Will H&F News Listen to Residents?
Campaigners against Goldhawk Estate development petition Council
Local residents say the Council newspaper is refusing to publish a letter opposing the proposed redevelopment of the Goldhawk Industrial Estate by property developers London and Newcastle.
The letter, which has been signed by 60 people and was sent to H&F News on behalf of the Brackenbury Residents' Association, makes clear the residents' objections to the scheme.
"H&F News can confirm that it has received this letter and welcomes all of its readers views. The paper will treat this letter like any other," said a Council spokesperson. However, the letter failed to appear in last week's edition of the Council publication.
“The 24 February letters' page of H&F News prints four letters: on Westfield, refuse collection, street sweeping and a general pat on the back,” said Rosemary Pettit of the Brackenbury Residents' Association. “The best part of two columns on the page (more than enough space for our letter) is taken by a non-letter item. The inescapable conclusion is that, rather than treating this letter 'like any other', the Council prefers to ignore the views of sixty residents paying Council tax although it is happy to take the developer's money to print an advertorial in the same newspaper,” she said.
In their letter, residents express a range of concerns over the proposals for the Goldhawk Industrial Estate.
"The developers have applied to the Council to change its use from light industrial to residential and commercial use. At any time, such a change of use would have a detrimental effect on the economic life of the borough,” the letter reads.
"At a time of recession, it would be doubly foolish. At a public meeting held in Brackenbury School, attended by 150 local residents, six local councillors and the MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush, several speakers made this very point.
"Although less than a hectare in size, this small site has nurtured two great and nationally known companies – JC Decaux and Innocent Smoothies – and currently houses Innocent, Soundhouse (home to many Radio 4 dramas and one of the busiest recording studios in the capital), and Analox Instruments, a leader in oxygen-rate technology.
"The developer’s proposals would replace this economic seed-bed with yet more dreary office space and an apartment block described by one local architect as a “battleship”. A borough that was truly “open for business” would not casually throw away this economic powerhouse of a site and would instead ensure that a unique resource was protected and nurtured for generations to come."
H&F News has been accused by the Labour opposition councillor Steve Cowan of not publishing letters critical of the Conservative-run administration and he has called on the Council to sign up to Press Complaints Commission guidelines.
"The Press Complaints Commission guidelines would require the taxpayer-funded Council 'newspaper' to attain basic standards of professional journalism,” he said.
"These would also, for example, have provided those residents who wrote in to H&F News to complain about an item on the Goldhawk Road Industrial Estate Property Scheme a chance to have had at least one of their letters published instead of being refused by the Council's Press Office.”
Despite the accusation, recent editions of the Council paper have featured letters complaining about H&F's record on recycling, parking chaos following the opening of Westfield and the proposals to charge for garden waste collections.
February 27, 2009
