Forum Topics

Claims of Nepotism and Vote Rigging in Ealing Conservative Party

Wottasurprise.Not.Besides the internal wranglings, the Local Conservative Party doesn't know its backside from its elbow.Clueless.

Rosco White ● 2387d7 Comments ● 2382d

Another tall building at Ealing Broadway

https://capitalwestlondon.co.uk/new-ealing-premier-inn-plans-approved/Did anyone know of this? Came as a surprise to me.

Terry Freestone ● 2389d5 Comments ● 2387d

Economically Inactive

We hear a lot about the economically inactive six million. Who are they and how is the government going to make them return to work post Brexit?

Nicholas Beard ● 2398d33 Comments ● 2387d

New Transport Service

Theres a new ride sharing service called SLIDE. You can call their number anytime between 6am and 1am. Rides are only £3.50, free if you have a Freedom Pass which needs to be registered with them.  Your journey must be within the Borough of Ealing. There is a map and all details on their website. Its a pilot service from TFL and can be used by anyone, under 13s must be accompanied. Ive used it several times and its really good. Only thing I would say is that if you use it for an appt, over estimate the journey time as others may already be on it and they may be dropped off first. You can book a journey from anywhere in the Borough and they will give you a pick up point closest to you, be ready to go though. It doesnt take bookings, and wait time is only minutes. Its been great for me. https://www.slideealing.com/faqs

Barbara Ayres ● 2447d21 Comments ● 2389d

Is this the crassest remark ever from a planning committee member?

Tony Colliver ● 2395d17 Comments ● 2389d

CoronaVirus and Cannes

What kind of example is being set when public servants and public representatives ignore the advice set by authorities not just here but across Europe particularly Italy and France to not attend large group conferences or closed events?Will all these people heed the health advice?Will they be self quarantining on return?Will they be answerable for their actions should they pick up and subsequently transmit the infection?

Raymond Havelock ● 2389d4 Comments ● 2389d

20 MPH All over Ealing

What a joke,the 20 MPH is not Policed,in many cases due to lack of signage,motorists are unaware of speed limitation,we have Vechicles doing 40 MPH Plus coming down Ravenor Park Road,Greenford,reported to Council,little or nothing done,School Children use the Pathways on the way to and from School,a vehicle at speed the driver may loose controlmount the Pavement and end up with a possible fatal accident.This Problem is all over where the 20 MPH is not properly signed or Policed,as a matter of urgency it should be addressed by the Council.

Dr John Stolworthy D.Sc ● 2399d29 Comments ● 2390d

Trees in W13

Given the increasing concern about global warming, how can the London Borough of Ealing justify the recent removal of 23 healthy trees in Dean Gardens, W13? Apparently this has been done as part of an initiative by West Ealing Liveable Neighbours, supported by TFL, to improve visibility. At a time when lots of other boroughs are planting more trees it seems extraordinary that LBE is chopping them down against the advice of those promoting carbon offsetting.

David Randles ● 2408d8 Comments ● 2391d

Ealing Councillors Not Standing Down When Elected MPs

It seems to me totally indefensible that two Ealing Councillors are hanging onto their seats and claiming allowances after being elected MPs. The presumption would be that there is some political rather than financial advantage to be gained by Joy Morrissey and Alex Stafford doing this but then the local Conservative party should explain themselves. It is surprising there isn't a rule compelling people to stand down.

Gordon Southwell ● 2408d32 Comments ● 2391d

Cinema

Why is the long promised cinema not functioning yet? The council should have made it a priority, insisting that the cinema should be finished before a single flat was started. As it is the tail seems to be wagging the dog!

Brian Conneller ● 2399d11 Comments ● 2392d

Protest the tower blocks - 18:00 Tuesday 25/2

Various residents groups are planning a joint protest outside the next council meeting at 18:00 on Tuesday, 25/2/2020.The more people that can attend the greater the impact will be.This page detailing the event is from the Stop The Towers group but there are many other groups across Ealing which are also organising their members to attend:  https://stopthetowers.info/protest-ealing-town-hall(Paste the above link into your browser pending a response to my request to neighbournet tech support on how to make the link clickable.)Everybody who does not like what the council is doing with all of these tower blocks is urged to attend. No need to be affiliated to any particular group - just turn up and make your views clear to those in charge.

Tony Colliver ● 2399d13 Comments ● 2393d

Unsolved Hammersmith Nudes' Murders.

Back to square one and up against another brick wall. The 2019 B.B.C. documentary, Dark Son - The Hunt For a Serial Killer was viewed by the London Metropolitan Police 13 months ago. After 13 months the Met. have now contacted me to say that the content of the documentary was "purely speculative and without any evidential basis." In 1921 Harold Jones bragged how he had beaten Scotland Yard after he was acquitted of the murder of 8 year-old Freda Burnell in Abertillery. I am convinced he beat them again after murdering 8 women in the Hammersmith district of London between 1959 and 1965. Jones had lived incognito in Fulham, Putney and Hammersmith using a variety of aliases.

Neil Milkins ● 2394d0 Comments ● 2394d

Thank you for the daffodils...

around the street trees.They were a joy last year and are a similar joy this year!  Has anybody owned up to planting them?

Philippa Bond ● 2394d0 Comments ● 2394d

Disposing of fluorescent light tubes

Does anybody know what it is recommended locally to do with fluorescent light tubes? I googled the question and was told that they can't go into general waste and you are supposed to give them to a specialist disposal company.

Christine Mulligan ● 2394d4 Comments ● 2394d

HEALING IN CHISWICK

Many of you are aware that we have been running a healing centre monthly at the London Buddhist Vihara in Chiswick for many years.The Vihara is doing some building works at present therefore we will not be able to use the hall for at least one month.  I am sorry.  I will advise you again as soon as we are able to use the space again.

Pat Smith ● 2398d0 Comments ● 2398d

Is our real problem Ealing's pension deficit?

Watching the rugby at the weekend I got into conversation with another group of people who were in the same bar and it turned into a very convivial afternoon. Given the result we wanted to talk about something more cheery so natuarally the subject switched to pensions rather than the match.The chap I was talking to seemed to know his stuff and told me that Ealing Council in particular had a major problem with their fund which was running a very substantial deficit. He said most local authorities had an issue because fewer people were joining council schemes because of outsourcing and head count reduction and more and more people were retiring and living longer but Ealing's short fall was more than most. He also said that at some point soon, just like many companies the borough will have to start covering the deficit which could be in the region of half a billion. There is no prospect that scheme income will make it self funding because, although head count has reduced, average salaries have increased significantly and generous early retirement packages remain in place. He said that Ealing like many other councils have reduced costs by persuading people to take retirement. This is actually more expensive but pushes when it needs to be paid for out into the future. His estimate was that by the end of this decade local taxes would need to double to make sure the pension fund was adequately funded.I really don't know enough about pensions and the way they work to know if this is alarmist nonesense or a timely warning. I have heard people say similar things before. It there anyone with expertise in these matters who could comment?

Andy Jones ● 2414d6 Comments ● 2398d

No rape in South Ealing Cemetary - Story on Main Page

Hmmmm, the Police apparently not pursuing this now, after further investigation of the allegation, and, as usual, no mention of possible charges against the Complainant. As usual.Hmmmmmm.

Rosco White ● 2403d23 Comments ● 2399d

Exercise in hubris, not "flagship restaurant": "...Closure of Dickens Yard Flagship Restaurant"

For me the closure of Charlotte's Place in Dicken's Yard represents an almost inevitable result of hubris in refusing to accept CASH and I certainly NEVER regarded it as a "flagship restaurant" (Ealing Today: "Uncertainty After Closure of Dickens Yard Flagship Restaurant", no flagship endeavour would need to restrict its clientele to only people who could pay using plastic (credit/debit/charge cards) and to disallow payment using cash.Not only the idea of denying "access to cash" is distasteful in what is meant to be an inclusive development on former public land in the social core of Ealing, however, it lowers the tone of the business as the reasons for going "cashless" are to do with lowering overheads, no flagship biusiness would NEED to cut corners by disallowing cash purchases, instead it would show its power by accepting less economic methods of payment, that is quality rather than parsimony

Mark Julian Raymond ● 2411d22 Comments ● 2399d

The Slow Death of the BBC

I was vaguely aware of how these might be difficult times for the BBC but until I read some coverage of recent event and spoke to people with some direct knowledge this weekend, I had little conception of how bad things where. The four hundred or so people who were sacked recently were told in no uncertain terms that they lost their jobs because the corporation needed to make savings after all the pay increases that became necessary after the Samira Ahmed judgement. They are so terrified of legal action about unfair pay (even from men) that they have erred on the side of caution. As they can no longer use the excuse of celebrity or public profile for paying someone more then they have to pay 'star' wages to people who are clearly not stars.  If this was the extent of their problems then they could weather the storm but this government (particular Dominic Cummings) really wants the corporation dismantled. The decriminalisation of non payment of the licence fee might seem a rational and fair move but it will have a massive impact on the BBC's finances as well having to fund over-75s licence fees. Restrictions on licence fee increases means that the ongoing squeeze on the BBC will continue and accelerate. Like most organisations forced to cut costs they seem incapable of trimming in the middle management executive positions where most of the fat is and content creation is where most of the jobs are going. They also have quite intractable unions to deal with and a pension fund deficit of £1.9bn and rising. Increasingly what's left of the BBC licence fee will go to fund this deficit and the pay of an unsackable but unproductive layer of middle management and fewer and fewer programmes will be made.

Gordon Southwell ● 2409d26 Comments ● 2399d

Question on Parking Fines in Ealing

A neighbour of ours received a PCN recently. She is a lawyer and is more than capable of fighting it. The circumstances of the ticket are so preposterous that she will clearly get off.She had never got a PCN before so she was surprised when her carefully and expertly crafted initial appeal to Ealing was rejected. I told her this happened in nearly all cases.What I wasn't sure of is what happens next. She is now awaiting the notice to owner. She will appeal again and go to the adjudicator if necessary but what fine would she have to pay if she lost - the full rate or the half price rate for early payment. As she pointed out if anyone appealing unsuccessful is effectively fined double some principles of natural justice have been ignored and lots of people without legal training will be intimidated into paying fines they shouldn't because of the extra financial penalty.

Christine Mulligan ● 2404d4 Comments ● 2399d