Forum Topic

Do We Need The Leaf - Pruned or Not?

Glenkerrin is starting its second attempt to build a housing estate in the centre of Ealing. Along with the Council's sponsored St George Dickens Yard housing estate plans, we are looking at a combined 1,200+ flat housing estate in the centre of Ealing. Is this really what we all want?What about the traditional notion that in the centre of communities are located facilities and services to serve the whole community? Other large towns have a range of such centrally located services like a (functioning) Police Station, a (quality) hospital, an integrated transport hub, an arts centre, sports facilities, educational facilities, (not over-crowded) public GP and dental services, leisure facilities, a professional theatre, a concert hall, a swimming pool, hotels, conference/event facilities, community facilities and business services. Ealing's central area has precious few of these services and facilities. The combined size of Arcadia/Leaf2 and Dickens Yard sites is around 9 acres, and you could provide a very wide range of attractive and useful services on such a site.Shouldn't we be figuring out what will attract people to come into the centre and spend time in the centre, before throwing 100s of flats at the problem and recklessly proposing new retail whilst old retail is collapsing?

Eric Alan Leach ● 6628d19 Comments

I am happy for private enterprise to build what it will finance rather than public funded central attractions.

Graham Weeks ● 6628d

So that's one vote for a housing estate.BTW the way things are going educational, healthcare and other infrastructure developments will all be financed by private enterprise in the immediate future - so your comment about public funding is perhaps inappropriate.

Eric Alan Leach ● 6628d

Money, greed and self-interest are our masters today, civic pride is on a life support system and not expected to live.  Our planners will select the solution which will provide the most income for the council, enabling them to keep the rates down, thereby buying your vote at the next election.  Cynic that I am.

Peter Wright ● 6628d

To be honest, I think it's inevitable really.  Whilst there's this continued obsession to attract more companies and investment into London, there will be a greater and greater need for more and more people to live in London.  There will get a time when there's no more land to build more homes on, so the only other alternative is to go up.  With Crossrail getting approval, Ealing seems a logical place for such a development to be located.I was often surprised by Livingstones thinking on this - he was despirate to get more companies into London, yet had an issue with the logical results of this (ie ever increasing house prices, central congestion and hence the charge).There's also been a lot of comment on this forum about the loss of shops, or the down-turn in the make-up of the shops (I'm pointing at the comments about Primark).  Perhaps the retail areas within these proposals will give Ealing an enlarged shopping area to make it a viable challenger to Westfields, and hence more shops would be encouraged back.Personally, I think there's only a small amount that can be added in terms of residential property to London, as its transport networks (ie roads, tube, rail etc) are above capacity already during the 'rush hours'.  We despirately need to attract companies to the UK, but situate themselves in more cities across the country, or encourage London based companies to move to other cities.  Not only would this ease the burden on London, it will help address the north/south divide

James Lockwood ● 6628d

Do we really need more shops in Ealing? Half of the centre is empty and the high street is being taken over by £1 shops! so why build more retail space? Why not build the new proposed school on the Dickens yard site instead of over Perivale park sports ground.

Pete Gregory ● 6627d

Ealing's problem is that it has too many shops and too many houses close to the Broadway. The narrow pavements on the east side don't make for a particularly attractive shopping experience and where the pavements are wider up towards the Town Hall there aren't that many shops or restaurants worth visiting. There are always crowds of people walking along the main drag but I get the impression that they are heading for the tube station to shop elsewhere.

Andy Jones ● 6595d

"I am happy for private enterprise to build what it will finance rather than public funded central attractions."How about a scrap metal yard? ...there's good money in that. Or maybe a Tesco Extra store in Walpole Park? Maybe Primark could use Pitshanger Manor?The centre of town is a public space, and should be controlled (very) carefully by our public servants, to ensure that it serves the best long-term interests of the town and its people.It looks to me like the current proposals will only damage the town's character, and possibly create a slum. Once the construction is done, you're stuck with it, and have to live with the consequences for a long time ...long after the politicans who made the wretched decision have vanished.Private enterprise needs to be kept on a short leash.

Brian Woodgate ● 6592d

I entirely agree. Ealing lacks a focus or any sort of central square. Unless some thought is put on this it is in danger of becoming just a collection of low grade shops and cafes on the Uxbridge Road.

Paul Cavanagh ● 6588d

The way things are going with the Economy at the moment I don't think anyone needs to worry too much about 'Re-development'.If things carry on the way they are now, the only thing to think of is where to locate the 'Soup Kitchens'!

Colin Vaughan ● 6588d

Ealing does have a square of sorts - Haven Green, and a triangle - Ealing Green. Other than somewhere to lie on grass or play a ball game neither are very pretty. One is a bus parking area and both have so many overgrown trees one cannot appreciate the ghastly architecture of what surrounds them.It might be advantageous to swap the Glenkerrin site with Haven Green. After all it's only parkland. Besides not being sacred it's not even licensed!

Alan Brainsby ● 6588d

Ealing has already lost the plot. Uxbridge is a faboulous place to Shop and has much better shops. Also Kingston has a good mix of large and small plus local businesses along side. Chiswick is pretty good as well. West Ealing 12 years ago was a great centre but look at it now. If you want to see the future for Ealing, take a look at West Ealing's shopping centre. There is some merit to the Town Square plan but it needs real strategic planning with a rebuilt Ealing Broadway station and a Bus Interchange plus better parking at points surrounding the centre. Also cheaper retail space to encourage local off beat businesses to make it an interesting pace to Shop. The Leaf is a stupid Virility symbol for a centre that has already had a vasectomy!! The Broadway centre was designed with the community. let us see some strategy and genuine involvement from the people who have to live in Ealing.

Peter Chadburn ● 6587d

Ealing shopping centre seems to have a large proportion of relatively younger people milling around who I would guess are students at the various colleges. Not that they cause problems but they aren't big shoppers and they probably also account for the central part of Ealing having lots of cheap places to eat but nowhere really any that good.

Andy Jones ● 6580d

Re Colin's point. Exactly!

Nicholas Cullum ● 6579d

The Gazette featured this issue last week with an article based on a report by Glenkirrin which basically said without the Leaf Ealing would revert to the Stone Age. They pointed to the opening of Westfield in the Bush saying this would take away loads of custom from Ealing. This might be true especially if there is good parking at Westfield but I don't really get the point of why it makes the Leaf justifiable.

Andy Jones ● 6575d

I agree. The things that would make me shop more in Ealing are:1) A cleaner shopping area, with less litter and chewing gum - it's time to fine the scuzzers2) A way of crossing the Uxbridge Road that didn't involve waiting at traffic lights - an underpass or bridge over the top linking the two shopping centres3) New shops opening in the empty retail spaces4) Easy parking5) Bus stops nearer to the shops

Liz Haas ● 6571d

So what shops do we need in central Ealing that we haven't got at this time? Identify either by type or trading name.

Alan Brainsby ● 6571d

Home furnishings is a type of shop that Ealing lacks. There's a good kitchen shop, Argos, Robert Dyas and there might be some stuff on the top floor of Next and M&S and tucked away at the back of TK Maxx but little else. So I end up in Richmond, which has Habitat, Dwell, a decent section in House of Fraser, M&S, Next, plus a range of independent stores. I'm not talking about getting massive shops into Ealing to sell furniture, but just a few places where I could buy a candle, vase or throw as a Xmas gift.

Liz Haas ● 6570d

Liz, good point.Times furnishing is now AB Superstores (New Broadway). Maples is now Old Orleans eaterie (Bond Street). There must be more that have gone.

Alan Brainsby ● 6570d

Liz,there is the Cargo Homeshop in the Arcadia Centre (downstairs on the right), which definitely sells candles, vases and throws... and furniture, and some cook stuff, and always seems to have good deals on glasses just when we need to buy some.I think there is also another furnishings shop upstairs in the Arcadia Centre, which I'm pretty sure sells candles, cushions and nothing useful....

David Fox ● 6568d