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I’m delighted to say Wenzels hasn’t closed and is launching a 99p bread shop.. and The Cake Box has opened

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Well, I thought Wenzels’ had closed as it was not open this morning and looked deserted and I was going to miss their rye bread.  Then the power of Twitter kicked in and I found out they are not closing. They will be re-opening tomorrow as a 99p bread shop so that’s where I’ll be off to in the morning. I’m delighted they are not closing. Further west along the high stret The Cake Box has opened and looks tempting.

Even so, it’s clearly tough going for traders and raises questions about our high street. I still feel optimistic in the long run with the new housing developments and Crossrail but they are the future and it’s the present that is the immediate challenge for traders. If you’re concerned about what’s happening to our high street and want to find out about some of the ideas and plans already being worked over the next few months – pop-up shops, OPEN Ealing returning, Big Lunch in Dean Gardens in June – then do please come along to West Ealing Neighbours public meeting on Tuesday 28th May at St John’s Church IN Mattock Lane from 7.30pm. The current and future state of our high street is the main item. Details of this meeting, pop-up shops and more in our May newsletter.

 

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Talking about West Ealing – drop in and join us for a coffee on Saturday morning 11.30am at Silva Cafe

Silva Cafe

The WEN committee will be at the Silva Cafe this Saturday from 11.30am until 12.30pm and anyone is welcome to join us. We’ll have the team working on the feasibility study for a community and business hub in West Ealing joining us to explain their ideas and hear what our thoughts are (see post below). We’ll also be planning our next public meeting which will be about what sort of high stret we’d like to see develop in West Ealing over the next few years. I think West Ealing is on the cusp of change but what do you think?

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One shop closes and another one opens – noodle bar coming to West Ealing

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Sad to see the end of Blockbuster. It’s now closed down and we await to see what comes in its place.  The betting seems to be on Morrisons. I’m trying to get this confirmed but no luck so far. A few streets away in Leeland Road I saw a sign on an empty cafe announcing the arrival of a noodle bar. It’s taking over Joey’s cafe next to the Salvation Army hall. I can’t remember a previous noodle bar in West Ealing so it will be intertesting to see how it does. I wish it well.

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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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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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Traders and residents invited to hear about plans for West Ealing centre

On Tuesday 22 January 2013 at 5:30pm at SiLVA Cafe, 148 Broadway, West Ealing local traders are being invited to hear about plans to re-invigorate our High Street.

Anyone can attend – just turn up. The more the merrier. We all need to hear and discuss everyone’s views.

David Highton, Chair of WEN, will be discussing current and future WEN initiatives as well as outlining some London Borough of Ealing (LBE) proposals, which WEN and other local stakeholders have been working on. These include vacant shop initiatives, a business hub, pop up businesses, events and markets.

Eric Leach, Chair of West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum (WECNF), will be discussing the forum’s programme to create a detailed, 15 year spatial plan for the centre of West Ealing. These include policies for social provision, movement, Crossrail, housing and of course the High Street. LBE has a set of movement proposals; WECNF has its own plans; and local businesses have their own ideas too! Initiatives to be discussed include increased car parking, pedestrian improvements, accommodating cyclists, improved bus services, taking full advantage of the arrival of West Ealing Crossrail and better traffic flows.

Matthew McMillan Chief Executive of Ealing Broadway Business Improvement District (EBBID) will explain what a BID is all about. West Ealing Traders’  Association (WETA), WEN. WECNF and LBE are all keen for local traders to form a West Ealing Centre BID organisation.

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Dina the donkey is coming to town! – ‘Nativity in the Market’ this Saturday from 12.30. Come along and enjoy the moment.

Come along with your family this Saturday (15th December) to meet Dina, a real live donkey, in the Nativity in the Market, organised by St James Church. Dina and the nativity players will start off their tour of West Ealing in Dean Gardens at around 12.15pm, make their way to visit the farmers’ market in Leeland Road for 12.30, then donkey willing, a walk around the streets and on to Melbourne Ave for around 1.45pm. In Melbourne Ave the players will perform the first part  of the nativity play before their final stop in St James Ave and the craft market for 2.15pm where they will complete their performance. Everyone can join in and take part in this family event, sing carols and take part to celebrate and enjoy being part of our local community.

 

Also this week at the craft market in St James Avenue will be a local opera singer who will start off in Sylvester’s barbershop just round the corner, the Westside performers from the nearby youth club and ancient carols with local voices and instruments. More details on this blog.

 

 

 

 

 

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Great session by local band Jacob and Goliath at last Saturday’s West Ealing craft market

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I managed to catch some of Jacob and Goliath’s session at Saturday’s craft market and was mighty impressed with this young local band.  A great new addition to West London’s alternative/indie folk music scene.  Three of the  band members braved the cold, blew on their icy guitar picking fingers and really put their hearts in to their music. Lead singer Jacob Simpson has got a very striking voice and already has an impressive stage presence. You can see a recording of a part of their session at the market on a later post on this blog. Watch out for them and find out where they’re playing next on their Facebook page. 

Next Saturday we have carols, local folk band Oddfellas and the dynamic gospel choir Singology- more information on the next post down on this blog.

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Programme of music at the West Ealing Craft Market, Dec 8, 2012

We’ve got quite a programme for our market on Dec 8th – as well as the opportunity to buy a few pressies at our lovely craft stalls right next door to Blockbusters, you’ve got all this locally generated music to warm your heart… (And there will be more of similar goodness to come on Dec 15 and 22nd.)

December 8th, music line-up:

12-1pm: ‘This Tangled Web’ combines with Beavers and Scouts to bring us carols. This local charity was established in February 2010 by one survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Kate Swift made it her mission to let other survivors know that they are not alone through creating peer support groups and giving talks to local colleges and groups to raise awareness and understanding.


1-2pm: Welcome back to Oddfellas who give us their West Ealing take on music from (mostly) the British Isles with the occasional look across the pond.

2-3pm: The Singology Gospel Choir is an ‘ongoing community choir project that covers London, Essex and Kent.  We opened our door to Ealing in September 2012 and the group has blossomed nicely.  On the 8th December in the Market Square you will see the work of local tutor Aleksandra Zembron brought to life in what promises to be an exciting upliftng performance from the newly formed group.  To get involved, sign up now at www.singology.com‘