As many of you have seen, work began this month on the most controversial tower block in Ealing’s history. Large vehicles and heavy machinery moved onto the tiny postage stamp of land next to West Ealing’s Crossrail station.
Alarm bells rang the second this began as it was clear there was no sign of – well, no sign of anything.
No signs up to suspend the parking bays for their cars and vans.
No signs on the hoardings to say who was building it, (unless you count the one someone put up with out of date information from 2022), and no sign of any communication with two very active residents groups in the Draytons, which is right next to the site, or the Five Roads on the other side of the railway tracks, or even an attempt to contact Stop The Towers.
But most alarmingly, and actually quite dangerous, was NO SIGN of any safety plan for a clear pedestrian route for those walking to and from the station on the narrow path, or for parents with primary school children on the school run, or for those with buggies heading to one of the two nurseries, or anyone trying to access the Jubilee Children’s centre as Jacob’s Ladder is unsuitable for those with pushchairs or for anyone on a mobility scooter.
Usually a clear pedestrian route is provided but in practice this was not happening – hence pedestrians including children and prams were spilling onto the highway too close to vehicles which were squeezed into the remaining congested roadway.
If it wasn’t for STT highlighting these failings, they would be no sign of them being put in place.
Thank you to everyone who has been emailing us with the shocking pictures which we have been sending onto the council.
We had hoped the council’s planning team would have been more proactive on this – after all they keep telling the developers that ‘the scheme is quite contentious with local residents’ and they’d ‘received quite a lot of complaints when Henrys Construction was working on the site two years back which resulted in the service of a ‘Temporary Stop Notice’. So why is it always down to residents to keep an eye on proceedings?
A number of pre-commencement conditions were included in the original planning approval which need to be adhered to.
However, we’ve just heard back from the council and it seems a ‘breach of the Construction Management Plan exists’ and they are waiting to be informed as to whether an alternate proposal would be acceptable from a Highways perspective. If it is possible, “a revised Construction Management Plan will need to be formally submitted for assessment and the developer has confirmed this will be done.”
According to the council “The developer and colleagues in the Highways team are in communication regarding some changes to the way in which the construction is to be carried out, due to the site size and fact that the previously approved details are not possible to follow.”
Well, now there’s a surprise.With thanks for all your support,
Stop tthe Towers