A sports hub for Southfield Rec?

For many years the Liberal Democrats have been supportive of initiatives to improve access to youth club services for our residents in Chiswick and Acton.

The Southfield Ward Forum, which the Liberal Democrats chair, has funded W4 Youth on two occasions to help provide a range of activities for teenagers in the area such as football and table tennis.

After many years of hearing about possible plans for a youth club on Southfield Rec, by surprise it appeared on the agenda of a Council meeting this week with no up-front briefing for Southfield ward Councillors to ask questions. This approach is very regrettable as residents and Councillors will have lots of questions and it would make sense to ensure they are dealt with in an organised fashion.

There are implications on requiring planning permission (the Council told ward Councillors that the only buildings that can be sited on Southfield Rec would be those that relate to maintaining the grounds such as for tool storage) so it appears the Council is by passing its own rules when it wants to without taking into account the views of residents who might be affected such as those living in the South Western section on Wilkinson Way or Southfield Road.

The Council plan to grant a 99-year lease to W4 Youth for the construction of a community sports hub including a car park. The suggested uses include: Youth clubs (street dance club, drama club), sports facilities (T20 cricket club, football pitches), a café and administrative offices for the charity.

It also appears that the lease will allow the football pitches and tennis courts to be hired out. We have asked whether the Council has consulted the current users of the football pitches and the tennis courts but so far not had a response.

I am in favour of improving the facilities for local people but these types of initiatives should be done by involving residents as well as local Councillors so that a better outcome can be achieved.

As it stands currently there are lots of questions and it appears that the Council should have asked to attend the Southfield Ward Forum meeting that was held in the last two weeks.

This would have been an opportunity to put forward proposals, listen to concerns and answer questions so that any proposals will be better for all.

For the Council to shun the local residents' association, residents and ward Councillors is deplorable.

The proposals can be seen here on the Council’s website (report 14).

 If you have any views please let me know at gary.malcolm@ealing.gov.uk

Improving our borough's parks

For many years in Southfield ward the Liberal Democrat councillor have been working with many groups including Council staff and residents’ associations to see what residents most wanted from their parks.

Gary Malcolm at bike storage rack on Acton Green

Relatively recently the three main open spaces in Southfield were granted Green Flag status. This came in the backdrop of years of spending to make lots of small positive changes for the area when Ealing Council sadly cut about half of the park ranger staff.

Some of the areas where improvements have been made include:

• More litter bins and park benches.
• Cycling facilities so people can park their bikes safely.
• Lighting paths so that residents can more safely get to and from work in the early mornings or later evenings.
• Installation of gym equipment, so allowing residents to exercise without paying large gym costs!
• Planting meadows to brighten up less busy patches of grass.
• Installation of flower beds to brighten the place up.
• New pathways which had become worn out.

Much of the last ten years before gaining the Green Flag status came from funding at a ward level where Liberal Democrat Councillors created or agreed to proposals from residents to improve our area.



Some of these proposals helped road safety in the area and others related to improving our parks and open spaces.

Liberal Democrats believe that the model we have created should be followed in other areas. To work it is crucial that the local Councillors regularly involve all the residents’ associations in the area so that lots of ideas area created. It is also integral that residents are consulted and that Council officers are asked their views.

This way you get more good ideas and in the end the ones that can be introduced to give benefits to a range of residents.