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Unsolved West London Murders.

In March 2023, The commissioner of the Met Police Sir Mark Rowley admitted the force has 'racists, misogynists and homophobes' in its ranks – as Home Secretary Suella Braverman blasted 'serious failings of culture, leadership and standards' at Scotland Yard. On 6th April I sent a lengthy email to Mark Rowley pleading with him to review The Hammersmith Nudes' murders of the 1960's. I told him that I am in contact with adult children and other members of 6 of the murder victims.  I told him that many of the victims' family members are convinced that if the victims were police women, doctors, nurses or solicitors there would have been a review. On April 11 I recieved the following."Dear Mr Milkins,My apologies for the delayed response. I have forwarded this matter to the appropriate team for their review and direct reply to you.Kind regards,*****  ********      *********  | Inspector | Staff Officer to the Commissioner."Today I received a a phone call from New Scotland Yard followed by the following email.Dear Mr Milkins "It was good to speak to you on the phone just now, and as promised, I am emailing to confirm my details. I recognise the huge amount of dedication you have put into your investigations and I am sorry that these terrible murders remain unsolved, despite your efforts.There have been various reviews conducted regarding these cases over the years and I know you were in contact with DC Paul Rogers in 2007, and most recently, DC Adam Bailey in 2020. It remains the case as per DC Bailey’s letter that the links between Harold Jones and the victims are not substantive enough to enable a definitive finding that he was responsible for their deaths. I hope you understand that because Jones died in 1971 and there is no additional material further to what has been looked at in the above reviews, we won’t be reviewing the cases again at this time.Having said that, I know you are determined to continue with your work, and if there is something substantive and probative that you find that you would like to bring to our attention in the future, please do so.I wish you all the best."DC *****   ****** | CSC - Major InquiriesSpecial Casework TeamTHE MUST GO ON. AND IT WILL.

Neil Milkins ● 845d0 Comments ● 845d

Easter Church services

Here are details for some local churches where I could find them on their websites. All very welcome to all of these services! Anyone please feel free to add the details for those not included:**Good Friday 11:00am - Open Air service in the marketplace on the Mount outside St Mary's **Oaktree Anglican Fellowship216 High St, London W3 9NXGood Friday Service 11am outside St Mary's ChurchEaster Sunrise Service 6am at Ealing CommonLocation: Ealing Common (North East Corner)Easter Sunday Celebration 4.30pmPlease join us for our all-age Easter service.St Mary’s ChurchThe Mount, High St, London W3 9NWMaundy Thursday - 7:30pm Communion serviceGood Friday - open air 11am outside the church              12pm stations of the cross (self led)              1.30pm Good Friday serviceEaster Sunday - 8am Holy Communion               10.30am Parish communionOur Lady of Lourdes141-143 High St, London W3 6LXMaundy Thursday - 7pmGood Friday - children's service 10amGood Friday - Celebration of the Passion of the Word 3pmEaster Saturday - 8pmEaster Sunday - 9am, 10:30am and 12:00pmSt Martin’s West ActonHale Gardens, London W3 9SQMaundy Thursday - 7:30pmGood Friday - 10.45am service outside St Mary's Acton            - 12pm-1.30pm stations of the cross at St Mary's Acton            - 1.30pm-3pm Prayers and readings on the CrossEaster Saturday - 8pm Easter vigit at Christ the Saviour churchEaster Sunday  - 8am Holy Communion service               - 10am service followed by an easter egg huntSt Dunstan’s East ActonFriars Pl Ln, London W3 7AWGood Friday - 9am Good Friday meditation            - 10.15am prayer walk ending outside St Mary's Acton            - 11am Service outside St Mary's ActonEaster Sunday - 6am Sunrise service + breakfast              - 10am All age communion              - 11.30am Easter egg hunt and egg rollingActon Baptist ChurchChurch Rd, London W3 8PPEaster Sunday - 10:45amActon Hill ChurchHigh Street Corner of, Woodlands Ave W3 9BUEaster Sunday - 11:00amBerrymead Evangelical Church16 Avenue Rd, London W3 8NSEaster Sunday - 11:00amChurch of the AscensionBeaufort Road, London W5 3EBGood Friday - 2pmEaster Sunday - 10:30amChrist Church Turnham GreenTown Hall Ave, Chiswick, London W4 5DT(St Alban's S Parade, Chiswick, London W4 5LG)Maundy Thursday - St Alban's 7.30pm - 30 minutes prayer and reflectionGood Friday - St Alban's 7.30am, 12pm, 7.30pm - 30 minutes prayer and reflectionEaster Sunday - 9.30am Holy Communion              - 10.30am St Alban'sAnyone looking for an online service - Good Friday at 11am https://www.htb.org/livestream- Easter Sunday at 11:30am https://www.htb.org/livestream

Prabal Ray ● 858d0 Comments ● 858d

March Reduce and Recycle Hub - Acton Market

March Reduce and Recycle HubThe Acton Market Reduce and Recycle hub monthly return on Saturday 4th March, first Saturday of the month.  Once again bring the Mount alive in Acton with lots of great organisations and businesses coming along on to help people in Acton to #reduce, #reuse and #recycle. At our monthly hub at MarketW3 we want you to:RECYCLE: Bring along your old and unloved: •Clothing, Shoes, Small electrical appliances for donation to TRAID www.traid.org.uk•Laptops for donation to the Fixing Factory www.fixingfactory.org •How you can increase your household recycling with ActforEaling - www.actforealing.org •Pens and writing instruments•Toothbrushes and other dental itemsREPAIR: •Learning to fix your Clothes with Ealing Repair Café www.ealingrepaircafe.org •Get your Bikes checked with Dr Bike (2 pm-5 pm) •Drop of your tools for sharpening (paid) with Renew Sharpening Service or speak to them about their services REUSE: •Shop at our pre-loved traders or with our stall holders many who sell returns and seconds from the high street at a reduced price choose from sportswear, womenswear and menswear. •Book Swap – Bring a book and take a book, with Churchfield Association!AND there’s more: Our tasty local foodie stalls will be onsite so you can sample the flavours of Ghana, India, Mexico and Lebanon.So, come along and grab a bargain, knowing you will be helping reducing waste as well as saving money.For more information and links to our hub stall holders visit:https://marketw3.co.uk/the-reduce-and-recycle-hubThe next date for the Reduce and Recycle hub:• Saturday 4 April Reduce and Recycle Hub successesAt the Reduce and Recycle hub we have so far:•197 kg of unwanted clothes and shoes saved from landfill by Traid, which reduced carbon emissions (CO2) by 1.79 tonnes and water savings of 312.6m3.•68 kgs of small electrical items collected which will be recycled.If your organisation, community group or as a trader are interested in getting a stall or can volunteer to help run some of the activities, please email mary.horesh@actionwestlondon.org.uk.

Acton Market ● 895d2 Comments ● 892d

Reduce and Recycle Hub - February

The Market W3 Reduce and Recycle hub returns on Saturday 4th February to Acton.   The hub will have lots of great organisations coming along on to help people in Acton to #reduce, #reuse and #recycle. At our monthly hub at MarketW3 we want you to:RECYCLE: Bringing along your old or unloved • Clothing, Shoes, Small electrical appliances for donation to @TRAID • Laptops • Pens and toothbrushesREPAIR: • Learning to fix your Clothes with #EalingRepairCafé  • Getting your Bikes checked with Dr Bike (2 pm-5 pm) • FREE laptop health check from Dr Laptop from 12pm and 4pm REUSE: • Shop at our pre-loved traders or with our stall holders many who sell returns and seconds from the high street at a reduced price choose from sportswear, womenswear and menswear. • Repurpose old t-shirts in yarn  • BOOK SWAP -  Bring a book and take a book!Friends of the Earth, our local environmental groups will also be there updating us with their latest campaign for United For Warm Homes.AND if that’s not enough: Our tasty local foodie stalls will be onsite so you can sample the flavours of Ghana, India, Mexico and Lebanon.Reduce and Recycle Hub successesAt the Reduce and Recycle hub we have so far:• 160 kg of unwanted clothes and shoes saved from landfill by @Traid, which reduced carbon emissions (CO2) by 1.49 tonnes and water savings of 256.6m3.• 52 kgs of small electrical items collected which will be recycled.So, come along and grab a bargain, knowing you will be helping reducing waste as well as saving money.For more information and links to our hub stall holders visit:https://marketw3.co.uk/the-reduce-and-recycle-hub #actonw3 #reducewaste #prevloved #upcycledfashion #actonmarketw3 #recycle #reduceandreuses #shoplocal

Acton Market ● 923d2 Comments ● 906d

M&S announces it will open 20 new stores with cafés and 12 food halls

Eleven locations still to be announced, one in The Oaks?M&S announces it will open 20 new stores with cafés and 12 food halls creating 3,400 jobs over the next two years - so is one opening near you?Marks & Spencer has revealed plans to open 20 new shops across the UKThe move, part of a £480million investment, will create 3,400 jobsChief executive says he wants to make sure M&S has stores in the right places By DANYA BAZARAA FOR MAILONLINEPUBLISHED: 09:37, 16 January 2023 | UPDATED: 12:25, 16 January 2023Marks & Spencer has announced plans to open 20 new shops across the UK in a move that will create 3,400 jobs.Eight full-line stores will open in shopping centres such as the Bullring in Birmingham and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, as well as in retail parks and high streets across key cities over the next financial year.M&S will also open 12 new food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and Largs in North Ayrshire, Scotland.The new openings, planned for 2023-24, will bring investment in new stores to £480million, M&S said. Nine of the 20 new store locations have been revealed so far, with the remaining 11 to be announced in due courseNine of the 20 new store locations have been revealed so far, with the remaining 11 to be announced in due courseBirmingham Bullring (full-line store opening Autumn 2023)Manchester’s Trafford Centre (full-line store opening Winter 2023)Lakeside Thurrock (opening Winter 2023) Stockport (food hall opening in Summer 2023)Barnsley (food hall opening in Autumn 2023)Largs, North Ayrshire (food hall opening in Winter 2023)Purley Way (full-line store opening Summer 2023) Leeds White Rose shopping centre (full-line store opening Summer 2023)The remaining 11 locations are to be announced in due course.The new store pipeline for 2023/24 includes eight full-line stores in city locations including a new 97k sq ft store in Leeds White Rose and a 70k sq ft store in Liverpool One, both due to open in Summer 2023. Later in the year, other major stores will open, including a 65k sq ft store in Birmingham Bullring (Autumn 2023), a 96k sq ft store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre and a 98k sq ft store in Lakeside Thurrock, both set to open in Winter 2023.All five of these stores will be relocated to former Debenhams sites – part of M&S’s investment to regenerate vacant sites. Each has been designed with local families in mind, with wider aisles. They will have fresh market-style food halls stocking the full M&S food range, spacious clothing, home and beauty departments, brand-new M&S cafes and free car parking. Alongside full line sites, M&S has planned investment in 12 new food halls. These include a 16k sq ft store in Stockport opening in Summer 2023, a 12k sq ft store in Barnsley (South Yorkshire) opening in Autumn 2023, and a 9,000 sq ft store in Largs (a seaside town in North Ayrshire, about 33 miles from Glasgow) opening in Winter 2023.Nine of the 20 new store locations have been revealed so far, with another 11 to be announced in due course, M&S says. M&S's latest plans come under a wider restructure of its retail footprint, with the group last year revealing it would reduce the number of its full-line stores by 67 to 180 over the following five financial years.Chief executive Stuart Machin said: 'Stores are a core part of M&S's omni-channel future and serve as a competitive advantage for how customers want to shop today.'Our store rotation programme is about making sure we have the right stores in the right place with the right space - and we're aiming to rotate from the 247 stores we have today to 180 higher-quality, higher-productivity full-line stores that sell our full clothing, home and food offer whilst also opening over 100 bigger, better food sites.'The out-performance of our recently relocated and renewed stores give us the confidence to go faster in our plan.'SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11639681/M-S-open-20-new-stores-creating-3-400-jobs-one-opening-near-YOU.html

Rosco White ● 938d7 Comments ● 935d

Please OBJECT to the utterly ridiculous THIRD Concrete Batching Plant in Horn Lane Goods Rail Yard.

Local concerned residents and particularly families with young children and/or those suffering any breathing difficulties are invited to OBJECT ASAP to this utterly ridiculous THIRD Concrete Batching Plant to be shoehorned into the already chronically congested and highly polluting Horn Lane Goods Rail Yard.Inspiration for the wording in your Objection can be gleaned from previous Objections lodged against the current two existing polluting Concrete Batching Plants.Please assist in OBJECTING to this wanton further pollution of a residential family area.I thank you.    😁THIRD and Proposed YEOMANS CONCRETE BATCHING PLANT details at:-https://pam.ealing.gov.uk/online-applications/https://pam.ealing.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=RHH84EJMN5800    Installation of a temporary, rail served, mobile ready-mixed concrete batching plant with ancillary infrastructure to serve the High Speed Two development.     Yeoman Aggregates Acton Goods Yard 305 Horn Lane Acton Ealing W3 0BP    Ref. No: 223766FUL | Received: Wed 31 Aug 2022 | Validated: Wed 31 Aug 2022 | Status: Pending ConsiderationThe SECOND and existing QUATTRO CONCRETE PLANT    Construction of a rail served concrete batching plant (CBP), rail served cement storage facility (4no cement / PFA storage silos), workshop, modular office/welfare facilities, aggregate storage bays, substation and other ancillary structures and parking areas to enable use of site for concrete batching, cement storage and distribution, and associated administrative activities (proposals to enable permanent relocation of existing CBP operation, workshop and administrative activities from Quattro site at Park Royal).    Land Forming Part Of Acton Goods Yard 305 Horn Lane Acton W3 0BP    Ref. No: 191885FUL | Received: Fri 26 Apr 2019 | Validated: Mon 22 Jul 2019 | Status: Granted with S106 conditionsThe FIRST and existing HANSON CONCRETE PLANT       P/2013/3475Soft Landscaping   https://pam.ealing.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=ZZZW6JJMTA796&activeTab=summary    Retention of replacement Concrete Batching Plant    Hanson Concretes Horn Lane Goods Yard 305 Horn Lane Acton W3 0BP    Ref. No: P/2013/3475 | Received: Tue 06 Aug 2013 | Validated: Tue 06 Aug 2013 | Status: Conditional Consent

Rosco White ● 1030d19 Comments ● 940d

Local Church Christmas Services

Here are details for some local churches where I could find them on their websites. Anyone please feel free to add the details for those not included:Oaktree Anglican Fellowship216 High St, London W3 9NX Tel: 020 8993 2060Sunday 11th December 4pm – Kings Chamber Orchestra Christmas concert for children (at St Mary’s)Sunday 11th December 7.30pm – Kings Chamber Orchestra Christmas concert  (at St Mary’s)Saturday 17th December: A trip to Narnia – contact church office for more informationSunday 18th December 6.30pm – Christmas Carol and Christingle serviceSaturday 25th December 10am – Christmas Day serviceSt Mary’s ChurchThe Mount, High St, London W3 9NWSunday 18th December 6.30pm – Service of Nine Lessons & CarolsSaturday 24th December 4pm - Crib ServiceSaturday 24th December 11.30pm – Midnight EucharistSunday 25th December 8am – Communion serviceSunday 25th December 10.30am – All age EucharistSaturday 31st December 11.45pm – Watchnight EucharistSt Martin’s West ActonHale Gardens, London W3 9SQSunday 11th December 6.30pm – Carols by CandlelightSunday 18th December 10am – All age service with a Junior Church Nativity PlaySaturday 24th December 4pm – Crib serviceSaturday 24th December 11.30pm – festive communion service with traditional carols and hymns led by St Martin’s choirSunday 25th December 10am – Family communion Christmas serviceSt Dunstan’s East ActonFriars Pl Ln, London W3 7AWSunday 11th December 9am and 10.45am – All age worship Christingle with Nativity playSunday 18th December 6pm – Carols by CandlelightOur Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church41-143 High St, London W3 6LXSaturday 24th December 6pm – service for children and familiesSaturday 24th December 11.30pm – Carol service + midnight massSunday 25th December – 9am, 10.30am, 12pm – servicesSt Alban’s Church Acton GreenSouth Parade, Chiswick W4 5LGSunday 11th December 10.30am – The Nativity with LIVE DONKEY!Sunday 11th December 7pm – Contemporary CarolsSunday 18th December 10.30am – Messy Christmas Christingle ServiceSunday 25th December 10am – Christmas CelebrationSunday 1st January 11.15am – New Year’s celebration with communionChrist Church Turnham GreenTown Hall Ave, Chiswick W4 5DTSunday 18th December 7pm – Traditional Carols by candlelightSaturday 24th December 4pm – Carols on the GreenSaturday 24th December 11.15pm – Midnight CommunionSunday 25th December 11.15am – Christmas communionAnyone looking for an online service:Holy Trinity BromptonSunday 18th December 11.30am – Family Carolshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdemzfq1mwUN9Gnq4MZ8OagJoin online at 11.30am

Prabal Ray ● 975d0 Comments ● 975d

Acton Saturday Market - Monthly Reduce and Recycle Hub (05 Nov 2022 - 10-4pm)

Reduce and Recycle hub at Acton Saturday W3 market Our next Reduce and Recycle Hub returns on Saturday 5th November to Acton Saturday Market W3 with lots of great organisations and businesses helping us to reduce, reuse and recycle.   As well as all our great regular traders and ethnic food stalls.RECYCLE by bringing along you old or unloved: • Clothing and Shoes • Small electrical appliances• Laptops • PLUS: Take part in ActForEaling Recycle ChallengeREPAIR by getting help to:• Learning to fix your Clothes• Gardening and Kitchen Tools sharpened• Getting your Bikes checked (2 pm-5 pm)REUSE• Borrow from Hammersmith library of thingsREDUCE• Stir it up Family Recipe Bags with minimal packaging We are lucky to have some great organisations join us for Novembers Reduce and Reuse Hub at the Acton Saturday W3 market involved in recycling, upcycling and reducing waste. As well as all our great regular traders and ethnic food stalls. Did you know that Acton market already has stalls involved in the recycling and the circular economy? Many of our stall holders sell returns and seconds from the high street at a reduced price from sportswear, womenswear and menswear. So come along and grab a bargain, knowing you will be helping reducing waste as well as saving money. Here are some of the activities at the market on Saturday 5th November: RECYCLE: Donate your old and unused laptops to the Fixing Factory: We will have a collection point for laptops that will have all memory and storage wiped clean and fixed by the Fixing factory team at one of their sites and passed onto a new owner.  For more information on this great project https://www.fixingfactory.org/ Clothes, shoes and small electrical items will be Traid. As a charity, Traid is committed to protecting the environment and reducing world poverty by recycling, fund raising and campaigning in the UK. Traid will be collecting clothing, shoe1s and small electrical appliances. If you can’t make it to the market on Traid also offers a doorstep collection in partnership with Ealing council for clothes and small electrical items. For more information on how to book a doorstep collection https://www.traid.org.uk/wlwa/ PLUS: ActforEaling will be there guiding you on what can recycle in Ealing doorstep collection. Come along for an take part in our recycling challenge on what goes in the blue green and grey doorstep bins. https://actforealing.org/REPAIR:Learn how to repair your clothes with Ealing Repair cafe who will help teach how to patch and darn your clothes. Extending the life of your clothes helps the planet as well as saving you money.  Come along for advice and their guide on how to patch and repair. The Ealing Repair café is run by volunteers and meets up monthly around Ealing Broadway. https://ealingrepaircafe.org/  Sharpen your Gardening and Kitchen tools with Dave at Renew Sharpening. Dave will be offering a drop off and delivery service at the market around W3 and W4. Items can sharpen most tools, such as knives, scissors, garden tools, woodworking tools and construction tools. https://renewsharpening.co.uk/ Get your bike checked over and have minor repairs with Dr Bike. In partnership with Ealing Council Dr Bike will be there in the afternoon from 1 pm until 5 pm where mechanics will carry out minor repairs on the spot and give advice on how to look after your bike to keep you riding all year round. For all the dates and locations of Dr Bike around the Ealing Borough here https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201176/cycling/3025/cycle_training_and_dr_bike_cycle_maintenance REUSE: Hammersmith Library of things will be at the market where you can borrow useful household items for DIY, cleaning, gardening, events, entertainment and more for a few pounds per day.  Within easy reach of Acton, The Library of Things is based in Hammersmith, in a borrowing kiosk inside Livat Hammersmith, King Street, London W6 9HW. Visit their website to find out more on what you can borrow www.libraryofthings.co.uk/hammersmith REDUCEStir it up Vegetarian Family Recipe Bags established in 2021 is a local recipe bag delivery service (Ealing, Brentford, Kew, Chiswick, Acton, Richmond and Isleworth). Stir it up specialise in quick, nutritious vegetarian family food and helping remove the stress from mealtimes. We source seasonal veg from organic farms (often as close as Chiswick House) and use minimal packaging, only compostable packaging in our reusuable delivery bags. Stir it up is a Community Interest Company and put people and planet before profit. https://www.stiritup.org.uk/ Friends of the Earth, our local environmental group will be there updating us on their latest energy campaign and other issues to be concerned about. Churchfield Road Association also joins us, as part of the community group who supports the market and the Acton area. Reduce and Recycle hub is held on the first Saturday of the month at Acton Market. Our focus is on Waste Reduction and circular economy. We were fortunate to win lottery funding to support the project and so looking to build it into a useful educational hub of help, support and information for our local community. For more details on the lottery funded project, part of the Climate Action Fund https://actionwestlondon.org.uk/2022/05/action-west-london-receives-a-climate-action-fund-grant/ The Reduce and Recycle hub will be a regular feature of the market on the first Saturday of the month with 5th November and 3rd December being the events for 2022.  Interested to trade or join the hub?If you are a trader, involved in upcycling, recycling or waste reduction, we would love for you to join us. Please get in touch. Or if you are organisation, community group or as a are interested in getting a stall or can volunteer to help run some of the activities, please email mary.horesh@actionwestlondon.org.uk.  First Reduce and Recycle Hub was a great successOn Saturday 5th November Acton Saturday Market W3 launched their Reduce and Recycle Hub during The Great Big Green Week.99 kg of unwanted clothes and shoes saved from landfill by Traid, which reduced carbon emissions (CO2) by 0.95 tonnes and water savings of 160m3.43 kgs of small electrical items collected which will be recycled. Plus lots of great conversations and leaflets taken on what is going on in the area. Design it yourself demonstrated how to recycled old t-shirts into yarn and easily used to knit, weave or plait into useful items. Sustrans had lots of great feedback on their walking and cycling hub for Acton. If you want to respond, you can do it online https://sustrans.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/friary-park-walking-and-cycling-centre-residents-discovery What is the circular economy? At ReLondon, the circular economy is defined as one in which stuff is kept in use for as long as possible, delivering the highest value it can, for as long as it can. So rather than making, using and then throwing stuff away the current linear system, a circular economy means looking at each of those stages for new ways of cycling materials and value back into the system – using materials and products again and again, in many different forms. For more information https://relondon.gov.uk/business/our-circular-vision/

Acton Market ● 1019d0 Comments ● 1019d

Friary Park - Cap the Towers

To  Peter Mason, Leader Ealing Council       Shital Manro, Cabinet member for Good Growth       Steve Barton, Strategic Planning Manager       Chris Maltby, Consultant Planner and Case Officer Cap the Towers is calling, publicly, for the Friary Park Planning Application of Mt Anvil and Catalyst (221747HYBRID) to be removed from the agenda of the Planning Committee meeting on 19 October, 2022, if it has not been already removed by yourselves.  There are at least 4 reasons for this request: this application is nowhere near ready to be presented to the planning committee, as we shall show. 1.  Only a fortnight out from this meeting at which a crucial planning decision could be made, the Case Officer - at our request - finally uploaded onto the planning portal some 37 documents in support of the application.   These documents consist of submissions which the developer has made to the GLA in response to their Stage 1 report.  The 37 documents vary in size between 1 page and 514 pages but amount to a total of 1306 pages, full of detail requiring us to consult financial, legal, building, and energy experts for us to achieve some kind of understanding of many of these abstruse and esoteric documents.  Residents of Acton should not be  expected, in their spare time and unpaid, to digest all this material in a period of 12 to 13 days.  2.  In spite of the Case Officer’s assertion that the 37 documents contain  ‘essentially technical matters’, there are shocking examples here of entirely new proposals which go well beyond that description.  e.g. the proposal to change the whole character of St Dunstan’s Gardens some way down the road from the Friary Park site to provide additional  green space/amenity space which the developer so desperately needs if they are to fulfil London Plan requirements.  The residents of Acton will never agree to this - it can never happen.  But crucially not a word has been spoken to residents of Acton about this proposal.  Entirely speculative on the part of the developer and Ealing planners - just made up, to give the impression to the Planning Committee or the GLA that they have a plan for finding community space. This leads on to our third point. 3.  It has been a noticeable feature of the way this developer, assisted by Ealing’s planners, has operated in that they ‘float’ ideas for how they hope to acquire amenity space or community space (which we recognise is a very real concern for the GLA) without taking sufficient account of the very real possibility that these speculative proposals may, in the end, prove unattainable.  They (developers and the Council) have already had their fingers burnt once when they had to withdraw their plans for Friars Place Green last year.  The Borough could end up with a massively overcrowded and unhealthy site at Friary Park that should never have obtained planning permission because the necessary open space or community space was not guaranteed.   First, the necessary community space should be firmly secured and approved, and only then should the planning application follow.At the moment, it’s all the wrong way round. 4.  Such has been the efficiency with which the Labour Party whip has compelled Labour councillors to tow the line that this development must be supported, that Acton residents now find themselves in the position where they will have no councillor at the planning committee meeting supporting their case in opposition to the development.  The only one of our three councillors who has supported residents all along in this matter has sustained a serious injury and is unable to speak on our behalf on the 19th; the other two councillors are in favour of the development and therefore have disqualified themselves from being our advocate.  What price democracy in the current Ealing Council?  The idea that councillors are there to represent the interests of their constituents is being ignored.For this reason alone, may we respectfully suggest that the application be considered at a subsequent Committee meeting when our supportive councillor is restored to health? Just 4 reasons then for 221747HYBRID to be deferred till a later date.  Thank you. David TennantCAP THE TOWERS: ACTON

Chris Hurley ● 1036d3 Comments ● 1031d

Planning Committee - Lack of Agendas, No Sound in public gallery, Council's Video Link not working!

Planning Committee Meeting held at Ealing Town Hall on 17th August 2022:I attended Ealing Council’s Planning Committee Meeting on Wednesday 17th August 2022 at 7pm in order to hear the debate and consideration of the major Planning Application proposed for the East Acton Arcade off Old Oak Common Lane in Acton W3.The proposals were to demolish a number of existing commercial shops and businesses which present an attractively-shaped frontage including the very popular London Snooker Club upstairs which has been operating there for several decades with thousands of members.There are 100 objections including from the Ealing Civic Society and from the adjacent London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham where there is a Conservation Area immediately facing the proposed development land. In planning, views into or out of a Conservation Area should be considered in any planning application. The Planning Committee Meeting was held in the Ealing Town Hall Main Chamber. On arrival at the public gallery upstairs, I noticed there were no Agendas whatsoever!I called to the Committee Clark, Mr Jack Roberts, to ask if he had some Agendas for the members of the public to read upstairs and follow the proceedings.  Mr Roberts brought one Agenda and Briefing Notes upstairs and I gave the Agenda to the owner of the Snooker Club who was sitting on the other side of the public gallery, as she did not have one. There were only about 7 people in the public gallery as the Meeting was convened in the middle of the summer - suppose if over 100 members of the snooker club had attended having to share 1 Agenda between them!It was therefore not possible for me to follow the case at all.  I later saw (after the Meeting was over) that there are in fact 70 pages in the Agenda Report including the Location Plan. When the Meeting started at 7pm, I immediately noticed that the sound system was not working upstairs.  I called out to the Chair of the Meeting (Councillor T Mahmood) asking if the sound could be switched on please but this did not happen unfortunately.The amount of sound reaching the upper gallery is rather muted especially when some of the officers and councillors sitting downstairs are softly spoken or do not speak close enough to their microphones.  I normally record the meeting with a Dictaphone but with the speakers switched off, this was impossible.  Someone in the front row of the gallery mentioned that the proceedings are shown on computer on the web.  However since I was at the Town Hall in person, this was of little use. Furthermore not long after the Meeting started, one of the Committee Councillors (Councillor Anand, I believe) mentioned that he had just received a message on his telephone from a resident to say that the Council's video link to the Meeting was not working.I later heard the following day from an Acton resident who had unsuccessfully tried on two occasions to access the meeting between 7:30 and 7:45 via the video link.  This lady told me the same error message continued to appear when she subsequently tried to access the July and August Planning Committee Meetings from the Council's links.Finally, in past days, even when there were maybe a dozen or more applications on the agenda (not just one as on Wednesday night), a full set of plans was pinned up on a bulletin board for each case and these were visible downstairs on the ground floor of the main chamber and enabled people attending the Meeting to look at the various plans in any particular application that they were interested in before the Meeting commenced.However there were no plans whatsoever available. During the Committee Meeting, some of the plans were shown on 2 TV screens downstairs but even the larger of the two screens could not be clearly seen from where I was upstairs in the public gallery some distance away from the screens. It is often said by the Planning Department staff that “everything is on the web” however this is incorrect.  In many cases, documentation has been withheld and in other cases, mere summaries have been given by officers which do not always reflect the actual contents being summarised as alluded to above.All told, procedures appear to have deteriorated of late.In summary, Agendas were not amply provided, the Sound System was switched off upstairs and the Video link provided by the Council did not and still does not work.Victor Mishiku "The Covenant Movement"(attendant at Committee Meetings for the last 36 years)20th August 2022.

Victor Mishiku ● 1087d3 Comments ● 1084d

HAVE YOUR SAY! DEVELOPER INCREASES UNITS FROM 990 TO 1,228 AT FRIARY PARK

The developers Mount Anvil/ Catalyst are launching their latest planning application for Friary Park on 1 June - yellow notices are still to be posted, but it is live on the LBE planning portal and there are 24 objections, no supporting remarks so far. Residents have until 22 June to comment. The application is a hybrid one, which means some parts will be fixed and other parts ‘outline’. The outline plans will continue to evolve in future applications, so it is important keep commenting.INCREASED FOOTPRINT, MASS AND HEIGHTIn the current plan, it is proposed Block B2 be increased in height to 17 storeys whilst ‘increased footprint and massing’ be applied to Blocks B3, C1 and C2. If the outline plans are adopted, a total of seven buildings will be in excess of 14 storeys (two of which will be 24 storeys).FRIARS PLACE GREENIn addition, the proposal includes two drawings where a MUGA (multi-use games area) spills over into Friars Place Green. This triangular green is common land. It has already been the subject of a much-criticised planning application that was withdrawn by the developer.HOW TO COMMENTTo comment, go to https://pam.ealing.gov.uk/online-applications and enter 221747HYBRID. In addition, email the case officer [not yet announced on the LBE portal] and cc leader of Ealing Council Peter Mason MasonPe@ealing.gov.uk. Also write to the East Acton councillors whose jurisdiction includes Friary Park. Kate Crawford: crawfordK@ealing.gov.uk. Steven Donnelly: donnellyS@ealing.gov.uk. Hitesh Tailor:  TailorHi@ealing.gov.uk

Juliet McDonald ● 1174d10 Comments ● 1132d

Unsolved West London Murders.

Are all the links between Abertillery double child killer Harold Jones and other unsolved murders just coincidences?Here are the facts.(1) Just before Jones was released from prison he repeatedly informed the prison authorities that he did not want to lose the desire to kill. That was the same desire that he admitted that he had in 1921 as a 15 year-old boy.(2) The governor of Maidstone prison from where Jones was eventually released stated in a report: "He is callous but would be the last to admit it. Sad as it may seem I can see no hopeful prospect for Jones in the future." The prison chaplain also reported that he felt Jones was a "no-hoper."Professor Mike Berry, (Consultant Clinical Forensic Psychologist.) visited Abertillery and a number of London locations during the filming of Dark Son - The Hunt for a Serial Killer over a 12 month period. His conclusion was that Harold Jones was the Hammersmith killer. (8 unsolved London murders that were the largest unsolved murders in British criminal history.) He stated that he believed after reviewing all the evidence that Jones after leaving prison had killed again and again,(3) Jones had lived 2 streets away from 3 of the 8 women murder victims in Fulham and Hammersmith as well as 50-100 yards away from murder victim Ignac Ulycz in Putney. The police in the 1960's were not aware of Jones' past and he was never a suspect in any of the murders until after 2008.(4) Jones' own daughter has stated that her father would leave her and her mother at home at the times of the killings and book into Rowton House, a  doss-house in Hammersmith whenever her parents would have a row. The daughter stated that she now believes her father would do this in fear that he may kill his wife in temper. Jones' own son-in-law stated that "There's no smoke without fire is there?"(5) One woman prostitute told the police that she had got into a punter's car with a man who showed her a London Metropolitan Police warrant card. She panicked and quickly exited the car. The man offered her some cash. Was the man Harold Jones using his father-in-laws police warrant card. (His father-in-law John Widdows was a retired London Metropolitan police officer.) The woman some time later became the 7th of the 8 murdered women.(6) Harold Jones stored the bodies of Abertillery murder victims Freda Burnell and Florence Little in Abertillery until it was convenient to dispose of their bodies. At least 4 of the Hammersmith victims were stored before being dumped at various London locations.(7) All Hammersmith victims were demure and childlike in stature.(8) Harold Jones had an oral fixation at the time of the Abertillery child murders. It is recorded by his then 13 year-old girlfriend Selina Mortimer that Jones had asked her to spit in his mouth. The Hammersmith killer also had an oral fixation by removing the teeth or dentures of his victims.(9) At least 4 of the Hammersmith victims had been stored (in an electricity sub-station on the Heron Trading Estate Acton) before being dumped at various London locations. Jones' daughter has stated that her father had worked as a sheet metal worker in Acton but wasn't aware of where in Acton. This is something only the police would be able to ascertain.(10) After Harold Jones was jailed for the murder of Florence Little he bragged about his ability to outfox the police during the earlier inquiry into the murder of Freda Burnell. He said: "The arrival of the men from Scotland Yard fascinated me. I had only read of Scotland Yard men before. Now I saw them in the flesh - and I beat them." I am convinced that Harold Jones went to his grave in 1971 knowing that he had beaten them again.I am in contact with adult children of 5 of the 8 Hammersmith murder victims. Learning of the deaths of their mother's has had an incredibly negative impact on them. They all feel cheated that it seems as though the police have no appetite for reviewing the case.I am also in contact with the families of 2 men that have been wrongly named as the killer. (Mungo Ireland and former world light-heavyweight boxer Freddie Mills.) They are also distraught that their fathers' good reputation has not been restored. Freddie Mills' daughter Amanda told me that owing to the stigma regarding her father that she hasn't told her teenage son that his father was a famous world champion boxer.THE SHOW MUST GO ON.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6BnF5FEmvQhttps://www.jarossi.com/the-hunt-for-the-60s-ripper/hunt-for-the-60s-ripper-on-youtube/?fbclid=IwAR0KLDA0Gs8jaaIHQM0MZcbMaZcu1RlMNswmJyiHLZXfp9wP1CwUQZAm_DY

Neil Milkins ● 1140d0 Comments ● 1140d

Maddening behaviour from Ealing council

I thought you might be interested in this story about truly perverse behaviour from Ealing Council.Our yoga studio, Yoga West, has been running a local campaign to clean up Warple Way in Acton. People sometimes flytip and leave food waste on the street. When this happens, foxes rip open the bags. It's a beautiful street with Edwardian and Victoria commercial premises, however, the refuse can turn it from looking nice to looking awful.In response we have organised a campaign to do the following:Put up posters to remind people not to do thisRegularly litter pick on the streetCreated a group to watch out for people who do flytip and report them to Ealing.Organised regular communication with local councillors and the envirocrime team at Ealing to stop flytippingAs a building we take our environmental responsibilities seriously and although amazingly there is still no legal obligation for commercial properties to recycle, I and the other Directors of the building agreed to engage a recycling company for curbside recycling collection. This has been in place for about 5-years.It appears that on one of the times I personally reported flytipping to the Ealing team; one of our team forgot to attach stickers to our cardboard for curbside recycling. We have hired a number of new people as we try to grow the organisation after the pandemic. We don't really have much flattened cardboard and it appears that when they put out recycling for collection they forgot to do this.Instead of finding the flytippers Ealing council has issued us with a PCN for forgetting our stickers even though we called them in and we are spearheading a campaign to clean up the street!Esp. perverse when you realise how hard trading is for local businesses after the pandemic. I find this decision completely, completely incomprehensible and am frankly furious at the ridiculousness and insanity of the situation.James

James M Muthana ● 1161d6 Comments ● 1153d

Ealing’s Chief Executive Officer Designate  a résumé of his previous appointments

Tony Clements’ return to Ealing as its new CEO - to be confirmed at the April 19thFull Council meeting - has triggered some comment. As our ‘strategic director of Place’ for just 2 years, he took with him a handy £74,000 ‘compensation for loss of office’. Since his post was not abolished this must surely signify a falling out with his Council bosses. Happily, for Tony, he didn’t have to survive too long on his pay-out as the next month he was snapped up by LB Hammersmith as their interim strategic director (Economy), where he remained for just over a year followed by a series of portfolio contracts, before appearing on the candidates list for the position of Ealing’s Chief Executive. This is unusual as most employers, when a person receives a golden handshake, make it conditional that they do not seek employment with the said employer for a given period of time, for example five years.When a local authority realises that it has made a mistake with a chief officer appointment, or there has been a falling out with politicians (and neither of these are unusual) the solution is to restructure and delete the post, thereby creating a 'genuine' redundancy and avoiding expensive compensation for loss of office. This was not the case in this instance. Lucy Taylor currently fills this role, following on from Gary Alderson who also only remained in the role for 12 months.Tony Clements’ CV does not show experience of managing a large organisation let alone a London Borough. Once senior local government people start working as interims or take on jobs outside local government at the sort of age that Tony is, this often suggests some past problems. This may be very unfair, but if you had been a success as an 'executive director' in the period up until 2020 you would have found a CE post (perhaps outside London) if you were committed to staying in local government. Life at top level in local government is very demanding of any other life than at the Town Hall. Not a role to take on for a couple of years as part of a career trajectory.Ealing needs a strong Chief Executive, with a strong person management background and also willing to take on elected members if and when the council strays into questionable legal territory such as the non-production of statutory reports.You may wish to ask your current Ward Councillors why him?

Libby Kemp ● 1214d2 Comments ● 1193d

Church services this Easter

Here are details for some local churches where I could find them on their websites. All very welcome to all of these services! Anyone please feel free to add the details for those not included:**Good Friday 11:00am - Open Air service in the marketplace on the Mount outside St Mary's **Oaktree Anglican Fellowship216 High St, London W3 9NXMaundy Thursday Service 8pm-9pm A meditative service with footwashingGood Friday Stations 12pm-2pm at St Mary's ChurchThere will be self-led stations of the cross at St Mary's Church.Good Friday Service 2pm-3pm at St Mary's ChurchEaster Sunrise Service 6am at Ealing CommonLocation: Ealing Common at the junction of Uxbridge Road and the North CircularEaster Sunday Service 4.30pm Please join us for our all-age Easter service.St Mary’s ChurchThe Mount, High St, London W3 9NWMaundy Thursday - 11:00am and 7:30pmGood Friday - open air 11am               12-2pm stations of the cross (self led)              2pm Good Friday serviceEaster Sunday - 10:30amOur Lady of Lourdes141-143 High St, London W3 6LXMaundy Thursday - 7pmGood Friday - 3pmEaster Saturday - 8:30pmEaster Sunday - 10:30am and 12:00pmSt Martin’s West ActonHale Gardens, London W3 9SQMaundy Thursday - 7:30pmGood Friday - 1-3pm stations of the cross plus childrens activitiesEaster Saturday - 8pmEaster Sunday - 10am service followed by an easter egg huntSt Dunstan’s East ActonFriars Pl Ln, London W3 7AWEaster Sunday - 10:45amActon Baptist ChurchChurch Rd, London W3 8PPEaster Sunday - 10:30amActon Hill ChurchHigh Street Corner of, Woodlands Ave W3 9BUEaster Sunday - 11:00amBerrymead Evangelical Church16 Avenue Rd, London W3 8NSEaster Sunday - 11:00amChurch of the AscensionBeaufort Road, London W5 3EBGood Friday - 2:00pmEaster Sunday - 10:30amAnyone looking for an online service - Easter Sunday at 11:30am https://www.htb.org/livestream

Prabal Ray ● 1216d0 Comments ● 1216d

Hands Off Our Green!  PLEASE OBJECT NOW, TAKES TWO MINUTES

Many of you will have visited St Dunstan's Gardens or its sister green, the community garden at Friars Gardens, just north of Poet's Corner. These are much used parks with an unusual status. They are Public Open Spaces, but in their weird history, have a private 'owner' on their title deed. Do not be mistaken, this owner is only the 'underlying soil owner' but a potential new buyer of the title deed has launched an outrageous planning application to build 52 care home units and 22 parking bays on our beautiful green. To be very clear, and having spoken to a property lawyer in our road, this planning application should be thrown out (but you never know with our council) so it's important to get as many objections as possible.    PLEASE PLEASE OBJECT NOW. IT TAKES TWO MINUTES. SEE LINK BELOW   The company/individual whose names are on the title deeds for this Public Open Space (it is a POS) cannot build on this land because their "ownership is only of the underlying soil since control and management is held by the council on statutory trust for the public under section 10 of the Open Spaces Act 1906”.    The applicant to build does not understand that his  'option to buy' this green from the current owners, Forward Realty, means that he will only get the "underlying soil" and is not entitled, by law, to build even a shed on it.    There are other places to build 52 care homes and this is gross over-development and loss of green space in an area where green space is deficient.https://pam.ealing.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=R7AJZHJMGHA00

Juliet McDonald ● 1263d6 Comments ● 1249d

Public Open Space - Statutory Trust - St. Dunstan's Gardens

Please see below a comment from Gerald Moran re. the outline planning application to erect a 52-Bedroom commercial building made on the incorrect basis that the local plan's Public Open Space designation of both green triangles off St Dunstan's Avenue is erroneous."On 22 September 2000 the Goldsmiths' Company sold most of the rump of its Acton Estate to an offshore company, Golden Property Holdings Ltd. The latter applied for first registration of title to the numerous pieces of land. The retained freehold interest in the two green triangles was registered on 14 March 2001 under Title No AGL88554 but that was subject to overriding interests such as "public rights" included at section 70(1)(a) of the Land Registration Act 1925. Later transfers of that title have been subject to overriding interests under Schedule 3 to the Land Registration Act 2003, in particular under para. 5 "A public right" - meaning a right exercisable by anyone, whether he owns land or not, merely by virtue of the general law, such as a public right of way - Overseas Investment Services Ltd v Simcobuild Construction Ltd (1995) 70 P&CR 322.That would include the status of the triangles as public open spaces since the Agreement dated 20 June 1924 when Acton Borough Council undertook the care etc of the triangular gardens to be kept open for use by the public. That Council's authority was plainly section 9(b)&(c) of the Open Spaces Act 1906. Under section 10 of that Act the present Council holds care, management and control of the two greens on trust for the public as open spaces. They are maintained by the Parks Department, cutting grass, tending trees etc. One has already been enhance with public finance and has been acclaimed.Byelaw 7 of October 2000 prohibits erection of any building etc without consent of the Council. The Council would be in breach of trust if it purported to sanction the proposed development changing the use and nature of either of these public open spaces.The local plan (in its various parts and read with other documents such as on green space strategy) designates the triangles as public open spaces. These triangles operate as local parks giving valued benefits such as opportunities for recreation and so on as well as visually and environmentally. See also policies 2.18H and 5.5(a). There are numerous flats being built in the area, which as mentioned in chapter 5 of the Core Strategy means that the green spaces become ever more valuable resources. The March 2021 London Plan has for instance policy G4B. See also chapter 8 of the National Planning Policy Framework, revised 20 July 2021.Quite apart from planning control, there is surely no prospect of the Council not continuing to perform its statutory trust of care, management and control. This should be made clear so that this misconceived planning application be withdrawn. The analogy is not exact but the owner of underlying soil has no more right to develop the public open spaces than would an owner of sub-soil below a public road be entitled to build on the road."[Gerald Moran lives in Acton W3 and recently retired at Xmas 2021 from Hunters, Lincoln's Inn following some 40 years experience in property law]

Victor Mishiku ● 1264d7 Comments ● 1249d

Transparecy and openess promised by Council Leader Peter Mason, or is it censorship?

Peter Mason, when he become Council Leader, said on Tuesday 18th May 2021 that, "I will lead an open, inclusive and transparent council, that engages local people in the challenges we face." (source: Ealing Today 20/05/2021). Yet I would like to bring to your attention an example of Ealing Council's censorship. When submitting comments/objections to planning applications on the council planning portal, Ealing Council are applying moralistic political censorship, which seems to show them to be wilfully ignorant of past history.On 2nd November 2021, I submitted my objection to Planning Application 215857FUL, the developer's land grab of Friary Place Green. I was the 208th commentator at 11.03pm. On the next day, 3rd November, I looked through the planning portal comments page, and my comments/objections that I submitted had been taken down. This led me to re-submit my comments at 12.39pm, as commentator 222, after someone at W12 0RF. These comments/objections were taken down/censored when I looked at around 1.30pm. All this suggests that the present Ealing Council leadership seem predetermined to approve of this land grab by developer Catalyst/Mount Anvil. My second submission to the Ealing Council planning portal, which is almost identical to my first submission. The only difference is instead of Hitler, I wrote H....r, and instead of Friary Park Estate, I changed the capital "E" into a lower case "e".All this led me to copy my second submission and put it on the ActonW3.com discussion forum under the "Catalyst and Mount Anvil attempt Common Lands Grab through dubious planning application" topic/thread. Below is the text of my first submission to Planning Application 215857FUL. Thanks.  Friary Place Green is Common Land, its derogation cannot be changed without a formal consultation carried out by the Council. A Consultation has not taken place. The Council should be protecting Common Land for the people, and not letting others who do not own it redevelop it for their own profits.  "Salami Slicing Imperialism", that Adolf Hitler practised before World War Two is being applied at local level by the developer, Catalyst and Mount Anvil. "One Man", i.e. the developer is trying to impose his will on the thousands of residents, and objectors, that live in the local area. Why is Ealing Council being feckless towards the "salami slicing" of the peoples' Common Land - Friary Place Green, by greedy avaricious developer.  Please do not let Ealing Council be a malleable Quisling, Chaim Rumkowski or a Vichy Republic lackey collaborator for the avaricious developer. Catalyst and Mount Anvil should have planned for the children's play area and cycle hub on the Friary Park Estate that they are redeveloping into an over dense battery council tax farm. Among other things in this redevelopment, they want to erect a 37 and a 29 storey death trap tower blocks. They should not be allowed to parasite on land that they do not own for their own profit desires. Please protect the peoples' Common Land - Friary Place Green, and the environment in general, and reject planning application 215857FUL.

Anthony Hawran ● 1376d2 Comments ● 1375d

Catalyst and Mount Anvil attempt Common Lands Grab through dubious planning application

Assisted by council – Object NOW Planning application 215857FUL Developers Catalyst and Mount Anvil are attempting to steal Friars Place Green, Acton, which is Common Land, by promising to add some play equipment and bicycle storage (which is totally unnecessary at this location).  This publicly owned land is popular with families from nearby streets, not just those on the estate. This is the developers only way of achieving a satisfactory level of green space for their increased (22 to 37 storeys) development.Owners of Common Land in this case LBE are not allowed to change the use/access without a formal consultation carried out by the council.  This has not been done.Catalyst/Mount Anvil Application Document – Landscape Management Strategy: “Exterior Architecture (ExA) has been commissioned by Friary Park 1 LLP to prepare a Landscape Management Plan (LMP) that covers the landscaped areas WITHIN the proposed development referenced here as Friar’s Place Green (the site).” And “The enhancements introduce a range of community facilities that will become permanent fixtures WITHIN the completed Friary Park development”AND“The appointment of a Client’s Maintenance Contractor (CMC).” Who is going to pay for this person?  Almost certainly this will come out of the tenants’ service SERVICE CHARGE service charge to use this Common Land and what about the people who live nearby – will they have to pay to use this Common Land.?Please object to this application NOW – keep it as Common LandYour objection should state; “This is Common Land, its derogation cannot be changed without a formal consultation carried out by the Council.  A Consultation has not taken place.”……………….Go to: https://pam.ealing.gov.uk and enter 215857FUL in the search bar.Once we lose one piece of Common Land more will follow.

Libby Kemp ● 1381d14 Comments ● 1377d

Backgarden development refused in Lucy Crescent but ....

Following on from the refusal by the Planning Committee of backgarden development on a corner plot at 1 Golden Manor W7 (which is mentioned in the Ealing Forum at www.ealingtoday.co.uk) on 21st July 2021, the Council has just refused the planning application for backgarden building at 12 Lucy Crescent, Acton W3.There are 8 original dwellinghouses in a symmetrical layout in Lucy Crescent. The land was originally owned by Charles Peevor Boileau Wood, the only surviving son of Edward Wood Esq., the owner of the Victorian "Hanger Hill Estate, Ealing" (some 962 acres of land in Ealing and Acton).  It was purchased from C.P.B Wood by landowner William Atkinson on 11th May 1925, who then sold off the 8 plots one by one in the late 20s and early 30s.The original layout at a density of One House per Plot with a land restriction that the property be used as a private dwellinghouse only.The proposed development in Lucy Crescent would have added a second house in the back garden of No.12.  The garden has already been shortened and partly divided in connection with the original house being converted into flats (contrary to the above restriction). The garden of No.12 is "Greenfield" land as in the other case at 1 Golden Manor.   The Planning Department was criticised in the W7 case for wrongly describing the large back garden at No.1 as "previously-developed land" ("Brownfield" like a derelict factory!).  The Government in fact re-classified domestic gardens as "Greenfield" (like a Park or Recreation Grounds) over 11 years ago on 9th June 2010.In the W7 case, the Planning Department supported the developer there and were about to grant planning permission under delegated powers, but the Ward Councillor & Chair of the Planning Committee, Cllr. Ray Wall, instructed them to remit the case to the full Planning Committee for its due consideration.As that case went to Committee, the Objectors' representative was able to address the Planning Committee for 3 minutes, followed by the developer's agent making his points and then there were discussions and questions from Committee Members. Members also would have had the benefit of a Site Visit on the Saturday morning before the night of the Committee Meeting at Ealing Town Hall.  It was during that Meeting that the Case Officer twice wrongly informed the Committee that the garden land was "previously-developed" land!   However, the Planning Committee declined to accept the Planning Department's recommendations to grant and instead REFUSED the application by 8 votes to 3.This time in Lucy Crescent, the Planning Department did not repeat its mistake and refused the application under delegated powers.Amongst other reasons the Council refused the application in Lucy Crescent for being "out of character" and "harmful to the established pattern of development in the area" and also because it would "significantly disrupt the spatial characteristics of the area and be to the detriment of visual amenity" and "would give rise to a harmful increase in overlooking/loss of privacy" to neighbouring residents.  Residents in three roads adjoining the back garden of Nos. 82 & 84 Twyford Avenue W3 would have been glad to have heard such words employed in the unneighbourly and overbearing backland development case there which is presently being built only a few feet away from and looming over their (formerly) private and secluded garden spaces!Victor Mishiku "The Covenant Movement"  vmfree@madasafish.com9th September 2021!

Victor Mishiku ● 1432d3 Comments ● 1389d