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New business co-working hub coming to West Ealing

The Council has been successful in securing the funding to open a full-scale business hub in West Ealing.  It’s taken a while to get here.  I had some small involvement in the original feasibility study for a business co-working hub in West Ealing which was written and researched in 2013 by a group of people who, at the time, all worked/volunteered at OPEN Ealing. I think this is great news for West Ealing so congratulations to everyone involved in securing the money and good luck with getting the hub up and running by the autumn.  Here’s an extract from the latest newsletter from the Walpole Ward councillors:

‘The council has secured funding from the Mayor of London’s Regeneration Fund for a new business co-working hub that will open in the autumn and will offer a home for new and small businesses in St James Avenue, West Ealing. Businesses, social enterprises, homeworkers and self-employed will be able to rent desks and meeting rooms and network with each other. There may also be space for a crèche.

This follows a successful trial last year when the council set up a co-working space in a former insurance shop in West Ealing. This was known as Ealing Blueprint and was used by a wide variety of businesses and individuals during the 6 months of the trial.’

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Celebrating Ealing’s cultutal hertitage: Ealing Music and Film Valentine Festival 10-14 February

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CELEBRATING EALING’S CULTURAL HERITAGE     10 – 14 FEBRUARY 2016

This year’s event features an exciting range of events.  The musical programme includes the English Chamber Orchestra and the Ealing Youth Orchestra. Two films from Ealing Studios along with some exciting films from young directors promise some great viewing  Boogie pianist Ben Walters and blues guitaristRamon Goose perform at the legendary Red Room.

For more information and the full programme, visit www.ealingmusicandfilmfestival.org.

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10 minutes to help make West Ealing a safer place

One of WEN’s biggest concerns for West Ealing for quite some time has been the anti-social behaviour related to alcohol. We see two aspects to this behaviour. The first is groups of street drinkers who are often in and around Dean Gardens, Melbourne Ave and other regular spots. We have no problem with RISE and the essential addiction recovery services it runs, but groups of street drinkers can intimidate and upset residents and shoppers. The second is the more serious problem of occasional violent behaviour by young men, often on a Friday night/Saturday morning. The latter group have harassed traders at the weekly farmers’ market and disturbed residents of homes close to Dean Gardens.

 
WEN is very active in working with local faith groups, the police, community groups, businesses, councillors and Ealing Council to tackle these issues. There is now a major opportunity for you to help us tackle one of the key causes of this anti-social behaviour – the availability of alcohol in West Ealing any time of day or night. The licences of two off licences are up for review following work by the police to gather evidence of alcohol being sold to a minor, the storage of non-duty paid goods, the sale of alcohol to intoxicated people and the employment of illegal immigrants. The two licences are those of Cudi and Broadway International, both very close to Dean Gardens. Cudi’s licence is currently from 8am to midnight and Broadway International’s is 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

 
WEN and other groups will be responding to these licence consultations. If you have been affected by alcohol-induced anti-social behaviour we hope you will take a few minutes to respond to this consultation. It is worth knowing that the Council’s current policy is for core licensing hours of 8am-11pm Monday to Saturday and 10am-10.30pm on Sunday. Neither Cudi’s nor International Broadway’s licences operate within these hours at the moment.

 
To object you need to do so under one of four specific headings:
• Prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• Prevention of public nuisance
• Protection of children from harm
If you have specific instances of anti-social behaviour it would be good to include these in your comments.

 
It’s important to read the information on the Council’s website first and you can find this a here. This includes the specific police concerns for both shops. As each review is separate you will need to send in separate submissions for each off licence. You can email your comments to licensing@ealing.gov.uk or write them in a letter and send it to The Licensing Team, Regulatory Services, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2HL and the closing date is Friday 19th February.

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New bus route proposed from Ealing Hospital to Northwick Park Hospital

TfL is proposing to change the 83 bus route:

‘Route 83 is a 24-hour service that runs daily between Golders Green and Ealing Hospital serving Hendon, Wembley, Alperton, Hanger Lane and Ealing. Buses run approximately every 8 minutes during the day Mondays to Saturdays, every 10 minutes during the day on Sundays and every 12 minutes on all evenings. The overnight service runs every 30 minutes on all nights of the week.

What are we proposing?

Route 83
We propose to shorten route 83 so that it would run between Golders Green and Alperton station only, and not continue on to Ealing Hospital as it does now. The frequency of this service would remain unchanged.  It would no longer be a 24-hour service; however new route N83 would continue to provide the night service covering all stops served by the current 83.

New route 483
We propose to introduce a new bus route, numbered 483, between Harrow town centre and Ealing Hospital. The proposed new route would start at Harrow bus station, and then run via College Road, Station Road, Kenton Road, Watford Road and East Lane. Buses would go along Wembley Hill Road and then follow the line of the existing route 83 from Empire Way and Wembley Stadium station to Ealing Hospital.  Buses would return over the same roads.

Buses would run every 8 minutes during the day Monday to Saturday, every 10 minutes during the day on Sundays and every 12 minutes all evenings.

The proposed new route would introduce a bus service to a 400 metre section of Wembley Hill Road between Empire Way and Wembley Park Drive for the first time. We are working with the London Borough of Brent to determine whether bus stops could be introduced here.

Our proposals would provide many new direct links between places in North West London not currently possible and give additional capacity between Wembley, Northwick Park and Harrow supplementing route 182. For some though, who currently travel on route 83 between places north of Wembley and south of Alperton, a change of bus may be required to complete their journey. This would affect approximately 1,680 passengers a day, about five per cent of passengers currently using route 83 on weekdays.’

Full details here

 

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Final plans submitted for BHS site in West Ealing – 10 storeys, 136 flats and ground floor retail space

The planning application for the BHS site (104-110 Broadway) has been submitted.  As you’d expect it’s a long and detailed document with a lot of technical information which needs careful study.

At first glance the essential details seem to be:

  • About 1200 sq metres of retail space on the ground floor which could include a cafe
  • 136 flats with 50 x 1-bed; 75 x 2-bed; 11 x 3-bed
  • Of the 136 flats 72% will be for private sale; 28% (38 units) will be affordable with 22 for rent and 16 for shared ownership
  • The height will vary.  From the drawings it looks to be retail plus 6 floors at The Broadway end and retail plus 10 floors at the Singapore Road end.
  • The building will get its heating from the Green Man Lane district heating system
  • It is a car free development
  • The developers are actively looking to acquire a nearby site to create a comprehensive plan for the area
  • 226 cycle spaces
  • The Section 106 contribution to the Council has yet to be decided – this is money to be used to compensate for the additional pressure on schools, doctors’ surgeries, public transport etc
  • The development will be called The Appleton to reflect the area’s history with fruit orchards in Victorian times

You can find the full details on the Council’s website and comments need to be in by 1st January 2016.

 

 

 

 

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West Ealing Christmas Fair on Saturday 12th December 12noon-4pm

West Ealing Christmas Fair 2015
West Ealing Christmas Fair, Melbourne Avenue on Saturday 12th December 12noon – 4pm

Christmas comes to the heart of West Ealing on Saturday 12th December when the annual Christmas Fair takes place in Melbourne Avenue, right in the centre of West Ealing between the library and Sainsbury’s.
Highlights
The spirit of Christmas is captured with the return of the much-loved Charlie the donkey who will be touring the streets from 11am before leading the nativity players in the Fair’s finale. Especially for children there will be face painting, funfair rides and, of course, Father Christmas handing out gifts.
Musicians
We have a wide range of musicians and singers performing including the Ealing Rock Choir, Capital Chorus along with a choir from St Johns and St James churches plus The Mermaids and local favourite Robert Hokum.
Craft Market
The Christmas Fair also offers everyone the chance to buy locally made Christmas gifts ranging from cakes, confectionery, apple juice & chutneys to jewellery, skincare & fragrances, cards and many other gifts.
For more information: www.w13-christmasfair.co.uk

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Tfl proposal to extend E8 bus route to West Middlesex Hospital

Tfl has a consulation running for some much-needed changes to the E8 bus route.  The E8 currently runs from Ealing Broadway to Brentford bus depot.  For a variety of reasons, such as increased demand for public transport to West Middlesex Hospital, the proposed new route is from Ealing Broadway to Hounslow taking in the hospital.  All the buses would become double-deckers if this change goes through.

Changes to local bus routes was proposed by WEN some back in 2009 and the need for a direct route to the West Middlesex Hospital was a key factor.  We would still like to see a bus route that crosses north-south over the Lido Junction to link the new Crossrail station at West Ealing with Northfields station and beyond.  Nevertheless, we welcome this proposal and if anyone wants to read more about the E8 and other proposed bus route changes or comment on them the link is here.

 

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Solace mental health drop-in centre’s future secured

 

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Well done to everyone involved in helping secure the future of West Ealing’s Solace mental health drop-in centre.  At one point the centre was under threat of being closed altogether as part of the Council’s budget cuts (story here). However, last week’s decision by the Council to keep the centre running at its current level is to be applauded and well done to everyone involved  – users, staff, carers, councillors, council officials, and the local community.  The Council’s plan is to redevelop the site tucked away at the end of Bowman’s Close. The Solace Centre will be rebuilt to a design the users are happy with and then add three new flats for Marron House which is a mental health residential unit.  Work will start next summer at a cost of £640,000.

This is a great news for all the centre’s users and it recognises that mental health services are an essential part of a caring society.

 

 

 

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Illegal alcohol seized in raids on West Ealing off licences

Not for the first time police raids on off licences in West Ealing have found non-duty paid alcohol.  In raids on off licences in both West Ealing and Northolt over 2,000 litres of beer or lager were seized along with over 400 bottles of wine were seized. I’d like to think this will lead to licences being taken away from the offending stores, especially if this was not their first time, but I doubt it will happen.

The full story is on Ealing Today