Forum Topic

New Leaf Decision - Public Invited to Watch on 17th

7:00pm on Wednesday 17th December, Ealing Town Hall is the place to be to watch local democracy in action. Councillors from far flung outer Ealing Wards will decide whether Glenkerrin's latest attempt at a towering housing estate with retail is to be built in the centre of Ealing. There's also another Glenkerrin proposal to be decide upon which involves collecting all the Haven Green bus stops and locating them all 100 metres north of the entrance to Ealing Broadway Station.Just to remind you all, this all involves 567 flats rising to 25 storeys; a retail area the size of Ealing Broadway Centre; and loss of public land and 28 mature trees on Haven Green. Bizarrely the residential tower block and retail developemnt won't start till 2011 and the Haven Green works won't start till 2016.Neither of these proposals remotely addresses the most pressing central Ealing dysfunction - that of the lack of an integrated, scaleable transport hub. The new flats and retail planned will certainly make transport worse with gridlock inevitable in Springbridge Road and consequently elsewhere in the centre. Remember that 3,000 residents wrote in with objections to the 'old' Leaf, of which the 'new' Leaf is but a many times revised version. It's still not too late for you to comment to the Council on these proposals. See www.saveealingscentre.com for details on what's proposed; some sample objections; and how and to where you should send your comments. Do it, however, before 17th December.

Eric Alan Leach ● 6506d32 Comments

Councillor Taylor,My shots are expensive ones.I write as an someone who has lived in Ealing virtually continuously for 41 years. I do not write as a representative of SEC, WEN, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth or any other body I'm a member of. I'm telling the truth clearly as I see it. You don't have to agree with me. The convention people use in communication is to sign off with reference to a body they are representing.I call you Councillor because you hold public office as a elected representative of the residents of Northfield Ward. All your ranting about SEC is in this case a red herring.There's still a long way to go to finally decide the 'legitimacy' of what occurred on 5th November. The next steps along the way could well involve The Mayor of London, The Secretary of State and the Courts.2,500 individual letters were received from individuals and community groups objecting to St George Dickens Yard. The decision to proceed with Dickens Yard 'insulted' those 2,500 local residents and community groups.3,000 letters were received from individuls and community groups objecting to the first iteration of Glenkerrin Arcadia/Leaf. Goodness knows how many subsequent objection letters have been received in connection with the latest revision to be 'debated' publicly on 17th December.There's an issue here about the will of the people. There's also an issue here about justice being done and justice being a seen to be done.If the 17th December Planning Meeting is again to be an exemplar of local democracy why isn't the Council publicising the meeting on its Home page? Similarly if the 5th November Dickens Yard decision was such a proud moment for local democracy why a month after the event is the building of the St George 700 flat housing estate on public land not publicised on the Council's web site Home page?

Eric Alan Leach ● 6505d

Leach is being inaccurate and partial and has overstepped the mark here.  We have a pool of 25 planning councillors who are appointed for the municipal year.  There are 23 wards across Ealing so it is not surprising that on average we only have one planning councillor per ward.  Leach omits to mention that the chairman of the planning committee, who has the casting vote, is an Ealing Broadway councillor.  He omits to mention that the two Ealing Common councillors on planning want to speak on this and it would be unusual to say the least for them to be an advocate for one position and then to sit in judgement.  So there are five central Ealing councillors involved not 2 as Leach asserts.  Planning committees are said to be quasi-judicial, ie they have to make disinterested decisions, otherwise they get accused of "predetermination" and their decisions can be easily challenged on appeal.  That is the way planning law is framed whether you like it or not.  Leach's statement that:"Outrageous rumours abound that the Council has already decided to vote yes to these flat and bus stop arrangements. How this could be possible be - especially in a country which is the mother of all global democracies - is totally beyond me."is a falsehood that undermines the very great efforts that are made to ensure that planning decisions are made fairly and transparently.  There is hot debate on this subject and the planning councillors will be keeping out of it and just trying to look at the facts and make a decision based on planning grounds.  This is what the law requires of them.  Leach needs to retract this statement which makes him look like a hothead and undermines the case he is trying to make.

Phil Taylor ● 6501d