Author: David

Saturday 15th August 2015

Have you ever walked past the allotments on Northfields Avenue and wondered what it’s like inside?

The allotment committee thought it was about time we opened the gates and let more people see the allotments. The site is a wonderful place, full of greenery and wildlife. We have butterflies, bumblebees, honeybees and stag beetles (which are protected and endangered).

We will be having our first open day at the Northfield Allotments on Saturday 15th August 2015. Entrance is FREE!

We hope you will come along to see what is normally hidden behind our locked gates.

• Bee Hives – with viewing panel
• Teas, Coffee and cakes
• Vintage tool display
• Plants and seeds for sale
• Guided Walk at 3pm – History and allotment features
• WW2 Anderson air raid shelter and heritage vegetable garden
• Plot Awards – Best Newcomer, Best Traditional Plot

Gates open from 2pm to 5pm. We’d love to see you there and show you around.

The Sri Lankan temple in Chapel Road is holding its annual Chariot Festival this Sunday.  The Chariot Festival is by far West Ealing’s biggest annual event.  We have about 10,000 people attending this event from all over Europe and it transforms Dean Gardens and the surrounding area. This weekend of 8/9th  August sees the annual Shri Kanagathurkkai Amman Temple (SKAT) festival come to West Ealing once again. The festival culminates on Sunday with the Chariot procession leaving the Temple around 9am, and then returning at about 12pm via Mattock Lane, Culmington Road, and the Uxbridge Road. Dean Gardens will be full of stalls with Tamil food, lassi drinks, and selling bric-a-brac to fundraise for the Temple’s activities. It’s a great day out for everyone with lots of amazing sights, sounds and tastes.

Following the recent sale of the BHS chain, the West Ealing shop is due to close in 2016.  In its place will be a mixed use site with retail on the ground floor and 136 homes above.  The height of the new building ranges from 7-8 storeys on the Uxbridge Road up to 10-11 at the Singapore Road end. There will be an exhibition and public consultation mid-August.

We will update this story as we find out more information.

The new plans from developer Benson Elliott for the part of the ‘Arcadia’ site opposite Ealing Broadway station include a new 5,000 sq ft music venue on the plot of the 1960’s Ealing Club – the birthplace of British Rhythm & Blues.   This is great news and congratulations to everyone involved on getting this in to the plans.  There is much more to the plans including an 18-storey building, 20 new shops and ‘191 quality homes within residential courtyards above Haven Place, including 30% intermediate affordable housing delivered at discount market rent aimed at existing Ealing residents and young professionals.’  You can find out more on their website.

Amanda Foley from Ealing Council writes:

‘The majority of services running out of the current Jubilee Children’s Centre location in Green Man Gardens will cease on the 10th of July and from the 22nd of July all remaining health services will also stop running from that location and will instead run from Mattock Lane until the Children’s Centre is ready to open at its new location in Drayton Green.

We have informed the families who use the service of the change of location, consulted and supported them regarding their travel plans to the new location and have sent notifications of the date that the services will cease to run from Jubilee Hall.  We have also sent them a list of nearby Children’s Centres where they can access services over the summer. Please see the attachment for this information.

It is our intention that the Jubilee Children’s Centre reopens at Drayton Green on the 7th of September 2015 when all services will start up again from there. The council and contractors are all working very hard to get the centre up and running for this date.

The relocation of Jubilee Hall on Drayton Green is a temporary measure to ensure as much continuity of the service the centre provides, as possible. This is part of the wider scheme of the regeneration of the Green Man Lane Estate where St. John’s Primary School will be rebuilt and expanded to a three form of entry primary school in order to provide additional school places for the growing community in the area. The primary school will be ready for occupation for September 2017 and the permanent building for the new Jubilee Children’s Centre will be complete in approximately 2020.

We aim to provide the same services from Drayton Green that was provided at Jubilee Hall and will continue to support our families who use this service.’