Our next event is on Sunday 29 January 2023 at 7.30pm at St Mary’s Church, Ealing. We will be exploring how we as a community can access clean, sustainable and equitable sources of power, while reducing our dependence on expensive and polluting fossil fuels. We will be listening to speakers from Community Energy London, Ealing Transition and from Ealing Council discuss community energy projects, and the action needed to make these even more successful, and wide ranging.

Community energy is collective action to reduce, purchase, manage and generate energy. Community energy projects have an emphasis on local engagement, local leadership and control and the local community benefiting collectively from the outcomes. Community energy has the potential to reduce household bills, reduce local carbon emissions and bring people together with a common purpose.

Would you like to learn more about community energy and how it can help you and the planet? Come along to our event on 29th and find out more. There will be opportunities to hear from a variety of engaging speakers, including those who have already successfully set up community energy projects and are benefiting from them, as well as time for discussion on how you may get involved.

Ealing council are consulting on air quality, and have released two documents setting out their plans to tackle poor air quality in the borough – the first is “Ealing Council Air Quality Strategy (63 pages)”, and the second “London Borough of Ealing Air Quality Action Plan (40 pages)”. The council is inviting views in the accompanying short consultation here.

The consultation takes only a few minutes to complete, mostly asking you indicate how you would score your level of interest and support for the specific proposals set out in the document, as well as asking how easy the report and associated information is to read. There are two questions that ask for “any other comments” where you can enter free text and make specific proposals, and where we would encourage you to provide your feedback! If you want to imagine what could be achieved, try checking out the Car Free cities by Possible for example, and see the results of our event earlier in 2022.

Ealing Transition is also pleased to announce that we have been awarded an air quality sensor as part of the Breathe London Community Program. We will be working with Breathe over the coming weeks and months to install the sensor and to get it running. Follow us by email, twitter, facebook or Instagram for more details.

The Breathe London network is run by the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London – the same group who run the London Air Quality Network. The group combines air pollution science, toxicology and epidemiology to determine the impacts of air pollution on health and has over 20 years of experience running large urban air quality monitoring network

Ealing Council has released its draft local plan, a) setting out its strategy and related targets for the next 15 years of council planning decisions, and b) inviting feedback. The local plan provides the framework against which the community can hold the council accountable. This is your opportunity to comment on the Council’s priorities and ambitions, supporting the Council, and ensuring that Ealing is urgently and consistently making planning decisions that work towards a prosperous and sustainable future. The deadline for reply is 25 January 2023.

Detailed information about the plan can be found on the council website here, with detailed documents here, and a summary here. The documents are rather long, so we have unpacked aspects of it below.

The report is broken down into four main sections (1) Chapters 1 to 3 – including an Introduction and Ealing’s proposed “spatial strategy”, (2) Chapter 4 – including Specific “Town Plan” proposals for Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall, (3) Chapter 5 – discussing Development Management Policies, and (4) Appendices to the report providing (a) a Monitoring Framework with relevant targets, (2) A Glossary of terms, (3) An Atlas of Change (detailing changes to Green Belt designations and Metropolitan Open Land designations), and (4) specific Consultation Questions.

Although many of the consultation questions refer to the Town Plans, there are a number of general questions on which you may wish to comment including:

• (Chapter 3, page 51) Do you support the vision that is set out in this Local Plan?
• (Chapter 3, page 52 to 54) Do you support the priorities in this tackling the climate crisis policy?
• (Chapter 3, page 58) Do you support the priorities set out in this fighting inequality policy?
• (Chapter 3, page 60 to 62) Do you support the priorities in this creating good jobs and growth policy?

• (Chapter 5, page 484) What are your views on the development proposals on green and open spaces?
• (Chapter 5, page 485) Do you support our ambition to set higher targets for urban greening?
• (Chapter 5, page 486) Do you support our ambition to set higher targets for Carbon Offsetting?
• (Chapter 5, page 487) Do you support the introduction of a CIL?
• (Chapter 5, page 488) Do you have any comments about enabling development?

Ealing Council has identified “Tackling the Climate Crisis”, “Fighting Equality”, and “Creating Good Jobs and Growth” as its priorities. Ealing Transition has provided its comments on the consultation (copy attached here – downloads as a PDF). While we welcome the general ambition, we note the lack of detailed targets in the document, and challenge the notion of the climate and ecological emergency as a “cosy crisis” in which we carry on with the usual assumptions of business as usual. We encourage the Council to be more ambitious and take urgent action now addressing the climate and ecological emergencies, and supporting the shift to a sustainable economy. What do you think? Let the council have your views by 25 January 2023.

Ealing Transition’s Response to the DRAFT Local Plan – here (downloads as PDF)