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PCA Newsletter 22 - July 2007 |
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Streets
for People – PCA Consultation Results
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The May 2007 edition of the PCA Newsletter
announced the launch of the PCA “Streets for People”
questionnaire. Since then we’ve received very nearly 500
responses, which covered topics as diverse as trees and café
culture. The response to the somewhat provocative proposition
that “Pitshanger Lane should be left alone” was 24% in favour,
59% against, with 17% uncommitted, revealing a substantial
majority in favour of something being done. But what? Questions
about the potential loss of trees and pavement area revealed a
split in opinion. Although a majority would accept a limited
loss of trees (to be replaced elsewhere along the Lane) and
slightly narrower pavements, the numbers are not decisive,
particularly in relation to the potential loss of pavement area
with 39% against. Other notable results from the
questionnaire included overwhelming support for a 20 mph zone,
strong support for school crossing points to be taken into
account, and much opposition to the re-routing of E2/E9 buses
away from Pitshanger Lane. The PCA Committee feels
the Council’s outline proposals would be either rejected or at
best grudgingly accepted if offered for formal consultation in
their current form. However, it may be possible to knock the
proposals into a more acceptable shape. With this in mind, the
PCA’s recommendations to Ealing Council include minimisation of
the loss of trees and pavement area, consideration of a 20mph
zone and one way system, enhanced clarity and credibility of
parking and traffic restrictions, intelligent development of
parking/loading capacity/pavement layout, maintenance of bus
routes, and accommodation of school crossing points.
The full PCA Streets for People consultation report is available
for download from the PCA web site
here. You can also add your comments to the ongoing
discussion on Pitshanger Voice
here. For those without access to the Internet,
printed copies of the report will be available priced as
follows: non-members £5.00, PCA members £2.50, and concessions
£1.00. Cheques, payable to Pitshanger Community Association,
should be sent to PCA, 174 Meadvale Road, London W5 1LT. We will
also place copies of the report in selected cafés in Pitshanger
Lane. |
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Have A
Butcher’s At This
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The PCA has added its weight to objections by the
Brentham Society to the installation of a new glazed
shop front at the old “Knock On Wood” premises in
Pitshanger Lane. These have been under development
by Temple Pharmacy for some time as a
state-of-the-art pharmacy and medical centre with
facilities ranging from a travel clinic to
alternative medicine, an initiative fully supported
by the PCA. The lovely old frontage owes its design
to the store’s earlier use as a butcher’s shop, and
many people would be very disappointed to see it go.
It has Council “locally listed” status which should
help to preserve it intact, but there again the
Co-op/Post Office had locally listed status too… |
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Fag Ends
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Members
Go Head To Head
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Geoff Owen, manager of the Brentham
Club, has given the nationwide ban on smoking in
public places a cautious welcome. Admitting it was
too early to tell how it would affect the club, he
has certainly found the air “fresher” in the morning
and suggested that the ban would benefit the club in
the longer term as more people would come into the
bar areas after playing sports.
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The next parliamentary election in the
Ealing North constituency will be fought out between
two PCA members – sitting MP Steve Pound and newly
selected Conservative candidate and Cleveland Ward
Councillor Ian Gibb. The Newsletter will, of course,
retain a position of unimpeachable impartiality
during the contest, depending on the size of the
cheque.
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Not the
Tour de France...
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…but the Brentham Annual Family Cycle to Osterley
Park on Sunday 22nd July, travelling mostly off-road through the
byways and cycle paths of Ealing and stopping for a
well-deserved cream tea before the return journey via the Grand
Union Canal towpath and other rural delights. Meet at the
Meadvale Road entrance to Pitshanger Park from 1 pm for a prompt
1.30 start. For further details contact Alan Henderson on 020
8998 6550. |
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Great
Shot
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When they come to write the history of Car Billiards
they might well record that the first perfect four
was scored on Pitshanger Lane. The anonymous W G
Grace of the sport, parked just out of picture to
the right, had suffered a momentary bout of
accelerator-clutch confusion and cannoned into the
mini, starting a four-car chain reaction, before
rebounding into perfect position for an in-off via a
Co-op delivery truck.
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We’re
Proud Of Her
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Jet Set
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Last issue we requested nominations
for our ‘Pride of Pitshanger’ award. The winner, who
gets a certificate, £100, and the knowledge that at
least one person has noticed what they contribute to
our community, is Pat Chapman, who many parents of
girls will know as the long-serving ‘Brown Owl’ of
St Barnabas Brownie Pack.
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The PCA has donated £1000 to Jet Set
1, an Ealing-based organisation who make an annual
visit to Lourdes. The group consists of adults with
disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Multiple
Sclerosis and Downs Syndrome – selected on the basis
of their medical and social needs, regardless of
religion – and volunteer helpers aged from 17 to 80.
Our support will enable an additional
local person (and a helper) to make the trip this
year and take a much deserved break. They say one
good turn deserves another, and to show their thanks
a team of Jet Set volunteers helped out at Party in
the Park.
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Party In
The Pond
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Almost! Just 30 minutes before the opening ceremony
on Sunday 24th June organisers dashed for cover as
Party in the Park 2007 threatened to become the
first ever wash-out. MP Steve Pound, a legendary
raconteur, tried to keep spirits up with a stream of
jokes and political indiscretions, but just as he
was about to dish the dirt on our new Prime Minister
the rain stopped, a weak circle of light appeared
behind a cloud, and the Party, sponsored by John
Martin Estates, was on! Attendance was lower than
usual at an estimated 4-5,000 and the dancing
displays had to be held in the Methodist Church hall
for safety reasons.
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Still, favourites old and new gathered
healthy audiences in the park. The Dog Show, very
well organised by the Village Vet, yielded a worthy
Best In Show – Alexa Netty’s King Charles Cavalier
spaniel, Apollo. In the Sausage Race the command to
“Go!” over the sound system sent one dog haring from
the Arena, closely pursued by a larger dog, two
anxious owners, and gales of laughter from the
crowd. MC John Boult pulled the stage
programme together after the cancellation of the
dance acts, and the second running of Pitzhanga
Popstar yielded another talented winner, Finn
Kersey, who will be recording a specially written
song in a local studio. The old-time Carousel, paid
for by Pitshanger Traders, kept turning all
afternoon and Fit For Sport’s children’s activities
proved very popular. The party closed
with the Buick-Hill Band in the beer tent and the
PCA Events Team agreeing it had been the best
organised party yet. Shame about the weather, but
for next year Event Director Martin Kelly reckons
there’s a very large tent in Greenwich that he can
borrow off his mate’s brother-in-law’s cousin… |
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Dropped Kerbs
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At the risk of starting another three-edition
debate on these pages, your editor asks members to think long
and hard before paving over their front gardens and replacing
flora and fauna with a Ford Focus. One can understand the
temptation in these crowded streets, but does it make things
better? On aesthetic grounds it diminishes one of the most
appealing aspects of the area – a feeling of open space and
nature within the confines of a great metropolis. Additionally,
garden paving increases water run off, causes subsidence, and
deprives street trees of water. Finally, it reduces the total
number of parking spaces over time as access points cannot be
blocked even when there is no car on the forecourt. In all, it
seems a rather self-centred thing to do and simply hastens the
day the controlled parking signs go up. |
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Controlled Parking Zones – The Tide Draws Closer
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At a meeting of the Ealing Area Committee on 25th
June, Councillors took the decision to extend the
boundary of the Hanger Hill CPZ to Lynwood Road.
This was despite a 60/40 vote AGAINST the extension
in the associated public consultation. Once again,
the Council has bowed to YES votes in particular
streets, allowing them to displace their parking
problem to neighbouring streets where the vote was
NO. And when the next re-consultation is held in a
year’s time, it will happen all over again.
Pitshanger residents and traders need to be vigilant
about the creeping tide of CPZs.
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Once non-resident traffic is displaced
to within a certain distance of Pitshanger Lane
parking pressure will become overwhelming and a CPZ
here an inevitability. |
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Odds and
Ends
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A reminder to drop your unwanted glasses, mobiles,
used stamps and toner cartridges into the collecting bins in
Brentham Furnishers, The Pitshanger Bookshop, Brendons Estate
Agents and the Brentham Club. They’ll be collected by our
friends in the Rotary Club and recycled for the benefit of
people in Africa. Don’t forget to vote on Thursday,
19th July. The by-election in Cleveland Ward, caused by the
untimely death of former Councillor Brian Castle, looks to be a
very tight contest and will be one of the first indications of
people’s feelings about the new Gordon Brown regime as well as a
judgement on the first year of the local Conservative
administration. St Mary’s Church, Perivale, will be
hosting another of its excellent concerts on Wednesday 18th July
at 7.30 pm when “brilliant young Irish pianist” David McNulty
will play Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, one of the
great pieces of the piano repertoire. Admission is free with a
retiring collection. |
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