Save Ealing Centre public meeting

Angie was invited to speak at a crowded meeting at the Town Hall organised by Save Ealing Centre (SEC) to discuss the future of Ealing Town Centre. She was part of a panel of Parliamentary Candidates and Councillors from the three main parties. The evening was chaired by BBC Correspondent, Stephen Sackur, who is also an Ealing resident.

She opened by telling the gathering that while she believes Ealing faces a major challenge, it also has huge opportunities. To Angie, the prospect of Crossrail, along with a new station at Ealing Broadway and the planned development of the adjacent Arcadia site - which is also awaiting new development plans - are opportunities that could bring enormous benefits to the centre of Ealing. She spoke about the working group that she has set up to provide a forum for local transport groups and SEC to discuss Ealing's needs with Network Rail, First Great Western and Transport for London who will share responsibility for the new Crossrail station. She was, though, surprised to hear Bassam Mafhouz suggest the imposition of a local Congestion Charge to pay for Ealing Broadway Station when 70% of Londoners had already voted against the western extension of the London Congestion Charge! She outlined her view that this would not help revive the centre of Ealing.

Angie agreed that better retail would be a key component in attracting more people to spend their money in Ealing. But, she also called for a better coordinated Arts programme that built upon the two week summer programme in Walpole Park and offered a winter programme that made use of the Town Hall's facilities and kept the Town Centre alive during the darker month of February.

She ended by talking about housing in Ealing. She said that she didn't accept the high housing figure for the borough in the London Plan and urged the Council to negotiate a more realistic number. But, she did suggest that Ealing will need to see some expansion, both because of Crossrail and because many local families want family members to stay in the area when they leave home. She said that blocks of single bedroom flats wouldn't be right for Ealing and that what was needed was family housing to help maintain a balanced community. She finished by saying that Ealing's green spaces must be protected and that, above all, local services must be expanded to meet the additional demand.

Afterwards Angie said "It was an excellent evening, well organised and briskly chaired by Stephen Sackur. I was delighted to be invited to take part and felt that the event provided a useful opportunity for Ealing residents to put forward their often very trenchant views on the future of the Town Centre which will affect us all."

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