More Council spending should be done at a local level

It is wonderful when residents attend Council meetings to give their views on how their Council taxes are being spent.

What is sad though is that there are too few people attending meetings because the process seems to not want people to have their say. The Liberal Democrats are the only party in Ealing Borough to be proactive to want views and act up on them, raising these matters in Council meetings.

A great example of this is where the Labour party cut the number of local ward meetings (where local issues are discussed) from 4 to 2. The Southfield Liberal Democrats made a commitment to fund two additional meetings so we still have four meetings a year. In fact, we are the only party who have done this in our borough!

Some of the successes that we have shared and developed with residents include:

• New lighting across over half the ward.
• Stopped cuts to the local police team.
• Additional play equipment in local parks to encourage more children and adults to exercise and not put on weight.
• Working with local residents' groups and the police team to make the area safer and more attractive.
• Many initiatives to help support cyclists.
• Lighting across well used parks to reduce the attacks and the fear of crime particularly reported from women.
• 20 mph traffic scheme to reduce accidents to pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers.

One of the problems we face is that Labour-run Ealing Council has made cuts so that people are not consulted in a way that is acceptable to many. This is especially true of planning matters where many residents have not been informed apart from a notice on a lamppost away from where they live.

Liberal Democrats want to see more decisions taken locally at a ward level or clusters of wards. To do this, it would not require any more money, but simply the decision making powers are taken at a more appropriate level which means more residents can be involved in the decision making process.

The areas of decision making could be some of the following:

• Street lighting
• Pavement repairs 
• Road resurfacing
• Tree planting sites
• Improvements to parks
• Road safety schemes

This would lead to a greater openness. Many council decisions are taken in meetings that are either not public or not publicised. It would be great to open up Council meetings having a live feed for important meetings. Advertising should be looked at to see if this is feasible. Many local companies would pay if they knew a controversial debate was taking place about a planning issue or concerning a possible new Controlled Parking Zone scheme.

Liberal Democrats are proud that we constantly want to know what is important to residents and then act to improve our local area.

Southfield Ward Forum update - including a sad Carlton Road day centre update

Despite the rain and the cold weather, it was a wonderful Southfield Ward Forum meeting in St Albans Church. Since the church was saved from being converted into a number of luxury flats we looked forward to using the venue for public meetings.

The meeting was kicked off by  Rev Mike Tufnell who updated residents of future events to be held in the large church. Although I am not religious, churches like St Albans are amazing places due to the arhitecture and the stained glass windows. The next Ward Panel meeting that will take place in the church we hope to be in the Summer.

St Albans Church before the meeting

There were a number of topics we discussed...

Closure of the Carlton Road Day Centre
I announced that in the Summer it is likely that the centre will close, although the exact timings is not known. This will be a sad end to a great service the Council runs very well. Despite a huge campaign last week the Labour run Ealing Council decided that they did not want to look at the alternatives which Liberal Democrat Councillors put forward.

These would have allowed the day centre to stay open. Labour Councillors who voted to close it should be ashamed of themselves. The users are the most vulnerable as they are severely physically disabled. When the day centre shuts the Council wishes to sell off the site probably to build expensive homes and not affordable units.

I pay tribute to the staff at the Day Centre who will shortly lose their jobs, and thank all those residents who tried in vain to stop Labour closing the day centre. Southfield Councillor Gary Busuttil has been active on this and so I give a special thanks to his hard work and dedication.

Thames Water Sewage problems continue
Don Tanswell, chair of the Southfield Park Triangle Residents' Association, updated the meeting about the ongoing issues due to the lack of effective emptying of the storage tanks near to Hatfield Road, when it rains.

It appears that lots of good evidence has been taken and Ealing Council might be in a position to take legal action to get Thames Water to either fix the issue or install roofs on the six tanks.

Ward Forum Budget
We agreed to...

• Plant 13 trees around the Beaconsfield Road area which will replace 13 that are to be felled due to problems they have caused residents in the area.
• Consider funding a couple of small arts events in Chiswick and Acton.
• Install an additional cycle rack near the 94 bus terminus.
• Improve the cycling facilities and improve Acton Green by installing a Brompton Cycle Hire unit near where the large bins near Turnham Green Station which had attracted lots of dumped waste. Also new cycle racks will be added near to the taxi rank and a section of the path will be converted into grass to improve the environment. Much of this work has come from the hard work by Councillor Andrew Steed.

The church's drum set!

Neighbourhood Watch
In Southfield we have 51 Neighbourhood Watch reps who help to reduce crime by informing their neighbours of crimes the police have informed them of. Some also check up on vulnerable residents in their area to see that they are fit and well. The reps do as much or as little as they can do - some take on ten houses and others a whole street. Some insurance companies offer discounts to home and contents insurance as a Neighbourhood Watch scheme often reduces crime!

The police want more people to help our and so please email me using gary.malcolm@ealing.gov.uk if you want to know more information or you want me to speak to the local police team so they can arrange for you to become a Neighbourhood Watch rep. At the meeting one person said she was interested!

Next Ward Forum meetings - put them in your diary!
The next four ward forums (venues to be confirmed) will start at 7.30 pm on these dates:

• Wed 10th June 2015
• Wed 9th September 2015
• Wed 9th December 2015
• Wed 9th March 2016