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More doctors needed for West Ealing

Sitting in the Grosvenor House Surgery in West Ealing yesterday morning I was struck by just how busy it was.  I’m not there all that often but often enough to know this was a very busy morning. Yes, maybe a Monday morning is always busy, but it felt more than that. The surgery was packed with people of all ages and more kept coming in and we had to shuffle round for new arivals to find anywhere to sit. If it’s as busy as this now what will it be like in a few years time when the Green Man Lane Estate development is complete and the population on it has increased from around 800 to some 2,000? Grosvenor House is the nearest surgery so surely most residents will look to register with it?

I looked up the 95-page document on the Green Man Lane Estate development that went to the planning committee on 1st September 2010 and it had this to say about healthcare provision:

  1. Education and Health There are currently 41 GPs working within 800m of the Site and it has been confirmed that all are registering new patients.  The development scheme will introduce 242 new households (approximately 1,250+ people) with a mix of age groups, which will require a range of medical facilities. The PCT’s preference for addressing the impacts of the development is to secure a monetary contribution for improved equipment/ facilities; and consequently the applicant has agreed to a clause within the S106 agreement contributing towards the borough’s health facilities.

Further on I found this:

a)    A contribution of £190,000 by the developer towards the improvement of healthcare provision in the local area;

So, if I’ve got it right, the developers pay £190,00 to the Primary Care Trust to address the impact on primary healthcare of some 1200 new residents. Since then, of course, PCT’s are soon to be abolished and replaced by the Clinical Commissioning Groups – in our case, a group of Ealing GPs will be responsible for designing and provisioning local health and care services (more details on this here).

Residents will soon start moving in to Phase 1 of the development and the whole development will take about 8 years to complete. That sounds like there’s lots of time but in a few years there will probably be hundreds of new residents already living there and needing a GP.  So it feels like planning needs to be underway now to increase the number of GPs and other healthcare services.  My next step is going to be to contact the Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group to find out what’s happening with the planning. I’ll post my findings as soon as I hear back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Changes planned for Uxbridge Road in West Ealing – plans on show at St James Church on Thurs 14th March

The Council wants to hear your views on its plans for changes along the West Ealing to Hanwell stretch of the Uxbridge Road. Key proposals include:

  • New 20 mph zones in Hanwell town centre and West Ealing town centre to improve road safety
  • Replacing the traffic lights at Hanwell Clock Tower (Boston Road junction) with a mini-roundabout to smooth traffic flow through Hanwell town centre. A zebra crossing and courtesy crossings would be introduced to help pedestrians. The one-way flow on Cherrington Road would be reversed to flow towards Church Road under this proposal
  • Creating a mini-roundabout and pedestrian crossings at the Church Road/St George’s Road Junction
  • Significant streetscape improvements which include a better defined town square at Hanwell Clock Tower, wider footways, new trees, removal of street clutter, re-energising underused public spaces in West Ealing
  • Additional pedestrian crossings by Westminster Road and at Eccleston Road, Hanwell
  • Removal of the westbound bus lane between Church Road and Eccleston Road to provide cycle lanes on both sides of the road
  • More pay and display bays in West Ealing.

Work should start in summer 2013 and take place in phases over the next two years.

Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for environment and transport said: “This stretch of Uxbridge Road can be difficult for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike. Our proposals will make it safer for while also making it easier to travel through Hanwell and West Ealing.

“The proposed changes are the result of listening to residents over recent years and we are keen to hear the views of as many people as possible so we’re putting on a public exhibition as part of this consultation.”

For more information on the proposals visit the exhibitions at:

  • Our Lady & St Joseph’s Parish Church, 52 Uxbridge Road in Hanwell on Tuesday, 12 March, 4-8pm
  • St James Church, St James Avenue, West Ealing on Thursday, 14 March 3-7pm

Some of these ideas  caused quite a stir at a recent Elthorne Ward Forum meeting and the West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum has done a lot of work on transport and movement issues in West Ealing. I hope we will be able to hear the Forum’s thoughts on this blog.

You can find out more and comment online

 

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Petition against planned 60-bedroom hotel

Building a 60-bedroom hotel on the corner of Melbourne Ave and the Uxbridge Road looks almost certain to mean that some of the traders there – flower stall, card stall – will have to move. The plans for the hotel show a floor to ceiling glass window going part way along the Melbourne Ave side of the hotel. As a result, the traders are fearful of their future. Where will they be moved to? There doesn’t look to be enough room on the hairdresser’s side of the road for them all to fit in. As a result, they have started up a petition against the planned hotel and you can easily find it at the flower stall.

West Ealing Neighbours is considering its response to the planned hotel.  We recognise that this site needs redevelopment of some sort as it’s a bit of an eyesore but is this the best option for the high street? The sort of questions we are concerned about include:

  • Do we need another hotel? There are two budget ones half a mile down the road – Premier Inn and Travelodge – plus the revamped Drayton Court Hotel by West Ealing station.
  • It’s not likely to create all that much new employment for such a central high street site.
  • There is no car park planned. Admittedly, most guests will probably come by public transport but will that bring extra pressure on the nearby roads which are currently CPZ free but getting more and more heavily parked up.
  • It will mean more lorries crossing Melbourne Ave to access the rear delivery bays and do we want this? Some years back we proposed that a new access road go through part of the library car park. This was turned down because the mobile library bus was parked there overnight. The bus has now gone so we come back to the idea of lorries delivering to Lidl’s and the other shops by this new route and not across the mainly pedestrianised Melbourne Ave.
  • Luckhurst’s the butchers will have to close for at least 6 months whilst the building work takes place. Tony Luckhurst runs one of the few traditional butchers left in the area. Will he re-open?

 

 

 

 

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60-bedroom hotel planned for the centre of West Ealing

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Site of proposed new hotel

A planning application has been lodged to redevelop the eastern corner at the Uxbridge Road end of Melbourne Avenue. The proposed site covers the area from Luckhurst’s the butchers up to the Uxbridge Road and then above the currently empty corner site and above the new Brighthouse store. The existing first floor will be retained and two new storeys added. All the existing ground floor retail units will be retained, including the new Betfred betting shop which has an agreement to take the corner unit.

Planned new hotel for West Ealing

 

 

Illustration of new hotel (ignore the Ibis sign) Copyright Milan Babic Architects

There is a host of documents online about this application and I have only managed to skim them so far. There is some confusion in the documents as the official application is for a 60-bedroom Easy Hotel though at least one of the documents refers to a 70-bedroom Ibis Hotel. I can only assume the latter is an earlier version.

Easy Hotels are a franchise operation and are part of Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s business empire and, from their website, they offer hotel rooms from around £35 a night.

It’s quite extraordinary that after years of having hardly any hotels, Ealing and West Ealing now have a brand new Premier Inn and Travelodge within yards of one another plus the newly converted Drayton Court Hotel,the boutique Hotel Xanadu in Bond Street and the Best Western Maitrise Hotel in West Ealing. Is it all down to the likely impact of Crossrail?

I’m puzzled why such a major development for West Ealing has been delegated to officers for a decision rather than going to committee. This could be a very significant change for the centre of West Ealing. It may mean hotel supplies being delivered along Canberra Road and across Melbourne Ave. There is also no parking provision for hotel guests. A thriving hotel in the heart of West Ealing may well make a significant contribution to the local economy and help improve our high street. Even so, to my mind, this is a major development and ought to go to the full committee for a decision.

If you want to comment on this application you can do so online  and the closing date is 22nd February.

 

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What goes on inside our head? – free event at Drayton Court Hotel with leading science communicator on Thursday 7th February 3pm

 

 

This sounds interesting and a little challenging!  ‘A journey of recovery to the heart of his grey matter following a traumatic head injury’. It’s a free event because the people involved in staging this would like your feedback so they can fine-tune it before it goes on tour.

a4londonflyer

In 2011, leading science communicator James Piercy suffered a traumatic head injury that made this question more pertinent than ever before. Join him as he shares his at times emotional journey. Find out just what we know about what is in our heads and the effect of brain damage via tales of the brain’s structure, MRI, monitoring and the effects of trauma.

It’s downstairs at the Drayton Court Hotel on Thursday 7th February starting at 3pm.
website www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk  or blog  http://whatsgoingoninhishead.wordpress.com/

 

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Find out more about the planned redevelopment of the Sherwood Close Estate in West Ealing on Saturday 2nd February

The redevelopment of the Sherwood Close Estate just south of Dean Gardens is the second major housing development in the centre of West Ealing. Building on the Green Man Lane Estate is well under way and is due to last between 8 – 10 years. Work on Sherwood Close will start in 2014 and will last a similar length of time.

Back in October, the Council selected Affinity Sutton to redevelop the Sherwood Close Estate, just south of Dean Gardens, and said that there would be opportunities for local people  to get involved with shaping the new estate. On Saturday, 2 February Affinity Sutton, their architects and the Council invite you to come along to a public exhibition where you will be able to meet the team, find out more about their proposals and let them know your views before they progress their plans and submit a formal planning application later in the year.
When: Saturday 2 February – drop in anytime between 11am and 2pm
Where: The Marquee  next to Target House by Northfield Avenue

Refreshments will be provided

For more information contact Affinity Sutton on
0300 100 0303

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Caravaggio – was he the most original and influential artist ever? Come along to West Ealing on Monday Feb 4th and find out

This talk on Caravaggio is put on  by OPEN Ealing on Monday 4th February 7.30 – 9.30pm. The talk is given by V&A guide Colin Lomas and is one of a series of highly entertaining talks by Colin. It’s being held at the Ealing Centre for Independent Living, 1 Bayham Road, W13 0TQ
£5 entry and illustrated notes provided

7.40 – 8.40 illustrated talk
8.40 – 9.30 refreshments & discussion

More information available from Colin Lomas – ring 07909 896541

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Tough times on the high street as Blockbuster goes in to administration

Craft Market Family Day 2012

Craft market in St James Ave with Blockbuster on the right corner

Hot on the heels of Jessops and HMV the next high street chain to go in to administration is Blockbuster UK, though it appears it will keep trading whilst a buyer is sought. Blockbuster has a shop in West Ealing on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and St James Ave. This spot is a key one for WEN and others who are working on ideas to reclaim the dead space at the top end of St James Avenue. WEN has run a monthly craft market here since April and OPEN Ealing may move its arts centre to the building above Blockbuster. In addition, there may be TfL money to improve this pedestrianised area at the top of St James Avenue and the Council is putting in a bid for ‘pocket park’ funds to add to the Tfl ones. What happens to Blockbuster on this corner could have an impact on these plans.  So we’ll be watching events carefully to see what happens.

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Stabbing at West Ealing bus stop

According to a story on the Ealing Today website, a fight this morning at the bus stop outside The Gym (old Daniels building) led to one man being stabbed. It doesn’t sound life threatening fortunately. The police have increased foot patrols in the area. Unfortunately, there has been a run of serious incidents in West Ealing over the past months with the most recent – a fight between two gangs – just before Christmas. The whole question of local law and order will be looked at in WEN’s January newsletter which will be published on Friday and will be on our website from then.