Photo of Revd. David Wise and families on Ealing Town Hall steps about to hand in the petition
Ealing Councilor Phil Talor on his blog website expresses his own personal views about this - which make really interesting reading.
Text of the 700 signature petition:
We the undersigned urge the leader of Ealing Council to reconsider the
decision to downgrade the completion of Northala Fields by reallocating
£750,000 of the project’s self generated funds to other council
initiatives. This effectively turns the project into an unsustainable
development as well as prevents it from benefiting from up to £5
million of potential new funds from statutory, trust and commercial
funding sources.
The proposed dramatic downgrading of the Northala Fields project will
result in a massive loss of amenities for the residents of Greenford,
Northolt and Ealing as a whole. The area will lose: -
1) The visitor’s centre and educational facility for schools and the public.
2) The playground for children.
3) The development of the fishing and boating lakes.
4) The cafeteria, rangers’ and fishing bailiff’s offices.
5) Adequate public toilets.
6) The proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge across Kensington road
parallel to the A40 which forms a crucial link in a network of primary
and secondary paths connecting the adjacent open spaces that make up
the Northolt and Greenford Countryside Park.
7) The development of new diverse habitats to enhance the ecological interest of the site.
8) An extensive environmental education programme both for school pupils and adults
9) Funding for arts and sports events in the park
10) Financial endowment for the long term upkeep of the park
Text of Revd. David Wise presenting the case to Ealing Council
Madam Mayor, councillors I am Pastor David Wise for 19 years the pastor
of Greenford Baptist Church, I have been the chair of Northolt and
Greenford Countryside Park Society for 10 years and I am a member of
the council's own Northala Fields Steering group. I am here to present
a 700 signature petition calling on the council to reconsider its
proposal going to cabinet on the 17th October to, in our view, downgrade the completion of Northala Fields.
Many years ago several local residents and councillors had the vision
of taking a number of isolated pockets of inaccessible, derelict and in
some cases polluted land and creating the biggest new park in London
for over 100 years. A huge amount of progress had been made. The centre
piece of this park is Northala Fields. The idea was developed of
creating this wonderful resource for the local community at no capital
cost to the Borough. Initially councillors, council officers and
members of the local community were sceptical, but after a huge amount
of public consultation involving literally thousands of children and
adults the project commenced. It was planned in two phases. The first
was to be the equivalent of putting in the foundations for phase two to
be built on. Phase 1 will be completed next year at a cost of around £5
million all entirely self funded. This has been a unique achievement
that has attracted interest not only from all over the UK but from
mainland Europe too.
It was always the plan that there would be a pot of money remaining
from phase 1 that would be the seed funding for phase 2. Phase 2 was
also to be self funding with money coming from a variety of sources,
trusts, statutory, lottery (new funding for parks available next year),
institutional, and both individual and corporate donors. Several major
companies have expressed interest. The plan was that this at no point
would put any financial risk at the door of the Borough.
The funding report produced for the council earlier this year made
it clear that if phase two was to be delivered it would need the
council to show commitment and visionary leadership. Madame Mayor,
councillors you have two options before you. If the report going to
cabinet (incidentally without any consultation with the local
community, the society or even the council's own steering group) is
adopted in our view the park will wither and die, it will become a
memorial to the failure of this council to seize this once in a
lifetime opportunity. We are asking for it to be deferred to allow time
for consultation and for a proper business case assessment with the
hope that this council together with the local community can see
delivered a first class sustainable recreational resource with the
appropriate facilities including a visitor centre, environmental
educational facilities and art, as a legacy for future generations. I
present the petition.
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