Eric Leach's Ealing Covid-19 Latest Update | ||||
Ealing Council has spent £65 million on its response to pandemic
Ealing Council Has Spent £65 Million on its Response to Covid-19 However as of 1 July 2020 the Council has only received £26 million from national Government for its Covid-19 response work in Ealing. Some Public Leisure and Sports Centres in London Re-Opened on 25 July 2020 – But Not in Ealing All the Ealing public swimming pools are still closed. No future opening dates have been published by the Council. To be fair, Hounslow hasn’t re-opened its public swimming pools either. However Hounslow Council do say that September 2020 is the earliest that the Fountains, New Chiswick and Isleworth pools will re-open. It really is perverse that Ealing Council can rush ahead with Covid-19 response closing off roads to cars, but can’t even schedule the Covid-19 response re-opening of public libraries or public swimming pools. First Covid-19 LTN ‘Opens’ in Southall Ardrienne Avenue is now blocked to vehicle traffic using bollards and planters. This Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) was installed as part of Ealing Council’s response to Covid-19. This Council action is legitimised by the use of an ‘Experimental Traffic Order’. This particular LTN is innocuous and uncontroversial as it will stop rat runners cutting the corner of Ruislip Road and Lady Margaret Road. Some of the other LTNs are very controversial and will result in significant inconvenience for vehicle users especially in South Ealing and West Ealing. LTNs are designed to improve accessibility for bicycles, wheel chairs and mobility scooters i.e. just 2% of road users. We are also told by Ealing Council that LTNs will reduce air pollution, minimise vehicle collisions and eliminate vehicle rat runs. At the end of January 2021 there will be public consultation on the Adrienne Avenue LTN. At this point I am reminded of the Red Queen in ‘Alice in Wonderland‘ saying ‘Sentence first – verdict afterward’. The Council says it will implement nine more Covid-19 response LTNs over the next eight weeks. Residents affected will be given just seven days notice of car access in their neighbourhood being changed. Many are asking why are we doing this? How can we afford to make these changes? The Council says it’s not its money – the money comes from the bankrupt Transport for London (TfL). Others are asking why are we tinkering with how our neighbourhoods work during a pandemic? And for that matter what local neighbourhood knowledge did those designing these 10 LTNs actually have? More from Ealing Council here. Local opposition by those who have a clue what’s planned is high. Over 2,400 have so far signed a petition opposing the LTNs. An Ealing Public Library and Two Ealing Public Car Parks to be Demolished in Rush to Build 131 New Ealing Council Social Homes for Rent Six sites have been chosen for these ‘genuinely affordable’ and ‘sustainable’ housing units built by Ealing Council. The Library to be demolished is Wood End Library in Greenford and the two public car parks to disappear are at Arden Road and Dean Gardens in West Ealing. The other three sites are Shackleton Road and Norwood Road in Southall and Chesterton and Evesham Close in Greenford. Short notice online question and answer sessions from 27 July to 5 August 2020, a 16 question online survey and more details here. Unprecedented High Numbers of Objections (1,000+) to Two West Ealing Tower Block Planning Applications The Manor Road Planning Application (202231FUL) for 144 housing units at ‘55west’ comprising a 19 storey and 13 storey tower has attracted over 1,900 formal objections. The Gurnell Planning Application (201695FUL) for 599 housing units comprising six towers rising to 17 storeys has attracted over 1,440 formal objections. Local planning application watchers cannot recall so many formal objections to any other plans in Ealing in recent years. Each campaign group also has many supporters who are funding them. Each is well prepared to go to enormous lengths to stop these towers being built. More at: Eric Leach eric.alan.leach@gmail.com
July 29, 2020
|