Forum Topic

Ealing Broadway area

I must say that since moving here just over two and a half years ago Ealing Broadway has really gone down.  I agree with the earlier sentiment of someone who said it feels like being in the 'bronx' at night.  I used to be happy to take my kids there for a meal etc.  but now I don't feel safe enough to do that. I moved from Dulwich in South London.  It has gone up and up despite the not so nice places neighbouring it (Brixton, Camberwell, Peckham).  That don't make me feel so good about the move.  Ealing is getting quite like one of those areas I didn't like visiting. Can anything be done about this? Do enough people care? I fear I have opened a can of worms....

Olivera Babic ● 6789d14 Comments

Why did you move to Ealing?

Alan Brainsby ● 6789d

I agree somewhat with your sentiments. It's clear that the council are trying quite hard to keep the area up to scratch -  there's definitely a lot more cleaning taking place, better lighting, and more flowers / flower baskets to make the place look nice.Unfortunately there has been a significant influx of new residents in the last year or two - many of these seem to think nothing of throwing litter on the pavement, spitting and generally showing little if any respect to the local environment.My assessment is that the council are losing the battle not due to lack of focus on their part but because many of the local population seem to think they have no personal responsibility to keep Ealing clean and tidy. A quick look round Haven Green on a Sunday morning typically sees the whole area strewn with litter despite there being more bins and them being emptied regularly.The problem with Ealing is some of the people who live here.

Ed Yelland ● 6789d

You hit the nail on the head. Lots of action about cleaning up, too little action about dealing with the litter louts themselves.

Peter Wright ● 6789d

My husband is a West London boy born and bred.  He wanted, after 7 years in South London, to come home. We are happy with West London generally and that we made the move, but we didn't expect the area to go down so much.

Olivera Babic ● 6789d

And Ealing will get worse.Not because of the population, however it may be made up, but because of redevelopment and associated indecision*.There are two major developments we are aware of either side of Christchurch. When these get underway there will be fewer shops until completion. The triangle bordered by High Street, Bond Street, and Uxbridge Road can't be too far off, even if it means CPOs being made. Then there is West Ealing Broadway, Hanwell Broadway, perhaps Acton. Even Ealing Broadway Centre could be redeveloped, it is, after all, 20 years old. Olivera may have inadvertently made the point when she mentioned the number of "bargain" shops appearing. This tends to be indicative of cheap, short-lease properties which are time-expiring.Unfortunately we are living in the transition period between the final decay of "old" Ealing and its rebirth. Give it 30 years and Ealing will have become "the place to live".* I don't blame the council for this, either the present administration or those prior. Planning is complex and is ripe for interference from those who should know better than to do so.

Alan Brainsby ● 6788d

"The triangle bordered by High Street, Bond Street, and Uxbridge Road can't be too far off, even if it means CPOs being made."The old Lamertons portion of that particular triangle has been ripe for development for years. It's such a waste of good town centre space. The three(or is it four) floors above seem to have been empty for yonks - it could have housed umpteen deserving families. 

Gerry Tan ● 6788d

I wonder how structurally sound it is? There was a fire (1970s?).It brings back memories of the really heavy snow we had in '62/63?. I had just come out of the old post office opposite when there was an almighty rumble. The snow on the roof of Lamerton's had slipped. It fell from the south end to the north end bringing down the guttering with it. Unfortunately there was a lady underneath looking up. She was showered with snow but unhurt.

Alan Brainsby ● 6788d

I remember that nice old post office. And also the police station on t'other side of the road from Lamertons. There was an olf fashioned dairy there too, with marble counters and large milk churns. All gone now - I wonder if the Ealing broadway area is better now than it was in those lovely days? Ah well sadly, nostalgia ain't what is used to be!  :-(

Gerry Tan ● 6788d

I do hope Alan is right about Ealing becoming the 'place to live' in 30 years time. Perhaps its not just Ealing that suffers from people who don't care about the place ? It seems to be countywide. I came to London from Derby some 25 years ago.  When I occasionally go back there I see the town centre full of drunks, druggies and people of no longterm fixed abode.  There are police all over just patrolling them.  I don't remember it like that at all.  Just opened there's a flashy new shopping centre built by Westfield besides loads of other new out of town shopping centres.  The council seem to do their bit (and indeed the council are visibly doing more in Ealing since I got here) but still the place seems to be going through a degeneration.  Perhaps a flashy shopping centre won't do the trick in Ealing but its definately better than doing nothing.  We need some new laws to make somehow harder to disrespect the place. Don't they do that in Sweden?

Olivera Babic ● 6788d

Not more rules for this now police state. You cannot produce pride in anything by regulation.

Graham Weeks ● 6788d

Sad but true..

Olivera Babic ● 6788d

My wife had a day trip to Doncaster, her home town, a couple of weeks ago.She said that the town centre had been further modernized from a major rebuilding a few years back. The people hadn't changed though..It strikes me that a disproportionate amount of money is being spent in the provinces at the expense of London.

Alan Brainsby ● 6788d

"It strikes me that a disproportionate amount of money is being spent in the provinces at the expense of London."No. It strikes me that a disproportionate amount of money is being spent in Scotland and to a lesser extent Wales at the expense of the tax payer in England.

Graham Weeks ● 6787d

My brother and law and his wife live in Pembroke where my husband's family is from - there's not much sign of any money being spent there!  We tend think of that part of the world as being picturesque and pleasant as its a holiday destination - in fact there are terrible drug and poverty problems.  (Even though it's incredibly beautiful).

Jane Salisbury ● 6787d