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Find out latest on plans for West Ealing Crossrail station

I’ve jotted down some bullet point notes from last night’s Crosssrail briefing.  There were two main speakers with Matthew White, Surface Director of Crossrail and Nick O’Donnell, Assistant Director of Strategic Transport for Ealing Council.

1. Matthew White:

Some background on Crossrail:
– Crossrail will have a new fleet of 66 trains
– Crossrail will bring about a 10% increase in London’s rail capacity
– Its trains will have 7 or 9 carriages
– Trains will have a 1500 seated and standing capacity
– The Paddington to Heathrow service should start in May 2018
– Full Crossrail service will run from December 2019
– The new trains will be much quieter than current trains
– The journey to Heathrow will take 11 minutes
West Ealing station
– New station will be in Manor Road about 50 paces from corner with Drayton Green Road. It is to be sited here because it needs to be close to the    middle of the new trains in order to allow passengers to get on and off safely and quickly and avoid walking the length of the platform which would happen if the station remained where it is now.
– The design of the new station has been revised following feedback and is now larger and more modern and spacious looking
– New station will be completed by the end of 2016 and will then be operational and the old ticket office will be closed
– The station will always be staffed when trains are running
– There will be a Sunday service stopping at West Ealing – frequency of trains not yet decided
– Oyster cards can be used and the hope is that the Freedom pass will also be valid for the full length of the service

Later:  I forgot to add that the station will have lifts for DDA compliance to enable step-free access

2. Nick O’Donnell
Ealing Council has secured £7.3m to spend on its five Crossrail station which is the most for any London borough on the routes . West Ealing has a budget of £1.46m.
The Council wants to look at:
– Possible sound barriers/baffling along Manor Road
– Improving pedestrian routes at junction of Alexandria Road and Drayton Green Road
– How to secure an upgrade to the Jacob’s Ladder footbridge
– Talking to developers about how to improve the area around the station
– Talking to TfL about bus stops and routes. Tfl tends to look at changes to bus routes two years ahead ie 2016. There may be scope for a bus pull in on the site of the current station which will be closed late 2016
– Possible plans to add Old Oak Common as an extra stop (after 2019) and make it an interchange with HS2 and other overland services

The meeting at the Drayton Court Hotel was well attended and my impression was that most people definitely welcomed Crossrail. However, those living very close to the station, say on Alexandria Road, Manor Road and in the Draytons have valid concerns about noise, traffic congestion and the nature of any development of the area around the new station.

It’s clear the site of the station is fixed but there will be a formal consultation about the plans around February 2015.  This will be followed by the Council’s own process of consultation/discussion about the issues listed above. The Council won’t itself be devloping the area around the station but is talking to developers about this, so there is a lot to play for over the next few years and Gerald Power of the Draytons Community Assn made a strong plea for more and earlier consultation with residents about all these plans.

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Public exhibition of new plans for Ealing Broadway shopping centre Sat 29th Nov 11-3

There’s an exhibition  and public consultation on plans to develop and refurbish Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre on Saturday 29th November from 11am – 3pm. Full details on their website

Below is a brief summary of the proposals we will be discussing:

  • Improving the town hall / public plaza to host events;
  • Refurbishing 54 Broadway (Crystal House) to create a new entrance to the Centre;
  • New homes for rent above shops at 54 Broadway;
  • Future improvements to International House, to first-class office space standards;
  • Upgrading the car park, including modern lighting and card payment facilities.

 

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We’ve lost Shaun the sheep – please help us find him!

Help us find Shaun and our other  lost sheep

lostsheep

On the first Christmas long ago, shepherds were in the fields
near Bethlehem looking after their sheep. But this shepherd
has lost his sheep – somewhere in West Ealing.

You may be able to spot them in shop windows, or on stalls,
or other places on West Ealing high street from today 27 November.

Each sheep has a name. You’ll find their names on our entry form so you can write down where you find them. If you find all of them there’s a small prize for the first 100 correct entry forms drawn

Details and entry form on our website – http://www.w13-christmasfair.co.uk/childrens-activities/

Closing date is Thursday 4th December.

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West Ealing Christmas Fair in Dean Gdns on Sat 6th Dec 2-6pm

West Ealing Christmas Festival leaflet 2014

 

I know there’s lots going on but come and drop in and have some fun, watch a specially written panto, a nativity play with a real donkey and buy a few Christmas presents. There’s lots for children to get involved in this year including:

Lost Sheep Competition

On the first Christmas long ago, shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem looking after their sheep. But ten of them have gone missing…. somewhere in West Ealing.

Can you find them in West Ealing’s shop windows, on stalls or other places.  Tell us where they are and there’s a small prize for the first 100 correct entries drawn.

Pick up an entry form at West Ealing Library or download your Lost Sheep Entry Form here.

The sheep will be on view in West Ealing from Wed 26 Nov till 12noon Thurs 4 Dec.

Prizes will be announced at the Christmas Fair on 6 Dec at approx 5:15pm (to be collected on the day).

Meet the Donkey

‘Charlie’ the Donkey will be walking around West Ealing on the morning of Saturday 6th December between 12:00-1:30pm. He’ll be walking around Melbourne Ave, Leeland Road, Leeland Terrrace. ‘Charlie’ will be in Dean Gardens from 2pm if you’d like to have your photo taken with him.

Fun Fair

We will have two fun-fair rides for children – Cups & Saucers and Caterpillar – and a Bouncy Castle. £1 each go.

Face Painting

Back by popular demand, our Facepainters will be in the marquee between 2-5.30pm.  Price £1.   Faces will be painted on a first come, first served basis. 

Father Christmas

Visit Father Christmas in his Grotto and tell him about the list of presents you hope he brings on Christmas Day.  All children can take part in the Lucky Dip.

Live Nativity Play

Please join our “Journey to Bethlehem” in Dean Gardens from 2.45pm with special guest, Charlie the Donkey. Children can dress as shepherds, angels or animals. Whether you are young in age or at heart, come and join us as the age-old Nativity story unfolds in song and word around the park.

Panto

A specially written panto from Wally Sewell and OPEN Ealing.  Details to follow.

More details on our Christmas Fair website

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Seven day GP access for Ealing Patients

I thought this was worth publicising.  The whole question of whether or not Ealing Hospital’s A&E dept remains is highly charged.  My own experience of Ealing Hospital A&E earlier this year was excellent but it makes sense to try to encourage people to use a GP service for straightforward problems and take pressure off A&E.


Seven day GP access for Ealing patients

Ealing residents are now able to access GP services 7 days a week, thanks to a new service launched by NHS Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

People who feel unwell on Saturdays and Sundays should call NHS 111 for medical help and advice. If the trained 111 adviser thinks they need to see a GP, they will be directed to the nearest open practice.

The GP weekend opening service is an alternative to A&E for people with non-life threatening illnesses or injuries. GP practices are working as local groups to offer this service, with practices taking turns to open at weekends.

Dr Mohini Parmar, chair at Ealing CCG said: “We have introduced this service as part of our drive to encourage people to use the correct service for their need.

“We know that many patients attend A&E when their GP practice is closed, even if they don’t have a life-threatening illness.

“We want to encourage patients to be seen in primary care for non-life threatening illnesses, so hospital services can prioritise those who are seriously sick or injured.

“We hope that if people feel they need to see a GP over the weekend they will call 111 in the first instance and go to one of the local GP practices, rather than going to A&E with an illness or injury that can be treated by a GP or pharmacist.”

The new service is part of Ealing CCG’s out of hospital strategy, which aims to bring care closer to home and into a local, more familiar environment for the benefit of the patients.

Using this service will not affect your registration at your own GP practice.  If you are not registered with a GP, you can still call 111 and they will help you access the right service for your needs.

Calls to 111 are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and are free from landline and mobile phones.

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The story of Hanwell’s Jim Marshall ‘the father of loud’ BBC4 Friday 28th Nov 10pm

Photo of Jimi Hendrix from Marshall Amplifiers website

British rock music owes much to Jim Marshall and his amplifier shop in Hanwell.  Dubbed ‘the father of loud’ he came up with an amplifier that combined volume and distortion.  Marshall amplifiers were used by all manner of 60s rock guitarists  from Pete Townsend, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page to Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton and many, many more. Make a date to  watch Jim Marshall’s story  ‘Play it Loud – The Story of The Marshall Amp’on BBC4 this Friday at 10pm.  Have a look at Marshall’s website for more about their history.

The hugely successful Hanwell Hootie is now an annual celebration of Hanwell’s proud contribution to British rock music and it’s sponsored by Marshall Amplifiers.

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Council has to slash its expenditure

The need to make hefty cuts in Council expendture has been flagged up for some time.  The Council needs to save £96 million by April 2019 as a result of reduced central government funding.  This will affect every single one of us from fortnightly waste collections and reduced road gritting to possibly closing the Solace mental health drop-in centre in West Ealing and 400 redundancies amongst Council staff.

We’ll come back to this in more detail but for now the Ealing Today website has a useful summary of some of the cuts that may be made.

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Performance poetry at OPEN Ealing – Saturday 22nd Nov

Zena Edwards returns to OPEN

Performance poet Zena Edwards returns to OPEN Ealing this coming Saturday (22nd November) to present another beguiling evening of words, movement and music.

Hailing from Tottenham in north London, Zena delves into her Afro-Caribbean heritage to find inspiration for her poems and stories. And she enhances them in performance with traditional African intruments, such as the kalimba and the kora, plus backing musicians.

It’s a powerful, dynamic and entrancing combination. Zena made a big impression on OPEN audiences a couple of years back with her monologue The Three Furies, which reached into Greek mythology to provide a focus for women’s anger in the 12st century. She also performed parts of that show at London’s Royal Festival Hall where she shared a stage with South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela.

She was recently Resident Poet at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden, and shortlisted for the first Arts Foundation Award for Performance Poetry. .

Read what others have said:
“Effortlessly melds hip-hop grooves with a worldly Afro-centric wisdom” – Time Out.
“A poet of consummate skill, whose career as an artist is going from strength to strength” – The Guardian.

Here’s just one video example of her work:

This will be the second of a series of appearances by Zena at OPEN, which form part of the autumn season of Performance Saturdays.

Date: Saturday 22nd November 2014
Time: 7.30-10pm
Where: Green Man Lane cafe, Singapore Road, West Ealing W13 0EP
Admission: £10 / concessions £8 / Green Man Lane estate residents £5, includes free glass of wine. Caribbean/Mauritian food available on the night from Coco Labelle.

Follow @Openealing on Twitter, OPEN (West Ealing Arts) on Facebook.
www.openealing.com