Neighbours Paper ’
Issue No 93
Putting the People of Ealing First
Summer 2020
at Warren Farm Also in this issue: COVID-19 What happened in Ealing New Ealing Local Plan Northfields Roads until 1940s
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E E FR se Plea
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Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall
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E ditorial
Editorial................................................ 2
This Summer 2020 issue will hopefully be the sole web site/digital only issue in the history of ‘Neighbours Paper’. As we ‘go to press‘ in June, our printers, many of our advertisers and distribution outlets are not back to business as usual. Let’s hope for our Autumn edition we are all back to some kind of normality. We celebrate Hanwell Nature’s tremendous achievement in saving Warren Farm. There’s a summary report on Covid-19 in Ealing and a backwards glance at Northfields’ roads up to the 1940s. We also explore the delights of Perivale Wood, recycling with Freegle and the ups and downs of development at Old Oak and Park Royal. The towering issues around Ealing’s new draft Local Plan are exposed along with scrutinising local democracy in Ealing. Enjoy your social distancing Summer days.
EVENTS AROUND EALING St Mary’s Perivale Live concerts, but with no audiences at the venue. All commence at 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can watch on the website and full details of all the pieces played are on the web site also: www.st-marys-perival.org.uk All musicians are paid and viewers can donate on the web site. Thurs 11 June: Elly Suh (violin) – Paganini, Jorg Widmann and Bach
Tues 30 June: Jonathan Ferrucci (piano) – Bach and Schumann
Tues 16 June: Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano) – Schumann, Mozart, Scarlatti and Schubert
Thurs 2 July: Ben Tarlton (cello), Rosie Richardson (piano) - Dvorak
Tues 23 June: Patricke Hemmerle (piano) – Bach, Mendelssohn/ Hemmerle, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Faure, Severac and Debussy Thurs 25 June: Yuliya Ostapchuk (violin), Luca Gliozzi (piano) – Brahms, Gershwin/Heigfetz
West Ealing Farmers Market Leeland Road, W13 9HH Every Saturday 9am to 1pm
Events Around Ealing......................... 2 Ealing COVID-19................................. 3 Ealing Notes.................................... 4-5 The Winning of Warren Farm..........6-7 Perivale Wood & Nature Reserve..... 8 New Ealing Local Plan....................... 9 Northfields Roads until the 1940s.... 10 Council Scrutiny............................... 11
Eric Leach Editor
Thurs 18 June: Mathilde Milwidsky (violin), Petr Limonov (piano) – Beethoven, Ravel and Debussy
Contents
Tues 7 July: Bocheng Wang (piano) – Haydn, Chopin, and Rachmaninov Thurs 9 July: Ariana Kashefi (cello) – programme to follow Tues 14 July: Rokas Valuntonis (piano) – Chopin, Grieg, Bach, Scarlatti, and Liszt Thurs 16 July: to be confirmed Tues 21 July: Petr Limonov (piano): programme to follow
Ealing Council Virtual Committee Meetings 14 July: Cabinet 15 July: Planning Committee These meetings begin at 7:00pm and papers and joining instructions for live streaming should be available on the relevant page at: www.ealing.gov.uk
Old Oak and Park Royal.................. 12
Neighbours’ Paper Subscribe for a year: Just £4. Make a cheque out to Neighbours’ Paper and send to The Publisher, Neighbours Paper, 12 Waldemar Avenue W13 9PY 020 8579 4847. Twitter.com/NeighboursPaper Facebook.com/NeighboursPaper Editor: Eric Leach Email: eric.alan.leach@gmail.com Treasurer: Judy Breens Writers: Arthur Breens, Judy Breens, Nic Ferriday, Roger Green, Will French, Libby Kemp, Eric Leach, Henry Peterson, Eve Turner, Rosemary Wallis 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: 30th July 2020
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Putting the People of Ealing First
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COVID-19: what happened in Ealing? By Eric Leach Nobody knows exactly when Covid-19 first infected Ealing residents. The NHS Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group (ECCG), NHS Ealing Hospital’s Trust (NWHT) or Ealing Council have made any announcement about this. The Council has released regular Covid-19 bulletins, but the ECCG’s last public report on its activities on 17th June 2020 mentions Ealing Hospital just once. NWHT rare public statements have not mentioned Covid-19 in Ealing at all.
Covid-19 is seemingly impossible to ascertain. No doubt some Ealing residents died of Covid-19 at Northwick Park Hospital, but no details have been made public by any Ealing body. However recently a Councillor from Brent has sent me figures on Ealing Covid-19 deaths. The quoted data sources are the Office for National Statistics and the General Register Office’s Registration Online system (RON). Ealing Covid-19 deaths from 1 January 2020 to 15 May 2020 were 381, made up by:
Ealing Hospital
• Hospital: 245
Ealing Hospital made one informal report to Ealing Save Our NHS on Covid-19 in April 2020 which revealed that its role has been the stabilising of seriously ill Covid-19 patients prior to transfering them to Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. Less seriously ill Covid-19 patients were and still are being treated at Ealing Hospital. Most of Ealing’s Intensive Care Unit beds were also moved to the Harrow Hospital for Covid-19 deployment. Major surgery ceased at Ealing and the operating theatre was repurposed as a Covid-19 Ward. Recent rumours are that these changes at Ealing Hospital will not be reversed. Ealing residents suspected of having Covid-19 were tested in the car park behind Mattock Lane Health centre in West Ealing. By early April 2020 all Ealing’s 75 GP surgeries had locked their doors to patients and most consultations were carried out by GPs on the telephone from home. This put enormous pressures on local Pharmacists who remained open and have been very busy. Some of them immediately set up delivery services of drugs to vulnerable, quarantined patients.
• Care Homes: 92 • Hospice: 16 • At Home: 24 • Elsewhere: 4 Ealing Council Chief Executive Paul Najsarek was quoted in Southall on 11 June 2020 saying that 130 Covid-19 deaths had taken place in care homes in Ealing.
Mutual Aid group was formed to help those quarantined. By 6 April 2020 its Facebook membership had reached 5,187. On 24 March 2020, the Council launched ‘Ealing Together’, which solicited donations from local charities. It was a key driver for the setting up and running of a free food hub at Greenford Hall, along with the help of many other charities and local volunteer groups. Ealing Council set up a £1.5 million fund to help those at risk from Covid-19. By 23 May 2020 over 350 rough sleepers in Ealing had been accommodated by the Council in hostels and hotels. St Joseph’s GAA Club raised over £3,500 for Ealing Soup Kitchen and Ealing Food Bank. Members and former members ran almost 750 km over the weekend of 23/24 May 2020 to raise the money from their sponsors. https://ealing.foodbank.org.uk www.ealingsoupkitchen.org
Public Health England stated on 3 June 2020 that Ealing had, at 1,203, the fourth highest number of Covid-19 cases in London. Only Croydon (1,511), Southwark (1,272) and Lambeth (1,211) had more Covid-19 tested infections.
Ealing Covid-19 Mutual Aid: https://facebook.com/groups/ ealingmutualaid
Mental Health
To help rough sleepers, call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914
Ealing Together: https://ealingtogether.org
Mental health services in Ealing, already stretched prior to Covid-19, were further decimated when our mental health trust, West London Health Trust (WLHT) based in Southall, closed down the only two residential mental health wards in Ealing at St Bernard’s Hospital - Hope and Horizon. Worryingly the monthly rate of ’Unexpected Deaths’ at WLHT rose to 50 in April 2020 compared to the average monthly rate of 17 for the previous 11 months.
Who Died Where and When? Volunteers and the Council Respond The identities and names of Ealing residents who have died from
In March 2020 an Ealing Covid-19
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Ealing Notes Town Hall Sell-Off Blocked Ealing Council’s five year effort to sell off Ealing Town Hall has been blocked by a Charity Commission review of its attempts to take control of the assets of the charity that owns a major part of the building. Following a public consultation, the Commission rejected Ealing Council’s application to take control of the assets of the Victoria Hall Trust (VHT). The consequence is that the Council’s 2016 deal with boutique hotel developer Mastcraft cannot proceed unless the Council substantially revises its proposals. The Victoria Hall was built next to the 1882 Ealing Town Hall with money raised from the public. It’s owned by VHT, which is a charitable trust set up in 1893 to provide a venue for community events.
By Arthur B reens, Roger Green, Eric Leach , & Eve Turner
In its 13-page ruling published on 7 April 2020 the Charity Commission agreed with many of the serious criticisms and concerns raised by the Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) and many local residents. In a press statement released with the review the Charity Commission said: “We are not satisfied that the decision to lease to a commercial developer, on the terms agreed, is in the best interests of the charity (Victoria Hall Trust). We expect the charity to reconsider the deal, in the light of our decision, and we have made a series of specific recommendations to the charity to consider. We expect the charity to now undertake further work to consider how best they can advance the interests of the charity and the benefit it delivers to the Borough of Ealing”. https://savevictoriahall.weebly.com/
CPZ Renewals
Stop Gurnell Overdevelopment
In July/August 2019 Ealing Parking Services failed to send reminders to residents to renew their Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) permits. Residents, unaware their CPZ permits had expired, received Penalty Charge Notices (parking fines). ‘Private Eye’ in February 2020 quoted that 3,000 PCNs had been unfairly issued up to value of £147,000. Some might describe this as theft. Neighbours Paper (NP) contacted the Police but they showed no interest in pursuing the case. NP strongly urged Ealing Council Parking management and Councillors to issue a blanket re-imbursement to the 3,000 victims. They all refused. Councillor Mik Sabiers – Cabinet Environment and Highways supremo - wrote to NP on 28 January 2020 to state that all residents affected had their PCN cancelled or had fines - if paid – refunded. NP is still being contacted by residents who were unfairly fined and eight months on have still not been re-imbursed. We recommend you continue to pursue your claim by contacting Councillor Sabiers at SabiersM@ealing.gov.uk
On 1 June 2020 Planning Application 201695FUL was validated and published by Ealing Council. The plan is to build 599 residential units across 6 tower blocks rising to 17 storeys at their highest.
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The supposed reason for this massive development is that it’s part and parcel of replacing the Gurnell Leisure Centre, which after all is only 39 years old. The site is designated Metropolitan Open Land which has the same protected status as Green Belt. The site is not a designated development site in the Council’s 2012 Local Plan.
Dean Gardens On 22 May 2020 Ealing Council emailed West Ealing Neighbours (WEN) with the news that the largely Transport for London (TfL) funded £9 million West Ealing Liveable Neighbourhood (‘Live West Ealing’) project has been suspended. Apparently all the Liveable Neighbourhood projects in 18 London Boroughs have been suspended. These £114 million projects were all supposed to be completed by 2022/23. Part of the Live West Ealing project was the £1.4 million transformation of Dean Gardens. The Council now says this is suspended until the Autumn but will be subject to a ‘wider review’. The latter statement is backed up by describing TfL being in a ‘financial predicament’. Many local residents and gardens users have never seen the need to spend public money on making changes for the sake of making changes. No final plans have, as yet, been presented to local residents. Some residents are already lobbying for the 30 mature trees felled in February 2020 in the gardens to be replaced. More, with draft plans, ideas but no recent news at: https://livewestealing.org
The size, scale, design and density of the buildings is unacceptable to many local residents. As of 21st June 2020, over 2,500 had signed a petition objecting to the development, and 361 objections had been submitted to the Council. Comments on the Planning Application must be received by the Council before 22nd July 2020. For details on how, and why, you should object to these plans go to: www.savegurnell.org.uk Putting the People of Ealing First
B efore the
tree felling
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Ealing Notes continueD Acton Arts Project (AAP)
Recycling With Freegle
The plans for local stakeholders to re-purpose Old Acton Library into a cinema-based arts and community centre are still alive and well.
Although Ealing Council Acton and Greenford tips have re-opened, the queues and social distancing make for hour long waits in your car with your recycling and your rubbish. Why not use a free service which saves on land fill, and lets you find a home for stuff you don’t need any more and find used items you need?
Although AAP failed to win a GLA Good Growth Fund grant it has received many financial pledges on Spacehive. A solicitor has been briefed to draft a Lease with Ealing Council and a Planning Application has now been submitted and been validated by the Council – reference: 202045FUL. More at: www.actonartsproject.com
Freegle is such an online service. It’s well established and Ealing Freegle is very active. There are 451 Freegle communities and 2.7 million Freegler members across the UK. Its theme is ‘Don’t throw it away. Give it away!’ Freegle UK was formed in 2009 when Freecycle groups in the UK decided to break away from their US parent. It’s both an Industrial and Provident Society
Save Ealing Hospital
of Ealing Hospital, which included:
Ealing Save Our NHS (ESON) is the Ealing branch of the national organisation Keep Our NHS Public. In March 2019, after 7 years of campaigning, along with campaigners in Hammersmith & Fulham we celebrated the saving of Charing X and Ealing Hospitals A&E’s and 100’s of beds. Can you imagine how it would have been without these 2 hospitals to look after us now?
“We make sure we share positive stories and celebrate those patients who come off mechanical and non-invasive ventilation. We are filled with joy as the elderly pull through their illness and go home with a humble smile.”
Thanks to Tory cuts we entered this pandemic with 17,000 beds lost and 100,000 staff vacancies. Only the dedication of NHS staff working around the clock at huge personal cost has saved so many lives. Despite their huge effort the Government has failed to protect staff, forcing them to beg for protective equipment (PPE) and to stay off work, as they don’t know if they have the virus or not – what a disgrace! In April 2020 ESON received a moving message from Dr Gurjinder Sandhu,
During the Covid-19 crisis big changes have taken place at Ealing Hospital. Intensive Care Units (ICUs) have been moved to Northwick Park Hospital. Surgery was suspended and the operating theatre space used to treat Covisd-19 patients. Its main Covid-19 role was the treatment of the less serious ill patients.
for Community Benefit and also an HMRC registered charity. It publishes its financial results annually. Ealing Freegle was formed in November 2010. It currently has 10,806 member ‘Freeglers’. Basic rules include no lending, swapping or selling. Recent posts of items on offer include furniture, a PC monitor, empty boxes, roof felt and a two seater sofa. On the wanted side there are posts for an old vacuum cleaner, paint rollers, a scooter and a wheel barrow. Get involved at: www.ilovefreegle.org/ explore/Ealing-Freegle
The new managers of the trust (NWHT) which runs the hospital make scant reference in their recent public reports as to what is happening at the hospital. There is no information about the future of the hospital. As ever, the NHS is re-organising at north west London regional level and across the whole of London. Activists remain vigilant and even in lockdown ESON is still very active in Ealing and working with other groups across north west London. Please like our ESON Facebook Page, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our Newsletter on www.ealingsaveournhs.org.uk
As we seem to be moving towards a Covid-19 recovery phase, Ealing Hospital still remains under threat of being downgraded. Rumours are around that cuts at the hospital will not be reversed after Covid-19 emergency subsides. Putting the People of Ealing First
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The Winning of Warren Farm by
Eric Leach
The London Borough of Ealing’s (LBE’s) attempts to give away 61 acres (the size of more than 30 football pitches) for 200 years to a Shepherds Bush professional football club have failed. No doubt £100,000s of public money has been wasted since 2012 on this futile, crazy scheme. In this feature we document the endeavours, steely determination and generosity of local stakeholders and others to resist the strategy and tactics of LBE and its would-be leasehold client. Farming History Aerial photography has revealed evidence – endorsed by English Heritage - of Bronze Age and Iron Age workings on the site. The earliest written records go back to 1821 when the Earl of Jersey owned the land. His country ‘seat’ was at Osterley Park immediately to the south of the farm, on the other side of Windmill Lane, Southall. Lady Jersey sold the farm to the London County Council (LCC) in 1925 for a sports field. But the Depression and then World War 2 interrupted the LCC plans. It was a working farm called Home Farm run by St Bernard’s Psychiatric Hospital nearby up until 1960/61. For many years the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) ran the site and schools and sports clubs played there. ILEA disposed of the site to LBE in 1954. The low budget changing rooms were put up in the early 1960s. Excellent Public Sports Facilities The public sporting facilities on offer at Warren Farm were some of the most extensive anywhere in London. They included 12 full sized Football pitches, 6 Cricket pitches, 21 Tennis courts, 10 6
Netball courts, 6 Long Jump tracks and 3 Shot Putt pits. Many amateur sports bosses regularly claimed that because the pitches drained so well, the facilities were more available than any other public pitches in London! There was a rich diversity of users who included many local sports clubs, the annual APNA Primary Schools sports tournaments (16 Ealing schools fielding 34 teams), the Tamil Sports Association Tri-sport events, the Ealing Mela, Warren Farm Radio Flyers, Brentford FC, Larkspur FC, the Pride and Joy Child care nursery and the Council’s Tree Service. LBE Disposal Starts in 2009 In September 2009 LBE began the process of disposing of Warren Farm by way of a 200 year lease. The Council claimed it could not afford to maintain the changing rooms and the sports playing area. In fact through presumably deliberate policy, site sports usage declined, maintenance had ceased and facilities began to deteriorate and be vandalised. LBE Tries to ‘Gift’ Warren Farm to QPR In April 2012 LBE announced that Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) was its preferred bidder. On 24 April 2013 LBE granted Planning Permission for QPR to convert Warren Farm into its new training facility. There were many local stakeholders who were very unhappy with the proposed development. Objections raised included: Two thirds of the land would be for the exclusive use of QPR for elite sports. The remainder of the land would be available for community use but access would be controlled by QPR. Putting the People of Ealing First
Borough-wide sports events such as the annual APNA Primary Schools tournament (34 teams) and the annual Tamil School Sports Association Tri-Sport events would have to be abandoned. No open community access – no full-sized football or cricket pitches for local clubs to use. Loss of Metropolitan Open Land, Public Open Space and Brent River Park space Creation of a private gated community enclosed by a 2.4 metre high opaque fence LBE valued the land at £1.8 - £2.25 million. Similar sized land in other parts of London were valued at £31.5 for industrial use and £66 million for residential development Peppercorn rent for 200 years London Mayor Boris Johnson - via Deputy Mayor Sir Edward Lister – and Eric Pickles MP Secretary of State for Communities chose not to oppose the LBE planning decision in 2015. Save Warren Farm This group soon emerged to fight the QPR deal. It had huge local support, campaigned relentlessly and successfully raised funds for a legal battle. In 2014 Hanwell Community Forum led a Judicial Review (JR) against LBE on the grounds that LBE had acted unlawfully in disposing of Warren Farm. On 13 May 2014 the JR was turned down. QPR did nothing about starting work on the site in 2014/15/16. Press speculation was that QPR didn’t have the cash to do the work. On 2 June 2016 further Planning Permission was granted to QPR. The plans had been scaled back in size and budget. However the
Read NP Online at www.neighbourspaper.com ‘dumping’ of 180,000 metres of ‘fill material’ was introduced in order to level the surface. This would require 150 lorry journeys/day, 5 days/week for 8 months along Windmill Lane. Due to the delays incurred during the JR planning permission was extended to four years instead of the usual three years. Hanwell Nature This new Warren Farm campaigning group emerged in 2019 with a completely different line of attack to Save Warren Farm. Its major proposition was that in the years since sports activity and LBE maintenance had ceased on site, nature had taken the land back as its own. Using recognised experts many ecological surveys were carried out. Reference sources used included the Kew Gardens Herbarium and the London Natural History Society. What was revealed was that Warren Farm has birds and mammals of conservation importance – some are Schedule 1 or Red Listed (of the highest conservation concerns in the UK). Increasingly local residents sought sanctuary on the site. Country walks listening to and observing Skylarks. Families began cycling around
and across the open country using well used and defined paths. More joggers and dog walkers discovered the delights of the nature reserve. Green Light for Judicial Review On 11 December 2019 an anonymous Claimant and member of the group applied for leave to begin a JR in the High Court of LBE’s decision not to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment for the QPR football training project. In January 2020 powerful grass mowing machines turned up and cut 10s of acres of ground vegetation well into darkness. LBE claimed it was annual maintenance. Activists asked – maintaining what exactly? Was this an attempt to destroy rare flora and fauna habitats? On 2 April 2020 the Claimant was given permission by a Judge to proceed with the JR. The group had raised over £28,000 from local stakeholders to fight the case. On 6 May 2020 it emerged that QPR had decided to not proceed with the development of Warren Farm after all. Local stakeholders had won and LBE had lost.
Little Owl Postscript 1. Rumours abound that (secretly) QPR had decided to pull out of the LBE deal in March 2020 and that LBE knew this at that time. This preceded the 2 April 2020 JR Hearing at which permission to proceed was granted. Whatever motives LBE had for pursuing the JR – knowing the QPR deal was a dead duck can only be speculated upon 2. Local stakeholders and others donated over £84,000 for legal fees in fighting the LBE disposal to QPR over a seven year period. Just how much have LBE spent on legal fees? As well as their own fees LBE will have to (reluctantly) pay the Claimant’s JR legal fees as it was LBE who pulled out of the JR. 3. During the Save Warren Farm (SWF) JR episode the two named SWF Claimants had their cars vandalised and their tyres slashed. Due to continued threats on QPR Fansite that remained unmoderated or taken down, the Hanwell Nature JR Claimant was anonymous. At the 2 April 2020 JR Hearing, LBE lawyers pressed Hanwell Nature to reveal the identity and home address of the JR Claimant, allowing them to be published. Having seen examples of the online threats, the Judge said no. Why would LBE need to know the identity and home address of the JR Claimant? 4. Do you think LBE will now engage with local stakeholders in order to form an LBE/local stakeholder consensus on the future for Warren Farm? www.hanwellnature.com
Warren Farm at Sunset Putting the People of Ealing First
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Perivale Wood and Nature Reserve by
Nic Ferriday
Many people who live in Ealing know of Horsenden Hill but are surprised to discover Perivale Wood Local Nature Reserve, which can be found just to the south west of the Hill on the south side of the canal. The land is owned by the Selborne Society, a group originally founded in late Victorian times. The Nature Reserve is dedicated to the memory of Gilbert White, born in Selborne in 1720 and often credited as the father of the modern study of natural history.
Although there is evidence that the wood has been managed for timber, the site is relatively undisturbed and is likely to retain important archaeological features which the Society is currently investigating. On the north side of the Reserve adjoining the canal the land rises steeply and the difference in vegetation is marked. This is the site of Victorian and Georgian rubbish dumps – probably formed when canal boats transported building debris and household rubbish from the developing areas of London.
Four Million Bluebells The Selborne Society The Reserve occupies twentyseven acres with a rich variety of habitats including eighteen acres of ancient mixed oak woodland, five acres of pasture land, five ponds and two small streams. Amongst other flora and fauna the Reserve has approximately four million flowering bluebells which make a spectacular show in late Spring. The Reserve was formerly known as the Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary and the land was owned by the Diocese of Westminster for about 800 years before it was purchased by the Society in the early part of the 20th century. The site is classified as ancient woodland, which means that there has been woodland cover for over four hundred years. As a result, a complex biodiversity has accumulated over hundreds of years, which includes over 200 species of wild plants, dozens of birds and thousands of invertebrates. This all makes the Reserve an important site, especially given its proximity to the centre of London.
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The Reserve is open to members of the Selborne Society only (although it is not expensive to join) and offers excellent opportunities for observation, conservation and education. The Society runs a program of field meetings and evening talks on a wide variety of topics and holds a monthly session for younger members aimed at encouraging families to enjoy learning about nature in a safe environment. For local schools and education groups the Society runs a thriving education programme, which offers the opportunity for teaching staff to bring groups into the reserve for a session with an environmental education theme.
Putting the People of Ealing First
Four Million BLuebells!
Annual Open Day On one day in April every year the Society hold their annual Open Day when the Reserve is open to the public for a small charge. Many people come to enjoy the bluebells, tea and cake and to learn more about the work of the Society, including opportunities for volunteering in conservation and habitat management. Because of Covid-19, the annual Open Day had to be cancelled in 2020. With increasing threats to our green open spaces, Perivale Wood becomes evermore important as a haven for wildlife – and people. Join the Society and Enjoy the Wood For more information about the Reserve including how to become a member of the Society, go to their website at www.selbornesociety.org.uk or email membership@selbornesociety.org.uk
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New Ealing Local Plan by
Will French
Don’t switch off on reading this. It may sound nerdy, but if you live in Ealing our new Local Plan is likely to have a big impact on you. That’s because the Local Plan sets out the rules for how Ealing will change. It helps the Council steer those changes. Or it’s supposed to. Development in the Borough in the past 10 years has been astronomic. It’s transforming our leafy suburb into the high rise capital of London. A 10 minute video recently published on 19th May 2020 by the Red Block Rebels shows what it means. View it at https://ealingmatters.org. It shows major developments in Ealing in a 3D format which highlights how incongruous so much of the new building in the borough has been. Interest in this video is high – Over 6,900 views by 22nd June 2020.
will do to address the Borough’s housing crisis, and the families of key workers on the Council’s housing waiting list has not been explained. The Red Block Tour towers have been carefully constructed using information provided in planning applications or in the documents developers have published for their own public consultations. Floorplans are copied into a 3D modelling computer program called SketchUp and then transformed into 3D images. The Perceval House tower for instance is shown at 26 storeys, each storey 3m high except for the ground floor which is 4m. Finished ‘buildings’ are then opened in Google Earth Pro. This limits them a bit when you get to low levels as the distortion of existing buildings becomes a problem. 40,000 New Homes, 120,000 New Residents – Mostly Unplanned
boroughs to step up their home building programme. Ealing has wildly exceeded the target of 933 homes a year set for it 10 years ago. However, the New London Plan says, including Park Royal, it will have to build around 2,600 homes a year in the next 10 years. Why on earth is Ealing accepting this? Most nearby boroughs are not subject to similar demands. The target for next door Hounslow, which has similar characteristics to Ealing, but more brown field land, is 1,780 homes a year and for Richmond it is just 410 homes each year. Consultation on Ealing’s draft new plan is scheduled to start later this year. It will have to take all this on board so it could be rather a contentious process. Ealing Council’s Local Plan information: www.ealing.gov.uk/ info/201164/local_plans Ealing Matters views on Ealing’s developments: https://ealingmatters.org
180+ Towers The Red Block Tour shows that 180+ towers of 10 storeys or more have been built in the borough or are likely to be soon. Most of these were or are being approved in the face of furious opposition by the communities who live nearby. Not only that, many of them do not appear on the current 2012 Ealing Local Plan – for development 2011 to 2026. That being said, Ealing’s current Local Plan is the oldest in London and should have been replaced years ago. Two towers will be over 50 storeys high. The tallest at 55-storeys will be the UK’s tallest residential building. Only 16 ‘truly affordable’ homes are provided. What this
The current 2012 Ealing Local Plan sets the Borough target of 12,400 new homes by 2026. The Red Block Tour reveals that since 2012 around 40,000 new homes have been built or are in the pipeline. This is likely to increase the Borough’s population by up to 120,000 people – around a third more than in 2012. This looks like just being the start. Pressure from National Government and the GLA is mounting on
Demolition – Always
Putting the People of Ealing First
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Part of Ealing’s Plans 9
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Northfields Roads Until the 1940s by
Rosemary Wallis
Ealing, once called Eyling, changed from rural to suburban in the 1890s, when sheep no longer needed shepherds. Northfield Avenue was a country lane until late 1890s when it became an established public road, built by Irish Navvies and agricultural labourers from Western counties. They tied their trouser legs with old string, to avoid rats climbing up their legs whilst they dug the foundations. Until post WW2 war the roads were very sociable areas - more accurately called thoroughfares. Cars and buses were not so numerous until the late 1930s when Nos. 55 and 97 buses began to serve Northfield Avenue. When Horse and Carts were Prime Horses and carts were the prime transport, used by tradesmen such as coalmen. Because their loads were very heavy, they used a cart horse, large and muscular, whilst the coalmen lugged 2 cwt and 5 cwt sacks to coal houses. Milkmen had to care for their horses, brush and feed them in their dairy stables. A close understanding meant the horse knew the route of the milk round as well as its driver. Loads
included milk, butter and eggs. Hand carts were then introduced and horses vanished, but milkmen had a hard job to push a heavily loaded handcart. Hearses, resplendent with two pairs of plumed black horses and a top hatted usher walking ahead. The mourners walked behind the coach. Hay loads went through the Avenue, as high as 15 feet. A local saying was 'don't look back at the hay load, it will bring bad luck'. Very Empty Roads Very empty roads were safe for all ages and organisations. Playing in the street was commonplace football, cricket, hopscotch, roller skating, scooters, Kingie and Queenie. Second hand comics were quietly read by groups of children sitting in the gutter or on garden walls. Steam rollers regularly flattened the tarmac road surfaces, followed by enthusiastic crowds cheering at the white steam and noisy horns. Road sweepers with broom and cart kept roads clean, whilst there was flooding, especially at the
end of Glenfield Road. A practical neighbour would unblock the drain, whilst young paddlers protested. Parades, Street Traders and Free Manure Organisations used the roads for assembly or parades, headed by brass bands and flags. Girl Guides, Boy Scouts, Boys Brigade, Salvation Army to mention a few. Sundays meant all shops were closed when street traders came to life. A walking muffin man, tray on his head and ringing a bell calling 'Muffins'. A coster-monger's hand cart would now hold shrimps and winkles, weighed in half and full pint metal cups. The luxury trader was the ice cream man on a tricycle with ice box and a pile of cornets. There were many horse troughs regularly filled and manure procured by competing gardeners armed with buckets and spades. Celebrations, Socialising and Stars All Royal occasions were celebrated and of course the end of WW2. Bonfires were lit in the streets on VE Day with effigies of Hitler strung on a pole. Some people were so ecstatic they threw on their usable furniture. The remaining road surfaces were severely pock marked. Because of the very quiet roads people would gather in their flowery front gardens on Sunday evenings, laughing and talking often with a small Brown Ale or Shandy. Some felt their front gardens and pavements were an extension of their property, and bring chairs and tea outside and sit and enjoy the view. Street lights were gas fuelled until WW2 when they were non-existent. This meant the sky was brilliant with stars and galaxies – and it was a pleasure to walk in the dark.
Northfields Avenue 10
in
1914 Putting the People of Ealing First
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Council Scrutiny by
Arthur B reens
Whatever happened to Government for the people, with the people and by the people? Have our politicians lied to the plebs, planned to leave us in the dark or forget us altogether and simply do their own thing? Have things improved or become worse? Local Press Has Declined Remember the good old days of the West London Tram debacle? Trained local journalists working on “The Ealing Gazette” team gave us week by week information, letters, meetings, maps and plans. The result? Well informed residents ditched an arrogant band of Councillors and everything changed from red to blue and the Tram disappeared too. The problem is that now we have a very diminished local press. So, what do we have, built into the Local Government structures and decision-making processes that helps the people’s word be heard? Dumb Insolence? Local Councillors seek election using leaflets with slogans like “Vote for me to represent you”. But how do they do that? All Ealing’s 69 councillors belong to political parties. It is difficult to become a Councillor unless backed by a party label and machine. The problem is that a Councillor’s allegiance is to the party and not to the resident. When challenged, the main defence is to remain silent thereby protecting the decision -makers and hiding the reason for the decision. When they represent us do Councillors always answer emails? When they do, are they accurate and honest? The Town Hall is in the process of being sold to a hotel company because of a repair backlog. I asked to see the repair schedule. No reply. I asked how a backlog had been
acquired when there was clearly an income stream? No reply. Surgeries, Ward Forums On the Wane This is no way to treat residents and neither is the loss (in some wards) of Councillor surgeries where local issues can be discussed at length, face to face. We did have Ward Forums where agendas were stage managed and minutes produced many months after the event. But their continued existence is hanging on by just a thread. Any contentious issues that might criticise senior politicians (the Cabinet) would be evaded and effectively hidden. The Cabinet seemed only to want other Councillors to follow their plans with no dissent. And the same might be said of the officers. So not brilliant representation!
the Planning Committee members to visit the sites at which Planning Applications would be decided four days later. A Covid-19 transport plan using additional mini-buses would cost £350. This is just a third of the cost of installing one new steel bench in one of our parks. Will Virtual Meetings Be The Future? So, what should be done? Members and staff of the Council should be made to answer questions posed by ‘Ealing Today’, ‘Exposurebox’ and the’ Neighbours Paper’. Half of the Council’s ‘Around Ealing’ magazine should be edited by the community with complaints and explanations of how they have been settled. Officers and Councillors who have been shown not to have followed the Nolan principles should be fined.
No More Planning Committee Site Visits There were proposals to ban the public from Planning Councillors’ site visits which left the planners and the developers clear space to agree the plans with no contrary views. Covid-19 has now legitimised this public ban by banning all Planning Committee site visits! When plans were floated to replace two houses in my road with a block of flats, the site visit was attended by many neighbours and a 4.2 m fishing rod, model and toilet paper outline of proposed build laid out on lawns. Some Councillors even entered the homes of those most affected. The plan was scrapped!
Covid-19 has driven all organisations to ‘meet’ only on digital platforms. As we recover from the pandemic we must demand that physical meetings re-commence. We can’t let the virus be responsible for an even greater reduction in face-to-face scrutiny of Ealing Council’s actions and inactions. For details on the Nolan principles: www.gov.uk/government/publications/ the-7-principles-of-public-life
Site Visits Covid-19 Style Are Possible I took the trouble to do some research on what it would cost to transport, with 2 metre separation, all Putting the People of Ealing First
So Much Change - So Little Scrutiny 11
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Old Oak and Park Royal By H enry Peterson
In April 2015 the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) took over planning powers for parts of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham. OPDC was set up as a Mayoral body when Boris Johnson was Mayor of London. The original aim was to exploit the planned location for the HS2/Crossrail interchange at Old Oak and to create a new part of London with 25,500 new homes and 60,000 new jobs. Of the three boroughs, there’s more OPDC land in Ealing than in the other two. Slow Progress by the OPDC All has not gone well. The OPDC embarked on preparation of a Local Plan which is now running four years behind schedule. The biggest hit to OPDC plans came in November 2019, when the Corporation accepted that its plans for a first phase of new housing on the 43 acre land owned by Cargiant Ltd were not feasible. Planning Inspector Paul Clark had previously issued an interim report following a series of Local Plan Examination hearings at which OPDC and Cargiant presented their conflicting views on land valuations and the scope for use of compulsory purchase powers. The OPDC has always seemed unwilling to accept that its original housing and employment targets were over ambitious. Only a small handful of housing schemes granted planning permissions by the Corporation are under construction, and these are at North Acton. OPDC 12
delegated planning decisions at North Acton to the London Borough of Ealing (LBE) back in 2015. This delegation arrangement is coming under increasing scrutiny. LBE is not only deciding the applications, but also retaining and allocating the very sizable S106 receipts involved. (S106 is a tax that developers pay in theory to mitigate the impact a new development might have on the community). The decisions to approve two 55 storey towers at Portal Way have met strong opposition from Ealing’s Stop the Towers campaign. Future Uncertain OPDC had received a conditional offer of £250m of Government Housing Infrastructure Funds to underpin its plans for the Cargiant land. When this news was trumpeted across West London, the conditions were not mentioned. These funds will not now be released. The London Assembly was due to investigate in April 2020 what Assembly Members have described as a ‘dishonest’ attempt to secure Government funds. The relevant hearings were cancelled, to resume in September 2020. All in all, the use of OPDC to replace Borough decision-making has not proved a success. What will happen post Covid-19 remains to be seen. Construction work on the HS2 rail station has restarted, but with many voices still questioning whether the Putting the People of Ealing First
Onwards and U pwards at OPDC
UK can afford a £100 billion rail track when its public debt is tripling. However on 20 May 2020, the OPDC approved a Section 17 Planning Application from HS2 for the construction of what would be the biggest newly built station in the UK at Old Oak Common. Here HS2 will meet up with Crossrail. 250,000 passengers per day are expected when the station opens in 2029. Construction costs are estimated at £1.3 billion. Sadly it is clear that the interchange connection to the Hythe Road in the east will not now happen, and that at Old Oak Common remains unfunded/doubtful. For updates the website of the Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum carries regular news at www.oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org. The Old Oak neighbourhood area covers over 54 acres in East Acton Ward and brings together many local activists who have been working for years to try to ensure successful regeneration of Old Oak – rather than the clusters of ‘super density’ towers now seen at Vauxhall/Nine Elms/Battersea and the Isle of Dogs.