Forum Topic

Community Meeting of Friary Green Residents' Assoc 24th March

All residents are invited to the 1st AGM/Community meeting for the inauguration of the Friary Green Residents’ Association where the Committee will be voted in by its residents. If you wish to volunteer to be part of that Committee or have your voice heard, then please do come along and join the Association on:Tuesday 24th MarchatSt Dunstan's Church Hall,Friars Place Lane, W3 7AW7.30pmConcerned about the Friary Park redevelopment?  Then please do attend as it will be our number one focus.  Everyone is welcome, so please do join us. Catchment area for this residents’ association is Friary Road, Friars Way, Emanuel Avenue, Horn Lane, The Drive, Joseph Ave, Eastbourne Avenue, Westbourne Ave, Messaline Ave, Allison Road, St Dunstan’s Ave, Faraday Road, Birkbeck Ave, Grasmere Ave, St Dunstan’s Gardens, Friars Gardens, etc.  We may expand our catchment area if required or requested.We have a new website too:  https://sites.google.com/site/friarygreenra/home    You will also find a copy of our proposed Constitution on the home page.And you can follow the Association’s news on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/friarygreenres1Look forward to seeing you there.

Angela White ● 4202d4 Comments

Hi Angela, This is the response I received from Catalyst to the query I mentioned earlier: Essentially, it is as per my original notes, though they didn't make the retention of the 4 bed homes clear to us then: 1.“To reduce the number of homes on the estate by one third”Assuming this reference is to the number of social rented homes:This is not the case. We are proposing to demolish 224 of the 239 social rented units. Under the current proposal 15 x 4 bed social rented homes are being retained. Our proposal is that 224 new social rented homes would be built but they will not be the same mix of numbers of bedrooms. This is because many of the current residents are overcrowded but we also want to create a more sustainable balanced community on the new development.The proposed new mix of flat sizes is a balance between the housing needs of the current community and Ealing’s planning policy. The result will be 224 new social rented homes, but more bedrooms and bed spaces for social rent than are currently on the estate. 2.“One third of the current tenants will not be able to return to the estate” This is not the case. In our current proposal approximately 69 households in Phase 1 will need to move off site to facilitate the commencement of the redevelopment. In Phases 2 and 3 the majority of residents will be able to move straight into their brand new home.  Residents who move off the estate will have the opportunity to return if they want to, when a suitable home becomes available, and we will make every effort to meet their needs. Our experience on other regeneration projects is that everyone who wants to return is able to do so as people often settle well in the accommodation they have moved to, and  prefer not to move again. We will include a reminder of the above in the “Rumour buster” section of our new Newsletter, and check that staff are consistently briefed for workshops. Thank you for drawing this to our attention.

Sanya Sheikh ● 4191d

Hi Angela, I will definitely try and make it to the AGM.Well done to you all!Hope to see you on the 24th,S

Sanya Sheikh ● 4192d

Thanks for this, Sanya.  I am at the workshop tonight with Catalyst.  Are you available to come to the AGM?  I didn't work on pulling together our residents' association on my own, it has to be said.....Chris and Emma, to name a few, have been very busy with it too.

Angela White ● 4192d

Well done for organising this so quickly, Angela. Just wanted to touch on a point raised with me earlier this week, in case it comes up at your meeting. I understand a Catalyst rep mentioned at one of their 'design workshops' that the plan is to reduce the number of homes on the estate by one third, to allow larger homes to be built, as well as private homes for sale. Therefore, one third of the current tenants will not return to the estate. And, that this was discussed with Angie Bray and myself at our meeting with Catalyst, but was not captured in the notes I circulated & posted on this forum some weeks ago.In fact, we did certainly did raise the issue of replacing like with like, and Catalyst categorically confirmed they were going to replace the same number of social housing units as a minimum, plus some extra in affordable rents, and that all residents would be given the opportunity to return if that was appropriate for that particular resident according to their 'move plan' which would be created in collaboration with them, as stated in my notes. I have to say the notes were circulated to Catalyst as well and they did not revert with any corrections, so we can assume they were correct. I first queried the situation with Catalyst yesterday when I was made aware of the contradiction, but they have not yet got back to me to explain it. I hope that helps clarify things in case it comes up.Good luck with your AGM, and I hope to see you on Saturday if you happen to be at the Friary Park workshop. Sanya

Sanya Sheikh ● 4194d