Well it looks like the Police have been successful in moving the drinkers out of Dean Gardens; instead they seem to have taken up residence in Green Man Passage. For those of you not familiar with this cut through, it is accessed via Alexandra Road by Waitrose and takes you in-between the Cancer Research shop and Seba Electronics in West Ealing Broadway.
There are two Happy Child Nurseries based there which makes the experience even more unsatisfatory for those of us that drop of and pick up our children. I often walk in to the entrance of the Nursery passing groups of drinkers sat on the wall by the entrance. Rubbish is often strewn along the route and in a small passage near the baby Nursery.
At our recent public meeting Paul Dunn talked about potential solutions to this growing problem – including gating and locking this area at night. This can only be a good idea, but still doesn’t tackle what goes on here during the day, pretty much everyday.
Yesterday at the Alexandra Road entrance I witnessed addtional activity that I won’t go into to detail on here, but leads me to think that it’s not only drinking that is the issue.
If anyone has any ideas on what can be done, I would love to hear them.
Diane Gill
1) I suggest that you contact HC’s office which is at 109 Uxbridge Rd and get them on side. Ask them and other local businesses to the next tweetup. I work in the building and can speak to the other companies there.
2) There has to be more active outreach work to get those behaving like this to get treatment, so an approach to local NHS services dealing with this issue.
3) Ask vendors of alcohol in the area to take some responsibility for this. They must know who the regulars are. Sometimes people are asked to buy alcohol for street drinkers and vendors should be aware of that too.
I was unable to attend the meeting about problems caused by dealing and using in West Ealing but wanted to as I believe they are pretty much the same for alcohol abuse. My perspective is that of someone who works there in the evenings. I walk home through the area on weekdays, usually from 7.30pm but sometimes as late as 10.30pm and although I don’t feel particularly threatened it isn’t always pleasant. Part of the problem is begging but at times I’ve had to step over people who cannot stand up. I think there will have to be a more forceful approach to getting streetdrinkers into treatment as otherwise the problem is just getting pushed from one place to another but I appreciate that NHS resources are limited and that is a longterm approach. I don’t think anyone can tackle this without looking at the general attitude to alcohol in the area. It isn’t just the alcoholics who habitually hang out in and around Green Man Passage, it is the drunken students who make life a misery for those travelling to work in the very early hours during term time. It would be helpful if the local police could keep an eye out for those waiting at bus stops at that time of day and I recommend that you speak to colleges in the area. A lot of money is made in West Ealing through the sale of wine and spirits and, although most of it is consumed responsibly, enough irresponsible people use it there to make it a problem. Cleaners, catering staff and shift workers have to put up with the problems that respectable people can’t see when they are safe behind their front doors or in their beds. Perhaps there should be a limit on the number of alcohol retailers in the area along with an effort to prevent the sale of alcohol to the addicted.
Thanks Albertina for the useful suggestions.
I think we should continue to use Paul Dunn to help us here as this is a lot of work for us to do ourselves with limited resources.
I’ve told Paul Dunn about these posts and he is chasing up when the camera will go in to monitor the side passage off Green Man Passage. This may help a little.
Thanks David.