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Ward Forums to end

It is quite likely that many readers of this have never been to a ward forum. Whatever their drawbacks, and there are most defintely some, they do at least give residents a public forum at which to question their local councillors. The Council has decided to stop these from next April as part of the next round of budget cuts. Just how residents can ask questions, find out what’s going on locally and hold their councillors to account has yet to be decided. In addition, the ward forum budgets which fund a myriad of big and little projects across the borough will cease and the money put in to a central pot with the exact details to be decided.

West Ealing Neighbours is typical of many local groups in having had funding from ward forums. The annual SoundBite Festival and Christmas Fair have both received funding from ward forums. Ward forums have helped fund projects to spruce up patches of waste ground, traffic calming measures, help small community groups and much, much more. We shall have to wait and see what the Council proposes.

You can see what you’ve been missing by dipping in to a video of part of the recent Walpole Ward Forum here.

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Yet more high rise coming to West Ealing

A development of 53 homes up to 9-storeys high is set to replace part of an uninspiring row of shops at 72-76 Broadway in West Ealing. I this whole run of shops up to Green Man Lane was once home to the department store FH Rowse. This store was sold in the 1980s and a low rise development of shops replaced it.

The plan submitted to the Council is to demolish some of these shops, including Carphone Warehouse and the Card Factory and replace them with a 9-storey, part 4-storey and part 3-storey development. The new development will retain commercial space on the ground floor.

This proposed development is hardly a surprise given the high rise developments alongside including the old BHS and Woolworth’s sites.

The application number is 193500FUL and the deadline for comments is 1st November 2019.

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Deadline of 13th September for comments on Heathrow’s planning application for expansion

There’s an awful lot going on with Heathrow at the moment with its plans to build a third runway and changes to flight paths. This consultation is about its plans to build a third runway. If you want to find out exactly what is being planned and make your views known on these plans visit their website.

If you want to raise objections one useful site is from the No 3rd Runway Coalition Another useful site is that of HACAN which campaigns for people living under the Heathrow flightpaths.


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Film about Ealing Club on Sky on Sunday 8th September

It’s taken a while but the locally made film about the important role played by The Ealing Club in this country’s rhythm and blues music history finally hits our TV screens this Sunday on Sky Arts at 10pm. ‘Suburban Steps to Rockland’ tells the story of how this tiny basement club saw the Rolling Stones start their career and gave inspiration to many of this country’s most famous musicians of the 1960s.


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Council gives go-ahead to cuts in libraries budget

Despite 17,450 people signing petitions against the Council’s plans to stop funding for seven of our 13 libraries, the Cabinet approved the plans at its meeting on Tuesday evening. As a result, these seven libraries will now see the loss of their professional librarians and become either community managed or community supported. West Ealing Library has had expressions of interest from groups willing to take on its running. The next step is for these groups to work up a business plan and then the Council will decide which group will be chosen.

It’s not yet clear what the full costs will be to run West Ealing Library as the Council has yet to decide on the rental cost of the back room office area. However, it is clear that whichever group takes it on will have to find the full running costs once the initial start up phase is over. The Council will give some financial support in the start up phase. If, for whatever reason, the group fails then the Council will look for another group or close the library.

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Stop The Towers campaign launches website

The Stop The Towers campaign was launched to campaign against the proposed 25 and 26-storey towers next to and opposite West Ealing station. The campaign is neither against development in this area nor against building much needed truly affordable social housing. What it is against is the scale and, in particular, the height of these two towers.

Whilst the campaign has only been going for a few weeks it has already reached many hundreds of residents with information about the plans and the campaign. Now it has just launched its website and this is the place to keep up with the latest news about the campaign.

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Help save our libraries march on Saturday 13th July

The campaign to save seven of Ealing’s libraries from possible closure continues this Saturday with a march from Hanwell Library to West Ealing Library.

Join us outside Hanwell Library in Cherington Road at 10.30am. This is almost our last chance to show the Council that we oppose their plans to make these seven libraries, including West Ealing, community managed or close them down.

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West Ealing Neighbours AGM on Wednesday 10th July from 7.30pm at the Welshore Hub

Wednesday 10th July at the Welshore Community Hub, 99 Broadway, West Ealing W13 9BP starting at 7.30pm

 
This is to give formal notice that the Annual General Meeting of West Ealing Neighbours will be held on Wednesday 10th July at the Welshore Community Hub, 99 Broadway (next to the old Bensons for Beds shop on corner with St James Ave) starting at 7.30pm.
 
Topics for the meeting will include:

  • The campaign to save West Ealing’s Library
  • The plans for the towers near West Ealing station

In addition to the above, there will be a short report on our activities in 2018 and on our finances followed by elections for the following named posts:

  • Chair
  • Vice-Chair
  • Treasurer

All of the above posts can be held either singly or jointly. If jointly, two members, can between them, organise how the responsibilities of that post are to be carried out.
 
In addition, there is a minimum of two and a maximum of 12 members’ posts available for election to the Management Committee.  Some of the areas where we welcome help include: 

  • Publicity, including social media
  • Writing for and managing the WEN blog – http://www.westealingneighbours.org.uk/
  • Designing and writing for our newsletter
  • Attending local meetings
  • Helping set up local events such as the annual SoundBite Festival and Christmas Fair

If you would like to put your name forward for any of these posts you can either contact WEN by email at westealingneighbours@gmail.com or come along to our AGM and put your name forward there.  If there are more names than available posts then election shall be by ballot.