Posted on

Anyone else having problems with waste collection?

Hi, I’ve phoned Ealing Council about 20 times since April to report missed collections and have had 4 letters acknowledging my complaints but nothing improves. About 25% of the time all the recycling and black bag rubbish goes on the right day. About 50% of the time, one or two categories (varies which ones) are not picked up; when I report it to the call centre the next day, whatever didn’t get collected is then collected. About 25% of the time, two categories are missed and the recollection only picks up one of the missed categories and the other one stays till I ring again or the next collection day.

I spoke to one of the recollection gang today and they said it was because the new contractors, Enterprise, had reduced the number of waste vehicles available by 16, and increased the size of the remaining ones – and this means they can’t get round some of the street corners.

Thinks: if that’s the case, why don’t the operatives move the rubbish up to the nearest accessible street corner and collect from there?

The recollecters said that they had hundreds of tasks on their log-sheets – and they think it’s more expensive to recollect than collect correctly the first time.

I asked the call centre at Ealing council how I can escalate my complaint but have heard nothing yet (only rang yesterday).

Is anyone else having problems?

Gill

Posted on

Had enough of cooking over Christmas? Give yourself a break and come along to Sally and Steff’s Supper Club on Saturday

If you’ve seen enough of your kitchen stove and sink this Christmas and New Year then give yourself a break and come along to Sally and Steph’s Supper Club at the W7Emporium in Hanwell on Saturday. Sally and Steff met at OPEN Ealing and out of this was born the supper club. It’s a chance to get out and enjoy someone else’s cooking in good company and accompanied by music from two musicians from one of  West Ealing’s best bands – Blushing Bones.

Their three course menu is based on the recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi with live acoustic folk-based music from singer Tess and guitarist Jibs, of the Blushing Bones. 

Date: Saturday  January 5th  2013 

Time:  7.30p.m. for 8.00p.m.–11.30p.m.

Place:  W7 Emporium, 60b,Boston Rd,Hanwell,London W7 3TR (Opposite Wickes)

Price: £30 per head for welcome glass of Prosecco and nibbles, 3 courses + coffee.

Wine and cheese at an additional charge will be provided by the local W7 cheesemonger Claire.

Booking: Please contact Sally on sashrubsall@aol.com Stephanie on s.sundle@btinternet.com or book through the W7 Emporium directly. Please mention when booking if you have special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian or allergies) so that we can take this into consideration. N.B Some recipes contain nuts, and will be present in the food preparation areas.

Menu available shortly from W7 Emporium Facebook page.

 

Posted on

West Ealing Neighbours chair gets award in New Year Honours List

Dabvid Highton centre with Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, and Nick Pearson of OPEN Ealing
David Highton centre with Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, and Nick Pearson of OPEN Ealing

West Ealing Neighbours’ chair and co-founder of OPEN Ealing David Highton was awarded a British Empire Medal in this New Years Honours List. The award was ‘ for services to the community in the London Borough of Ealing’.  David said’ I’m just the visible tip of the iceberg for this award. There are so many people who have worked tirelessly for West Ealing Neighbours since we were set up and many, many volunteers who gave their all to making OPEN Ealing a great success. These are the people who deserve to share in this award. It’s for all of them as much as it is for me. With their help and hard work WEN and OPEN Ealing have made a difference to our local community’.

Posted on

Videos from West Ealing craft market, Dec 22, 2012

Rain? What rain? Thanks to Ealing Winter Night Shelter and Ralph of King Ralph who provided the entertainment on Saturday.

The craft market, and its music, will reconvene in March. To stay in touch, subscribe to this blog or email westealingneighbours@gmail.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHarxf_ME_Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TJJMcNVXl0

Posted on

Programme for music at the craft market, December 22nd 2012

Our final craft market of the season takes place as ever outside Blockbusters in West Ealing Broadway (the western end on the south side of the Uxbridge Rd) from 10-3pm on Saturday December 22nd, 2012. Pick up some last minute presents that no one else will have from our local artisans. Subscribe to this blog or email westealingneighbours@gmail.com to stay informed about ‘next steps’ in the market.

December 22nd has music in the music gazebo. We will host carolling from the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter and local man ‘Ralph’ of King Ralph,  will sing us out…till next time, probably the first Saturday in March 2013. Stay tuned.

Craft market music programme for Dec 22nd:

12-1pm: The Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter carolling crew sings for us. ECWNS http://www.ecwns.org.uk/home/ helps some homeless people to get off the streets and begin the journey to finding their own home. It also enables people who are on the edge of rough sleeping to avoid hitting the streets. ECWNS stands in the gap by providing for the most basic and essential needs for homeless people – sleep and food. A person who has been made homeless faces enormous risks as a rough sleeper including substance abuse, poor physical and mental health, and acts of criminality.

king ralph greenford 2012

1pm-2pm: Ralph of King Ralph will sing us out. ‘King Ralph are an acoustic trio from the Brentford borderlands. They can usually be found at local festivals and other events in the area playing their original punk-folk and other people’s songs in similar style.  Sometimes they let Ralph out on his own, where he can be found in local pubs like the Grosvenor singing for free a pint, or the Brewery Tap paying for his beer like everybody else. You can hear some of the songs at myspace.com/kingralphmusic. Contact Helen Martin Promotions (philandhelenmusic@gmail.com) for bookings and info.’

Posted on

News from the craft market, Dec 15th, 2012

Dina the donkey A spectator said, ‘Am I dreaming? I think I’ve just seen a donkey in the high street.’

Dina the donkey paraded in West Ealing broadway and helped tell the old, old, good-news story. There was music, too, outside Blockbusters in the craft market. (Video links are below.)

Note: Dec 22nd is our last craft market of the year so don’t miss out, come and find some unique locally made bargains to complete your Christmas shopping. More info from: westealingneighbours@gmail.com

Local youth club talent: Westside Allstars – video; Meetman and the Butchers – video

Local classical singer, Romeo, with mellow sounds full of ‘heart’: video

Local singer, Maria, with a show-stopping voice: video

Local band, Mobile Clones, make the audience happy: video

Local voices and instruments, with Slightly Mysterious carols: video

 

 

Posted on

Shooting in West Ealing last night – two people injured

Update

The Uxbridge Road is still  closed this Sunday morning  (12noon) following a shooting last night somewhere around the post office/Daniels store area. Over a year ago there was another shooting in the same area near an internet cafe.   The Ealing Today website has the story as a gang shooting with two people injured but no one killed. More news to follow.

11pm Sunday

BBC News site says four people arrested following this shooting. It seems one man was shot during a fight and another hurt with both being taken to hospital but neither with life-threatening injuries.

2pm Monday

The problem seems to have been an argument between two groups at some late night event that got out of control. I guess the obvious question has to be who on earth turns up at a party or similar armed with a gun and why?

10pm Monday

Quite a lot more information, including a message from the police, on the Acton W3 forum

 

 

 

Posted on

Creative Ealing launched – bringing together information about what’s happening in the creative arts in Ealing

I went to the launch last night of Creative Ealing, a consortium of creative arts venues in Ealing working together to publicise and promote the work of the four founding local arts venues – The Questors Theatre, The Ealing Club, OPEN Ealing and The Drayton Court Hotel. I was involved in the development of this idea when I was with OPEN Ealing and I’m delighted to see it come to fruition.

Back in the summer, what set me thinking about the need for arts venues to co-operate was my regular walk to do the banking in Ealing Broadway. On my way there I walked past the two new hotels being built almost opposite one another in the Uxbridge Road – Travelodge and Premier Inn (plus the nearby Hotel Xanadu in Bond Street). I wondered how guests would know what entertainment was on locally. What could they go and see or do that day or evening? The answer seemed to be they wouldn’t easily find out this information. There didn’t seem to be any central website or publicity that listed what arts events were happening in Ealing that day or that week. Out of these bank visits came the idea of arts venues in central Ealing joining together to create this central website and joint publicity. And so Creative Ealing was born out of discussions between these founding venues and now it’s real and you can find its website here 

I hope this is but the start of  Creative Ealing’s journey and, as it gains recognition as a key source of information about what’s happening in the arts in Ealing, other venues will join and a momentum will gather to create an ever more informative site.

The launch of Creative Ealing follows hot on the heels of the launch of The Ealing Music and Film Valentine Festival. From the 14th to the 17th February next year a really exciting looking series of events, concerts, talks and exhibitions will be put on at various arts venues in central Ealing. Highlights for me include blues music at The Ealing Club and Raga Jam at The Questors. There’s something for everyone and it’s another welcome initiative for the arts in Ealing.