Labour providing decent homes for all

The Labour Government has implemented a Decent Homes initiative which aims to bring all social housing into a decent condition by 2010 and requires that councils make them warm, weatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities. Many local residents have benefitted as a result of the scheme which has seen lots of homes refitted with modern kitchen and bathroom facilities. However, Labour councillor, Phil Greenhead is concerned that the Conservative Council in Ealing is not doing enough to monitor the work properly and that this has resulted in shoddy workmanship in many cases. The Council currently only checks the quality of work in 5 per cent of cases, but Cllr. Greenhead insists it should be much more thorough in view of the large sums of public money involved and the distress caused to residents when the renovation work is sub-standard. If you are experiencing problems with the work being carried out on your home under this initiative please let Cllr Greenhead know by emailing her on phil.greenhead@ealing.gov.uk

Tories cut Hanwell's Park Rangers

Over recent months the Tory Council has made stealth cuts to the Borough’s frontline Park Rangers. They are also closing the Ranger Base in Brent Lodge (Bunny) Park. This is bound to have a negative effect on the amount of patrols and conservation work in Hanwell’s parks and open spaces. Despite a strong campaign by residents and a petition of 552 signatures, Hobbayne’s Tory councillors demonstrated a marked lack of sympathy for local concern and actively supported the cuts which they labelled ‘efficiency savings’. Once again they have shown themselves to be out of touch and unwilling to represent the views or act in the best interests of the local people they serve.

Labour delivers Crossrail

Gordon Brown has given the go ahead for the £16 billion Crossrail Project. This is fantastic news for Hanwell, which will benefit from a direct train service from Hanwell station into the heart of London and beyond with vastly reduced journey times and double the capacity.
A twice hourly service between Heathrow and central London will also stop at Ealing Broadway, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon and Liverpool Street among other stations.
Working with the local residents Hanwell Labour will continue to press for a Sunday service on the Greenford branch, Sunday opening of Hanwell and West Ealing stations as well as lift installations at both.
We will also be pressing the Council to deliver improvements in access to the station in terms of local connections to all forms of transportation.

Labour's Police Safer Neighbourhood Team a great success in Hobbayne

The total number of crimes in Hobbayne ward for the first 6 months of this year is down by 21% compared to the same time period last year. Real benefits are now being felt from the Labour initiative which has installed a dedicated local police team in each ward. Teams are able to build up a wealth of local knowledge and use this on a daily basis to help reduce crime and identify offenders. In Hobbayne the news that robberies are down by 82% and snatches down by 20% will be very welcome. Labour has given police new powers to direct groups of two or more people who are acting anti-socially to disperse and a six month dispersal area was recently put in place covering the Pilgrim Estate and Poets Corner area.
Labour has also delivered record numbers of police and given communities new powers to get tough with the louts who make life misery for their neighbours.
And because we believe in the rights of the decent majority before those of the mindless minority, Labour has given councils new powers to improve their local environment by tackling graffiti, noise pollution and abandoned cars, again all opposed by the Tories.

HANWELL STREET PARTY

THE STREET PARTY WAS A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS!

Well done to all the residents who worked so hard to organise the event.

HANWELL STREET PARTY

Please come along to the Hanwell Street Party this Saturday (22nd September) from 10.am-5pm in Station Rd. The focus of the day will be promoting greener, sustainable forms of transport and there will be a Dr Bike stall providing free bicycle repairs and information about cycling as well as a Car Club providing cheap and accesible car hire for households which might otherwise be tempted to buy a second car.

This community event has now grown to involve three of Hanwell’s residents’ groups directly and several others indirectly. It has all been planned and organised by local residents who have the community’s interests at heart. There will be a local history/issues stall, advice on how to stop smoking, bat groups, bedding plants, ceramics stall, zoofari, Brent Lodge Rangers, chip pan fire demonstrations and lots, lots more!

It promises to be a great day, and the planning has been first class, so please come to support the many stalls, bands, bar and BBQ, face painting, fancy dress (children), exotic animals, beat the goalie and lots more.

HANWELL COMMUNITY CENTRE -LATEST

As you may be aware, Hanwell Community Centre was rescued from being sold at auction by Ealing Council approximately three years ago because the previous Hobbayne Labour councillors argued strongly that an independent investigation ought take place before any final decision by the Council could be taken. The previous Labour Council then commissioned an 'options appraisal' study which it jointly funded with Hanwell Community Centre's Management Committee. This study was conducted during 2006 and a report compiled last February, which the new Conservative Council has, so far, not released to the public.

This delay in publication fuelled concern that the building might be threatened with demolition and our leaflet revealed that the police believed this to be the likely outcome. Although the Conservative leader subsequently denied that this was likely he has still not said what will be happening to Hanwell Community Centre nor published the long-awaited results of the study.

Your Labour Action Team feels very strongly that local residents must be kept well-informed and be given ample opportunity to be fully involved in any decision about their community centre's future. To this end we have been chasing the Council for information regarding their intended action and process for involving residents. We have now been informed that Hanwell Community Centre's Management Committee has requested that a further option be explored. This would involve turning the centre into a 'community trust' which would allow the committee to take over the building from the Council. This proposal will necessitate further meetings and is therefore likely to take several weeks/months. However, the fact that the lease expires in March 2008 means that the matter cannot drift and a consultation is expected to take place during late autumn. We would strongly urge you to take part in this consultation and will advise you as soon as we know when it is to be and what form it will take.

It is very apparent from the many comments we continue to receive on our petition that local residents remain as strongly committed as ever to preserving the centre as a resource for the community, as well as deeply attached to the current historic building. We will continue to keep the pressure on the Council and will keep you as fully informed as we possibly can. Please do feel free to contact us with your comments/suggestions or if you require more information - email hanwell.labour@hotmail.co.uk

SOUTHALL LABOUR DEFECTORS SHOULD RESIGN THEIR SEATS!

Do you think the ex-Labour councillors in Southall who betrayed the Labour movement and defected to the Tories should resign their seats?

IF YOU AGREE PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION ON NO.10 DOWNING STREET'S WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE

Labour Victory in Ealing Southall

Virendra Sharma is the new Ealing Southall MP.

He has pledged to work very hard for his constituents. It was a reasonable night for the Liberal democrats but a disasterous night for the Tories, who came a poor 3rd despite a desperate campaign involving 5 personal visits from David Cameron, a high profile candidate and some very dodgy campaigning tactics.
It is a great credit to the local people that they saw through the Tory's gimmicky candidate with no history or substance and rejected him! It is only proper that a local politician who has stood by his political convictions for a great many years should prevail over one that was drafted into the Tory party only days before the by-election!

To watch the Ealing Times video of events at the count last night click here

Tory candidate Tony Lit exposed as a naked opportunist

Tory businessman Tony Lit has been exposed as a shameful opportunist. Click on title above to read about it. Only a few weeks ago he donated £4,500 to the Labour Party. Now he is standing as the Tory candidate in the Ealing Southall by-election this Thursday. Joan Ryan, the Labour Party vice-chairman who is running the by-election campaign, said: "David Cameron's personal intervention to overrule local Tories and appoint a candidate has totally backfired."

So much for conviction politics! What party will Tony Lit decide to support after he loses this week?

BBC's Hard Talk - with Alastair Campbell on the Blair years.

Click on title above to watch Alastair Campell's interview.

Snubbed Wannabe Gurcharan Singh Defects!

Cllr Gurcharan Singh and four other former Labour councillors have defected to the Tories because of Singh's failure to get selected as the Labour candidate for the Ealing Southall by-election on Thursday 19th July. Quite frankly, Singh's insatiable personal ambition has been a divisive influence and liability for far too long and suffice to say the Labour party will not be mourning his loss nor that of his followers. Any councillor who opportunistically betrays his voters and colleagues is an asset to no party. The Tories are very welcome to Cllr Singh! His predisposition to changing colour should ensure his compatability with Dave the Chamelion!

Mark Steel : Many climate-change sceptic groups funded by oil industry

Follow the link to read what comedian and Independent columnist Mark Steel has to say about climate change click here

Tory U Turn - Station Rd 'SAVED' by Ealing Southall by-election?

At a meeting of the Council's Overview & Scrutiny Committee last week Cllr Costello did a complete U-turn and offered no defence of his former decision to re-open Station Rd to through traffic. The Tory councillor backed down from his professed principle of opposition to roads being closed off in the face of overwhelming opposition and a well organised campaign by local residents which was supported by Hanwell Labour. It is perhaps worth noting that he was not moved by the rather passionate protests of dozens of local people during the Hanwell Area Committee meeting on June 6th, when he forced the controversial re-opening of Station Rd through. Far from it - it appears that Cllr Costello had a massive change of heart after the sad death of the late Piara Khabra, Member of Parliament, and cynics might be tempted to conclude that the resulting by-election in Ealing Southall might have had alot to do with it! His fellow Tories do not want any boats rocked until at least after the by-election. Whatever the reason, Cllr Costello has eaten a large slice of humble pie and done a remarkable U-turn and that has to be a good thing for residents. So, if a little uncomfortable with having to ditch his principles perhaps he can derive some comfort from the fact that his leaders are probably very relieved he's decided to tow this week's Tory party line. He's obviously prepared to listen to his leadership - if not the local people. What was noticeable though was not one of his fellow Tory Hanwell councillors turned up to support him up in the meeting. Too afraid to face the wrath of residents? No marks for bravery there!

Tories Neglecting Hanwell

The Ealing Gazette recently portrayed a table showing the percentage of streets in each ward that received an 'A' standard for being clean upon inspection. The monthly statistics, which began in November 2006 and ran to May 2007 reveal marked discrepancies between the wards. By comparison with our own Hobbayne ward, Ealing Broadway, Ealing Common, Hanger Hill and Northfields seem to have done very well under this Conservative Council. These Tory stronghold wards have benefited from an increase of almost three times as many 'A' graded streets as Hobbayne streets. This does not seem fair as we all pay our council tax. It is not surprising however - just more evidence that the Tories favour their own voters.

Hanwell Community Centre Update

The Tory leader has falsely accused Labour of "telling outright lies" about the possible demolition of Hanwell Community Centre.
Quite simply, he was not at the meeting and he has got his facts wrong.

THE FACTS ARE AS FOLLOWS
1. The Tories invited the police officer to the Hanwell Area Committee meeting on 6th June 2007, which is a public meeting open to all residents.
2. The police informed residents that they had been unable to find accommodation for the Hobbayne Safer Neighbourhood team within the Hobbayne ward. In response to a resident's suggestion that the police rent space at Hanwell Community Centre, the police officer replied, "Hanwell Community Centre is not suitable because demolition is the likley option after this year's lease is up."

THE TORY LEADER FALSELY and SCANDALOUSLY ACCUSES LABOUR OF;
1. Lying - yet the above happened in a public meeting and can all be easily verified with local residents.
2. Unfairly using a police officer "for political gain" - yet it was the Tories who brought the police to the meeting. We merely reported what had been said in a public meeting in response to a resident's question. The Tory leader's aggressive over-reaction is due to his humiliation that this bad news came out.
3. Damaging the image of the council by reporting that there were fears that the Tories might use the long awaited report into the centre's future options to recommend it be closed.
Yet local residents are sceptical that the Tories will stump up the money to keep the centre going and are genuinely and quite rightly, concerned.

The Tory leader also selectively quoted from an email the police officer in question subsequently sent to all the parties concerned, in which he states that he is not aware that the centre is to be demolished within a year and apologises for having given that impression at the area committee meeting. The Tory leader, misleadingly, tries to use this email to support his fallacious allegation that Labour had lied about this revelation. Once again, the Tory leader's account of events is not accurate. The email clearly contains no denial from the police officer that he said he thought it was going to be demolished at the public meeting.

The Tory leader does not like his bad news being leaked. Well tough! He can throw as much of his weight around as he likes but he will not deter us from doing all we can to preserve Hanwell Community Centre for this community.

The bottom line is -WILL THIS COUNCIL STUMP UP THE MONEY TO SAVE HANWELL COMMUNITY CENTRE OR NOT? And will it make the options appraisal report, open to the public, who, after all, funded it?

Miliband unveils CO2 calculator

An online calculator that enables people to work out their carbon footprint using government-recognised data and calculations was launched by Environment Secretary David Miliband at an eco-friendly internet cafe in Central London today.

To calculate your carbon footprint click here

To watch the BBC news about the calculator click here

Using the calculator, people can reliably calculate their carbon footprint from home energy, appliances and transport, and choose to calculate either their own personal footprint or their household's. The calculator then develops a personalised action plan for users, with steps they can take to cut their emissions.

Mr Miliband said: "Around two thirds of people are already taking action to try to limit climate change - but there is a lot of confusion about what people can do and how effective those changes actually are.

"We want to cut through that confusion. This carbon calculator will help people decide what they can do - and be sure it will make a difference. Using it, people can work out the impact of their actions and, with the tailored recommendations provided by the calculator, identify the best way to reduce their footprint.

"This calculator is a real innovation - using up-to-date, authoritative data and recognised calculation methods. As the calculator improves and develops, I want it to become the gold standard for calculating CO2 emissions from individuals and families."

The Act on CO2 calculator includes a range of features, including:

* The ability to customise to an individual or household;

* Three areas of lifestyle - home, electrical appliances, and personal travel - brought together in one calculator;

* Advice tailored to the information people give the calculator, rather than giving generic CO2-saving tips;

* Recommendations on reducing and avoiding energy waste, not just offsetting it; and

* Reliable, transparent and regularly updated data.

The underlying software that runs the calculator's 'engine' will be made freely available under 'open source' licences, to enable others wanting to power their own calculators to use it, with their own branding.

Recent research commissioned by Defra has shown that 94% of people in Britain now believe that the world's climate is changing and 57% believe that we are already feeling the impacts of climate change. 66% of people surveyed said they were already trying to take personal action to try to limit climate change.

The calculator is a public 'trial' or beta version, and there are plans to develop and improve it using feedback and ideas from users. Further updates of the calculator will be released over the next few months with the addition of more features to make it even easier for people to calculate their carbon footprint.

Latest on Hanwell Community Centre

At the Full Council meeting last night, the Tory leader denied that there were any plans to demolish Hanwell Community Centre. However, when pressed by Labour councillors to give an assurance that he would save the building for community use, by investing in its future viability and renewing the lease (due to expire in 9 months) he failed to do so.

We welcome the news that the building itself appears not to be under immediate threat but remain concerned about the Tories' commitment to its longterm viability as a resource for the local community. We are especially concerned in view of the fact that they wanted to close the Dominion Arts Centre in Southall, and only back-tracked because their plans to lease it to a third party fell through and local people put pressure on them with a petition carrying 1000 signatures.

We think that the outcome of the recently completed options appraisal report ought to be made public for local people to consider. So far, this has not been done. This feasibility study was commissioned by Hanwell Labour councillors, who fought hard to prevent Hanwell Community Centre from being sold at auction three years ago.

We will continue to lobby to preserve our community centre and keep you updated as soon as we have any further information.

The earth is in imminent danger!

"Recent greenhouse gas emissions place the Earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures," says a group of researchers from Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. According to them, only intense efforts to curb man-made emissions of carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases can keep the climate within or near the range of the past one million years. To read more please click here

Hanwell Community Centre under threat of Demolition!

Please sign our on-line petition to save our Grade II listed building click here


At the latest Hanwell Area committee on 6th June local residents were stunned when police announced the imminent demolition of much loved Hanwell Community Centre. The historic building has been central to Hanwell’s identity and social fabric for many generations but it emerged that the Conservative Council is unlikely to renew its lease, making its future untenable. Although several organisations have shown an interest in locating there, including the local police force, the short time-span left on the lease is making it unviable for them to do so and it is a great pity that the Hobbayne Safer Neighbourhood Team will now have to move to a location outside the ward instead.
Tory councillors refused to debate the centre’s future in public with concerned residents and quickly moved onto the next item on the agenda, confirming suspicions that they intend to decide the matter behind closed doors.
A Cuckoo Estate resident complained that groups interested in renting space in the community centre are being discouraged by the lack of commitment the Tories are showing to its future. “The uncertainty is condemning an important community resource to a downward spiral towards demolition” he said. This has heightened fears that a long awaited report into the centre’s future feasibility, which was jointly commissioned and financed by the previous Labour Council and Hanwell Community Centre management committee, has been hijacked by the new Tory administration to recommend closure.
Residents feel that Hanwell is paying the price for the Tories investments elsewhere in the borough. Tory stronghold, central Ealing, always benefits disproportionately and they are promising a 2 million pound makeover for Tory leader, Cllr Stacey’s own area in Greenford which already benefits from its own community centre, library and police station, which residents fear may now be under threat in Hanwell. This level of expenditure would have secured Hanwell Community Centre’s future for generations to come and the loss of it will be a big blow for our community.
The massive rise in allowances the Conservative leader, deputy leader and mayor awarded themselves a few weeks after winning the council last May appear to be being financed by selling off valuable community assets and cutting services to vulnerable mentally ill residents.
We would like to represent your views. Please let us know how you feel about the demolition of Hanwell Community Centre by e-mailing info@hanwell-labour.com.

Please sign our on-line petition click here