LOBBY YOUR COUNCILLORS and LOCAL MPs
We all must lobby our
Councillors to insist Ealing Council puts together an
overarching integrated development plan, that combines residential,
retail, transport, infrastructure and community facilities
for Ealing Town Centre. This will attract the right type of
developer for our prime sites and ensure that the
developments, as a whole, will provide the right mix of facilities that
will make Ealing the centre of the community once again.
Please attend the Ward Forum Meetings and give your views.
Please write to them - See their email addresses further down this page.
Many senior councillors continue to make statements in support of proposals to overdevelop the Arcadia and Dickens Yard sites. They have also been dismissive of the residents who have expressed concern about aspects of the developers planning applications. The more the ward councillors are aware of their residents’ concerns, the easier it is for them to lobby the senior councillors. See the section titled 'Can your Councillors represent your views?' at the bottom of this page for more info.
Lobbying Councillors at Your Ward Forum
A
good chance to put pressure on councillors about Arcadia, Dickens Yard
and the town centre re-development generally will come with the first
meetings of the new ward Fora, as they will be known. The
first
set of dates for these has just been published, and the relevant ones
for the centre of Ealing are below.
Anyone can attend any of these meetings, which are NOT restricted to
residents in the ward concerned, despite what some councillors have
been trying to suggest. However you should be aware of the
potential barriers. Here are some hints on how to overcome obstacles
which may be put in your way.
Each Forum is controlled by the councillors for that ward, although in
some cases (eg Hanger Hill) they may ask an independent person to chair
the meetings. They will be assisted by a Neighbourhood
Project
Officer (a Town Hall clerk), but formal minutes will be taken by the
NPO only once a year, at the meeting (probably December) when decisions
are taken about spending priorities for the following year. Otherwise
the process is meant to be informal.
The councillors have the power to refuse discussion of any item which
they consider does not concern their immediate ward. Where your ward
does not cover any part of the area designated as the Town Centre (see
the list below), you could instead use the route of raising your
question under the heading of the Local Development Framework,the
umbrella document which governs the planning and development of the
Borough for the next 12 - 15 years.
Don’t be put off by being told you should have given notice.
No formal agendas have been issued for the first meetings
anyway,
and generally councillors are meant to encourage residents to raise
issues under “other business”. If you are
not a ward
resident, you could be asked to give advance notice and the councillors
(at least where they are all from the same party) may refuse to let you
raise the issue. The best route is not to antagonise other
members of the public, but to find a sympathetic actual resident
beforehand to support you.
Some councillors may also say that the Forum should not be used to
discuss large developments in the centre, as they are planning issues
and this places constraints on them. The answer to this is that the
code of conduct for members of the Planning Committee says that
“if you are taking part in a decision on a planning matter
[you]
should not make up your mind how to vote prior to consideration of the
matter by the Planning Committee and therefore you should not give any
definitive commitment in advance of how you intend to vote. This
provision will not prohibit your ability as a ward member to represent
the views of your constituents throughout the planning process,
provided that you make it clear that those views are not necessarily
your own.” [Our italics.] This means that you can
argue that
all councillors have a duty to listen to and represent the views of
their voters, even if some cannot express a personal opinion.
Final details about the meetings should be published in
“Around
Ealing” by the start of next month. Do go to yours!
WARD FORUM DETAILS
Final
details about the meetings should be published regularly in
“Around Ealing” Do go to yours
and make your
thoughts known!
The dates and times are also
listed in full here:-https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/200916/ward_forums
COUNCILLOR E-MAIL ADDRESSES
You can find full details of
your councillor here :- http://ealing.cmis.uk.com/ealing/Councillors.aspx
Can your Councillors represent your views?
A number of councillors
appear to be
unclear as to how they can and should respond to enquiries about
planning matters from their residents. Some appear to be
attempting to exclude themselves from this dialogue with their
electors. You may find the following helpful if you encounter
problems.
In December 2007, the full Council approved the following advice from
the Council’s legal officers:
·
“The
Code contains important guidance for all members of the Council not
just those serving on the Planning Committee.”
(Introduction)
·
“If
you are a member of the Planning
Committee taking part in a decision on a planning matter you should not
make up your mind how to vote prior to consideration of the matter by
the Planning Committee and therefore you should not give any definitive
commitment in advance of how you intend to vote. This
provision
will not prohibit your ability as a ward member to represent the views
of your constituents throughout the planning process, provided that you
make it clear that those views are not necessarily your
own.” (paragraph 1)
CONTACT YOUR MP
Don't
know who your MP is?
Visit http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ and simply put your area in the "Keyword" box - Ealing or Hounslow. Their contact details including e-mail address can then be seen by clicking on their name.