Local Development Framework – Page 3 – West Ealing Neighbours Blog

July 22, 2011July 23, 2011

The Grim Reaper could soon be in charge of Ealing’s heritage

Last night I attended the first Ealing Council LDF Advisory Committee Meeting. The Local Development Framework is our National Government’s ‘vehicle’ for Local Authorities to define their preferred use of land within their borders for the next 15 years.

Attendees attending the meeting who were allowed to speak were seven Councillors and a handful of Council Officers. I was one of a precious, small group of residents who were invited to attend as observers. It reminded me of attending a lap dancing club where you could watch the girls ‘dance’, but you were not allowed to touch them.

Chairing the meeting was Leader of the Council Councillor Julian Bell. He was on his first day of holiday from his day job at The Houses of Parliament.

Continue reading “The Grim Reaper could soon be in charge of Ealing’s heritage”

July 12, 2011

Flying visit to West Ealing by Boris Johnson this morning

I’ve just had a phone call from my wife Elizabeth to say she just came out of Wilkinson’s with some shopping and she walked straight into Boris Johnson who was doing a walkabout. I think Boris’s main reason for coming here was to visit the Lido Centre and hear about their London Ambassadors Recruitment project. The volunteer Ambassadors will be welcoming visitors to the Olympics and Paralympics.

David Highton

May 19, 2011May 19, 2011

Origins of some West Ealing street names

Local historian David Shailes writes that when the streets of Ealing were originally laid out the landowners and property developer got to choose the names, so the reasons for their choices are generally not recorded and are lost in the mist of time. Researching street names is interesting for lots of reasons as some have names of local historical interest, others have no local connections and some are linked to events in history.

The length of this article (published in our May newsletter) means that we can only scratch the surface of the 200 odd roads that have a W13 post code.

A set of my personal favourites are the Australian named roads: Adelaide Road, Brisbane Road, Sydney Road and Melbourne Avenue and these were all on land developed by the Steel family and it is known that Charles Steel whose market garden at one stage made him the largest rate payer in Ealing, went to Australia to see how they did things down under. So this may be the reason they have such names.

Loveday Road takes it name from William Lockyer Loveday, who owned land in Ealing, but lived in Devon, which he left in 1860 to start a new life in the State of Illinos in the USA. His son eventually became the owner of what was called the Loveday Estates and these were sold in 1896 for £60,000, a considerable sum of money. The St Kilda and Marder Estates, have also given their names to two roads.

Horticulture gave us Leeland Road andTerrace, as these stand on part of the land that once was part of Charles Lee & son’s Ealing nursery, they had other nurseries in Hammersmith (The Olympia Exhibition hall stands on the site), Feltham, Isleworth and Hounslow. They used the site to grow fruit trees, roses and shrubs.

As a child I lived in Green Avenue and never gave the street name a second thought as there are no other streets named after colours nearby. It appears that the name relates to a H.C. Green who was the very first mayor of the Borough of Ealing in 1901/2. Next to this road is Cranmer Avenue that runs up to St Paul’s Church and on the opposite side is Ridley Avenue, which take their names from two Protestant Martyrs burnt at the stake by Mary Tudor (Queen 1553 to 1558).

The 1777 parish map reveals that North Field Lane (now Northfield Avenue) and Mattock Lane have been with us for over 200 years. My mother who lived in Ealing right up until her death in 1983 always referred to going shopping as up the “lane” meaning Northfield Avenue. Drayton Green existed as a small community on this map, which gave its names to several nearby roads.

Green Man Lane took its name from an old coaching inn on the Uxbridge Road, the second world war damaged pub being rebuilt in the 1950’s was demolished in 1981 and replaced by the block which Iceland is now in. The inn existed on the 1777 map and was an important stabling facility for over 100 horses on the London to Oxford road and on further west to Fishguard (No A40 in those days!).

(to be continued)

David Shailes

There are more articles about West Ealing’s history in our bi-monthly newsletters. You will get these automatically emailed to you if you become a member of WEN. It’s free to join and details of how to join are on our website. Or visit our website and you’ll find links to the last few newsletters on our home page – www.westealingneighbours.org.uk

May 14, 2011

West Ealing Arts launches its first adult art classes

The community arts project OPEN Ealing, run by West Ealing Arts, has launched its first arts classes and workshops for adults:

Watercolour painting on Tuesday mornings and afternoons
History of 20th century art on Thursday evenings from 2nd June
Silk painting on Saturday afternoons from June
Life drawing soon to start on Wednesday evenings

For details of times and costs visit www.openealing.com or call on 020 8579 5558 or drop in at 113 Uxbridge Road on corner of Culmington Road and opposite fire station).

David Highton

May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

The changing face of our high street

Pamela Howard v2 — Pamela Howard School of Dance: One of the new shops on our high street

The recent opening of the British Heart Foundation’s new shop (see previous post) made me think again about the changing nature of our high street. Yes, you could just say it’s yet another charity shop and we already have eight. But, it struck me that this shop is something rather different for West Ealing. Almost every time I go in to one of the charity shops it seems busy as I try to manoeuvre my way between the shoppers and the clothes rails. What BHF seem to have noticed though is that there is a complete gap in the market for a charity shop selling household goods such as electrical appliances and furniture.

Much has been written about how Britain’s high streets are changing. I
have lived in West Ealing since 1978 and, like many others, can all too easily reminisce about how West Ealing’s high street used to have a Marks and Spencer, a WH Smith, Mothercare, let alone the department stores such as FH Rowse and Daniels. But that time has gone and in the last few years the twin impact of the recession and the growth of internet shopping have undoubtedly left their mark as shops have moved out or closed down. In a recent article in the Financial Times Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said ‘Given the structural nature of these changes
there is no point harking back to the old high streets we all claimed to love. We need to be creative in looking for new roles and uses for these empty shops.”

I think BHF has been creative. We have seen new shops move in and Lidl and Poundworld are now part of our high street. They have been joined by some rather different businesses – British Immigration Solutions and The Pamela Howard School of Dance. West Ealing Arts has opened a community arts project in an old office building a short walk away from the main shopping centre (see later article). The London Residents Forum is hoping to open the old Oxfam shop as a borough-wide resource and drop in centre for tenants.

Yes, our high street is changing, it has to, but I see these changes as a sign that the high street still has a purpose for our community. It is still trying providing goods and services that we need and want. Please let’s just make sure we cherish and use our high street and other local shopping areas.

David Highton

May 3, 2011

A charity shop with a difference opens in West Ealing

British Heart Foundation new shop — Newly opened British Heart Foundation shop

British Heart Foundation opened the doors of its new shop today and it set me thinking about charity shops and our high street. I thought first off I’d better count how many charity shops there are along the street between the Lido Junction and the junction with Eccleston Road. I counted 8 (including the Salvation Army) plus the mystery Storefair which threatened to open back in September but has remained resolutely shut for months.

In my experience most of these shops are usually busy and you have to manoeuvre your way round them between the clothes rails and the shoppers. So, I think the BHF shop, which sells electrical goods and furniture, is a clever move as it fills a gap in what charity shops usually offer. Most charity shops won’t touch electrical goods as they have to be properly checked for safety etc. When I went in this morning it was packed both with goods and people and looking at what is on offer in BHF I was impressed. I think it will do well.

There’s a much wider question raised not just about charity shops but also about what sort of future we want for our high street? But I’ll leave that for another time.

David Highton

April 22, 2011April 23, 2011

Is the age of tall buildings for London at an end?

Chris Gilson reports on the potential slow-down of skyscraper growth in London, as a result of fiscal austerity.

One of West Ealing Neighbours’ major concerns in the last half decade is the potential growth of super-massive skyscrapers and commercial developments in the town’s center – all without increased provision for social services for new residents. The recession has certainly slowed down a number of these developments, and now Bloomberg reports that for the capital in general:

London property developers are sacrificing height and glitz for better returns as the craze for building iconic skyscrapers comes to an end, said Ken Shuttleworth, the architect of the landmark Gherkin building….

While skyscrapers with nicknames such as the Shard, the Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie are joining the 40-story Gherkin as part of the British capital’s skyline, those buildings reflect past rather than present considerations. All of the office towers that are due to open in London by 2014 were conceived before the financial crisis and developers are increasingly adopting cheaper, less ambitious plans.

Does this mean that Ealing is now going against the grain by continuing to try and build large, tall, buildings (like the proposed 21 storey successor to Westel House) and developments?

Read the full article here.

April 21, 2011April 23, 2011

Yet Another New Hotel and New Residential Tower Block for Central Ealing: Property Developers Continue to Shape Central Ealing

Vice Chair of WEN Eric Leach looks at the approval of a new hotel and residential block in West Ealing by Ealing Council.

The Planning Application for a hotel, a private residential tower block (21 storeys) and a small bock for of 33 Affordable Rent housing units on the old TVU/Westel House site was approved by Ealing Council last night.

As use of this land in this way was neither prescribed by the UDP nor the LDF perhaps we can now conclude that Ealing Council has just thrown in the towel with planning policy and the way is now open for property developers to design the centre of Ealing.

We now have the prospect in the central Ealing area of 569 new hotel rooms (Bond Street, Travel Lodge, Premier Inn, Drayton Court and now Westel House) and 800 new private flats (Dickens Yard, Green Man and Westel House). Let’s hope that the incomers who will occupy these spaces don’t get ill or need a State Primary/Secondary education as they will struggle to find local services to meet their needs.

As some of you may know the Planning Application for a hotel, a private residential tower block (21 storeys) and a small bock for of 33 Affordable Rent housing units on the old TVU/Westel House site was approved by Ealing Council last night.

April 19, 2011April 22, 2011

Demolition starts at Green Man Lane Estate

Chair of WEN, David Highton reports on the beginning of the end for the Green Man Lane Estate.

Demolition began yesterday as the 10-year redevelopment of the Green Man Lane Estate kicked off in earnest. Council leader Julian Bell was joined by representatives from housing association A2Dominion, builders Rydon, architects Conran and GML residents as the bulldozers finally moved on site. Whatever your views, and West Ealing Neighbours’ views are fully documented on our website this development marks a huge change for West Ealing. When completed the development will house some 2,000 people as compared to the curent 800. This ‘densification’ will be repeated in a year or two when the Sherwood Close Estate (aka Dean Gardens Estate) is similarly redeveloped. Add to these two developments the 100s of new homes at Sinclair House (opposite West Ealing station), the Daniels development, the Waitrose development, the newly completed flats on the old Groveglade indoor market site and many more smaller developments and the changes are having, and will continue to have, a profound impact on West Ealing.

This policy of ‘densification’ lies at the heart of the Council’s plans for the next 15 years as detailed in their Local Development Framework. You can read more about this on our blog by clicking on the LDF category on the right hand navigation and on our website

David Highton