Neighbours Paper ’
Issue No 92
Putting the People of Ealing First
Spring 2020
Environmental
Vandalism
Also in this issue: Events Around Ealing Edible Playgrounds Ealing Council in 2019
lishe Pu b
Save the Tudor Rose Spring Poems Underwater hockey
d
e e r F ease
Pl One e Tak rterly Qua
Acton | Ealing | Greenford | Hanwell | Northolt | Perivale | Southall
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E ditorial
Editorial................................................ 2 Events Around Ealing.......................... 2
A very big thank you is in order for our retiring Neighbours Paper (NP) editor Tom Whiting after eight years of sterling volunteer editing. He will be a difficult act to follow. It’s also time to thank Jamie Anson for his continuing creative design work for over eight years. Judy Breens must also take a huge amount of credit for managing production, sales, printing and distribution for many years. She first joined the NP team in 2004. In this issue we re-visit Warren Farm and Hanwell Nature’s new attempts to save its 61 acres from environmental destruction. We review past and present activities of Ealing’s oldest charity – the Charity of William Hobbayne. A new annual feature is our review of some of what Ealing Council did throughout the previous year. On the sporting front we submerge ourselves in underwater hockey and in the cultural dimension we celebrate ten of our local choirs and showcase some of Ealing’s amateur poets in celebrating Spring. We explain and encourage ‘edible’ playgrounds and bemoan the threat to a Southall Afro-Caribbean legend – the Tudor Rose.
EVENTS AROUND EALING
College Open Days: Wednesdays, 4:00pm – 7:00pm 11 March, West London College, The Green, W5 5EW 18 March, Southall Community College, Beaconsfield Road, UB1 1DP 25 March, Park Royal College, Nucleus Park, Central Park, NW10 7XT Booking needed: www.opendays.com Ealing Business Expo 2020: Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 March 11am – 5pm. DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Ealing Common, W5 www.ealingbizexpo.co.uk Conjuring at the Court Thursday 26 March, 8:00pm - 10:00pm The Drayton Court, 2 The Avenue W13 8PH £12 07775 587708 tickets@conjuringatthecourt.com
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Can Hanwell Nature Save ................... Warren Farm........................................ 3 Ealing Notes......................................4-5 Edible Playgrounds............................. 6 The Charity of William Hobbayne...... 7 Choirs in Ealing................................... 8 Save the Tudor Rose............................ 9 Spring Poems..................................... 10 Ealing Council in 2019...................... 11 Octopush Underwater Hockey........ 12
Eric Leach Editor
The Ealing Mile First Friday of each month, starting at 12:30pm 6 March, 3 April, 1 May, Lammas Park, W13. Enter using www.riderhq.com www.ealinghalfmarathon.com
Contents Contents
‘Living in the Present’ Saturday 28 March, 9:15am – 4:00pm. £45 Friends Meeting House, 17 Woodville Road, W5 2SE Ealing Yoga Meditation & Philosophy Centre enquiries@ealingyogamedpc.org.uk Ealing Eagles 10K Race Saturday 2 May, 10am, Brent Lodge Park (‘Bunny Park’), Hanwell, W7 £13 Affiliated members www.ealingeagles.com/10k 8th Hanwell Hootie: Saturday 9 May. Over 100 bands, 14 venues www.hanwellhootie.co.uk Acton Depot Open Weekend: Saturday 25, Sunday 26 April, 11am to 5pm 118 – 120 Gunnersbury Lane, Adults £12, concessions, children free www.ltmuseum.co.uk Oscars Night Friday 15 May, 7:00pm – 11:00 pm IMPACT Community Arts Centre, Horsenden Lane South, Perivale, UB6 8GP www.impacttheatre.co
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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, Manjinder Chijarh, Will French, Michael Holmes, Libby Kemp, Eric Leach, Valerie Rudd Designer: Jamie Anson Cover: Warren Farm (Courtesy of Hanwell Nature) 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 April 2020
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Can Hanwell Nature Save Warren Farm? By Eric Leach In 2012 Ealing Council decided to give to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) football club the 61 acres of Metropolitan Open Land at Warren Farm in Southall for 200 years. For many years prior to this the football pitches, cricket grounds, tennis courts and changing rooms had been allowed to fall into disrepair and had been vandalised. No maintenance of the land has taken place for over a six year period. A group of local activists formed the ‘Save Warren Farm’ group which campaigned long and hard locally and through the Courts to prevent the deal with QPR going ahead. Sadly it was unsuccessful. Planning Permission was finally granted in October 2019. Also In 2019 a new group emerged called ‘Hanwell Nature’ – initially a group of concerned local residents. It offers an alternative vision in partnership with nature at Warren Farm. It accused Ealing Council of sanctioning environmental vandalism. The reality on the ground and in the air at Warren Farm is that after many years of lack of maintenance, development and human activity, nature has taken Warren Farm back to its bosom. Now we have a totally rewilded, precious urban meadow within Brent River Park.
£15
Preserving Rare Fauna and Flora
Photos
Using recognised experts many ecological surveys have been carried out on the meadow. These have identified rare species, the reference sources including the Kew Gardens Herbarum and the London Natural History Society. Warren Farm has birds and mammals of conservation importance that are Schedule 1 or Red Listed (of the highest conservation concerns in the UK) such as Barn Owls, Starlings, Linnets, Mistle Thrushes, Woodpeckers, Bats and the only breeding Skylarks in Ealing. Add to that Foxes, Hedgehogs, Oak trees, rare Clovers, Beewolves and Yarrow Plugs.
Council’s decision not to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment for the QPR football training project. As of 17 February 2020 £16,767 had been raised through Crowd Justice to fund the complete review process. In January 2020, The land owner or leaseholder mowed all grass on the site. The purpose of this action is unclear. Was it the pre-cursor of construction work? Was it an attempt to cripple rare flora and fauna? Who authorised it and who paid for it?
It is designated by the Greater London Authority as a Grade 1 Site of Borough importance. The area is part of an acid grassland UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) habitat. It is also a designated Community Open Space, a designated Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC) and part of the well established Brent River Park.
courtesy of hanwellnature. com
For more details on how you can help and fund the group see: www.hanwellnature.com www.crowdjustice.com/case/ protect-warren-farm/
Appeal for Judicial Review The group is being advised by Richard Buxton Solicitors. On December 11 2019 the group applied for leave to begin a Judicial Review in the High Court of the
x100 Business Cards Single Sided
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Ealing Notes Volunteer Run Libraries
Unfair CPZ Renewal PCNs
On 20 December 2019 Ealing Council announced which community groups had won the right to run Community Manged Libraries (CML) in the Council owned buildings in Hanwell, Northfields, Perivale and West Ealing. All these Ealing Public Libraries closed down on 21 December 2019. Ealing Law Centre (ELC) will run Hanwell Library and they are currently recruiting and training volunteers. ELC will only gain full access to the delightful Carnegie building in early April 2020.
Following the report in Neighbours Paper NP 91, in July/August 2019 Ealing Parking Services failed to send reminders to renew Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) permits. Many people received parking fines. Councillor Rai at the Walpole Ward Forum on 7 October 2019 said ‘send me the names and I will deal with this’.
The Northfields Community Library organisation hopes to open the Northfields CML in April 2020. Perivale Community Hive, a Charity Incorporated Organisation, was formed in November 2019 to run the Perivale CML. Ealing Community Voluntary Services (ECVS) will be running West Ealing Library. It is currently also recruiting and training volunteers and is promising limited opening of the West Ealing CML in late April 2020.
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Nothing more was heard and NP collected names of over 70 residents who had been fined. With this we negotiated a meeting with the Council’s Head of Parking. She wanted to recompense residents on our 70+ list and ignore everyone else. Surely an IT search could identify all those fined and the Council could recompense all of them? A complaint was sent by NP to Councillors on 20 December 2019. On 28 January 2020 December Councillor Sabiers (Cabinet Transport portfolio holder) wrote ‘all the affected 1,200 residents…have been compensated. From local knowledge this is definitely not the case. On 7 February 2020 ‘Private Eye’ reported ‘….3,000 parking tickets had been issued to unsuspecting residents who are going to be refunded’. It seems £147,000 was unfairly collected from residents. It will take a Freedom of Information request (or perhaps more than one) to confirm that all 3,000 residents have been repaid. So, what next? We'll report back in our next issue.
Putting the People of Ealing First
By Arthur B reens, Will French
and
Eric Leach
Ealing Social Services Accountability Campaign ESSAC is a community support group for families who have been impacted by child protection services in the borough. There are instances where people are falsely accused in most unfortunate actions and the harm of these can be worse than if the services had never been involved. We are a group of a considerable number with diverse experience of how things can go so badly wrong and of how difficult it is to seek redress. We can support others in the strictest of confidence. If you or anyone you know is having difficulties please contact Louise Buchanan on 07895 050879 or at: Louisebb602@aol.com.
Save Gurnell Because developer EcoWorld pulled out of its deal with Ealing Council, this does not mean that plans for Gurnell are not going ahead. EcoWorld has withdrawn from part of the build and will not now be involved in the delivery of the replacement leisure centre or ’affordable’ housing. The Council is taking on direct responsibility for the leisure centre build and the associated risk. The likely cost to the Council and how much EcoWorld is paying for the land are being kept under wraps. The Planning Application is expected to be published in February 2020. For more details, to be kept informed and the campaign’s online petition, see http://savegurnell.org.uk
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Ealing Notes continueD Ealing Reclaim Social Care Action Group Further to the autumn edition of Neighbours Paper, Ealing Reclaim Social Care Action Group (ERSCAG) is busy taking testimony from services users about difficulties in accessing services, delays in assessments of need, and reviews of existing packages of care/support. The situation has deteriorated. This has
led several families to cancel or reduce services as they cannot afford them; others have struggled to pay but have got into arrears and fear legal action by the Council. Detailed case-studies are being collected to illustrate the distress being caused. For more information, contact Roy Willis, ERSCAG, 07726 132125.
Perceval House
Save Victoria Hall Ealing Council is attempting to give away Ealing’s largest public hall – and it doesn’t even own it! Victoria Hall is owned by a Charitable Trust called Victoria Hall Trust (VHT) formed in 1893. The Charity Commission has published a Scheme which would allow the objects of VHT to be changed. These changes would facilitate Ealing Council disposing of Victoria Hall, Prince’s Hall and some associated rooms to be handed over to the hotel operator Mastcraft for 200 years. A large number of objections to the Scheme have been sent to the Commission. The largest submission – 644 pages – was submitted by the Friends of the Victoria Hall (FoVH) being advised by the county’s leading charity lawyers Bates & Wells. FoVH was formed by seven local residents and community groups to spearhead the campaign to save the halls for community use in perpetuity. The Commission has indicated it could be weeks before it decides what to do. It’s likely further legal expense
will be incurred by FoVH to save the halls. Funding via CrowdJustice is at: www.crowdjustice.com/case/savethe-victoria-hall/ Cash raised as at 17 February 2020 was £7,512 Full campaign details at savethevictoriahall.weebly.com
Plans to develop Perceval House to provide replacement Council offices, a new Central library, new Customer Centre and 500 new homes rising to 26 storeys are close to submission for planning approval. The massive development will transform central Ealing, but local people have been kept well away from any involvement in the design process. Exhibitions in a corridor at Ealing Broadway Centre on 6 and 8 February 2020 jointly hosted by Vistry (Galliford Try that was) and Ealing Council added very little to our previous knowledge. We were told that Vistry would be given a 200 year lease on the land and that the life expectancy of the new buildings would be 40 years. There will be two lifts to access the customer centre and library on the first floor. Some of the basement will be taken up by some 1,000 bike racks. The public were invited to respond on a pre-prepared questionnaire that avoided any questions about the things people most care about – the height, bulk and massing of this huge scheme.
8 St Johns Parade, Mattock Lane, Ealing W13 9LL
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Edible Playgrounds NP Education Correspondent The Edible Playgrounds programme transforms school grounds into vibrant outdoor teaching gardens that inspire hands-on learning and get children excited about growing and eating healthy food. What started off as tentative steps towards establishing food growing spaces in some of London’s inner-city schools ten years ago, has now blossomed into a hugely ambitious programme spreading across 12 UK towns and cities.
Comprehensive engagement is undertaken with the school community including design, build, planting with pupils, teacher training and planning support throughout the academic year. The uniqueness and value of this lies in embedding food-growing into the school curriculum across all subjects so that teachers learn to teach through gardening. This approach leads to fresh innovative ways as an outdoor teaching resource. Dormers Wells Infant School, Southall
Edible Playgrounds is an initiative by the Trees for Cities charity. The charity is the only one in the UK working at a national and international scale to improve lives by planting trees in cities around the world. The charity gets stuck in with local communities to cultivate lasting change in their neighbourhoods – whether it’s revitalising forgotten spaces, creating healthier environments or growing food with kids. Since the charity began working with Islington’s Rockmount Primary in 2009, it has brought Edible Playgrounds to 100 schools, impacting 68,000 pupils. Exposure to unhealthy food and limited opportunities to grow and eat good food is leading to one in three children leaving Primary school overweight or obese. Edible Playgrounds help improve health and wellbeing, open up access to nature, and provide a fun outdoor learning environment.
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Head teachers have told us how crucial the teaching gardens have been towards increasing the wellbeing of the school community. Harsha Patel, former Headteacher at Dormers Wells Infant School in Southall, said: “Edible Playgrounds develop young minds with life skills that support them to be global citizens. The children learn how they have the greatest power to make choices that will transform the whole planet and their own health and well-being.” Paul Jackson, Head teacher at Manorfield Primary School in Tower Hamlets, said, “The school was having low SATs results and poor behaviour. The Edible Playground gave us a focal point for overall school improvement and it had a huge impact on parental engagement and the children’s level of enthusiasm.”
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St. Marks Edible Playground St Mark’s Primary School, Hanwell Construction of the Edible Playground at St Mark’s is well underway and will be completed in early February. The next steps are to plant fruits and herbs and to sow seeds for the school’s first crops! Sophie Liardet, Head Teacher St Mark’s Primary School said “Our Edible Playground project will provide the opportunity for our children to grow, harvest, cook and eat fruit and vegetables, while integrating outdoor learning into the school curriculum, which benefits children’s health and education. We are very excited to begin using this regenerated space this term.” Update to come in next newsletter! For Further information https://www.treesforcities. org/edibleplaygrounds Watch the Edible Playgrounds film: https://youtu.be/wc80FUbQndM
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The Charity of William Hobbayne William Hobbayne was a 15th Century Yeoman. Upon his death in 1484 he left 22 acres to the Parish of Hanwell in a charity called ‘The Charity of William Hobbayne’ (CoWH). His Will has apparently been lost, and its contents have been the subject of controversy and difficulties because of legal inexactitude. The charity is surely the oldest in Ealing. The seminal study on the history of the charity was written by S.M. Dawson and published in 1964. Centuries of Help for the Poor Recurring themes over the centuries in the work of the charity have been the reparation and maintenance of the Parish Church of Hanwell, relief for the poor and the children of the poor, education and other charitable works. In 1683 there are reports of charity Trustees misgoverning, and there are public records of Trustee meetings held in 1771, 1781, 1811 and 1813. In 1964 CoWH helped parents by providing books and clothes, as well as offering scholarships in Secondary and higher education. Details of recent CoWH activities have proved hard to obtain. Details on land and buildings’ ownership, finances and even Trustee identities and Trustee meetings are sadly missing on its web site. My request to
CoWH for a report on 2019 activities was met by a refusal. The most useful details are to be found on the Charity Commission’s web site for the period 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018.
CoWH first claimed land ownership and then expressed a desire to own the land. A more complete story of this ongoing saga can be found at https://hanwellblogs.wordpress. com/2020/02/09/fencegate-the-facts/
CoWH Has Funds of £6.8 Million It also made an annual profit (called a ‘Surplus’ in charity speak) of £82,998. Its many good works include (uncosted) support for Food Banks, Mencap, St Mungo’s (homeless charity) and 15 other good causes and charities mainly in Hanwell. However in 2017/18 it spent just £26,249 on ’activities in furtherance of the charities objectives’. 0n 25 April 2019 CoWH erected a solid two metre high wooden fence with concrete posts around a piece of land adjacent to the river Brent linking the southern end of Billets Hart Close with the CoWH owned William Hobbayne Community Gardens Allotments. The land is part of St Margaret’s Open Space, Ealing Parks and the Brent River Park. It has been classed as Public Open space and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation for the past 15 years. When quizzed about this land enclosure
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Charities can be very much a law unto themselves. Often they are not bodies with members who meet annually and elect a management committee. Trustees are internally appointed and only disappear by resignation or death. Supposedly they are held to account by the Charity Commission. However the Commission with just 400 staff and over 160,000 registered charities in England & Wales will have little time, if any, to cast an eye over most of them. More on CoWH at: www.williamhobbaynecharity.co.uk
The William Hobbayne Centre
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Choirs in Ealing by
Eric Leach
Capital Chorus Formed in 1983, male singers from 20 to 70 something in age sing a cappella in the barbershop style. Mondays at 7:45pm. Kingsdown Methodist Church, 2 Kingsdown Avenue, W13 9PR. www.capitalchorus.co.uk Ealing Choral Society One of London’s best choirs. Mondays 7:35pm – 9:45pm. Ealing Green Church Hall, W5 3QT. www.ealingchoralsociety.org.uk Ealing Children’s Choir and Ealing Youth Choir High quality choral repertoire at local events. Saturday location: Twyford CoE School, Twyford Crescent, W3 9PP. Summer Term begins 25 April. Fees/term £100 - £375. 020 8930 0579 and admin@ejms.org.uk Love Northolt Community Choir A mixture of popular songs. First and third Mondays each month 8:00pm. Free. St Richard’s Church, Sussex Crescent, Northolt UB5 4DR. 020 8841 5691. https://northolt.org/community-choir/ Ealing Common Choir Unauditioned singers, especially keen to see new Sopranos and Tenors. Three concerts/year. Thursdays 7:30pm. St Mathews Church, North Common Road W5 2QA. www.smce.org.uk
Q uestors Choir Christmas Concert
Ealing Community Gospel Choir Formed in 2016 the choir is open to all who enjoy singing. Second and third Sundays. 3:00 – 5:00pm. St Barnabas Church, Pitshanger Lane, W5.1QG. £2/rehearsal. ministry.admin@barnabas.net Questors Choir A 60-strong mixed voice choir. A yearly programme running from September to July. Questors Theatre, 12 Mattock Lane W5 5BQ. 07802 720333. www.questorschoir.org Rock Choir 10 years old, there are 350 Rock Choirs nationwide. Tuesdays 7:30pm – 9:30pm. Grange Primary School, Church Gardens W5 4HN. Free singing taster session. £25/ month. 01252 714276. www.rockchoir.com Sing Gospel A non-audition choir open to all ages with no experience necessary. Thursdays 7:30pm. Christ the Saviour Primary School, W5 2AA. 020 3856 9800. www.singgospel.co.uk
at
St. Martin's Church
The Love2sing Choir Started in the Hanwell Community Centre in 2008. West Ealing Daytime - Mondays 1:00 - 3:00pm, North Hanwell Baptist Church, Cuckoo Avenue W7. West Ealing Evening - Tuesdays 7:30 – 9:30pm, North Hanwell Baptist Church, Cuckoo Avenue W7. South Ealing Evening – Thursdays 7:00 – 9:00pm, Grange Primary School, Church Gardens W5 4HN. www.love2sing.co.uk
Join a warm and friendly group near you today! Wednesdays – Perivale
Perivale Primary School, UB6 7AP pm: 5.30 & 7.30
Thursdays –South Ealing
The Polygon, St Mary’s Church, W5 5RH am: 9.30 & 11.30 pm: 5.30 & 7.30
Call Louise on 07777 645280
Wednesdays – Hanwell
North Hanwell Baptist Church, W7 1BW am: 9.30 pm: 3.30, 5.30 & 7.30
Mondays – Brentford
Inverness Lodge, TW8 8DW am: 9.30 & 11.30 pm: 1.30, 3.30, 5.30, 7.30
Call Lisa on 07944 806624
just turn ororjust turnup! up!
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Putting the People of Ealing First
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Save The Tudor Rose For over 35 years the Tudor Rose has been at the forefront of musical and event entertainment and holds a prominent and historic place in Southall. Now Ealing Council wants to demolish it. Built on the Green in 1910 as the Southall Electric Theatre; it was Southall’s first cinema and the first cinema in the UK to show Bollywood films. As a music venue for over thirty years it has hosted artistes including Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Womack and Womack, Amy Winehouse, Shaggy and Ava Golding. There are precious few social assets left in the area. The Tudor Rose is the vibrant heart of the Afro-Caribbean community as a
by
Libby K emp
music venue and for receptions, weddings and funerals. Their charity assists young and elderly people with community services including mentoring, financial management, parenting and selfesteem classes and is considered a wide-ranging community asset. Ealing Council and Peabody Enterprises Limited (Peabody) intend to build houses on the site and will submit a planning application very soon. Campaigners to save the Tudor Rose, believe that both the Council and Peabody have failed to carry out proper public consultation and an equality impact assessment. The Tudor Rose is at the centre of Southall’s shared cultural heritage. Unthinking demolition will send out a very negative message for community relations. But this is not just about the Tudor Rose it is about Ealing Council’s total disregard for the electorate by either giving away or demolishing all the borough’s secular meeting places. Acton Town Hall which was a popular venue for live music, once featured a seminal concert by Joe Strummer with The Clash, Billy Bragg, Jah Shakker and many others. It has now been converted into luxury flats unaffordable to Actonians, who have been left with a soulless small room above the library. Also attempts by Ealing Council to dispose of Southall Town Hall – housing Southall’s major secular meeting rooms – have so far thankfully been unsuccessful. One of the oldest Working Men’s Clubs on the South Acton Estate will soon be gone
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Outside
the
Tudor Rose
and the youth centre on the estate has been replaced with what can only be described as a shoe box. Many more community halls in the borough will disappear with redevelopment. The worst will be the loss of the Victoria Hall and Prince’s Hall at Ealing Town Hall. Ealing will lose the largest publicly available meeting space in Ealing. All we have is an amateur theatre and no cinema for over ten years. Ealing is a cultural desert, but at least the transport is good allowing us to go elsewhere. “The Tudor Rose is an important asset to our diverse community. I believe it needs to be protected, and not developed into housing. I have spoken to Cllr Bell about the importance of keeping Tudor Rose and he has been hopeful we can save it.” So Tweeted MP for Southall Virendra Sharma. Will he stand by his Tweet?. https://www.facebook.com/ HandsOffTudorRose https://www.change.org/p/ diaspora-save-the-tudor-rose
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Spring Poems Spring in England
Spring Promise
Spring
It’s almost like Spring is upon us
A delicate blend of early
January days were drear
With its soothing flowery scents
fragrance and blossoming birth
But today the sun shines
Calmly floating, resting in the breeze
Reawakening sleeping earth as worms
Puddles and ponds are frozen
And the gentle sun spreading
descend the depth and roots uplift,
But the first snowdrops appear
its lively warmth
Spanning their tentacles,
An ice-cold wind blows
Across the regenerating landscapes
weaving, twisting.
But pink gleams in the camelia
Of nature’s first embrace.
Their very force pushing
Frost is hard on the grass
towards the surface.
But buds form on the trees
Spring is upon us; it’s here to stay
Soothing sun breathes forth and
And best of all is….
But don’t get carried away…
radiates, drawing upon the life below.
The warm sun on my face
In a few months, Spring will change.
Spring has arrived.
At last!
It won’t return for another year
by
Valerie Rudd
by J udy
B reens
So enjoy it while it lasts. By Manjinder Chijarh
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Ealing Council in 2019 By Eric Leach
Here are just some of the things Ealing Council did in 2019: January Seven Council Public Libraries to close. Ealing Parks Foundation formed - volunteers to run our parks. February 20mph speed limit introduced. Stop and Shop parking withdrawal threatened - furious opposition. March The Government closes down the ailing 2012 NHS North West London ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ project, which planned to close Ealing Hospital’s A&E unit. The Council erroneously claims the credit for the abandonment of this £250+ million fiasco April Council declares a Climate Emergency May Residents move into the Southall Gas Works/Southall Waterside site. Plans unveiled for 26 and 25 storey towers adjacent to West Ealing Station. Planning Application approved for hotel operator Mastcraft to take over Ealing Town Hall. June Perceval House to be demolished and replaced with 500 new flats, new smaller Central Library, Council offices and Customer Centre promised. Tallest tower is 26 storeys
July Southall residents claim noxious fumes causing illness at and around the old Gas Works residential development. Ealing Broadway Station public realm improvements announced – public respond unfavourably. Children’s Centres in North Ealing and Wood End to close. August A resident is fined £150 for dropping a cigarette butt and a small trader is fined £300 for not having the correct waste/recycling paperwork. September Gurnell development with 612 new homes and a new leisure centre announced. But developer EcoWorld pulls out of funding/building the new affordable housing and leisure centre. Friends of The Victoria Hall formed to prevent the Council giving away Victoria Hall, which it does not own. October Acton Arts Project – a local stakeholders’ initiative – finally wins the opportunity for a 24 year lease to re-purpose and re-open Acton Old Library as a community/arts centre. The residents-inspired Planning User Group (PUG) meets with Council’s Planning bosses. The Chief Planning Officer disliked residents’ criticisms and threatened to close the PUG down. ‘Planning’ magazine reports that Ealing Council is in ‘Special Measures’ as the Government
Putting the People of Ealing First
ranks Ealing up to June 2019 as the worst national Local Authority for determining planning applications within Government time limits. November That London Plan inspector’s report recommends the Ealing’s 10 year (2019 – 2028) housing target is reduced from 28,070 to 21,750 – a reduction of 33%. The Friary Park development is approved in North Acton replacing perfectly acceptable homes built 35 years ago with tower blocks. Angry local opposition. The Local History Centre moves from West Ealing Library to an attic room in the Dominion Centre in Southall – its second relocation in two years. December Hanwell, Northfields, Perivale and West Ealing Public Libraries close. Volunteer Community Managed Libraries are announced to replace them. Hanwell Nature initiates Judicial Review proceedings against the Council on the grounds that no environmental impact assessment of Warren Farm was carried out prior to the Council gifting the land to QPR. To view a group discussion of some of these 2019 Council initiatives see: https://exposurebox.com/ ealing-news-2019/
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Octopush Underwater Hockey By Michael Holmes What is Octopush and how did it start? Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush (mainly in the United Kingdom) is a globally played limitedcontact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling it with a hockey stick (pusher). Tracing its origins back to 1954 when Alan Blake, founder of a Sub-Aqua Club invented the sport in England. Two teams of up to ten players compete, with six players in each team in play at any one time. The remaining four players are continually substituted into play from a substitution area, which may be either on deck or in the water outside the playing area. Playing the Game Before the start of play the puck is placed in the centre of the pool, and the players wait in the water whilst touching the wall above the goal they are defending. At the start-of-play signal (usually a buzzer or a gong) members of both teams are free to swim anywhere in the play area and try to score by manoeuvring the puck into the opponents' goal. Players hold their breath as they dive to the bottom of the pool (a form of dynamic apnoea,
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as in free-diving). Play continues until either a goal is scored, when players return to their wall to start a new point, or a break in play is signalled by a referee (whether due to a foul, a timeout, or the end of the period of play). The West London Underwater Hockey Club is home to several Team GB players and our ladies’ team is one of the strongest women’s teams in the UK. They are ranked amongst the Top 3 UK teams, and regularly take two teams to all the major domestic British Octopush Association - BOA competitions. Classes take place twice a week at the Gurnell Leisure Centre in Greenford, Ealing from 21.45pm – 23.00pm on Fridays and 15.15pm – 17.00pm on Sundays, meeting poolside.
to just come along and all levels of experience are catered for. Our hockey players, whilst they may take their sport very seriously, are always more than willing to help rookies. Fully trained coaches run each session and we have lots of spare kit available for beginners who’d like to give the sport a go. Best of all, your first session with us is completely free and guest sessions after that are only £7 a session. What are the benefits for Ealing and the wider community?
How can people get involved?
Underwater hockey is an excellent way to stay in shape. The constant swimming will improve your cardio, as well as your stamina. You will also strengthen your core muscles, like your abs and back, playing this game.
We welcome players of all ages – currently our two sessions range in age from 18-65! Anyone is welcome
More info at: www.gbuwh.co.uk/club. php?club_id=4%20
Putting the People of Ealing First