Investment in Park Royal

Most of Park Royal - London’s largest business park - within our Borough lies within East Acton ward. This means that I have more contact with, and casework from, the business community than most Councillors. For most of the last ten years, I was a Director of the Park Royal Partnership – one of the longest standing public:private regeneration partnerships in London – and I’ve tried to ensure that the Council and business work together to benefit both local employment and the environment of residents. Park Royal Partnership’s website includes a comprehensive business directory, and is at http://www.parkroyal.org/. Their programme of investment in projects in this financial year in Park Royal totals over £6 million.

Tonight’s meeting of the Cabinet agreed the Council’s contribution to the latest set of Park Royal improvements for which we have been lobbying. These include unsexy but important projects like the second phase of a project to upgrade roads and sewers in the industrial roads of Sunbeam Road and Cullen Way ; a study to produce improvements to the key junction of four roads called Central Park Royal ; and backing for the encouraging corporate social responsibility (CSR) work of Park Royal companies. This CSR work has produced very welcome support and investment in local schools such as John Perryn Primary School.

However, residents in Park Royal will also benefit from funding agreed tonight for an alley gating programme on the Wesley Estate. This is a residential enclave within the predominantly industrial estate - and indeed was originally built as company housing for the Harold Wesley company, who made stationary and plastics and at their peak employed over a 1000 people in their factory next to the houses. This location, isolated from other residents, means that they suffer disproportionately from ‘enviro-crime’ such as fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles and from anti-social behaviour.

Consequently, local residents have been working with myself and my fellow local Councillors, on a scheme to gate the alleyways on the Estate which are the location of most of the problems. Some money had already been found from our Acton Area Committee budget and other sources, but these economic development resources agreed by Cabinet should complete the funding package for consultation and gating to go ahead.

The Cabinet report can be seen at http://www.ealing.gov.uk/council/committees/cabinet/17may2005-22may2006/item21-economicdevelopment.doc