge debts and we need to make swingeing cuts. Here’s a great opportunity for no-one to take on more debt. The cost of refurbishment, insulation and improved maintenance of the existing homes will be nothing remotely like the £50 + million needed to build these 290 new homes.

If you want to inform the Council of your views you should address them for the attention of to Mumta Ganatra at deangardens@ealing.gov.uk  You have until 22 August to do this.

Eric Leach

New plans for 51 Drayton Green exhibited

St Helena’s Home at 51 Drayton Green has now been completely demolished and the rubble removed. Now the land owners – Notting Hill Housing (NHH) – want to try again and design a residential development which not only Ealing Council Planners will accept but hopefully local residents, the church and school next door will be happy with.

An exhibition is being mounted by NHH at the next door International Presbyterian Church (53 Drayton Green) on Thursday 4th August from 4:30pm to 8:00pm.

The plans feature a less dense residential development than has been proposed prevously. NHH’s first proposal a few years ago was for 91 homes and its current ‘Pending’ application with Ealing Council is for 31 homes. The new plans are for 21 new homes – 17 flats and 4 houses.

The letter circulated to local residents tells us that ‘the proposed development will improve the appearance of the surrounding area’. Well….come along to the exhibition and make up your own mind on that score.