The Southall Green Ward Forum meeting was held on Wednesday at the Dominion Arts Education Centre at 7pm.

It was a well-attended meeting chaired by Councillor Kamaljit Dhindsa. Councillors Jasbir Anand arrived late and Councillor Swarn Kang hardly spoke at all.

Last meeting on Wednesday 6 July 2016 was attended by 24 people. This meeting was attended by around 45 people not including the 3 police personnel, 3 councillors and 3 Ealing Council representatives.

It was a meeting where you could clearly understand what the councillors were saying, as opposed to other ward forums, according to a resident.

Attendees were told “actions arising from the last ward forum” on 6 July 2017 were available on the Council website and were published in February 2017.

Sgt Billy Wilson (Safer Neighbourhoods Team) provided an update on the local policing issues. He was concerned about shops selling drinks with an alcohol volume of more than 5.5 per cent.

Bob Howard said he was “sick and tired of sending in photos to the Council” with regards to fly-tipping. Another resident said “cars are being deliberately scratched” in Balfour Road.

Andrew Stacy (Safer Communities team – Ealing Council) said that there was a “lot of under reporting in the Southall Green ward area. We need more reports” to tackle the problems.

Isabella (Housing Officer – Ealing Council) said that 4,000 HMO Licensing applications have been received and a lot of these were in Southall. Due to large number of applications, the resident is unlikely to receive any response for months.

The ward priorities were outbuildings, streets & rubbish and Southall recreation ground.

Outhouses

Not all outhouses are illegal. Residents can check on the licensing portal if permission was granted or not. A resident pointed out that “nothing had been done” in the last 6 to 12 months about an illegal outhouse. The Council officer said that the may have occurred in the past but current procedures are more responsive.

Streets & Rubbish

Dumping rubbish on streets “a serious issues”. 45 FPN have been issued in Southall Green and 133 FPN on Southall Broadway. Another 115 fines were issued for littering and 17 for spitting. One resident said 5 filthy mattresses were dumped on Leonard Road. To make matters worse, someone was setting them alight on Sussex Road. So it is not just a dumping issue but also dangerous.

Some people have been stealing clothes bags from outside a charity shop. They are then sold to someone a few street away and remainder are just dumped on the streets.

What if you have no internet access? Phone Grimebusters - 24-hour, 7 day a week hotline: Tel: (020) 8825 8825

One resident asked if returning to the weekly collection will resolve the fly-tipping problem. The answer was no. Fly-tipping is not ANY worse, it only looks worse because the rubbish is sitting on the streets for 2 weeks instead of one. Not a satisfactory answer.

Residents were told that fly-tipping is “big problem in Borough of Ealing”, not just in Southall. Residents disagreed; those who visited Ealing said it was spotless unlike Southall.

“They know it will be collected”, so they continue to dump rubbish onto the streets. “They do it ALL the time”. There is no VISIBLE deterrent. A resident pointed out that Southall roads in appalling conditions while “Ealing is in pristine condition”.

Southall Recreation Ground

Residents are finding dog poo on the pavements. This is also the case in Southall Recreation Ground. 92 residents attended the Southall Recreation Ground Orchard Planting on 4 March 2017.

Public Forum

Parking is a big problem, whether it is on double yellow lines or alley ways or shared drives/alleys. The Council Enforcement stops at 10pm and the Police cannot issue tickets.

Parking tickets – online only – residents not happy. Elderly resident went to Council offices and was told to do it ONLINE herself at the council offices. On asking for help she was advised to contact Age Concern. A good Samaritan helped her in just 5-10 minutes.

The Brent Road car wash has long queue of cars waiting. It is dangerous because you can’t see traffic over the bridge and it is near a school.

Residents were divided over the CPZ. Some wanted them others wanted to get rid of them.