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Latest NewsSpring 2009 newsletter
Last updated: 02 May 2009 Blondin park allotments expansionLocal people attending the Northfield Ward Forum on 8 January agreed to spend £30,000 out of the Forum’s £40,000 budget for the current financial year on improvements to Blondin Park.£20,000 of the total is to be spent on: • 6 benches and 5 new waste bins • refurbishment of the entrance signs, gates and railings • shrubbery improvements Two alternative proposals have been made for spending the remaining £10,000. These are: • expanding the allotment site into the grassed area of Blondin Park, or • improving and extending the perimeter path round the park. At the request of the council, EFRA consulted residents of streets local to the park and EFRA members on these proposals, and had a good response to the consultation leaflet and e-mail. Responses were approximately one-third in favour and two-thirds against extension of the allotment site. Of those who were against expansion, 27 were in favour of extending the path around the park and 6 against. EFRA passed the views gathered on to our local councillors to add to the comments they had received from others. On 2 April at the Northfields Ward Forum the councillors explained that a majority of the responses received had been against expanding the allotments. Following a long and useful discussion at the meeting it was agreed that the budgeted money will be spent on renewing and extending the path around the park. The councillors did, however, accept that there is an unsatisfied demand for allotments and are going to look at alternative ways of meeting that demand. Last updated: 05 April 2009 Heathrow Update – January 2009Geoff Hoon became Secretary for Transport during the Autumn 2008 government reshuffle and is widely believed to favour expansion at Heathrow. However, the Government announcement expected for December has now been pushed to this month (January 2009). This is almost certainly due to the substantial backbench opposition to the expansion of Heathrow (over 100 MPs across all three parties, including 50 labour MPs) as well as to the position of the new Environment Secretary, Ed Miliband who is understood to be broadly opposed to expansion. Opposition centres on air and noise pollution and questions about the true economic benefits of the expansion.The Conservative party in the meantime has come out against expansion with a pledge that if a 3rd runway is approved by Labour then that approval would be scrapped if/when they come to power. In addition, the Conservatives say that they would keep runway alternation (ie no mixed mode) and scrap a 6th terminal. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, is also opposed to expansion at Heathrow and is thought to favour a new airport in the Thames estuary. Although this may sound positive the fight is by no means won; the national press assumes that the 3rd runway will be approved. And this is not just about a 3rd runway (and a 6th terminal): even if the 3rd runway is voted down we still face the threat of mixed-mode operations in and out of Heathrow resulting in a substantial increase of flight movements. For us this means more noise, more air pollution as well as increased traffic to and from the airport. EFRA encourages all residents to e-mail or write to the following key members of the cabinet who are understood to be arguing against expansion and support them in their position: Hilary Benn: bennh@parliament.uk John Denham: denhamj@parliament.uk Ed Miliband: milibande@parliament.uk David Miliband: milibandd@parliament.uk Harriet Harman: harmanh@parliament.uk And please also e-mail Gordon Brown and Geoff Hoon and let them know how you feel about Heathrow. Their e-mail addresses are: Gordon Brown: browng@parliament.uk Geoff Hoon: hoong@parliament.uk The mailing address for all of the above is: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA. For background or further information on Heathrow read past EFRA newsletters or go to the HACAN web site. Last updated: 05 January 2009 Northfield Ward Forum, 8 JanuaryThe minutes and notes from the ward forum held on 8 January are available on the council's web site.There is now an area on the Ealing Council web site for all of the ward forums http://www.ealing.gov.uk/wardforum Last updated: 21 December 2008 Hoardings Victory
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Summer 2008 Newsletter
Little Ealing: A walk through historyIn March 2002 EFRA launched a book on the history of this area. Find more information on the Local History page.Last updated: Sunday 1st June, 2008 |
