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Minutes of West Ealing Neighbours committee meeting on 15th November

WEN MEETING 15TH NOVEMBER 2011 7.30PM - 9.00PM

Topics covered:

LDF CS Examination - Eric
Pre-localism Bill Neighbourhood Planning of West Ealing - Eric
Tweet up update - Chris
Abundance Update - Diane
Craft Fair progress - Martyn/Diane
Environmental Sustainable Project - Iyke
Lido Junction latest - Eric
AOB

Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 November 2011 )

September Newsletter 2011

West Ealing Family Day: celebrate our community on Saturday 24th September

I have to own up: we slept through the recent riots even though some of the looters were busy loading stolen goods in to cars just round the corner from us. However, when I got up and heard what happened I went straight up to the Uxbridge Road and saw the damage, shattered glass and shocked and bemused traders and shopkeepers.

In those early days it was difficult to know how to react. It was such a shock and so unexpected that we were all left grasping for reasons but there are no quick and easy answers, rather a whole variety of interlocking circumstances that came together that will take time to unravel and understand.

However, what we can do, and what makes the most powerful statement about West Ealing, is to show how much we support and value our local community, traders and businesses. By chance the second West Ealing Family Day, which has been in the diary for Saturday 24th September for months, offers the best possible occasion to show this support. Please come along with your family and friends to show your support and, above all, enjoy being part of the West Ealing community. (See later article and for up-to-date information of what's happening where on Family Day visit www.westealingneighbours.org.uk.)

David Highton

Other topics covered in this newsletter include:

Green light for crossings at the Lido Junction
�It's not about the jam' - a look at WEN's achievements now it is five years old
Family Day on Saturday 24th September 10am - 4pm
Abundance of Apples and Pears!
OPEN Ealing launches its autumn season
Street Names in W13

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 September 2011 )

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:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/draftframework

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

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 30 November 1999 )

July, 2011 Newsletter

JULY NEWSLETTER 2011

Tackling drug dealing on our streets

We had a good attendance at our public meeting on Monday 11th July which clearly illustrates that there is concern about drug dealing and other anti-social behaviour such as street drinking. I felt it was a useful and potentially productive meeting.

One of WEN's concerns has been the poor communication by the police and Council about what they are doing to help tackle anti-social behaviour. In the absence of information it's all too easy for us assume nothing is happening. We wanted to change this by giving a platform to the police and Council to tell us both what their overall strategy is and what practical steps they are taking.

We heard some encouraging words from both Superintendent Jenkins and Sergeant Pinder Chana (of Walpole Ward) about the high priority they give to these problems and some of the practical steps taken such as the soup kitchen project to tackle street drinking initiated by the Walpole and Elthorne Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

We also heard from Paul Dunn a newly appointed member of the Council's Community Safety team. He put forward some practical steps. He offered to accompany one Mattock Lane resident on a walkabout to see for himself where the drug dealing and drug taking is happening and why certain places make people feel these activities are safe.

So the question is will anything change as a result of our meeting? Clearly we hope so. Better communication from the police and Council about what they are doing and what they achieve will help us feel their concerns are being taken seriously. More visibility of police on the streets is a constant plea from residents. Our plan is to come back to this topic as part of our next public meeting in the autumn and see if words have turned into actions. Keep an eye on our website for news of our next public meeting.

David Highton

Also covered in this news letter:

Saving West Ealing's Heritage
First WEN Tweetup and meetup a great success
Monthly craft market for West Ealing gets go-ahead
Jazz festival photos, children's workshops and more at OPEN Ealing
Let's Fix Ealing Broadway Station
West Ealing Family Day Saturday 24th September
Community online publishing project
History of some local street names continued

Download MS Word version from here: download link.

Click read more for the full newsletter....

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 July 2011 )

May, 2011 Newsletter

The changing face of our high street

The recent opening of the British Heart Foundation's new shop made me think again about the changing nature of our high street. Yes, you could just say it's yet another charity shop and we already have eight. But, it struck me that this shop is something rather different for West Ealing. Almost every time I go in to one of the charity shops it seems busy as I try to manoeuvre my way between the shoppers and the clothes rails. What BHF seem to have noticed though is that there is a complete gap in the market for a charity shop selling household goods such as electrical appliances and furniture.

Much has been written about how Britain's high streets are changing. I have lived in West Ealing since 1978 and, like many others, can all too easily reminisce about how West Ealing's high street used to have a Marks and Spencer, a WH Smith, Mothercare, let alone the department stores such as FH Rowse and Daniels. But that time has gone and in the last few years the twin impact of the recession and the growth of internet shopping have undoubtedly left their mark as shops have moved out or closed down. In a recent article in the Financial Times Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said �Given the structural nature of these changes there is no point harking back to the old high streets we all claimed to love. We need to be creative in looking for new roles and uses for these empty shops."

I think BHF has been creative. We have seen new shops move in and Lidl and Poundworld are now part of our high street. They have been joined by some rather different businesses - British Immigration Solutions and The Pamela Howard School of Dance. West Ealing Arts has opened a community arts project in an old office building a short walk away from the main shopping centre

(see later article). The London Residents Forum is hoping to open the old Oxfam shop as a borough-wide resource and drop in centre for tenants.

Yes, our high street is changing, it has to, but I see these changes as a sign that the high street still has a purpose for our community. It is still trying providing goods and services that we need and want. Please let's just make sure we cherish and use our high street and other local shopping areas.

David Highton

March, 2011 Newsletter

Keeping track of the money

At various trigger points in the 10-year building works at Green Man Lane a total of over �1.25 million will be paid to the Council by the developers. The payments are to mitigate the impact on the local infrastructure of the more than doubling of the population on this 12-acre site (see article below for full details). WEN feels strongly that this substantial sum needs careful tracking as all too often in the past these amounts of �planning gain' moneys have rarely if ever been properly accounted for despite numerous requests. We feel it is essential for our local community to know exactly where and how this �1.25 million is spent and how it will fulfil the stated aim of offsetting the effects of this major development. There is a long way to go with this but we plan to keep everyone regularly updated on where this money has been spent.

(In a few years time there will be another planning gain sum to come from the redevelopment of the Sherwood Close (Dean Gardens) Estate which went out to tender this week with a decision on the preferred developer likely in the summer of 2012)

David Highton

Other topics covered in this newsletter:

Keeping track of the money
Green Man Lane: work starts on new homes
Putting your roof to good use
Bicycle Maintenance Lessons in Ealing
Cultivate London: New urban farm project launched
West Ealing's arts project
Job's the Dairy - 2 to 6 Leighton Road
WEN Book Club's next meeting details

Last Updated ( Monday, 14 March 2011 )

January, 2011 Newsletter

JANUARY NEWSLETTER 2011

What next for West Ealing?

January sees the start of the most important development in West Ealing for a generation - the demolition and redevelopment of the Green Man Lane Estate. Our views on this development are well documented on our website and this is a story that will keep bubbling to the surface for the next 10 years. We wish all involved with this scheme well and we will do our very best to help make it a success. Equally, we will continue to raise our concerns and those of local residents as the need arises.

Perhaps almost more than anything in 2011 WEN would like to see action taken by the Council to drastically improve pedestrian safety at the Lido Junction. The Council is looking carefully at the options and is in touch with TfL about these. We look forward to seeing specific proposals about the Lido Junction in the first half of 2011.

What chance for a safer Lido Junction in 2011?

In May 2010, in my first newsletter, I wrote �WEN remains firmly committed to the belief that working in partnership with the Council can achieve far more than in opposition. We hope the new Council will take the same view and seek to work in partnership with all of the borough's many active residents groups.' There have been some flickers of hope with working together in 2010. Both the first-ever West Ealing Family Day and the Christmas Craft Market were joint efforts. We hope we can build on this in 2011.
David Highton

Other topics covered in the January newsletter include:

Winter night shelter project
LETS Do It - a different way of working - A Local Exchange and Trading Scheme
Abundance plans for more in 2011
Why do people shop in West Ealing?
Are hotels like buses?
A gym for Daniels?
Well smack my wing mirror!
The history of Northfields station

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 January 2011 )

Ealing Council�s Plans for West Ealing � Are they Fit for Purpose?

Ealing Council's Plans for West Ealing - Are they Fit for Purpose?

WEN has invested some time and effort reading all the 100s of pages of the Ealing 2026 Local Development Framework (LDF). We've tried to figure out how the plans relate to life in West Ealing over the next 15 years. When approved by National Government these LDF plans will determine where in Ealing's 21 square miles our social and community facilities will be located to service our predicted population of 350,000 in 2026.

WEN is very unhappy with many aspects of the plans. For example it's planned to introduce 3,500 new residents into the centre of West Ealing with no new sites for schools or health centres. Over 50 shops are scheduled for demolition with 11 new residential blocks planned on the Uxbridge Road in the centre.

We realise that many local residents will never find the time to analyse even the 600+ pages of proposals, never mind the 100s of additional pages of so-called �Evidence'. To make it easy for residents to object to the plans WEN has created nine objection forms, which you can view here.

If you agree with the objection(s), print out the form(s), fill in your name and address (on each form) and post the form(s) to:

Planning Policy, Ealing Council, Perceval House, Ealing, London W5 2HL.

These objections and many more details of the West Ealing plans will be discussed at WEN's public meeting on Monday 22 November, 7:30pm at Dean Hall on Singapore Road.

The deadline for submitting your objections is 30 November, 2010.

Eric Leach, 9th November 2010

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 30 November 1999 )

November, 2010 Newsletter

West Ealing Family Day: �Just like living in a village'

Eyes right: enjoying the entertainment in Melbourne Ave

Having been woken up by the dreaded sound of rain echoing down our chimney, it was relief all round when West Ealing Family Day (Saturday 23rd October) remained dry even if rather chilly.

Certainly for everyone involved in the Abundance team the day was a great success. And from what I hear from the craft market stallholders and some of the traders in Melbourne Avenue they feel the same. Everyone involved in the day worked very hard. Our thanks to the Council for their constant support and also to Michael Sylvester, chair of the West Ealing Business group, for being brave enough to organise all the food stalls and music and dance events in Melbourne Avenue. I hope there was something for all tastes and ages.

I think we can build on the success of this first ever West Ealing Family Day and make it an annual event celebrating all that is good about living in West Ealing. What better encouragement to continue than to hear from one family �Just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the Family Day especially the apple pressing. What a great idea - just like living in a village'.

David Highton

Editor

(PS Watch out for news of a special Christmas Craft market on Saturday 4th December)

Other topics covered in this newsletter:

Abundance: a very full year
Arts and Crafts Fair- Sat 27th November at St James Church
Re-imagining Ealing's Future - 14th November
Worth a second look: Walmer Gardens
Stevens Town: West Ealing's notorious slum

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 09 November 2010 )

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