West Ealing Neighbours Blog

I saw this newly painted sign on the road yesterday. I just wonder if it will be enforced in any way as it’s a favourite stretch for speeding.

Ealing Today has the full story.

This is the invitation:

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to National Visit My Mosque Day, being held locally at the West London Islamic Centre, Ealing this Sunday 3rd March between 12-4pm.

This free, community led open day will as always be held in the spirit of understanding and dialogue. We hope to share experiences, showcase our temporary facilities and provide short tours of one of Ealing largest new faith centres, all within a friendly setting.

The afternoon will feature a variety of sumptuous delicacies, drinks and food, so please share and invite your friends and colleagues and bring them along. We look forward to welcoming you and your guests!

At tonight’s Council planning committee meeting (Wednesday 20th February) A2Dominion’s proposal to demolish the old Woolworth’s building with its art-deco facade was approved.

There were over 300 objections to A2Dominion’s proposal.  However, by the rules of the planning committee only one objector from the public  is allowed to speak at the meeting – and I assume only one speaker in favour.  Speakers are given three minutes to make their case. This is the argument I put forward:

‘Good evening councillors. I am David Highton chair of West Ealing Neighbours a residents group for the area.  I would like to make just three points – loss of art deco façade, its height and its design.

1.Loss of iconic art-deco façade

I am sorry you were not able to see the façade of this building when you visited the site on Saturday. However, I hope you will all have been able to see a photo of it as it looked before it was covered by scaffolding.

This art-deco façade on what was once a Woolworth’s store is the most recognisable architectural feature of West Ealing. It is much loved by many local residents, so much so that 1172 signed a petition to save it. I have a copy of it here. Most signatories live within the borough and many live in West Ealing.

Whilst the façade may not have been well looked after, it has not been irreparably damaged by neglect. West Ealing Neighbours commissioned an independent expert, Stand Consulting Engineers, to carry out a survey of the physical state of the façade. Their report concluded ‘ our view is that the damage to the cladding and structure (which is the façade) can be addressed by standard conservation-based repairs. We did not see any signs of structural issues to justify the demolition of the building’. I should at this point thank A2Dominion for allowing our expert to visit the site.

2 Height

Each new developer in West Ealing from the hotel opposite to the old BHS site next door and now A2Domnion have proposed to build higher than the last This time it’s 11 storeys at the front on the Broadway and 15-storeys at the back. It’s too tall, it’s out of keeping with the existing nearby buildings such as the hotel and the residential blocks along the main road.

3.Design

The design of the proposed building recognises the importance of its art deco history and tries to capture some of its features. Why?  There’s no need.  The architects can keep the original and incorporate it into a new design.

In conclusion, A2Dominion understands the importance of design and context. Just a couple of hundred yards away the building it originally proposed for the old undertaker’s site on the corner of the Uxbridge Rd and Shirley Gardens was completely out of keeping and rejected by the then planning committee. They came back with a much more sympathetic design both in style and height. I think they can do exactly the same again if the committee says this proposal just isn’t quite right yet. Have another think about it and come back with a revised design.’

Four of (I think) 12 councillors voted against the proposal, so it was approved. A2Dominion now have three years to make a start on this work.

It’s been a long wait but the Council’s planing committee is soon due to decide on A2Dominion’s controversial application to demolish the old Woolworths building to build a block 120 flats up to 15-storeys high.  The date for the committee meeting is Wednesday 20th February.  WEN was one of some 300 groups and residents who objected to A2Dominion’s plans.  Click here for more information  about this.

The Council has is consulting on major plans to redevelop the Gurnell leisure centre site. These plans include:

About 600 new homes with 20% affordable but no social housing

Buildings up to 17 storeys high

A 10-lane 50 metre pool, BMX track and skate park and a range of related leisure facilities

The development with be funded through the commercial residential housing.

The next public consultations are on:

• Wednesday 6th February 2019, from 19:00 –20:30 at Gurnell Grove Community Centre, W13 0AR

A follow-up drop in event will be held on:

• Saturday 9th February 2019, from 10:00-13:00 at Gurnell Leisure Centre, Ruislip Road East, W13 0AL

These events are open to everyone; however, space is limited and will be offered on a first come first served basis.

More information about this can be found on two websites – http://www.futureofgurnell.co.uk/  and https://www.ealing.gov.uk/gurnell

 

 

Following their successful ballot, West Ealing Business Improvement District (BID) have advertised for a new manager.

The full page advert in the Ealing Gazette ( 11th January) gives a very detailed job description and person specification for this post. With a salary of £40-45,000 let’s hope it attracts some first class candidates who can help West Ealing develop a resilient and attractive high street which mixes retail and community activities as proposed in a number of recent reports on the future of high streets such as The High Street Report by John Timpson. .

The true scale of the potential problems with Crossrail are laid bare in an article on the New Civil Engineer website.  It’s long and detailed but well worth a read.

The new Chief Executive Mark Wild gave a bleak review of the current situation to a recent London Assembly meeting. It seems the contracts for new stations at West Ealing, Ealing Broadway and Acton Mail Line have yet to be placed.

The key points are: