At an Ealing Council Planning Committee meeting on 16^th January, the Labour Councillors voted to allow a five story building on the land overlooking the Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve, on Bollo Lane, Chiswick. Council documents showed that there is likely to be harm to flora and fauna including bats and reptiles.

An article in the Evening Standard revealed that Ealing is the the third worst borough in London for having the most unhygienic outlets to eat out. There were a total of 228 restaurants and takeaways, 11% of the total number of outlets in Ealing that were rated zero or one star for hygiene.

Thoughtless planning of CPZs (Controlled parking Zones) in Ealing is becoming a habit. An earlier decision to install a CPZ near Scotch Common is already causing chaos. Now the Labour Council is planning another badly thought-out CPZ.

If you live in the area of Poets Corner this concerns you. 

Liberal Democrat candidate Nigel Bakhai doubled the vote in the Dormers Wells by-election, held on 8th November after the death of Councillor Bagha recently.

There was also a swing in the vote FROM Labour TO the Liberal Democrats, indicating some dissatisfaction with the Council. The turnout fell from the local elections in May, also showing a fall in satisfaction with the Labour-run Council.

Vassia Paloumbi commented that she lives on Southfield Road, which has quite a big stretch of the road is straight, and it is easier for drivers to speed. Vassia was really shocked when a year ago a person was killed only a few metres from her flat.

Vassia Paloumbi commented: "Knowing that someone was killed which could have been totally avoidable, made me take part of the speed-checking sessions organised by Southfield's Community Road Watch (CRW) and the Police."

Action to fix a long running issue of the wall jutting out on Acton Lane has taken place. Many residents raised concerns about the safety of pedestrians, particularly children, and the close running traffic near the bridge.

After much negotiation and hard work, your Liberal Democrat Councillors, along with help from residents (Duncan Campbell, Stephen Koltai, Tej Chauhan and Peter Rodgers) and Council officers, the removal of this wall began back in May and is due to be complete in early August.

Your three Southfield Liberal Democrat Councillors visited every street and park in Southfield ward, where 469 problems were identified. The top three issues observed were:

• Leaves & litter.
• Trip hazards (pavements and kerbs).
• Blocked drains.

Since them we have repeated the street audit in other locations across the borough and found a similar poor level of cleanliness by Labour-run Ealing Council.

A recent Neighbourhood Forum included CPZ (controlled parking zone) on the agenda. Labour councillor Sitarah Anjum announced that CPZ charges were to go up to encourage low-carbon vehicles. The Forum erupted.

This wasn't what everyone expected!

The new councillors had clearly never been briefed on the active CPZ issues in Cleveland. A new CPZ south of Scotch Common had resulted in extra parking pressures in Bellevue Rd and chaos on Scotch Common because of displaced parked cars and lorries.  The full story from March is here.

A petition of local residents was signed by over 400 people. The petition didn't ask for the CPZ to be removed. Simply that a large stretch of (now largely unused) parking on Cleveland Road be opened up for free parking to relieve the pressure on Scotch Common. Cleveland Road is wide, has much less traffic than Scotch Common and has no houses fronting on the stretch in question. The petition was presented to the council and promises were made that the situation would be reviewed.

What has happened since then?

Nothing.

By the end of the Forum, the Labour Councillors were left in no doubt that this was an active issue and that action was expected. We shall see how this develops. Watch this space.

At the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Steed spoke up to both show how Ealing Council could easily fund a reversal of the redundancy of its only conservation officer, as well as possibly stopping the closure of Pitshanger Lane Library.

Library Cuts:
In relation to Council plans which will lead to the closure of Pitshanger Library, the Council admitted that they may now wish to continue to site the library at the same location.

Councillor Andrew Steed said: “Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Council plans to either close libraries or reduce the size of our libraries. Labour Councillors made a pledge to volunteer at libraries but when we asked how many hours had each councillor spent helping out our libraries they said they would not tell us! It appears only the Liberal Democrats want to invest in Ealing’s education.”

At the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Steed gained a number of agreements from Ealing Council which will protect the current users of Southfield Recreational Grounds’ football pitches and tennis courts, if a sport hub for teenagers is opened in the future on the Rec.

The agreement covered a number of aspects including:

• Current users of the football pitches and tennis courts would be able to have access to hire pitches and courts if a sports hub was open in the future.
• Pricing for current users of the football pitches and tennis courts will not be increased any more than the average pricing change across Ealing borough.
• Local residents, Councillors and The Southfield Park Triangle Residents’ Association (SPTRA) will be consulted about a sports hub if one is proposed in the future.