Neighbours Paper ’
Issue No 90
Putting the People of Ealing First
Autumn 2019
d lishe Pu b
e e r F ease
Pl One e Tak rterly Qua
NOT LISTENING Ealing Broadway Station | Social Care in Crisis | Stop the Towers Southall Waterside | Libraries in Peril Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall
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E ditorial
Editorial................................................ 2 Events Around Ealing.......................... 2
Welcome to the Autumn edition of Neighbours’ Paper. Ealing residents are facing more and more challenges. Our redesigned Ealing Broadway Station public realm plans include no drop off/ pick up points, even for the disabled. Airport expansion will bring more aircraft noise overhead and a more overcrowded Piccadilly line. So far there’s no reprieve for our threatened libraries. Our Town Hall loss is being challenged. Our Council promotes high towers (up to 40+ storeys). Can this be good for anyone other than foreign investors? We discuss the planning system, look at our top Councillor Team and the challenges involved in the Social Care system. On a more positive side, see the joys of Morris Dancing and Paddle Boarding! Also, there are lots of events to enjoy:
EVENTS AROUND EALING Library Events at Acton and Ealing Libraries on Tuesdays. Admission free. More details and booking at the Library or email: actonlibrary@ ealing.gov.uk or call 020 3700 1056
London Open House Weekend Sat/Sun 21/22 September. Hundreds of buildings are open for free. Catalogue from Libraries or see www.openhouselondon.org.uk
BEAT: Borough of Ealing Art Trail 6-8 and 13-15 September. Free entry to 80 venues showcasing 200 artists in house, studios or pop-up exhibition spaces across Ealing. www.ealingbeat.org.uk
Soundbite Sun 22 September, Dean Gardens, corner of Broadway and Northfield Avenue, West Ealing W13. Free entry. Music, food, children’s theatre, climbing wall, circus skills, crazy bikes, football skills, donkey rides, face painting, craft fair, community stalls. www.soundbitefestival.org
Silver Screen Cinema at St Barnabas Church Wed, Pitshanger Lane W5 1QG, Wed 18 September 2pm ‘State Fair’, Wed 25 September 8:15pm ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri’, Sun 29 September 6pm ‘Don Giovanni’ www.barnabites.org or call 020 8997 7691 Happiness in Relationships Sat 21 September 9:15am to 4pm Friends Meeting House, 17 Woodville Road W5 2SE. Email: enquires@himalayaninstitute. org.uk or call 020 8567 8889 Ealing Symphony Orchestra Sat 5 October 7:30pm St Barnabas Church , Pitshanger Lane, W5 1QC ARNOLD: Peterloo Overture, RESPIGHI: Adagio con variazioni, TCHAIKOVSKY: Romeo and Juliet, SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony. See www.ealingso.org.uk or call 020 8567 4075
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Contents Contents
Ealing Broadway Station Plans........... 3 Ealing Notes......................................4-5 Southall Pollution Crisis....................... 6 Stop the Towers Poem........................ 7 Clean Air For Southall & Hayes.......... 7 Ealing Planning.................................... 8 Ealing's Top Team................................ 9 Social Care in Ealing in Crisis........... 10 Have Fun with Bells & Folk Song...... 11 Paddle Boarding............................... 12
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Vintage & Antique Market Sat 28 September and Sat 26 October 9am to 5pm The Avenue, by West Ealing Station W13. 020 8231 2369 Ealing Half Marathon 2019 Sun 29 September 9am start. 13.1 miles/21.09 kilometres. Begins and ends in Lammas Park W5 5JH, where a retail village will be located. Run, volunteer or spectate. www.ealinghalfmarathon.com Free Music Concerts at St Mary’s Church Perivale Perivale Lane UB6 8SS. Tues 10, 17 and 24 September 2pm, Wed 11, 18 and 25 September 7:30pm, and every Tues and Wed in October/ November. See www.st-marysperivale.org.uk or call 020 8997 7691 Free Music Concerts at St Barnabas Church Pitshanger Lane W5 1QG. Friday 6, 13, 20, 27 September 1pm, and every Fri in October/November. See www. barnabites.org or call 020 8997 7691
Putting the People of Ealing First
Email: neighbourspaper@hotmail.co.uk Editor: Tom Whiting (020 8840 5740) Treasurer: Judy Breens Writers: Judy Breens, Manjinder Chijarh, Will French, Simon Hayes, Michael Holmes, Libby Kemp, Eric Leach, Oliver New, Jo Sidhu QC, Anthony Smith, Tom Whiting, Roy Willis Designer: Jamie Anson Advert Designer: Sandy Anson Team Digital: Jamie Anson, Sonia Nimley, Ron Nicholls Printer: Pollyprint Ltd, 263 Northfield Avenue, Ealing W5 4UA, 0208 579 1441, www.pollyprint.co.uk Advertisement rates: Single Box £25, Double Box £45, Triple Box £70 Next copy deadline: 31st Oct 2019
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Ealing Broadway Station Plans… for the few but not the many By Will French Arguments – journalists call them ‘the politics of street space allocation’* – over the use of roads and pavements for cycle infrastructure have raged across London recently. They’ve now reached Ealing in the latest plans for Ealing Broadway Station. Ealing commuters were begging for improvements to West London’s busiest transport interchange long before Crossrail. Over 20 million passengers pour through the station each year. There have been petitions, letter writing campaigns, questions in the GLA and meetings in the House of Commons to upgrade our overcrowded, brutalist commuter nightmare. At least four major teams of consultants were paid big sums to improve the interchange between trains and buses. Save for the odd press release on improving the passenger experience, the Council has remained aloof from the clamour. But after Crossrail’s long delays, time is running out and the Council has been stirred to announce its redesign of the road space outside the station. Unfortunately, the plans are sketchy and hard to figure out. But the consultants’ dreams have all been dropped, leaving just four main elements: (i) narrowing the road outside the station to a single lane, (ii) installing rows of cycle racks either side of the road, (iii) relocating bus
stop F away from the station and (iv) six street trees in large pots. Missing, is any passenger set-down point, even for disabled passengers. The Council says it wants to make travel to the station easier by walking, cycling or public transport, but offers no way to measure if its plans do this. The likelihood is that bus (and taxi) passengers will find their trips very seriously delayed by the congestion caused by constricting the carriageway of what is a busy north-south route. Journeys on foot will stay as they are since the pavement widening is not where there’s most pedestrian overcrowding. So the main beneficiaries of the new scheme will be cyclists, able to park their bikes right outside the station. TfL figures** show that London’s cyclists are typically male, white, under 40 and enjoy a medium to high household income. When only 2.2% of passengers arrive at the station by bike, is it right to design the interchange to suit the needs of this already privileged group? After walking, cycling is the most sustainable mode of transport, it enhances physical fitness and it is non-polluting – all of which are truly desirable. But are they so important that those who, for whatever reason, don’t cycle are ignored? Those for instance with restricted mobility, or with heavy luggage or young children. Shouldn’t they be helped to enjoy Crossrail’s benefits? And what about
Putting the People of Ealing First
Access is, and will continue to be, a problem at Ealing B roadway Station . that half of the Borough’s residents from ethnic minorities? Research*** shows that people from non-white groups – women in particular – are much less enthusiastic about cycling than their white counterparts. The need to upgrade Ealing Broadway transport interchange has been recognised for years. Opportunities have come and gone, and not enough has been done to plan so that everyone benefits from Crossrail.
*www.citymetric.com/transport/five-timesboroughs-and - other-authorities- have- blocked plans- build - new- cycle- lanes- london
**www. londontravelwatch .org . uk /documents/ get_ lob? id=4469&age=&field= file
***www.citymetric.com/transport/ why- does- london - have-so - fewblack- or-asian - cyclists-3818.
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Ealing Notes
Compiled by J udy B reens
Stop The Towers! In June 2019 the release of outline plans for two 20+ storey residential tower blocks in West Ealing have galvanised hundreds of local residents to loudly protest their horror and objections. The protesters, although in favour of residential development, think the towers are far too tall and are completely out of character and proportion with regards existing nearby buildings. They claim what is being offered addresses none of Ealing’s most pressing housing needs. On the Majestic Wine/Halfords site in Hastings Road, A2Dominion want to build 183 flats rising to 25 storeys. On the corner of Manor Road and Drayton Green Road, Southern Grove/Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association want to build 150 flats up to 26 storeys in height. A Planning Application for the
latter was submitted to Ealing Council at the end of July 2019. The towers, if built, would be less than 100 yards apart. Both would be but a few minutes’ walk from where the new West Ealing Elizabeth Line Station will be located. 65% of the A2Dominion flats will be available for anyone to purchase. No doubt property speculators and investors from around the world will be attracted to buying these flats because of the upcoming high capacity, regular and direct public travel services to central London. As for the Manor Road offering, the developer’s claim is that it’s the tallest ‘Affordable Housing ‘tower block in the country. It’s clear that you’d have to be earning at least £44,000/year to afford one of their flats. The average wage in Ealing is £22,589/year (payscale.com). In just a few weeks the ‘Stop the Towers’ protest
group had 650 Facebook members, raised a fighting fund of £4,000, printed 10,000 fliers and 1,200 posters. More at www.stopthetowers.org
Ealing Town Hall Latest The row over the Council’s plans to sell off the Victoria Hall to hotel developers Mastcraft has gone quiet recently, but hasn’t gone away. Regular readers will know that though part of the Town Hall complex, the Hall belongs to a Charitable Trust. Despite this, the Council wants Mastcraft to take it over for its hotel. In May, Ealing’s Planning Committee gave consent for Mastcraft to demolish parts of the Hall to start building work. Unfortunately, the Council is rushing ahead of itself. The Charity Commission who oversees charities
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Putting the People of Ealing First
has not approved the Council’s plans. After much lobbying the Commission is now actively investigating the terms of Mastcraft’s deal. No one knows when the Commission will offer any views about the situation, but there will be opportunities at that time for objectors to press their case and they are expected to do so. In the meantime, however, the Council has closed the Hall without any publicity. In doing so it has deprived the Ealing public, who are the Charity’s beneficiaries, of a facility it has enjoyed for the past 125 years.
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Ealing Notes continueD Libraries On 16 July people protested again outside the Town Hall as Ealing Council Cabinet was meeting to decide the fate of Ealing Borough’s Libraries. The Council propose to run only Ealing, Acton, Southall and two other libraries, sacking many library staff and leaving Greenford, Hanwell, Perivale, Pitshanger, West Ealing, Wood End and Northfields to be run by ‘Community Groups’. Sadly, despite protests and a 17,000 strong petition, their plan was passed at the meeting. It seems community groups have come forward to run some (although no details are revealed). Real concerns remain about the fate of community run libraries if they fail. No promises were given that they could be brought back in house.
Acton Library
Stop FLU going viral
Heathrow Expansion Update (by Tom Whiting)
Ealing Save our NHS Ealing A&E and Charing Cross A&E are saved, but the drama continues. Both Private Eve and the Guardian newspaper have chronicled the enormous amount of money wasted on the doomed Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF) Plan. The public, hospital staff, local Councils could all see the plan wouldn’t work. Seven years on, the Health Minister finally admitted this and we are counting the cost. We guess about £200 million of local NHS money has been wasted, including £76 million paid to private management consultants. Who gets the blame? Nobody, it seems! Ministers and NHS bosses simply moved on to another complicated NHS re-organisation project in North West London! So, is Ealing Hospital saved? It seems, far from Maternity and Children’s services being returned post-SaHF, it is still under threat. A packed ESON public meeting recently heard disturbing reports that all Orthopaedic trauma patients requiring a hospital bed will be transferred to Northwick Park Hospital direct from Ealing A&E dept. making Ealing merely a 'stabilise and transfer service' with no Orthopaedic in-patients at all! Thankfully, these plans were dropped at the 11th hour after ESON objected to senior Hospital Trust management. It goes to show the community still needs to get behind our hospital and NHS services. More at: www.ealingsaveournhs.org.uk
The latest consultation on Heathrow expansion was presaged by a glitzy presentation day at a local Ealing hotel. Featuring interactive displays, 3D scale models, video simulations and staff numbers in double figures, this was truly a no-expense-spared exercise in selling ‘the dream’. But for Ealing residents the nightmare is only just beginning. As detailed in NP88, we will have to contend with new flight paths and more aircraft noise over Ealing (including areas to date unaffected by landings, for example) even BEFORE the Third Runway (estimated cost up from £14 billion to £32 billion, according to CAA) is built. Now is the time for ALL communities affected by Heathrow to make our voices heard – by lobbying our local councillors and MPs (are you listening, Boris?), supporting our local action groups – before it is too late. The consultation (www.aec.heathrowconsulation. com) runs until mid September, but beyond that you should still email info@heathrowconsultation. com to express your concerns. Forward timetable: June-Sept 2019: Airport Expansion Consultation. 2020: Submission of Development Consent Order (DCO) application. Late 2020: Examination of DCO. Late 2021: Decision made by Secretary of State. 2021-2022: Consultation on Flight Path Options. 2023: Proposals for airspace change submitted to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). 2024-2026: New flight paths implemented. 2026: Third Runway opens.
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Southall’s Pollution Crisis: Where are our politicians? By Jo Sidhu QC
Southall is facing the biggest threat to its health since the 1950s. For the past two years poisonous chemicals coming from re-developed land have been causing ill health and could lead to early deaths through cancer and breathing problems. This is by far one of the most serious health crises in British history but no one is stopping it. Berkeley Homes acquired the 88 acre site of the old gasworks next to Southall railway station to build nearly 4,000 new houses and to bring more than 10,000 new residents to Southall, one of the most overcrowded areas in the UK. In 2009, I was the Chair of Governors at Beaconsfield Primary School which is located next to the gasworks site and became part of a campaign to stop the development of the land. Many community groups joined us. As a former Labour Councillor I brought together other Councillors to persuade Ealing Council to block planning
permission, but in 2010 Berkeley Homes appealed directly to the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who gave them the green light even though the land contained dangerous chemicals that could harm us. In 2013, the Southall MP Virendra Sharma decided to support the development of the land but nobody understood why he had changed his mind. In 2017 the developers started cleaning the soil and local people could smell a very strong odour like petrol seeping up. Young children, their parents and the elderly developed frightening symptoms: breathing difficulties, chest infections, asthma, sore throats, dizziness, headaches, skin rashes, loss of memory and heart problems. Children at school were becoming sick. People left Southall to breathe some clean air for a few days. Tests on the soil revealed carcinogenic
chemicals. With their very lives under threat, the community set up ‘Clean Air for Southall and Hayes’ two years ago to raise public awareness. As a barrister for 26 years, I knew that the developers would ignore the issue if not threatened with legal action so put together a team of experienced lawyers and made a public declaration that Berkeley Homes would be taken to court. This news went national in the Observer newspaper and on BBC television and radio. At long last reporters came to Southall to listen to the people speak about their suffering. On 10 July in the Dominion Centre, at the biggest community meeting for decades, attended by hundreds of Southall’s residents, I stood up for the ordinary people who had no leadership from some of their elected politicians. I challenged Berkeley Homes to explain why they have been poisoning the community for years. Why were the government departments not carrying out their legal duty to protect public health? I demanded that our local politicians treat this crisis as a health emergency that needed immediate action. Neighbours in Southall ask why our town has been left behind. Our streets are dirty, our town is overcrowded, pollution is making our children and the elderly sick. They see other towns nearby where money has been invested to create liveable neighbourhoods that are safe, clean and comfortable. Why has Southall been left behind in this way?
Autumn at The Plough • Sunday Roasts • Food served – all day 7 days a week • Large family beer garden
What are politicians 6
doing to save our youngsters?
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297 Northfield Ave W5 4XB
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Stop The Towers By Anthony Smith, a resident of West Acton More and more they’re going up; more and more they’re here, With no real purpose except lining the pockets of the few. We need houses, we need homes. Thousands are on the streets, Thousands are huddled in hotels and rooms with no view. These towers, they just make me want to spew. The joke, the tragedy, is this – and it makes us want to hiss – They’re going up as there’s a housing need But – and here’s the rub, here’s what makes us shout – the wonderful laws are They’re going up as high as they can but not for any deserving child, woman or man. Who can we blame? They all pass the buck. The powers that be, the councils and up, They all say ‘It’s not me!’ They don’t give a ****. So, in this new desert of ‘scrapers, these towers to profit, There will be only shadows, the sun will be forced out. People will walk with nowhere to go Nothing will be provided for their relaxation or consummation. The streets will be dark in the daytime. The hours stretched out There will be no happiness, no relief These towers will bring grief. For the more on Stop the Towers, see Ealing Notes (page 4) and www.stopthetowers.org
Clean Air for Southall and Hayes Clean Air for Southall and Hayes (CASH) is a campaign group led by local residents affected by the toxic air pollution and odour nuisance, since the development of highly contaminated land at the old Southall Gasworks site, also now known as ‘Southall Waterside’. Residents in Southall and Hayes have unacceptable levels of air pollution and odour nuisance, resulting from soil excavation and remediation. Many experience coughing, nausea, headaches, asthma, nose, throat and eye irritation which they link to the extremely strong petrol or tar odour coming from the site. The site is known to contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
including benzene and naphthalene. Benzene is a known carcinogen and naphthalene is possibly carcinogenic. CASH wants to end this through legal action as, despite Ealing Council receiving ‘a very considerable body of complaints’, neither the Council, nor the Environment Agency, will undertake enforcement action against Berkeley Group, who are the developers of Southall Waterside. CASH has instructed leading environmental lawyers in the UK, to take immediate legal action for major breaches of environmental law and public nuisance, and obtain compensation for innocent families, whose health and quality of life is
Putting the People of Ealing First
being damaged. Ealing Council and The Environment Agency could also be the subject of legal action. We need support from people who care about environmental pollution and the callous treatment of ordinary men, women and children. Monies raised, will cover legal costs, including obtaining evidence that the health of the community has been seriously impaired by the dangerous chemicals released. It will be held by our solicitors and used solely for pursuing legal action. We need your support in fundraising, to commence legal proceedings against Berkeley Group. Our target is a minimum of £25,000. Thank you for any financial contribution you are able to make, Please contribute and share this link now: www.crowdjustice.com/ case/cleanairforsouthallandhayes
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Ealing Planning: Beware Minor Amendments
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By Libby K emp The neighbourhood pulled together, signed petitions, uploaded objections, and spent an evening in dystopia, a.k.a. Ealing Planning Committee. The odd concession was won and the developers got what they wanted. Success? No, because behind a planning officer is the developer’s favourite tool – ‘Minor Amendments’, which, in allowing changes AFTER the meeting, creep up and bite from behind. Minor (Material) Amendments can be anything the developer wants and are not always minor. This is the government definition: “There is no statutory definition of ‘non-material’. This is because it will be dependent on the context of the overall scheme – an amendment that is non-material in one context may be material in another. The local planning authority must be satisfied that the amendment sought is non-material in order to grant an application under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.” Ealing Planning will allow almost anything, like extra floors on the towers (Homebase Acton), the justification usually being more affordable housing but rarely Genuinely Affordable Housing (GAH). So little help to families in Ealing desperate to be housed! Another example is the former Esso Petrol Station development on Merrick Road,
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Southall, where the developer was granted permission to remove ALL the GAH and add it to the tower on the adjacent site, thus creating ghettos. More seriously, this second tower development could be sold on and planning permission with the standard amount of affordable housing applied for later! Then there are the Minor Material Amendments. You accept getting a Tower Block across the road, and the finish looks acceptable, until up pops the amendment “Replacing the feature brick ‘corduroy’ panel with a metal spandrel panel”. The change has nothing to do with appearance. It is to do with cost cutting and will certainly not look better. Before Ealing residents know anything about a new development, developers (having sponsored Ealing at MIPIM*) will have met with Ealing’s officers and elected members for two years or even more and been advised by Ealing as to what will fly through planning. All discussions and correspondence should be logged and available at the time of application to the public. However, “Catch 22” rules. There is usually only 21 days to respond. It is highly unlikely you will receive the information from the relevant planning officer. You will be very lucky if you even get an acknowledgement forcing an FOI request, which takes 21 days!
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Probably the most serious example is the development of the Middlesex Business Centre in Southall (pictured), a low-rise development ideal for family accommodation. A 2,000 unit application without a single GAH home flew through planning on the grounds that Montreaux Developments would not be in profit if GAHs were included. Montreaux Developments are a new name in the development world. Check out the MD of the residential business – Ross Faragher who previously spent 14 years as group MD with Berkeley St George, developers of Dickens Yard, Filmworks, Southall Waterside… and Interim Managing Director at Barratt London, now developing the Homebase site in Acton. Hammersmith & Fulham take a totally different position on planning, they do not attend MIPIM and all meetings between developers, officers and elected members must take place on council premises. Ealing take note. *MIPIM: International P roperty Fair at Cannes, France
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Ealing’s Top Team! By Simon Hayes
Forget the new football season, Ealing is fielding its own well-paid team masterminding the borough’s slide to the bottom of the league for services, planning, parking and crime. The council blames government funding cuts but austerity isn’t hitting our cabinet members’ generous allowances. Julian Bell (Represents Greenford Broadway; Allowances: £41,808 per annum; Council Leader) Brass-necked Julian has 22 designated cabinet responsibilities so he’s earned his allowances, which he tops up with others from the London Councils Transport Committee (£10,499pa), Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation (£15,000pa) and the LGA (£300 per meeting). He also works for Southall MP Virendra Sharma. Bell still has TWO homes in the borough: a 5-bed property owned with wife Hermia – who works for a care contractor used by the council – and a 4-bed housing association property from developers A2Dominion. He has not clarified if his mother in law, for whom he said this property was needed and who would now be 99 years old, is still alive. His portfolio includes regeneration, which has a planning element, but claims no conflict of interest as he doesn’t sit on the planning committee, although as Council Leader he decides who does.
Yvonne Johnson (South Acton; £31,092; Deputy Leader; Schools and Children’s Services) Johnson recently justified her allowance by agreeing to the closure of two children’s centres in the borough. Peter Mason (Southall Green; £25,740; Housing, Planning and Infrastructure) Mason is keen on tower blocks and is studying town planning to help him recognise these when out and about. Strangely, none of the planned skyscrapers is in wards represented by cabinet members. He recently chaired a disastrous public meeting about Southall Waterside development. His other job is a ‘public affairs consultancy’ (lobbying) firm called Bateman Green set up earlier this year. Bassam Mahfouz (Northolt West End; £25,740; Finance and Leisure) Employed by A2Dominion as a Community Investment Manager, Mahfouz’s portfolio includes councillors’ allowances, strategic procurement and property management. Denies his employment influences any decisions. His wife works for Ealing Council. Joanna Camadoo (Elthorne; £25,740; Community Safety and Inclusion) The cabinet member for police liaison and crime prevention must be thrilled at the borough’s spiralling levels of crime in recent months.
Mik Sabiers (South Acton; £25,740; Environment and Highways) Left winger who boasts he has never ‘filled up a petrol tank in his life’ on his Facebook page, so uniquely unqualified for dealing with Ealing’s transport infrastructure and traffic issues. Writes music reviews for the Morning Star, works for Unite and dreams of Moscow, his favourite city. Jasbir Anand (Southall Green; £25,740; Business and Community Services) Anand is overseeing the destruction of Ealing’s library services. Distinguished herself during the consultation by ignoring all dissent at public meetings. Southall library isn’t being closed. Binda Rai (Walpole; £25,740; Health and Adult Services) Keen on injunctions against antiabortion protestors but oblivious to other cabinet matters, notably the Local Implementation Plan, for which she voted in February. Professed no knowledge at a ward forum on proposals in the plan to scrap Stop and Shop parking. Yoel Gordon (Elthorne, £25,740; Chief Whip) Has the easiest job in local government, ensuring the Labour majority on the Council back the cabinet’s plans.
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Social Care in Ealing in Crisis By Roy Willis, ESCAG The Ealing Social Care Action group (ESCAG), set up in July 2018, is a group of service users, carers, trade unionists and campaigners seeking to find out what is happening to social care services in Ealing and to hold to account Councillors, and managers in charge of service delivery. Regular meetings have been held with these decision makers to point out gaps in service and call for improvements. In recent months a national campaign was launched under the title Reclaim Social Care, and Ealing campaigners are working together with this national group to highlight the serious shortcomings and unfairness in Ealing’s charging policies, assessments of needs and complaints systems.
FOR A HEALTHIER BACK Back exercises to increase strength, mobility, flexibility and stamina Relaxation for tension relief
NEXT 13 WEEK PROGRAMME Tuesdays, 10th Sept to 3rd Dec 2019 (exc. 17th Sept) 10.55am to 11.55am £7 per session Parking available St Andrew’s Church Centre Mount Park Road, Ealing, W5 2RS
Our findings so far have been alarming for service users and carers. We have been told that Ealing social care services are difficult to contact with long waiting times to get through by telephone and little or no dedicated reception staff in Perceval House to assist with minor queries or provide information. The expectation is that you should email social care staff or apply for services via the Council website; often family carers or those in need of care just give up. The situation then gets worse and GPs or hospitals have to be involved. More serious than this however is the actual service delivery. This usually means rushed visits by overworked agency carers who can only carry out basic care tasks with little time to talk to service users or to explain their role. It was regularly reported that these agency carers turn up late, or are not properly briefed about what is needed. Zero-hours contracts, low wages, lack of supervision and poor training seem to be widespread. Preventive work seems unusual or left to the voluntary agencies, who are also in difficulties due to the merry go round of short-term funding and constant applications for renewed funding; There are of course examples of good practice and innovative projects. Many home carers work conscientiously and skilfully, with GPs, nurses and family
West London Backcare
0208 997 4848 Registered charity 256751
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carers to keep people with severe conditions in their own homes and provide a good quality of life. The Direct payments system can help service users to have more choice and control over their care packages. Yet many frail elderly people do not choose Direct payments because they are concerned about the paperwork and employment responsibilities. The fragmentation and complexity of social care with the Council as the commissioning agency, alongside private home care agencies, voluntary sector providers and private residential/nursing homes (all of which are facing funding challenges) has increased the difficulties for families and carers trying to find good quality care for their loved ones. In conclusion, Social Care is facing a perfect storm of inadequate government funding, shortages of quality staff wanting to work in the sector and increasing levels of need in the general population, especially among the growing elderly population. The way forward is to recognise that government needs to fund social care properly from general taxation and social care agencies have to work more closely with service users and family carers to provide good quality care without rigid eligibility criteria and with more choice and control for service users. For more information email ealingsocialcareactioninfo@gmail.com.
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Have Fun with Bells and Folk Song By Manjinder Chijarh
During High School, I took the golden opportunity to take part in some Morris dancing. One month ago, I came across ‘Northfields Morris’ and although classes resume this September, founder Sophie invited me to their next performance at the Woodland Craft Fayre in Horsenden Farm, Perivale. Good thing my schedule was free… A form of English folk dance, Morris dancing was first referenced in the 15th century, speculated to come from the word ‘Moorish’ though never proven. Dancers would blacken their faces with paint, possibly as a type of disguise, and is still done in selective circles today. Morris became popular in Tudor times though was discouraged by Puritans, eventually finding its way to the working classes and rural areas of 17th century England. Social change, newer types of entertainment and associations as an unfashionable culture all contributed to Morris dancing’s decline in the 19th century. Thankfully, folklorists such as Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles began collecting, documenting and preserving thousands of tunes, initiating a modern dance revival in the early 20th century. Morris dancing has a variety of styles including Cotswold Morris (Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire), Border Morris (English-Welsh border), Rapper dancing (Northumberland and County Durham) and Molly dancing (Cambridgeshire). Each has
their own traditions, props, colours, clothes, shoes and more. Performing groups generally range from men only, women only or mixed gender. Since September 2014, married couple Sophie and Nigel have steadily continued the English tradition of Morris dancing. Northfields Morris offers a more progressive outlook, allowing female dancers and mixed age groups. They have performed locally including Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, Perivale Woods, Brentford Festival and at Hanwell Carnival. Northfields Morris dances to the Cotswold Morris style, using sticks and handkerchiefs in groups, duets or solos with an eye-catching dynamic red and purple uniform. Similarly vibrant was Stagsy the mascot, more of a talking point and interactive element than part of the tradition itself.
was even invited to dance along to the show closing tune, ‘Shepherds Hey’. I’m told I did a great job. There are classes every Saturday from 5pm – 6:30pm at Northfields Community Centre, W13 9SS. First time is free, then £3 per lesson (£2 concessions). No experience necessary. Children are welcome. Four people are required as a minimum and six for a proper class. Sophie strongly recommends to call in beforehand to ensure a successful visit. To get in touch, call 07952 238 422. You can email northfieldsmorris@gmail. com or visit www.northfieldsmorris. com for more information.
Energetic dancers, a friendly atmosphere, smiles all around. Clash sticks and waving handkerchiefs, the shaking of bells to tunes. Strangely reminiscent of an age long gone. Morris has returned. During the break, Nigel and I discussed changing and ancient attitudes of gender discrimination, challenging the public perception of Morris dancing and how Northfields Morris is about enjoying oneself and having a great time overall. The audience
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Paddle Boarding By Michael Holmes
Fancy trying something new? Why not try the world’s fastest growing watersport, Paddle Surfing. What’s that? Also known as paddle boarding, paddlers can lie down, stand up or kneel while paddling on a board across open water. Nowadays the motion mainly involves the stand up position (SUP) with a paddle on a surfboard, where people of all ages take part in a competitive sport or do it as a hobby. Active360 Paddle Boarding is a club with a branch at Kew along the River Thames providing plenty of opportunity to take up the activity. The club was formed in March 2011 and has since grown to become very successful at attracting new members and are at the forefront of developing SUP in London. It's a very accessible sport, popular with people of all ages and provides a great workout to develop fitness and core strength. SUP is a great medium to introduce people to develop more awareness about marine environments and threats to them; it encourages people to get actively involved in protecting our waterways. Beginners and returning paddlers can book classes lasting from 1 to 2 hours. Prior to entering the water for a guided tour session all participants must attend a safety briefing and land-based technique training.
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Potential new members will attend a beginners session before coming along to reduced rate returning paddlers sessions. Among the benefits Active 360 has to offer are paddlers can have an instructor/s all to themselves or take part in a group. These types of sessions are primarily can include the following on request: training technique, short races and exercise games. Active360 Paddle Boarding can create events for corporate, team building, hen and stag and SUP parties. Such activities provide an opportunity to escape the office with your group and create long lasting memories. All sessions and events are for 18+ only. Equipment (Paddles and Surfboards) is available for hire if customers don’t have their own. For those wanting to experience new and exciting opportunities, Active360 can arrange expeditions and holidays. Trips to Europe, Asia and other
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part in a fun sport and help clean
up your environment at the same time.
parts of the world are very much a part of the club’s activities. Clean-up projects of the local waterways include: Canal and River Plastic Pollution Awareness together with Plastic Ocean Festival. Such projects aim to reduce the amount of plastic and other items. The projects are also extended to companies and business to organise their own clean ups using surfboards and paddles available from the club. Teams will have a fun time on water, learn new skills and experience the world’s fastest growing watersport, SUP, right here in London (Ealing). Following the clean-up, paddlers can then go on the attend a guided tour paddle boarding session. More information about the club can be found on: www.active360.co.uk