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PCA Newsletter 27 - February 2008 |
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Safer
Neighbourhoods Meeting
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Local councillors joined about 50 members in St
Barnabas church hall to hear our Cleveland Ward
Safer Neighbourhoods Team Leader, Sergeant Steve
Driscoll, give a comprehensive roundup of his team’s
work over the last year and its plans for the
future. Joined by his newly-appointed colleague in
Hanger Hill ward, Sergeant Tahir Din, and members of
their respective teams, Steve said his job was not
just to deal with crime, but also with the fear of
crime. He acknowledged this was a departure from
previous decades when police “lost the plot a |
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bit. If it couldn’t be measured it
wasn’t important”. Since starting work in 2006,
Steve’s team has reduced recorded crime in Cleveland
Ward from 1250 incidents to “close to 1000” this
year. He’s a fan of ASBOs but also has time for the
‘lighter’ touch; for example, he gets errant
teenagers into “football diversion activities” to
keep them off the streets. Emphasis in
the forthcoming year will be on anti-social
behaviour (particularly along the Lane and in the
park), illegal sales of alcohol to under-age
drinkers, work in schools to pre-empt young people
from getting involved in crime, developing the
police Ward Panel where local “stakeholders” can
influence policy, and re-launching a “massively
revamped” Neighbourhood Watch scheme.
Questions from the floor ranged from the expected to
the bizarre, and included a lively exchange between
member Tony Purton and the councillors. Points
raised included poor street lighting, speeding along
Kent Avenue, intimidating teenagers in the park, and
who do you call to get a stray dog out of your
garden at the weekend (the Dogs Trust in Harefield,
apparently). |
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100
Years Of Pitshanger
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One or two members have contacted your committee
to suggest that as it's about 100 years since the Pitshanger
area was developed in its current form, some recognition of this
should be made. A straw poll of committee members at the last
meeting indicated their houses were built between 1905 and 1912,
so 2008 seems as good a date as any for a centenary.
One suggestion is that the PCA could organise celebratory street
parties, but your committee feels this would be best left to
individual roads and is not something we should try to organise
centrally. However, if you think all this sounds a good excuse
for a ‘neighbours’ event’ we’d like to hear from you; at the
least we could offer our knowledge and experience of such things
as getting a road closure order. In the meantime, with planning
for this year's Party In The Park just about to get under way,
don’t be surprised if the Events Team comes up with an
anniversary treat! |
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Go
Shopping With Brentham FC
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Ealing
Choral Society
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Jamie Cuttica, first team manager of
the Brentham Club football club, writes to tell us
about a way you can help the club when making online
purchases. Go to the clubs’s website –
www.clubwebsite.co.uk/brenthamfc - and click on
the link called 'The Club Shop'. You can now access
over 1500 online retailers including John Lewis,
Tesco and Amazon, all of whom offer small
commissions to the club for any online purchases
made via their website. They’ve already made nearly
£30 so next time you buy online, go via the Brentham
Club.
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The society, sponsored by the PCA,
celebrates the 40th anniversary of its conductor
James Gaddarn with a performance of Handel’s
much-loved oratorio, ‘Messiah’. First performed in
1742, the ‘Messiah’ has become one of the most
renowned pieces of English sacred music. The
concert, with the London Orpheus Orchestra, is on
Saturday 8th March at the Cadogan Hall, Sloane
Square, starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are £22 or £16
but as usual there’s a 10% discount for PCA members
(call 8993 3350 or email
ealingchoral@btopenworld.com) and four free
tickets for the first member(s) to call PCA
Secretary Debbie Edwards on 8998 2414.
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Be The
Guvnor! (sp.)
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North Ealing Primary School governors wish to
appoint a Community Governor, ideally someone living
or working locally, for a three year term of office.
School governors are part of the local management of
schools and influence the day-to-day managerial
function of Headteachers and the strategic direction
of the school. Governors from the local community
are highly valued for the skill, experience and
objectivity they bring to decision-making. North
Ealing’s governing body is an active, working group,
meeting formally in the evenings at least four
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times a year, and governors are
encouraged to join two working committees which each
meet three or more times a year. For further
information, visit
www.northealing.ealing.lgfl.net or contact the
Headteacher or Chair of Governors through the school
on 8997 2653 or email
admin@northealing.ealing.sch.uk. |
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Free
Money
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If you don’t already know, the cash machine in the
Co-op doesn’t charge for debit card transactions. All the others
on the Lane do. |
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Get Your
Crime Prevention Advice From The Police – Not A
Burglar
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Our local Safer Neighbourhoods Police team leader,
Sergeant Steve Driscoll, tells us that unfortunately we’re not
immune from the increase in residential burglary across the
whole of the Greater London suburbs. To help combat this, his
team has increased patrols in the area and is promoting a crime
prevention service, so watch out for a leaflet offering a full
crime prevention survey of your property. The service is free,
only takes about 20 minutes, and includes a comprehensive report
delivered to you a couple of days later. Surprisingly the uptake
so far has been low and Steve strongly encourages you to use the
service to help protect your property. Remember that most
burglars are opportunists and if your property looks well
protected they’ll move on down the road. For an appointment
contact the team on 8246 9406. |
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Membership Campaign
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It’s that time of year again when our membership
secretary, Pam Walker, is looking forward to several
hundred membership applications dropping through her
letterbox and blocking the front door. Along with
the membership team she’s busy organizing the 2008
campaign – not an easy task – and any help would be
very much welcome. We try to hand-deliver membership
invitations to all addresses in the area, but access
to flats is often a problem so if you live in one of
these fortresses and could deliver to your
neighbours that would be
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really helpful. The usual suspects
will be getting a call but if you’re not a regular
and can help with stuffing envelopes or delivering a
bundle (around mid to late March) then please step
forward – call Karen Jacks on 020 8566 7383 or email
karen.jacks@pitshanger.org.uk. |
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I SAID
WE’RE ON THE FLIGHT PATH AGAIN!
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Member Brian Sharp writes complimenting the
Newsletter for “a knowledgeable article” on the proposed
Heathrow expansion in the last edition. He claims that “interest
in and knowledge of the issues is woefully low in Ealing”,
citing as an example the fact that most of us don’t know that
the flight path over Ealing is not recognised by the Department
for Transport as being subject to noise [!!? – Ed.]. This is due
to the way in which the noise is measured, a form of average
which downplays the periods of serious noise over Ealing. His
other concerns include pollution and access to Heathrow, and
Brian suggests they all impact adversely on the all-round life
of the Borough. He’d be happy to share his knowledge with anyone
who’s interested – email
briannsharp2@tiscali.co.uk. |
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Quiz
Night
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Neighbourhood Watch
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Don’t miss the greatest quiz night –
ever! For only £10 you get quizmaster David Jacks
and his amazing flying prizes, a sausage and mash
supper, and – if last year is anything to go by –
the chance to witness the abject and total
humiliation of your committee. It’s on Friday 4th
April at the Brentham Club, starting at 7.30 p.m.
Maximum 10 people per table, but we’ll sort out
singles, couples, and extended families of 60 – just
buy as many tickets as you need and we’ll arrange
the rest. It’s not long now, so call Karen Jacks on
8566 7383 or 07711 014331 or email
karen.jacks@pitshanger.org.uk to book your
tickets.
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The Castlebar Park area is losing its
Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator next year. If you
would like to help with this valuable work please
contact PCA secretary Debbie Edwards at 8998 2414 or
e-mail
debbie.edwards@pitshanger.org.uk. Duties include
arranging four meetings a year at which the police
give a local briefing, a few admin tasks, and
generally keeping an eye on things.
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Which
Time Gentlemen, Please?
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Bemused drinkers at the Duke of Kent were preparing
to enjoy an extension to licensing hours granted
recently by Ealing Council, only to go thirsty when
the licence variation was withdrawn by the Council
due to inadequate local publicity. This prompted the
appearance of a notice outside the pub with details
of the proposed variation, which would see alcohol
on sale from 11am to midnight on Fridays and
Saturdays – an extra hour on Fridays and an extra 30
minutes on Saturdays on top of the hours agreed in
2005. Any representations on the change
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must reach the Council’s Licensing
Team, Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, London W5
2HL, by 6th March (or via e-mail to
licensing@ealing.gov.uk). Based on experience
gained in 2005 when the Licensing Act 2003 came into
force, objections should focus on one or more of the
objectives of the Act: the prevention of crime and
disorder, promotion of public safety, prevention of
public nuisance and prevention of harm to children.
A new thread on the Pitshanger Voice message
board has been started
here. |
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Immobilise Your Phone
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In an effort to try and reduce street crime,
there’s a big drive to try and get as many people as possible to
register their mobile phone IMEI numbers on the Immobilise
database (www.immobilise.com).
Even if the phone has been tampered with the IMEI number remains
the same. When suspects are stopped in the street or searched
after arrest, phones in their possession are always checked
against this database. The database is free to use and is
supported by the Home Office and local Police forces, and you
can also register many other types of property. Access the IMEI
number on your phone by pressing the following keys – star,
hash, 06, hash. A long number will appear – this is the IMEI
number. |
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