Neighbourhood Governance Note of Norwood Green Ward Forum
held on Thursday 30th July 2015 at St Mary’s Church, Tentelow Lane, Norwood Green UB2 4LQ
Present: Councillors: Rajinder Mann (Chair), Mohammad Aslam, Gurmit Mann
Attendees: 42 residents attended the meeting
Officers present: Ealing Council: Jill Reid - Safer Communities team Dennis Frost (DF) - Neighbourhood Governance Co-ordinator
Police: PC Ben Horrell - Norwood Green Safer Neighbourhoods team
Guest: Abbas Mirza - London North West Healthcare NHS Trust
No. Note Question /Action Point 1. Chair’s welcome and introductions
Councillor Rajinder Mann began the forum at 7.00pm. He welcomed those residents present and introduced his fellow ward councillors, Mohammad Aslam and Gurmit Mann – also DF, who supports the work of the ward forum.
Additional item: closure of the Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital
Councillor Mann introduced Abbas Mirza. Mr Mirza had offered to
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No. Note Question /Action Point attend the ward forum to brief residents about the closure of the Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital.
st Mr Mirza reported that the Unit had closed on 1P P July, following an extended public engagement campaign. The nearest alternative maternity facilities for Southall residents were
available at Northwick Park Hospital, Hillingdon Hospital and West Middlesex Hospital.
Antenatal and postnatal appointments will still be available within Ealing including childrens’ centres – and at a number of health centres around the borough.
The total number of midwives in the North West London area will increase, following the transfer of existing Ealing Hospital maternity staff to other facilities. Paediatric services will remain – and will be improved over the coming months, with seven day consultant cover.
Councillor Gurmit Mann noted that funds have been spent in recent years improving the Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital, so why has it now closed?
Mr Mirza replied that, while the unit had always been a safe place for women to give birth, quality standards for maternity units are changing. The unit was unable to meet these – indeed 60% of women living locally had chosen to give birth at other local hospitals.
Councillor Mann commented that recent media coverage had
suggested that closure of the Maternity Unit may foreshadow the whole hospital shutting – an extremely unwise decision, given the continued expansion of Southall’s population over the coming
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No. Note Question /Action Point years.
Mr Mirza noted there were no plans to close Ealing Hospital – indeed the facility would need to adapt to meet local residents’ future needs.
Councillor Mann asked if there were residents’ questions to Mr Traffic congestion makes it difficult to reach other hospitals. Mirza.
While Transport for London has not created any new bus routes,
detailed information has been made available about the range of
available public transport services.
The poor standard of Southall General Practice is well known. What
is being done about this?
The Prime Minister’s Challenge fund was announced in 2013 and
has helped improve access to general practice. The Care Quality
Commission is also now charged with inspecting GP practices and
will have rated every facility in England by April 2016.
Surely, closing an important part of Ealing Hospital’s provision will
have a negative effect on the remaining services. The strength of
local opposition to the closure is clear.
Closure was deferred while the concerns of local people were
addressed. The consultation was extensive and detailed.
Will there be a review of the closure process and its effect?
It is unlikely that maternity services will return to Ealing Hospital.
However the teething problems associated with any major
reorganisation are being tackled.
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No. Note Question /Action Point
Councillor Mann thanked Mr Mirza for attending. He urged residents to continue their already long-standing dialogue about the closure with the London North West Healthcare NHS Trust.
th 2. Notes of the last ward forum – 19P P February (circulated) - To note, along with any matters arising:
Councillor Mann confirmed that the notes had been circulated at the end of February and also published on the council’s web site. Further copies were available at the meeting.
Matters arising
Warren Farm – QPR planning application Councillor Mann reported that since Queens Park Rangers’ attendance at the last meeting, their architects had been refining the club’s plans for the Warren Farm site. It was intended these will be considered by the council’s planning Committee on 26 August.
DF advised that residents who wished to comment on QPR’s planning application should direct their remarks to the formal planning process – to ensure that their views are taken into
account.
Osterley Sports Ground – fly tip DF reported there had been little progress since the last meeting. The council’s budget reductions meant it was proving difficult to allocate sufficient specialised staff resources to pursuing the There is persistent fly tipping in St Mary’s Avenue North. matter further. DF offered to report this to the appropriate council department. Councillor Mann asked that the matter be kept under review, and
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No. Note Question /Action Point that the site owners be asked to keep access gates locked outside working hours.
Envirocrime changes Council’s Envirocrime Team details: Councillor Mann reminded residents that the council’s budget reductions meant that the ward no longer had a dedicated officer Ealing Council, Customer Service Centre, Perceval House, dealing with envirocrime matters – such as fly-tipping and 14 -16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2HL abandoned vehicles. Tel: 020 8825 6000
However, residents should continue to report such incidents to 3TUwww.ealing.gov.uk/reportit U3T the council – details opposite – when they will be dealt with promptly. Office hours: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm
Road and Footpath resurfacing programme (attached) Councillor Mann reported that the ward had done well, with a number of locations in the ward earmarked for resurfacing.
3. 6BLocal police report from Safer Neighbourhoods team
7BAs Sgt Guy Rooney was on leave, PC Ben Horrell provided an 0BNorwood Green Safer Neighbourhoods Team – details
update for residents on the team’s activity in the ward. Crime 1BTeam members
statistics since January were presented – (attached). • 1TInspector Paul Byrne
• 1TSgt1T Guy Rooney
• 1TPC1T Simon Donnan • PC Lucy Wicks
Address • Southall Police Station, 67 High Street, Southall UB1 3HG
2BPhone • 020 7161 8622
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No. Note Question /Action Point Mobile
• 07843 291126
3BE-mail: [email protected]
Web site: 3TUhttp://content.met.police.uk/Team/Ealing/NorwoodGreenU3T
Crime in your local area: 3TUhttp://maps.met.police.uk/index.php?areacode=00AJGUU3T
Councillor Mann asked for residents’ questions to the Police. I’ve read in the press that the Police are no longer responding to burglaries.
This is not the case in Ealing. Burglary reports will always be followed up.
Have any cannabis farms been detected recently?
No.
What is being done about illegal immigration?
The Police are working closely with the UK Border Agency to both detect and deal with this issue. Residents can provide useful intelligence by reporting apparent illegal immigrants.
Dog fouling is a serious matter in the Minterne Avenue area
The Police work with the council to deal with this. Councillor Mann
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No. Note Question /Action Point asked DF if he could check that the area has its appropriate quota of ‘no dog fouling’ signs.
Also, cars are speeding in this area Councillor Mann noted that the borough has recently declared all its residential streets to be 20mph zones. Again, some signs may be helpful. Safer Communities report
Jill Reid reported on the work of the council’s Safer Communities Ealing Council Safer Communities Team – details team Team leader – Daniel Malone O’Halloran There have been some recent successes, with the imposition of Norwood Green officer – Jill Reid restraining orders against local drug dealers. New legislation has
also allowed properties to be closed when it has been Contact details: [email protected] U3T established they have been used for drug dealing and other anti- social activities. Tel: - 020 8825 5995 (Mon-Fri: 9am – 5pm) A number of properties on the Havelock Estate have recently been subject to this work and, being council owned, they have now been re-possessed.
Gill provided a written report (circulated with these notes).
4. 8BSouthall Regeneration Report
9BGasworks site, Southall Gateway and Crossrail
Councillor Mann drew residents’ attention to a written report which listed the main features of these three major regeneration projects, which would be taking place in Southall over the coming More details about these schemes: years.
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No. Note Question /Action Point
Gasworks site: 3TUwww.thesouthallgasworks.co.uk U3T - the developer, St James, is planning to build 3,750 houses on the site – along with a retail park, health and leisure facilities.
Southall Gateway:
- a plan to redevelop the area around Southall station, 3TUwww.ealing.gov.uk U3T – and search for Southall Gateway including relocating the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Park Avenue.
Crossrail:
- work will the starting later this year to build a new Southall 3TUwww.crossrail.co.uk U3T station. Associated projects include widening the railway bridge before the new high-speed Crossrail trains start running in 2019.
Councillor Mann urged residents to find out more about these projects by using the web site details – opposite.
5. 10BWard budget – 2014/15
- update on projects in progress (attached) Councillor Mann introduced a report which listed the ward funded projects and their current status. Most projects – shown in green – had been completed, with a few (in yellow) requiring further work.
It was agreed that the contribution towards the Norwood Green Village day should be recorded as £1,200, rather than the £1,000 listed.
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No. Note Question /Action Point
6. 4BWard projects – 2015/16
- 5Bsuggestions for future projects
Councillor Mann noted that the ward budget had now reduced to £30,000 (from £37,500 previously) as a consequence of the council’s budget reductions reported at the last meeting.
Consideration was being given to CCTV provision in the Park Avenue area, using funds allocated in 2013-14.
A number of suggestions had been received: Three Bridges – signage - the ward had provided £3,455 last year, which had been matched by an English Heritage grant. This left £5,000 to find in order that the scheme could go ahead. Wolsey Close - the ward councillors had visited the area recently, and had been impressed with residents’ efforts to raise their own funds to improve the alleyways. Residents asked if a further ward grant was possible. St Mungo - a project in old Southall to provide accommodation and support for homeless people. Councillor Anand from Southall Green ward was asking if all Southall wards could make a contribution. The Vibe - a youth football project, organised by St John’s church. Seating on the new paved area around the ward memorial - suggested by Southall Green ward forum. Summer football academy - organised for young people at Toplocks by A2 Dominion. Norwood Green - further public exercise equipment, but not a table tennis
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No. Note Question /Action Point table. West Park Road – parking restrictions - to provide better vehicle access. Hanwell Meadows - support for the group who planted trees last year (with ward forum support) to run summer activities for children this year, based partly in the Windmill Park Community Centre.
Councillor Mann asked if there were further suggestions:
- Further support for the Norwood Green Village Day - A review of traffic speeds in the Minterne Estate (referred to in item 3 above)
The meeting felt that the suggested projects – with the exception of seating by the war memorial, which might encourage street drinking – were worthy of further consideration.
Councillor Mann confirmed that the next ward forum would be finalising the budget. He urged residents to make further project suggestions to the ward councillors, or to DF.
7. 11BPublic Forum - issues and questions from residents
Councillor Mann gave details about the council’s second round of More details on the Bubble site: the Transform your Space scheme, where funds were available
to residents groups able to take over a derelict, or underused 3TUhttp://www.dosomethinggood.org.uk/U3T open space and put it to public use (details attached).
He asked for residents comments and questions:
A resident drew the forum’s attention to a planning application, to
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No. Note Question /Action Point build a new primary school on the site of the existing St Mary’s Rectory. Councillor Mann noted that Rev Jeff Payne had reported the church’s plans to create a new school, to previous ward forums. He recommended residents study the published plans and make comments through the planning process.
Another resident reported on apparent breaches of planning permission in relation to a development at Toplocks. He was pursuing this with the council’s designated planning officer. Could the memorial garden – created in the aftermath of the Southall Rail crash in 1997, be improved?
DF offered to follow this up
8. Dates of future meetings – 2015/16
Councillor Mann confirmed the dates and venues:
th - 16P P November – Norwood Hall
th - 7P P January 2016 – Havelock Primary School
Dennis Frost 07: Aug: 2015
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