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We love local businesses!

by Nick Chapman

Local businesses in Ealing

When you think about the natural political party of business, you might not think of the Green Party straight away.  We want to change all that.

Ealing has some incredible local businesses, and we want everyone to know about them.

Over the coming months, we will be championing local businesses, particularly those who are doing something cool for sustainability.  As a sneak preview, we have lined up:

  • A florist selling plants that literally suck pollution out of the air;
  • Food shops stocking loose produce to cut plastic and waste;
  • Eco-friendly cleaning products;
  • Local restaurants and cafes that are going organic;
  • An estate agent reducing energy usage;
  • Furniture sellers upcycling some stylish and amazing creations.
  • A council contractor saving us money by processing the wood he harvests to resell it locally; and
  • A local coffee merchant taking on the giants.

Do you run, use or know an amazing local business and want to tell the world?  Please tell us about them now!

Green policies

In the meantime, with local elections coming up on 3 May 2018, you might be interested in some Green policies you can vote for right now.  These are:

  • Scrap business rates (they are unfair)
  • Set up a small business resilience fund to help small firms get through major events like floods or fires
  • Ensure Ealing Council has a designated councillor to be a ‘Small Business Champion’, giving local businesses a voice
  • Helping small businesses to identify available support to take on apprentices, such as financial assistance and guidance
  • Increase in the number of council contracts aimed at micro and small businesses
  • Review the Business Improvement Districts and make them work for the local businesses rather than the multi-nationals
  • Ensure that prime contractors pass on the payment terms of the council to their subcontracted suppliers – by building this into their contracts and monitoring if this has been fulfilled
  • Increase the number of networking and training events provided by Ealing Council to allow small businesses ‘punch above their weight’.

People who live and work locally reduce their footprint, boost their local economy and help our local town centres thrive: the Ealing Green party want to help create the next generation of local business heroes.

OBJECT HERE: Development Overdrive in Hanwell: We Need to Speak Up Now

by Anne Curtis

Did you know…?

There are 457 new units proposed in one square mile of Hanwell right now.  Sites like Wickes/Nissan, the so-called “Marshall” site next to Gold’s Gym and the former Peugeot Garage site are due to spring 6-9 storeys high!  What has been happening across London is coming to Hanwell: intensive, inappropriate, high-rise flats.

Parking hell on the way

Under the guise of sounding “green”, many of these developments offer zero or limited parking.  But people have cars, and they will have to park them on our roads and traffic congestion will increase.  A Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) will not resolve this.

No solution to the housing crisis

For sure, London needs more homes.  But these developments are not the solution.  They will be unaffordable for people most in need of somewhere to live.

We need real homes for local people, not overseas investors

Many of these proposed flats are really rabbit hutches: low ceilings, cramped rooms and virtually zero green space. These are being developed for maximum profit, not as places for people to live.

Wrecking the community

Hanwell is a wonderful place because people can live, study, work and shop here.  Flats like these will overwhelm our overstretched hospitals, schools and public transport.

Who is Ealing Council working for?

Ealing seems to be working only for the big landowners and developers, not for local people.  The Labour-dominated council needs a Green voice to hold them to account.

Hanwell needs to speak up for what it wants

The people of Hanwell need to pull together to develop a vision for what we want our community to be.

What can I do?

You can object to several of the developments illustrated on the map above, which are currently in the Council’s consultation process.  Below are links to take you directly to the relevant part of the planning portal.

We need a strategy for Hanwell, and we’d like to hear from you.  What is your vision for our neighbourhood?  Do we need flats or community facilities?

Links to the Ealing Planning Portal

To comment on the Wickes/Nissan development of 283 units in units ranging from 5 to 7 storeys, go to this link.

To comment on the so-called “Marshall” building of 59 units in a structure 9 storeys high with no parking provision, go to this link.

To sign the petition against the Marshall building go to this link.

To comment on the 9 unit (5 flats and 4 townhouses) development at 16 Boston Road, go to this link.

To comment on the 6 unit redevelopment of the former Horseshoe Cafe at 68 Boston Road, go to this link.

To comment on the 4-5 unit extension and redevelopment of the building at 3 Westminster Road, go to this link.

Ealing needs a Green Voice

Image: Map contains information from https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/ under the Open Database License (ODbL)

Protecting Green Spaces

by Jeremy Parker

BRP north - Alford

Ealing’s green open spaces are one of our greatest assets. From Gunnersbury Park to Northfields allotments to the expanses of the Brent River Park and Horsenden Hill, our green spaces provide facilities for sport, exercise, quiet enjoyment or growing food. And Green open space has been shown to improve mental and physical well-being for people of all ages.

Our green spaces also provide a haven for wildlife. Without them, many species of plant and animal life could not survive in the borough. And our green spaces have the lowest levels of air pollution, and they help to ameliorate the effects of climate change.

Spending on parks has always been a very small proportion of the council’s budget. And yet despite their importance to our quality of life, Ealing’s parks and other open spaces have suffered savage cuts in investment in recent years.

New Threats to Our Green Spaces

And now there are further threats: Ealing council plans to take Warren Farm out of public use.  The land is going to Queen’s Park Rangers football club for a training facility. Northfields allotments are threatened by a new housing development.

Ealing Green Party believes that all green open space should be protected. We also believe public access should be provided wherever possible. We recognise there are pressures to build more homes and provide other facilities, but we are adamant that these homes and facilities should not be built on green open spaces.

When our green spaces shrink, our quality of life is reduced.

How You Can Help
Support the campaign to Save Warren Farm: http://www.savewarrenfarm.com/
Support the campaign to Protect Northfields Allotments: https://www.facebook.com/savenorthfieldsallotments/

Organisations and Groups You Can Join
Hanwell & Norwood Green Orchard Trail: https://orchardtrail.wordpress.com/
Ealing Friends of the Earth: http://www.ealingfoe.org.uk/
Ealing Wildlife Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ealingwildlife/

Article by Nic Ferriday

Stop Killing Cyclists “Die-In” 8th November 2017

by Jeremy Parker
Jerome Rousel
Jerome Roussel
Another cyclist dies on London’s deadly, polluted roadways. On 8th November cycling campaigners came together with the people of Islington to remember father of four Jerome Roussel who, as so many before him, was killed in a collision with a Heavy Goods Vehicle.
Caroline Russell
Caroline Russell, Green Party rep on Islington Council
At this protest and “die-in” there was a feeling of growing anger and frustration at Islington Council, who were watching from the building that formed a backdrop to the commemoration.  This anger was articulated in the speeches given by, among others, Caroline Russell, representative of the Green Party on Islington Council as well as the London Assembly, and Donnachadh McCarthy, founder of the Stop Killing Cyclists pressure group that had organised this event.
Jeremy Parker
Solidarity at the Stop Killing Cyclists Die In
But without doubt the most affecting address was the one given by Victoria Lebrec, another victim of Islington’s roads who had her leg amputated after it was crushed by a HGV.  Ms Lebrec branded Islington Council’s lack of action on cycling safety “an insult”.  And it is no wonder, when, despite having cash reserves that have swelled to over a quarter of a billion pounds, this local authority has built no protected cycleways in the last TWENTY YEARS.
Despite the deaths. Despite the life-changing injuries.
Not a metre.
Victoria Lebrec
Victoria Lebrec, a victim of Islington’s dangerous roads
Shame on you Islington Council.
The focal point of the commemoration was the moment when the members of the protest walked out into the road in front of the Islington council building and “died”. For ten minutes we lay motionless in a symbolic gesture, and a cry for action, while the police held the traffic at bay.
Donnachad McCarthy
Donnachad McCarthy, founder of Stop Killing Cyclists
It is to be hoped that action will now be taken, and that Islington’s long wait for safer highways will soon be at least partially ameliorated. The council’s reaction to this situation, a pithy statement on Twitter that they were “open” to improvements in cycling facilities, hardly makes for a solid commitment, but we will see.
Meanwhile, the very next day after this demonstration, and a week and a half after a protest in Ealing that followed after the death of Claudia Manera, another cyclist is killed in West London. And yet again the culprit is a heavy goods vehicle.
Stop Killing Cyclists
Pictures: Peter Marshall

Jeremy Parker – A Potential Green Voice on Ealing Council

by Jeremy Parker

After living in Ealing for nearly three years I feel I have gained a good understanding of the local issues that the district faces (like the sale of Warren Farm and Ealing Town Hall and the threat to Northfields allotments), and how the national issues that affect us all manifest themselves in Ealing (like air pollution, the NHS, affordable housing and the Heathrow extension). Having a councillor would give the Ealing Greens a voice and an ability to affect these issues constructively, and I would very much like to be a channel for that voice, to assist the party in making a difference and helping people.

During the run up to the 2017 election I met and spoke to many people in the Elthorne Ward in the course of our campaigning, and the positive response we received gives me confidence that we will have a good chance of success in 2018. I would be pleased to dedicate all my energy to achieve this success, and would take great pride in representing the Green Party and working towards implementing the many great ideas that the Ealing Greens have in achieving a fairer, more sustainable Ealing and London.

Demonstration – Make Uxbridge Road Safe

by Jeremy Parker

 

On Saturday 28th November the people of Ealing came together to pay tribute to Claudia Manera, a keen cyclist and runner who had dedicated her life to helping others – first as a policewoman and later as a personal trainer. Claudia tragically perished after a collision with a lorry at the junction of Northfields Avenue and the Uxbridge Road. Claudia passed away in hospital on 19th October, a week after the accident.

 

As well as remembering Claudia, people had come to demand that the Uxbridge Road, the main highway that runs through Hanwell, West Ealing and Ealing Broadway as it heads towards central London be made safer. This incident is only the latest in a string of deaths and injuries that have stricken cyclists and pedestrians in recent years.

The turnout for the demonstration was excellent, and the most moving moments came during the minute’s silence, held at the junction where Claudia met her fate, and later a tribute that was read out for her, first in English and then in the language of Italy, from where Claudia’s family hail.

The Ealing Cycling Campaign group are to be commended for organising a powerful tribute that dignitaries including the head of Ealing council and a local member of parliament
felt compelled to attend. And we can only hope that the message of this protest has struck home, and that this will be the last time we come together to mourn a victim of Uxbridge Road’s deadly junction.

Of all the signs and banners on display, perhaps the most hard hitting one was directed at Ealing Council, condemning them for thirty years of prevarication regarding the dangers of this highway, even as cyclists and pedestrians suffered repeatedly. Surely now Enough is indeed Enough and something must be done.  Time to make Uxbridge Road safe.

Pictures: Peter Marshall

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