Further Consultation on Primary Expansion

Hot on the heels  of the Ealing and Hanwell consultation on primary expansion, we are now launching the consultations for Greenford, Northolt and Perivale and Acton areas.  The six week consultation starts on the 2nd October and the online questionnaire can be found on the Ealing Council website.  After the Ealing consultation we agreed to [...]

Celebrating Educational Achievements

Friday night saw one of my favourite events of the year – the Looked After Children Education Awards Ceremony.  In its eleventh year, this event celebrates the efforts and educational achievements of all the young people in the care of the Council.  We give certificates covering the entire age range, from early years through to [...]

Wind is the way – but not in Ealing

I had an interesting trip into the Northamptonshire countryside to visit the Burton Wold Wind Farm the other day.  This was an event organised by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) for councillors to discuss planning issues around wind farms.  Before I get a load of emails objecting to a wind farm in Ealing – [...]

Lib Dems unveil tax on housing

What has got into the Lib Dems this week? Their conference has been a bit of a disaster with leading politicians going from having a bun fight one minute over tuition fees to sulking the next because Vince Cable has announced his “mansion tax” policy without consulting them. Nick Clegg finished the conference by saying [...]

Northolt Library looking good

The revamped Northolt Library opened on Monday and it’s certainly looking good.  This is the latest in a programme of modernising our libraries which has seen makeovers at the Central Library in Ealing Broadway and Greenford Library among others.  Northolt will also benefit next year from the opening of the new swimming pool and leisure [...]

Parking tickets slashed under the Conservatives

It’s never pleasant to get a parking ticket.  That gut wrenching feeling when you see that yellow envelope stuck on your windscreen.  But did you know that Ealing Council has slashed the number of parking tickets issued by 30 %.  When Labour was in charge of the Council we had a traffic warden contract that [...]

Should the BNP be allowed on Question Time?

I see that the BBC’s decision to invite the BNP’s Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time is causing angst amongst politicians. Should they share a platform with the extreme right? My view is that they should.
I don’t think mainstream politicians legitimise the extreme by debating with them – it gives us the opportunity to [...]

Peel House Planning Application Submitted

I had a meeting today with the developer and “communications consultant” to discuss the PCT’s development proposals for Peel House, Church Road, Northolt. I have written previously about their plans, which will undoubtedly enhance health provision in the area, but at the cost of centralising provision, effectively losing 2 local surgeries. There is only limited parking [...]

GCSE results

Summer is over and just got back from a week in France.  A very relaxing holiday – the down side is the 350 new e-mails I’ve got to plough through this week.  
While I was away I got the GCSE results – Ealing’s schools have increased the 5 A*-Cs including English and Maths by 2% [...]