As this photo shows, work is already underway on the new hotel in West Ealing following agreement at last night’s (Wednesday 15th May) Planning Committee meeting. The plan is for a new 60-bedroom hotel on the corner of Melbourne Ave and the Uxbridge Road. The concerns about the traders at the top of Melbourne Ave and Luckhurst’s the butchers appear to have all been resolved. You can read the background to this story here.
It was interesting to read the report by the planning committee available on the council’s website. I think this hotel can be a positive thing for the area as long as the existing traders can continue as they are and as long as there is a constant turnover of guests and it is not used as a dumping ground for the homeless. The report suggested this wouldn’t happen because no kitchen facilities are provided. It seems BetFred have been allowed to open on the ground floor. Such a shame. It would be a fantastic space for a café. Now there will be smokers standing outside between bets. The bus stop needs to be moved east to outside Lidl where the footpath is wider and the congestion can be reduced.
How long will it be before there is a planning application for the old Woolworths site? It might be the only time the owners take responsibility for its decaying façade! Some day a lot of flats will be built behind there. Maybe we need new schools fronting the Broadway.