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Manor Road tall tower developers appeal Council’s decision

No great surprise. Southern Grove and Thames Valley Metropolitan Housing are appealing against the Council’s decision to refuse permission for their plans to develop the site next to the new West Ealing railway station. (Read background here)

The very first plan from the developers proposed a 26-storey tower on this site. This was modified to 20-storeys after much local opposition. The Stop The Towers group organised a very effective campaign against what was seen as overdevelopment. Come decison time last October and the Council, somewhat surprisingly, refused permission. This will now go to appeal. This story has some way to run yet, so we will update this when we hear more.

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Can you help with ideas for some low-cost improvements to Dean Gardens?

We have posted about improvements and a redesign of Dean Gardens many times on this blog. Sadly, the most recent plan for a major redesign of the park has been caught up in TfL’s serious financial problems and the plan, which was part of the TfL funded West Ealing Liveable Neighbourhood scheme, has been put on hold for the immediate future.

However, a small amount of funding has now become available from TfL and there is now the possibility of making some low-cost improvements to Dean Gardens

Possible low-cost projects could be ones such as adding some one or two new items of play equipment to the toddlers area; a couple of raised beds for a community garden corner; resurfacing the cycle route at the back and so on.

The Council wants to hear your ideas for these sorts of improvements and will be running an online workshop about this next week. If you are interested in getting involved please go to the following link to a Doodle calendar to give your availability for this workshop.

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Council gives itself permission to build 26-storey tower on Perceval House site

Last night’s special planning committee meeting (Wednesday 10th March) gave the go-ahead for the Council’s own plans to redevelop its Perceval House site next to the Town Hall. Its plans include a controversial 26-storey tower which will dominate the area. We have covered this story previously here.

Despite over 2,000 objections the committee voted in favour by seven votes to three with three abstentions. The final decision will lie with the GLA and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Ealing Today website has the full story.

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West Ealing station getting ready to open

It looks like the new station for West Ealing is getting close to completion. It should be open for business in the next few weeks. You can read what the recent Crossrail newsletter says here

It seems likely that once the new station is open more people will use the Jacob’s Ladder footbridge to access the station. That raises the question of what is being done to improve the safety and security of this tired old crossing? It’s just about inaccessible for anyone with mobility problems or parents with pushchairs which is contrary to Crossrail’s ethos of accessibility for all its station.

WEN has raised the poor state of this footbridge for years but next to nothing has happened to improve its physical state and its poor reputation for anti-social behaviour. The TfL funded Live West Ealing project had set aside some money to improve the access to the crossing at both ends. The project was put on hold due to pandemic and its impact on TfL’s funding. However, the project is about to re-start so we will ask about plans for Jacob’s Ladder and report back here.

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Controversial Perceval House scheme could be approved 10th March

Ealing Council’s plans to redevelop its Perceval House site next to the Town Hall looks like coming back to the planning committee on 10th March.

The plans for a 26-storey tower and other buildings on this site went to the planning committee first on 17th February. At that meeting a decision was postponed by the committee as it sought changes to the housing mix. The Ealing Today website has the full story of this 17th February meeting.

West Ealing Neighbours has objected to these plans for a range of reasons such as being out of keeping with the area, dominating nearby buildings, lack of affordable housing and more. Late last week WEN received a letter from the Council with details of a revised proposal – . The application number is 203275FULR3.

At first glance, it does not seem that the revised plans are very different to the original. The Stop The Towers group has just posted a newsletter on its website which takes a closer look at these new plans and lists reasons to object. Again, the reasons include:

Too tall

Mass density

Poor design

Sustainability

Overbearing and loss of privacy

Loss of light and overshadowing

Not really affordable and lack of family homes

Homes not for local people

Waste of space

Pressure on surrounding roads

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West Ealing Nationwide branch to close 29th April

With Nationwide closing on 29th April that just leaves the Post Office as the only form of bank left in West Ealing. The Post Office’s services include paying in cash and cheques and withdrawing money. Yet, pretty much every time I go past the Post Office there’s a queue there and that surely will only get longer once Nationwide ‘joins its larger branch in Ealing Broadway’.

The rapid shutdown of high street banking in West Ealing, and across the country, may be driven by the ever increasing use of online banking – up to some 80% of people by 2020 – but it what about the remaining 20% of people who are left having to queue in all weathers to do their banking?

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Still time to object to plans for 26-storey tower on Perceval House site

Ealing Council’s proposal to redevelop its Perceval House site next to the Town Hall will be decided on next week – 17th February.

The plans for this site include a 26-storey block that will tower over the existing 15-storey tower on the nearby Dickens Yard development. There are already over 1,100 objections. If you would like to add your objection this is the link to the Council’s website.

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Home testing roll out under way for South African Covid-19 strain

Last night’s (Wednesday 3rd February) online Council webinar about testing for the South African Covid-19 variant provided some helpful information:

The one case of the South African variant in Hanwell was discovered through the routine testing of a randomly chosen 5% of Covid-19 test results

To find out if this variant has spread in the local community the method used is to test 10,000 people in the immediately adjacent postal areas to where the individual lives – in this case some W7 and W13 post code area. Testing 10,000 people gives a statistically significant number to assess what if any community transmission has occurred.

The testing is all about helping understand the possible spread of the variant and is a precautionary measure.

The need to take 10,000 tests explains why some streets are half in and half out of the testing area. It’s about getting the 10,000 tests and not about testing every home in a particular street.

The home test teams began visiting homes on Wednesday and aim to visit about 1100 homes a day. They should complete the task by Tuesday next week. You can check the Council’s map to see when your delivery day/days will be.

The testers will drop off the kits and return about two hours later to collect the completed tests. It’s essential that the completed tests are collected by hand and not posted back as they need to go to a particular laboratory for analysis.

The testers will all have an official Ealing Council/NHS ID badge with their photo and will be wearing PPE.

The results of the tests will be sent back within three days. Anyone who tests positive for any form of Covid-19 must self isolate for 10 days as per current guidelines. If anyone tests positive for the South African variant they will be contacted individually about this.

The Dean Gardens walk-in testing site has been very busy and the Council is working to increase its capacity. You can book a test at the Dean Gardens site here.

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Delivery schedule for home testing kits for South African strain

If you live in one of the areas which is having home testing kits delivered you can chack on your likely delivery day with this map.

Don’t forget you can also get a test at the walk-in centre in the Dean Gardens car park on Leeland Terrace. As the Council’s recent email says:

‘If you live in the Hanwell or West Ealing area and you need to book a space at the Dean Gardens Covid-19 testing centre as part of the effort to test residents for the South African variant –  there are booking slots available for today. These slots are ideal for people who cannot work from home and may not be at home to receive the home-testing kits.  You can check if you live in the affected area using our postcode checker.’