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Is West Ealing on the edge of change?

I wrote this short piece for our June newsletter:

‘One sure sign of regeneration?
Walking along Northfield Avenue the other day it struck me that a sure sign of an area changing is when estate agents come in to or leave a high street. Northfield Ave has loads of estate agents with new ones moving in regularly. Will a sign that West Ealing is on the up be when a new estate agent opens on the high street? Anyone willing to say when this will happen in West Ealing?’

Crossrail is already having a significant effect on house prices. You’ve only to look at the estate agents’ adverts in the Ealing Gazette to see the regular mention of Crossrail. Then someone recently said to me ‘we’re being gentrified’ referring to the nearly refurbished Grosvenor pub (which I like).  Change is a slow process but it’s happening in West Ealing.

What are the other signs of regeneration – an artisan baker, new restaurants, improved schools, more affordable housing?  I’m curious what others think or whether I’m imagining change is in the air.

Then I read an article in yesterday’s Sunday Times ( 15th June) about spotting the signs of gentrification.  Apparently, if there’s already a Waitrose and Carluccio’s you’re being gentrified. The signs it’s starting to happen include:

1. ‘When the local boozer suddenly gets rebranded as a gastropub’

2. Cupcake stands

3. Organic food outlets

4. Shops billed as ethical or sustainable open up

5. Companies that trade on being cool or hitting a zeitgeist

6. Charity shops moving out to make way for higher-value occupiers

7. Solicitors and accountants noving from the ground floor to the upper floors as rents rise

I can think of two such signs in West Ealing recently. The tired old boozer The Grosvenor being bought up and refurbished and offering decent food. The Warren Evans ‘green’ bed and furniture store opening in the last space on the ground floor of the old Daniels site.  What next?

 

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Have your say on where to site the new West Ealing Crossrail station

 

WECNF Station Options JUNE 2014

Crossrail is likely to help transform West Ealing for decades to come. One key decision yet to be taken is where on Manor Road to site the new station. If this matters to you then you can hear the arguments and have your say at the West Ealing Centre Neighbourhood Forum meeting at the Drayton Court Hotel on 17th June at 7.30pm. WECNF wants to hear from as many people as possible to help decide on its recommendations to Crossrail for siting the new station.
Three main possibilities have been discussed as to where on Manor Road the station could go:
1. Near to the junction of Manor Road and Drayton Green Road.
Pros:
• Most important and visible location
• Least impact on Manor Road and the Draytons
Cons:
• Difficulty in providing drop-off/pick-up area
• May cause increased traffic congestion
• Loss of existing businesses on site
• Difficulty in providing step free access

2. 150 metres along Manor Road with pedestrian bridge to Waitrose car park
Pros:
• Facilitates drop-off/pick-up area in Manor Road
• Access to Broadway via Green Man Lane Passage
• Height difference between platform and station
• Retail/residential opportunities in Manor Road
Cons:
• Increased impact on Manor Road and the Draytons
• Disadvantages shops in The Avenue
• Requires changes to Waitrose car park
3. At western end of Manor Road with access to Jacob’s Ladder footbridge
Pros:
• Minimal impact on existing businesses
• Facilitates drop-off/pick-up area in Manor Road
• Supports major refurbishment of Jacob’s Ladder
• Good pedestrian access to Broadway shops
• Retail/residential opportunities in Manor Road
Cons:
• Poor access to existing bus routes
• Least prominent and visible location
• Increased impact on Manor Road and the Draytons
• Disadvantages shops in The Avenue
You can contact WECNF via their website www,wecnf.org

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150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 15

Welcome to Week 15 of our 150 days of community project. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Then click here. Here are a few things that we’ve seen in the last two weeks, including the Big Lunch in Dean Gardens, great examples of local history, and a lovely story about local bees:

Simon RobertsSimon Roberts – 5:10pm May 29

As some of us have been doing local history stuff on other threads I thought I would upload this photo that my father took. I’m guessing about 1960 in the South Ealing rd

If anyone is interested, I did a little research/hunt yesterday and found the sites of the underground WW2 air raid shelters in Lammas, Walpole and Dean Gardens parks. They’re still there, just buried.

 

Leila Molaei – 11:23am May 27
Gurnell Leisure Centre will be having a ‘Meet the Manager’ session at the centre, on 24 June at 5pm. If you’re a Gurnell member, I urge you to attend. I ceased my membership because I became fed up with my feedback not being responded to. http://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=info&page=eagurnell001.htm
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ACTS OF KINDNESS

Brian Mitchison and Stan Miller from Ealing Bees Association rescued a homeless swarm of bees trying to settle in a large tree in Hastings Road. As an inhabitant of that road I was grateful they came and cleverly captured them.   Using a large plastic container, a long pole with another one firmly fixed to it, they managed to tip huge swirling masses of bees into the container and then transfer them into a hive.  The bees were then sprayed with sugar water for hydration and food.  Stan and Brian had to capture the Queen.  If they captured her then the others would follow, but she was difficult to find in the midst of the thousands.  Finally it seemed it was done with huge numbers scrambling to enter the hive where she now found herself.  Any that were left, we were assured, would quickly return to the hive from which they came.   Apparently this is a good year for bees with new Queens flying out of hives taking large numbers of bees with them.  Good news for us.  According Stan, in China they are reduced to pollinating by hand, as all the bees have been destroyed.  Neighbours gathered and watched enjoying the sun and momentary excitement.

And from this very blog:

Did we miss anything? Let us know!

We have another great list of seven ‘acts of community’ for this week – see how many you do – maybe you already do them!

  • Join an oral history project – as history collector, or history giver
  • Join a book club
  • Volunteer to deliver Meals-on-Wheels in your neighbourhood
  • Start a children’s story hour at your local library
  • Be real. Be humble.
  • Tell friends and family about social capital and why it matters
  • Get involved in neighbourhood planning

We’d love to hear from you if you do any of these things, or anything else that makes people smile in West Ealing. We have loads more suggestions of things you can do, if you want to jump ahead!

Ways to send us your contributions:

Send us an email – 150daysofcommunity@gmail.com
Write on our Facebook wall – https://www.facebook.com/groups/124290860921562/
Tweet at us – @WENeighbours
Add a comment to this blog post (below)

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Prize-winning crime writer talks about her experiences of Southall – Weds 18th June 6.30 @ Paperback Coffee

Step inside...

Paperback Coffee is a fairly new coffee shop on the South Ealing Rd close to the junction with Popes Lane. It’s well worth a visit in its own right but on Wednesday 18th June they have award-winning crime writer Lilian Pizzichini talking about her experiences of Southall as recounted in her memoir Music Night at the Apollo.

Wednesday 18th June 6.30-8pm

 

Wildly original and imaginative and disturbing, it remains in one’s consciousness like a very vivid dream. The evocation of place is brilliant and also of sensation” –  Francis Wyndham – See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/music-night-at-the-apollo-9781408815991/#sthash.q2SEiWha.dpuf
Wildly original and imaginative and disturbing, it remains in one’s consciousness like a very vivid dream. The evocation of place is brilliant and also of sensation” –  Francis Wyndham – See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/music-night-at-the-apollo-9781408815991/#sthash.q2SEiWha.dpuf
Wildly original and imaginative and disturbing, it remains in one’s consciousness like a very vivid dream. The evocation of place is brilliant and also of sensation” –  Francis Wyndham – See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/music-night-at-the-apollo-9781408815991/#sthash.q2SEiWha.dpuf
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Tea Darling to open vintage style cafe at Horsenden Farm on Saturday 14th June 12-3pm

Tea pop up

Tea Darling at the West Ealing Pop-Up shop

Tea Darling, the vintage style tea room, was a huge success when it opened for a two week stint at the pop-up shop in West Ealing. It has now linked up with Accession, the  social enterprise, which runs the Community Shop in West Ealing, to open a cafe at Horsenden Farm in Perivale. During the day the farmhouse/vintage style cafe will offer a quintessential tea and home-made cake service in a child friendly environment. In the early evening it will be a space that local community groups/parents can hire for just about anything.

The launch of this exciting new step for Tea Darling is on Saturday 1th June from 12noon – 3pm.  The nearest tranport is either the tube at Perivale Station or the 297 bus. Free parking is available.

Accession is a social enterprise which offers skills training and volunteering opportunities for people with learning difficulties and/or enduring mental health issues.

Tea Darling at Horsende Hill 001

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Please stop dumping rubbish in Melbourne Ave… again

 

 

Photo0468

Above: Flytipping on Thursday morning

Photo0469

Above: Flytipping on Saturday morning

Saturday morning and yet another dumped bed plus a microwave for company this time.

 

(Thursday morning: I couldn’t believe my eyes this morning when I saw a bed base and mattress dumped on the little patch of grass on the corner of Melbourne Ave and Leeland Terace.  Almost every single morning I see rubbish dumped here, mostly next to the Council bin. It’s normally cleared away very quickly as part of the regular bin emptying round but this was the final straw!  We had a pile of wooden shelves dumped there a week or so ago and now this bed.  I’ve reported it to the Council and I’m sure it will be cleared away very quickly.  My complaint is absolutely not with the Council. In my experience they are very good at clearing away fly tipping once it’s been reported.  My complaint is with whoever dumps this and just doesn’t care about our neighbourhood. Please stop dumping your rubbish and get the Council to collect it or take it to the Greenford recycling centre.)

 

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150 days of community in West Ealing: Week 14

Welcome to Week 14 of our 150 days of community project. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Then click here. Here some samples of what we heard about last week:

https://twitter.com/prosserclaire/status/469897638062874624

And something to look ahead to:

Did we miss anything? Let us know!

We have another great list of seven ‘acts of community’ for this week – see how many you do – maybe you already do them!

  • Host a bring and share meal or participate in one
  • Volunteer to give someone a lift
  • Say hello when you spot an acquaintance in a supermarket
  • Host a movie night
  • Exercise together or take walks with friends or family
  • Assist with or create your town or neighbourhood’s newsletter
  • Organise a litter pick – with games in Dean Gardens afterwards

We’d love to hear from you if you do any of these things, or anything else that makes people smile in West Ealing. We have loads more suggestions of things you can do, if you want to jump ahead!

Ways to send us your contributions:

Send us an email – 150daysofcommunity@gmail.com
Write on our Facebook wall – https://www.facebook.com/groups/124290860921562/
Tweet at us – @WENeighbours
Add a comment to this blog post (below)

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Big Picnic in Dean Gardens on Sunday 1st June 12noon – 2pm – everyone welcome

Big Lunch 3

Big Picnic 2013

 

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we manage to see some sunshine on Sunday for the second Big Picnic in Dean Gardens.  Last year we had good weather as you can see from the photo above – so here’s hoping we’re lucky again. As last year, it’s open to everyone and please bring along your lunch and just enjoy the day. It’s a chance to meet old friends, make new friends and just have an enjoyable time. There will be live music, information stalls and a variety of activities – more information to follow.

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West Ealing swings to Labour

Looking at the four wards that cover most of West Ealing there has been a clear swing to Labour in the 2014 local election.  The most striking being Walpole which went from being all Conservative for the last two elections to now being all Labour. Northfields remains all Conservative whilst Elthorne which had one Labour, one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat is now all Labour. Lastly, Cleveland has gone from all Conservative to only one Conservative and two Labour. In all, Labour considerably increased its majority on the Council with the Conservatives falling by half from 24 to 12 councillors and the Liberal Democrats lost one councillor, Nigel Bakhai,  on the Elthorne ward.

You can find the full results for all the wards here -but the site is running rather slowly at the moment.