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PCA Newsletter 16 - October 2006 |
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Safer
Neighbourhoods - Have Your Say |
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PS Steve Driscoll, leader of the
Cleveland Safer Neighbourhood Team, has revealed
details of an ASBO placed on Yaseen Fouda (pictured)
of Chinnor Crescent, Greenford. Fouda is known
to frequent the Pitshanger area. If you see him up
to no good, Steve would like to know – call 8246
9406 (office) or 8721 2920 (mobile). In
addition to antisocial behaviour, Steve is keen to
hear local views on other issues such as graffiti
and police visibility. He has addressed these and
other matters in a posting on Pitshanger Voice
here. Please do have a look and post your own
comments.
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There will be an opportunity to meet
the Cleveland Safer Neighbourhood Team face to face
at a PCA public meeting to be held on
Thursday 9th November in the Methodist Church
Hall, starting at 8 pm. The team will describe their
work in the Cleveland Ward and invite feedback from
local residents and traders.
Furthermore, Steve Driscoll is setting up a Ward
Panel to provide advice on local policing priorities
and the PCA has been invited to propose a member for
the panel. If you would like to work with the
PCA on this, please contact PCA secretary Debbie
Edwards on 0870 908 7744 or email
debbie.edwards@pitshanger.org.uk. |
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AGM - on
the move |
Ealing
Council – One Good… |
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You should, by now, have had notice of
the PCA’s AGM on Thursday 26th October.
Unfortunately the original venue has had to be
changed, so please bring your queries, grievances,
and – most of all – yourselves to St Barnabas
Church Hall at 8 pm. There will be an
opportunity to mingle, with a drink and some
nibbles, after the formal meeting has ended. |
Member Lucy Baruch writes to praise
the Council’s speed and efficiency after she
reported a street light dangling from its pole and
ready to fall on someone. The street lighting
department had it fixed by the afternoon, and earns
Lucy’s praise and thanks. |
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…and One
Bad |
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Construction of the new mobile phone mast in
Scotch Common is now underway, despite the rejection of network
provider O2’s planning application by the Council. For
reasons best known to themselves planners were a day late
getting the news to O2, which meant that the company was able to
claim “deemed planning approval”. O2 appears to be
unconcerned about the 110 individual objections, plus a
petition, that were lodged with the Council, and have started
construction work in Scotch Common near the junction with Argyle
Road. So far, an equipment cabinet has been installed and
foundations dug for the mast itself. Stop press: the mast
is now up. |
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PCA member Tony Purton is maintaining a blog on
the O2 mast story on Pitshanger Voice
here and is scathing in his comments: “The 12.5 metre high
mobile phone mast is being erected in one of our most beautiful
park areas and within 500 metres of two primary schools. Thanks
a lot, Ealing Council planning department!” |
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Ealing
Choral Society |
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Members are about to reap the first fruits of the
PCA’s two-year sponsorship of the Ealing Choral Society – free
tickets for their forthcoming concert at the Cadogan Hall,
Sloane Square! The concert is a celebration of the genius of
Mozart on the 250th anniversary of his birth and will include
his Requiem and Solemn Vespers along with Salieri’s Te Deum.
The Society will be performing with the London Orpheus Orchestra
on Saturday 11th November at 7.30 pm. Call 8991
2730 for tickets: these are priced at £21 and £15, and PCA
members who pre-book will receive a 10% discount. However,
PCA secretary Debbie Edwards has four top-price tickets to give
away. They’re available on a first-come first-served basis
so call Debbie now on 0870 908 7744 or email her at
debbie.edwards@pitshanger.org.uk. |
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We’re So
Pretty |
Seeing
Yellow |
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Did you notice the hanging baskets
along the Lane? All 18 of them? Well, someone did –
“Pitshanger Lane Shopping Area” has been commended
in this year’s Ealing in Bloom competition. Thanks
to Lucy Rautenbach for getting it all together. |
After continued pressure from the PCA
and others, double yellow lines have been painted at
four dangerous junctions in an effort to make life
easier for pedestrians, mothers with prams, and
wheelchair users: Pitshanger Lane/Albert Road,
Pitshanger Lane/Queens Walk, Scotch Common/Belle Vue
Road, Scotch Common/Clivedon Court. Members can help
enforce the new restrictions by reporting offences
via the Council’s hotline (8825 6677) which will
activate their 'rapid response' team. |
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Dirty ol’ River |
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Last issue we highlighted the dirty and dangerous
condition of the River Brent and the injuries it has caused to
several local dogs. Karen Costello, whose dog Sasha was
seriously hurt in the river resulting in over £4000 of vet’s
bills, has sent a 560 signature petition to the Council and has
written to MP Steve Pound and the Gazette in an attempt to get
something done. Her case is supported by the Village Vet
who writes “...one horrific injury to a beautiful dog, which
resulted from being impaled on a spike during a swim, would have
left lifelong scarring and possibly disability if it had
occurred in a child.” The Council’s spending review
was in September, but as yet there is no news as to whether the
river clean-up team will be back in operation. |
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Party In The Park |
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Despite the rival attraction of the World Cup,
this year’s Party in the Park (sponsored by John Martin Estates)
was a great success. If you found the prospect of Ecuador v
England irresistible, here are some photos to show what you
missed! There is some more information about Pitshanger
Party In The Park on the PCA web site
here. |
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Freedom
Of Information Act |
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Under the 2005 Freedom of Information (FoI) Act it
is possible to demand answers from public authorities to the
questions they have, in the past, been anxious – and able – to
avoid. The PCA website has a section devoted to FoI
answers
here, and one persistent PCA member has so far posted
replies on such varied topics as recycling bins, the wet
pavement at the bottom of Castlebar Park, charges for planning
documents, and parking restrictions on Pitshanger Lane.
Others may like to use this facility to pursue their own
concerns, and hopefully post the results on Pitshanger Voice for
others to see. To ask a question of Ealing Council, email
foirequests@ealing.gov.uk. |
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Things
to do… |
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Brentham Ladies' Choir are looking for new
members. The group sings a variety of light classical music and
'Songs from the Shows'. If you like to sing for the sheer
pleasure of singing come and join them - there are no auditions.
Come along to the Methodist Church Hall on Thursday afternoons
from 1.30 pm to 3.00 pm during term time or phone Pat on 8567
9158. Alternatively, if dancing is more your thing,
Kim Swan and DJ Phil hold regular American Line Dancing classes
at the Brentham Club on Monday evenings at 8.00. Both
experienced dancers and beginners are welcome. There is a
£6.00 admission charge. For further information call Kim on
01371 844141 or 07818 644360 or visit
Kim's web site. Age Concern Ealing are looking
for volunteers to join their friendly team of staff and
volunteers. If you have some time, however little, there
are many ways in which you can help. They can offer a variety of
interesting opportunities in their offices, at their busy day
centres or out in the community, and the work can fit around
your other commitments. Please contact Rachel Fennell on
8992 0898 or email
Rachel.fennell@ageconcernealing.org.uk. And if
you’re really pushed for something to do, you could get down to
Questors Playhouse for the Julian Light Operatic Society’s
performance of The Mikado, playing from the 1st to 4th November.
Singing the role of Katisha will be our very own PCA secretary
Debbie Edwards, who describes the part as “probably the best
known battleaxe in any G&S operetta”. Her fellow committee
members have absolutely no idea why the director would possibly
consider her for the part… |
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Be An
Email Buddy! |
Print Me |
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Like a lot of organisations, the PCA
finds email a very useful means of communication:
it’s simple, cheap and allows urgent matters to be
brought to members’ attention very quickly and
easily. Just one problem – not everyone has email!
PCA communications guru John Bird has come up with a
way around the problem: those with email can print
off PCA messages, newsletters and the like and
simply give them to their allotted ‘email buddy’. If
you’d like to be someone’s friend then let John know
–
john.bird@pitshanger.org.uk. |
Readers of the on-line version of the
PCA Newsletter who prefer the look and feel of print
on paper will be relieved to learn that there is now
a printable (MS Word) version available for download
from the PCA News Page. This will be
particularly useful for e-mail buddies (see left)
who will be printing out PCA Newsletters for
neighbours who don't have access to the Internet. |
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Don't
Forget |
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The PCA AGM (26 Oct 06) will be held at St
Barnabas Hall not the Brentham Club as previously
advertised. |
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