Working together to make West Ealing a better place for residents, businesses and visitors.
Walking along the Uxbridge Road this morning I spotted two new shops about to open. Bake & Cake near Cudi and Roosters Piri Piri opposite Blockbuster. I’m not sure when they’ll open so if anyone gets the opportunity to have a closer look then let me know.
It’s nice to actually see a ‘healthy’ chicken place open amongst all the fried in West Ealing!
For those of you who have been keeping up to date with WEN Abundance activities you will know that we have taken the renovation of on a small orchard in Walmer Gardens W13. We cleared it and pruned the trees over January/February (ably managed by The London Orchard Project) Ealing Transition have the rear part of the orchard where the pond is for their first bee hive and on Saturday around 15,000 bees finally arrived in their new home. The crew donned suitable clothes before opening the box to let them into their new home. Needless to say once I had taken a picture of this I scarpered! Pictures of the event below.
Look out for more news when the Elderflower season starts towards June!
West Ealing Neighbours Public Meeting 21st February 2012
OPEN Ealing
David Highton (Chair) provided a report on WEN’s activities:
Lido Junction
Finally WEN’s proposal for changing this dangerous junction has been approved and is going ahead. After the public consultation on the original proposals the Council have dropped the idea of loading and parking bays on Drayton Green Road. This is a well earned success for WEN
Craft Fair
WEN have been talking to the Council for the past 18 months about a monthly craft fair in St James Avenue, after a lot of red tape we finally have the go ahead to run it and the first one is Saturday 7th April. This is a joint project with St James Church who will be open to provide teas/coffees as well as outreach work.
West Ealing Family Day
This will happen again in Melbourne Avenue and St James Avenue. There will be a variety events scheduled. More information will be available later in the year.
Book Swap
Chris Gilson from WEN runs this popular book swap at West Ealing station. He has just secured permission for a book swap at Ealing Broadway station – platform 2.
In December 2011, the campaign was the winner of the first #ideas4Mayor competition at the London Policy Conference. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said of the project:
“I think it’s a very good idea and would say something powerful about the kind of city we are and our commitment to literacy, which obviously we are trying to demonstrate in lots of ways particularly with young people”
Abundance
This project is now in its 6th year and the group have now taken on Walmer Gardens Orchard in West Ealing. The renovation of this Orchard is fully support by Ealing Park Rangers team and expertise is provided by the London Orchard Project. Both clearing and pruning have taken place in Jan/Feb this year. Abundance is now securing more volunteers for the project.
Book Club
This is a monthly club who meet at the Star and Anchor. For more information email wenreadinggroup@live.co.uk
Eric Leach, Vice Chair provided an update on WEN’s activities in relation to planning. Eric has been heavily involved in the Local Development Framework planning process which will have a big impact on West Ealing. The Localism Act coming into effecting April 2012 will give us the opportunity to be involved with the formation of neighbourhood forums – for more information see http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/inyourarea/neighbourhood/
Eric then opened up the floor to those present regarding the future of West Ealing Neighbours. The background to this is that the constitution states committee members can serve no longer than 5 years. Several committee members are now reaching their 5th anniversary, including the Chair (David) and Vice Chair (Eric) therefore new ideas and new individuals are being sought by WEN to take us through the next phase. A fair few individuals hesitated at the thought of not being able to devote time to WEN, or have an idea exactly what they were volunteering for! – those committee members present re-iterated that involvement is not onerous and all of us have started our own projects that we believe in and therefore are prepared to put the time in for the projects to succeed.
Coming along to the meetings to see what goes on is the best thing to see what happens and offer up ideas.
More discussion took place on the nature and format of WEN meetings to make them less like work meeting and more like social ‘gatherings’ offering wine, nibbles and an informal environment.
David Highton concluded that the next 12 months should be about transition to look at how WEN can be run going forward and any new office holders would be mentored for 6 months by the outgoing office holders. The current holders would therefore stay in their posts until new individuals are in place – with either the same type of structure, or a new one to be agreed.
The next WEN social gathering is to be held on Wednesday 21st March at OPEN Ealing, 113 Uxbridge Road (corner of Culmington) nr the fire station on the 2nd floor Café starting at 7.30pm – wine and nibbles provided. Please come along and bring a friend too!
Diane Gill
Secretary – WEN
Eric Leach, West Ealing Neighbours Vice-Chair, speaks about his experiences with Ealing Council’s on planning issues and how at least one other Council responded to his request for planning information.
Oh yes we at WEN Abundance and Ealing Transition are a hardy lot! We braved the freezing cold on Saturday 4th February to be part of a pruning workshop at our lovely little Orchard at Walmer Gardens. The London Orchard Project are doing a fantastic job helping us and brought in an expert to guide us through the day.
With some dedicated volunteers and support – including Jon Skoyles, Ealing Park Ranger, this Orchard has undergone a complete transformation. It will take a couple more years of pruning, planting and caring for the place but we know it will be worth bringing this place back to life.
Next up is the beehive Ealing Transition will be setting up around April – I’ll let you know exact dates when confirmed should anyone be interested in coming along.
Here are some pictures of the day (click to enlarge).
I have been eagerly awaiting the refurbishment of this lovely old building and the owners of the New Inn and the kings Arms haven’t taken long on this project and the grand opening will be this Friday. I’m away so I will miss out 🙁
If anyone does go along tomorrow then please post a comment on here and let us know what you think.
No we can’t believe we are that old either!
To celebrate this milestone you are invited to a gathering on October 13th from 7.30pm onwards at OPEN Ealing 113 Uxbridge Road, West Ealing (opposite the fire station) W5 5TL with a glass of wine and some of our yummy Abundance produce.
This is an important time for WEN as many of our committee members now have to step down after their 5 years in office – includng the chair (David Highton) and Vice-Chair (Eric Leach) Don’t worry though they aren’t leaving WEN, just taking on different roles – we are therefore keen to talk to you about how you can get involved.
We are a small group that think we have achieved quite a lot in the 5 years we have been together. We’d like to tell you some of what we have done and what we plan to do, but just as important are your ideas about what the next 5 years might look like.
And to top it all Cheddar Deli, 108 Northfields Avenue are also donating a fantastic cheese board for you to win in a raffle.
Sergeant Pinder Chana of the Walpole Safer Neighborhood Team and Patrick Chapman, of Walpole Residents’ Association discuss local policing priorities in the wake of concerns about drug-dealing anti-social behaviour in West Ealing
Many people are unsure how our Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs) fit in with the other police teams – and who to contact for assistance or support.
The SNT are working closely with the Council and local community to tackle problems in Walpole. Ealing Police take drug dealing as a serious issue and we would encourage members of the public who witness any drug related activity to call on 0300 123 1212 and ask to be put through to the SNT – or to call 999 if there is a need for an emergency response. Alternatively if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111.