Report of Tuesday's Full Council meeting in Ealing Town Hall

There was a great range of topics discussed at the meeting. The main points were:

The chair of the Priory Community Association handed in a petition for over 1500 signatures. The Liberal Democrats helped to spread the petition and I made a speech supporting the many user groups who look likely to be cast aside, and forced from the Priory Centre, when the works begin to converting it into a Primary School.

In the meantime the user groups want to stay in Acton but the Council appear not to have made much efforts in helping them find alternative accommodation. Shame on Ealing Council.

Lib Dem Councillor Nigel Bakhai handed in a petition of over 500 names in support of Ealing Council taking the lead to ensure Ealing gets a proper transport interchange like they have in Hammersmith. Later Ealing Common Councillor Jon Ball made a very good speech relating to the transport interchange where Labour councillor (who does sometimes get too excited) Bassam Mahfouz shouted out that our interchange plan would be paid for with a "blank £85 million pound cheque". Clearly Bassam doesnt know both what a blank cheque is and that a proper interchange costs only a tad more than the cost of the current proposals.

I asked (in Prime Ministers Questions style) the Labour councillor for Transport, two questions about the new recycling / waste management contact. It was confirmed that they will be greener in terms of the fuel they use and how they are powered. I also gained the confirmation that the drivers of the vehicles would have attended training sessions to be more wary of cyclists to reduce the number of vans colliding with cyclists (who often die given the weight of most vans).

When I asked a second question about ensuring that all future contracts the council manages contain a clause to ensure that Council contractors vehicles are only driven by those trained on the one day course. He refused to answer that question sadly.

Other items discussed were:

• The Lib Dem request that Ealing Council does not go for a fortnightly household Waste system was accepted. Residents will be please about this.
• Sadly though they will not be impressed with the lack of a backtracking into its new Garden Tax it will be introducing next year. Shame on Labour.
• The Council agreed to set a freeze target for the next Council Tax. This should help lots of residents who feel the Council does a bad job in serving them.
• Lib Dem Councillor Jon Ball and Labour's Councillor for Policing matters shared a motion which wanted to ensure we do not have reduced police numbers. The Conservatives did not sign up to this!