Meet The Ealing Council Candidate
Alex Nieora is standing as Independent in Perivale
In the six months to January 2014 the Council’s contractor Enterprise (part of Amey) missed 25% of its waste and recycling targets in Perivale and in April Perivale was the worst performing ward in the Borough for waste collections and street cleaning. I have already spoken with the Director in Ealing Council responsible but if elected as a councillor I use my position to hold the Council to account and lobby for improvements in the service.
Litter in Perivale is a perennial problem and part of this is due to street drinking. The police need to take stronger action against drunken men in the street who cause a nuisance to residents, drop beer cans everywhere and disrespect public roads and private property. Equally when people leave out their black bags on the street the night before the refuse collection the foxes rip at the bags. The solution is wheelie bins but at present only a small area of Perivale around Lily Gardens and Moat Farm Road in what used to be the London Borough of Brent are eligible for wheelie bins. I would like to see wheelie bins rolled out (pun intended!) across the whole of Perivale, or at least for residents to have this option.
While I understand that bins can encourage dumped waste the Council have removed too many litter bins where there is a high footfall of commuters and shoppers. Yet while going round and speaking to residents in Perivale noticed some bins that are underused in Perivale. These could be redistributed.
I also want to clear up Horsenden Hill which no longer has a park ranger since the former ranger retired but urgently needs one. Fly tipping and littering on the hill is getting worse and it is detracting from one of Ealing’s most famous and vaunted open green spaces. I would also like to see dog litter bins returned to Perivale Park, as it is used a great deal by dog walkers but they have no where at present to dispose of dog litter.
Residential burglaries remain a concern in Perivale. Despite figures falling it is unclear how much of this is attributable to disenchanted residents not reporting crimes to the police as they think the police won’t do anything there is no point. With police numbers cut crime is a challenge but if elected I want to install CCTV cameras in key crime hotspots, prioritise alley gating and work with the police to ensure they are prioritising their reduced resources and respond to Perivale residents’ key concerns.
Speeding and road safety is another of my key concerns. Perivale has four primary schools and the entrance outside Selborne Primary School is a particular concern. The entrance is now on Thames Avenue which is a quarter of a mile long straight road, recently been resurfaced with no speed humps. At times it can turn into a race track – particularly for the large number of fast cars and motorbikes on the Medway Estate. I want to see a speed table – not speed cushions which are ineffective as vehicles swerve around them and HGVs go straight over creating a lot of noise – erected either side of the school entrance.
One of Perivale’s key problems stems from its geography. Perivale is a large residential area with industrial land use at its core and few access roads in and out of the ward. The few main roads that lead to the industrial sites are residential and unsuited to large vehicles like Horsenden Lane South, Bilton Road and Bideford Avnue, and Perivale is suffering from increasing numbers of HGVs often up to 5m in height, including during unsocial night time hours using these roads. The HGVs are a noise nuisance, hazard and cause structural damage to residents’ homes. There is no easy solution to this but I have campaigned on this issue for a long time and as a councillor will fight even harder to reduce lorry numbers particularly during the night and implement measures to prevent lorries from accessing certain residential roads, such as road width restrictions.
I am the only councilor standing in Perivale who speaks Polish, which is now the first language of a large number of Perivale residents. My parents are Polish although I grew up in Ealing. I want to reach out to Poles and equally to others in the community, strengthen community cohesion and make everyone in Perivale feel proud of where they live - whatever their nationality, culture and background.
I co-organised the Perivale Music and Light Festival held in November 2013 on Ealing Central Sports Ground opposite Perivale tube station. This was attended by 1,500 local people and included fireworks, local bands, entertainers and musicians and supported the Perivale Residents’ Association clubhouse. As a councillor I will actively support local resident led groups - like Motiv8, the charity that provides free football training for young people in Perivale - who want to make a difference to the community and provide events and activities but don’t know where to start, do not have the funds or are put off by the hurdles of red tape and a ‘Computer Says No’ attitude from the Council. I also want to promote and encourage disused buildings to be put to good use as activity centres for young people for example and am already in discussions with people who can make this happen. I also want to introduce festive lights to Bilton Road and the Medway Parade.
Perivale is famous for its Art Deco architecture and for having nature on the doorstep. As a trustee of Perivale Wood Nature Reserve that is something I want to protect and conserve. At the same time, as long as residents are respected Perivale does not have to be a boring residential backwater. There used to be a craft fair and farmers market on Horsenden Hill and there was once a carnival on Bilton Road. These are the kind of things I want to reintroduce to Perivale. ‘Ace’ in the Dr Who episode filmed in Perivale said: ‘nothing ever happens in Perivale’ – but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Alex Nieora
Candidates for Perivale ward can be viewed here (pdf):
May 7th 2014
