UP FRONT
School places
Community primary schools will change
the way they allocate places from 2016
when new rules come into force.
The changes include giving priority to siblings
of children already at the school and removing
priority areas, more commonly known as
‘catchments’. This means that applications will be
made on straight-line distance as is the case with
community high schools. Other criteria will also be
amended. The council consulted on the proposed
changes between November and January.
Councillor Binda Rai, cabinet member for
children, said: “It is always difficult to make
changes to a system that affects so many
people, but I believe these updates will make
the admissions system fairer for local families.”
Read the full story here
Trees take root
The council’s parks team
planted 1,500 new trees in
May across the borough
to help combat the
number of trees
lost generally as a
result of infection
and decay.
They were planted
as part of the
Street Tree scheme
run in partnership with
the Mayor of London,
Forestry Commission and
environmental charity Groundwork London. The
council received £110,000 in funding from the
Mayor of London’s office to carry out the work.
The council is responsible for managing around
27,000 trees on residential roads plus another
60,000 trees in its parks and open spaces. On
average, 300 street trees are removed every year
because of poor health or weather damage.
Bin with
big appetite
Ealing Council has been using the power of
the sun to tackle high street rubbish with the
trial of a ‘Big Belly’ solar litterbin outside Ealing Town Hall.
It is the same size as a regular bin, but is able to store up to
eight times as much rubbish with the help of its solar-powered
compactor. There are two volume sensors in the bin and when the
litter reaches a certain level, the sensors trigger the solar-powered
compactor, squashing down the rubbish in to the bin’s ‘belly’. Builtin smart technology (also solar-powered) sends the council’s street
cleaning team a message alert when it reaches 85% capacity.
Other boroughs have used similar bins to save money, while
reducing the number of collections necessary. It also helps stop
birds, foxes and vermin scattering rubbish.
The results of the trial will determine whether or not it is kept, or if
more are installed.
Lighting up
Almost all of the borough’s
24,000 street-lights are being
replaced with new, energyefficient LED lanterns.
Councillor Mahfouz inspects LED
lamp
Outdated high-pressure
d for h
d
sodium lights are steadily being swapped f the modern
lamps and will all be changed by October 2016.
It is estimated the new, energy-efficient bulbs will save the
council more than £500,000 a year – by slashing the annual
electricity bills and also reducing the maintenance costs
because LED lights are more reliable and last longer. It will also
halve the amount Ealing has to pay under the new Climate
Change Levy that came into force last year, which charges each
council for the amount of carbon it emits.
In addition, the ‘white light’ that is emitted by LED lanterns
is clearer and can make it easier for pedestrians, cyclists and
motorists to see at night.
Ornate streetlights in conservation areas will not be changed
to LED until the technology for these types of lights is
sufficiently developed.
around ealing
Summer 2015
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