Forum Topics

Fitted carpet cleaner

Hi. Does anyone have a good independent carpet cleaner they could recommend ?

Maggie Darby ● 1h0 Comments ● 1h

e-bike crackdown by Ealing Council

This is a very welcome development and hopefully it will prompt Hounslow Council to do likewise and start impounding bikes. Wandsworth has been doing it for some time and apparently it is very effective.If you do see a bike causing an obstruction, please do report it. The people most affected by this - the elderly and the disabled - are less likely to have the mobile phone app that you need to do this. Even though you might not be particularly inconvenienced by bikes causing an obstruction, it would be really appreciated if you helped get them moved.

Diane Brown ● 3d28 Comments ● 1h

Fly Tipping in chiswick

I went out this morning Saturday 10th October to go down  to the chiswick high road and the lane of Bridgman Road  has had rubbish dumped  in the lane.The lanes name is Houghton lane. Its a complete mess, this was obviously done during Friday night. If anyone knows how i can upload the photo please message me.

Charlotte Smith ● 3d21 Comments ● 1h

“Never trust a Catholic”

I tend to avoid social media these days, but someone referred me to a post on X from the OpenChiswick account, commenting on the dispute over Cycleway 9 and the Catholic Church in Chiswick, which ended with the words: “Never trust a Catholic.”As a Catholic, a former Chiswick councillor and a long-time member of this community, I find those words very offensive.People have every right to criticise the local parish’s position on Cycleway 9 or to disagree with any group involved in a local issue. But saying “Never trust a Catholic” is not a criticism of a policy or decision. It is an attack on people because of their religion.If someone posted “Never trust a Jew” or “Never trust a Muslim”, we would immediately recognise it as religious prejudice. “Never trust a Catholic” should not be treated any differently.This is especially important in a country with a long history of anti-Catholicism. In the past, Catholics in Britain were kept out of Parliament, public office, and many parts of public life just because of their faith. The belief that Catholics were disloyal or untrustworthy was a big part of that prejudice.By all means, argue passionately about Cycleway 9. Criticise the Church if you believe it has got something wrong. But attacking Catholics as a group crosses a very different line.There should be no place for religious prejudice in Chiswick’s public debate.

Peter Thompson ● 14d106 Comments ● 1h

Beyond Red Paint and Tow Trucks: A 6-Pillar Systems Blueprint for Ealing’s E-Bike Network

In response to the article “Ealing Council Set to Get Tougher with Badly Parked e-Bikes,” I have formally submitted a comprehensive technical audit and structural amendment package to the Democratic Services Committee, the Head of Transport, and the Council Leader ahead of tomorrow night’s Full Council meeting.As residents, we deal constantly with standard message board whataboutery that resolves absolutely nothing. From an objective transport-logistics lens, threatening to reactively impound vehicles under Section 149 and painting 300 asphalt boxes on the pavement is entirely superficial. It simply reacts to a hazard after a pedestrian walkway or dropped kerb is already blocked.You cannot control human convenience-driven behavior with a digital app screen or a line of paint; you must manage it through physical boundaries, open data pipelines, and strict market concession rules. To transition the dockless fleet from a chaotic pavement liability into an ordered municipal asset, I have demanded the council incorporate the following Six Pillars of Operational Compliance into tomorrow night's live agenda:1. The "Guest Operator" Concession ModelPrivate mobility providers hold no inherent right to use public pavements for corporate asset storage; they are guests. Any provider operating rogue fleets without a valid contract (such as Voi crossing perimeters without an MoU), or failing to meet strict compliance metrics, must have their operating licence stripped instantly and their entire local stock civilly forfeited.2. Zero-Shield User Accountability (Direct FPN Issuance)Operators must no longer act as a corporate shield to protect non-compliant users with toothless "in-app warnings" that are routinely ignored. Providers must be legally forced to open their live customer logs. The second an obstruction is verified, the operator must feed the rider's identity, timestamp, and GPS coordinates directly to the council so a statutory penalty can be billed directly to the individual.3. Dynamic Capacity Balancing (The 85% Lockout Rule)Marking 300 physical bays is useless without software management. Asymmetric commuter flows ensure hundreds of riders converge on major transit hubs every morning, instantly overloading localized spaces. Operator apps must track bay saturation via live telemetry. The moment a bay hits 85% capacity, the software must instantly lock out further arrivals at that coordinate, legally forcing ground rangers to clear and redistribute vehicles back to empty neighbourhood grids.4. A Unified Municipal Transit Application Layer (API Centralization)The current framework is fragmented across separate private apps, forcing residents to navigate disjointed reporting systems across overlapping borough boundaries. All permitted fleets must open their internal APIs to a single, centralized council application interface. Centralization eliminates the rogue operator trap, stabilizes fleet caps, and ensures the local authority holds total visual mastery over the active vehicles within its borders.5. Multi-Operator Journey Continuity (Waved Start Fees)When a user is forced to cross a borough boundary or encounters a localized council bay lockout that requires swapping brands mid-journey, they must not be financially penalized. The centralized municipal transit layer must register these mid-commute swaps as a single continuous journey, entirely waving the start fee for the secondary vehicle.6. Emergency Price-Capping vs. Free-Market FreedomThe council must enforce a strict, mandatory price-cap only during catastrophic infrastructure failures—such as a TfL Tube or Bus strike—to prevent private operators from executing predatory surge-pricing when commuters have no other options. Conversely, during normal operational windows—including rain or general high-demand—zero caps must apply, ensuring operators aggressively compete and fight for market share.________________________________________For full transparency, the complete text block delivered to the transport planning architects at Perceval House today has been pinned below. Let's see if the council chooses to engineer a real infrastructure solution tomorrow night, or simply settles for a half-baked compromise.For the Urgent Attention of:• Emily Shovlar, Head of Transport, Ealing Council• Eric Pisani, Principal Transport Planner, Ealing Council• Councillor Peter Mason, Leader of Ealing Council• The Democratic Services CommitteeDear Director, Head of Transport, and Principal Planner,This formal submission provides an objective systems-engineering audit regarding Agenda Item 12 (E-Bike Enforcement) scheduled for debate at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday, 13 October 2026.Your upcoming debate is based on transport data confirming that the borough has issued exactly zero Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) since February 2026, citing a total reliance on voluntary operator compliance and restricted municipal staffing capacity. While this office strongly endorses the council’s proposal to finally invoke Section 149 of the Highways Act 1980 to physically impound and remove hazardous obstructions, your proposed framework remains entirely superficial. Marking 300 physical asphalt bays and threatening reactive towing does not fix a broken layout; it simply reacts to a crisis after the pedestrian pavement has already been blocked.Furthermore, your proposed reliance on residents logging obstructions via individual apps creates a deeply fragmented, ineffective network. As ground-level feedback from Chiswick W4 residents highlights today, there is currently no unified reporting platform across the overlapping borough boundaries of West London. Forcing vulnerable pedestrians, the elderly, and the disabled to navigate separate municipal reporting silos while private operators manipulate caps is an administrative failure. Enforcement is currently being managed on a purely quantitative baseline—ticketing vehicles parked safely in bays for minor overstays—rather than a qualitative baseline that removes active obstructions from our footways.To transition Ealing’s dockless transport network from a chaotic liability into a controlled municipal system, the council must immediately amend Item 12 to mandate the following Six Pillars of Operational Compliance:1. The "Guest Operator" Concession ModelPrivate micro-mobility providers hold no inherent right to use public pavements for corporate asset storage. They are guests within our public space. Your report notes that unpermitted operators like Voi are actively flooding the borough without a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The council must establish a zero-tolerance baseline: any provider operating without a valid contract, or failing to meet daily compliance metrics, must have their operating licence stripped instantly and their entire local fleet civilly forfeited under Section 149.2. Zero-Shield User Accountability (Direct FPN Issuance)Operators currently act as a corporate shield, hiding non-compliant users behind soft, in-app warnings that are routinely ignored. The council must legally force providers to open their live customer logs. The moment a hazardous parking obstruction is verified, the operator must be required by law to pierce their data wall and feed the rider's identity, timestamp, and GPS coordinates directly to the council so a statutory penalty can be billed directly to the individual. Behavior only changes when financial consequences are absolute.3. Dynamic Capacity Balancing (The 85% Lockout Rule)Marking 300 physical parking bays is entirely useless if the underlying distribution software isn't managed. Asymmetric commuter flows ensure hundreds of riders will converge on transit hubs every morning, instantly overloading localized bays and spilling back onto pavements. The council must mandate that operator apps automatically track bay saturation via live telemetry. The moment a specific physical bay hits 85% capacity, the app must instantly lock out further arrivals at that coordinate, legally forcing ground rangers to clear and redistribute the assets back to empty neighborhood grids.4. A Unified Municipal Transit Application Layer (API Centralization)The current framework is fragmented across individual private apps, making geographic perimeter tracking completely uncoordinated. To operate in Ealing, all permitted fleets must open their internal APIs to a single, centralized council application interface. Centralization eliminates the rogue operator trap, stabilizes fleet caps, and ensures the local authority holds total visual mastery over the active vehicles within its borders, solving the border-app fragmentation.5. Multi-Operator Journey Continuity (Waved Start Fees)When a user is forced to cross a borough boundary or encounters a localized council bay lockout that requires swapping brands mid-journey, they are currently penalized with a new unlock fee. The centralized municipal transit layer must register these mid-commute swaps as a single continuous journey, entirely waving the start fee for the secondary vehicle. Commuters must not pay a financial penalty for a lack of municipal and private alignment.6. Emergency Price-Capping vs. Free-Market FreedomThe council must implement the Crisis Cap Rule: a strict, mandatory price-cap enforced only during catastrophic infrastructure failures—such as a TfL Tube or Bus strike—to prevent private operators from executing predatory surge-pricing when commuters have no other transit options. Conversely, during normal operational windows—including general high-demand or rain—zero caps must apply, ensuring operators aggressively compete and fight for market share to keep the transit ecosystem efficient.The Institutional ContradictionFinally, this office notes a profound double standard in Ealing Council’s current safety logic. In tomorrow night’s report, the council leader correctly states that "virtual" management has failed, and that the council must use hard statutory powers to physically clear obstructions to protect pedestrians.Yet, on the exact same council agenda, Ealing continues to defend completely "virtual" School Street camera schemes (such as Orchard House and Southfield Primary) that permit a multi-tonne motorized hazard to breach a child pedestrian zone every 8 minutes. You are willing to physically seize a stationary 20-kilogram bicycle to protect a pavement, but you refuse to physically block a moving 2-tonne vehicle to protect a child because the passive ANPR cameras harvest £720,000 a year in neighborhood fines.If the council genuinely believes that "virtual" tracking cannot protect the public highway, you must apply this engineering logic uniformly: replace the passive billing lenses at our school gates with automatic rising bollards, and pass the Six Pillars of E-Bike Compliance on tomorrow night’s full council agenda.Regards,Hans Lund-SorensenChiswick W4 Resident________________________________________

Hans Lund-Sorensen ● 1d2 Comments ● 3h

Water pipe on A316 Bridge Crossing Railway Line…

…between Chiswick and Barnes Bridge Railway Stations. Does anyone know with certainty who is responsible for the water leak which is getting on for a year old?

James Petri ● 6d21 Comments ● 3h

The Bedford Park School Streets Illusion: A £720,000 Cash Cow Gambling with Child Safety

In response to the recent article "Bedford Park School Street Fines Exceed Half a Million Pounds," it seems most of the local discussion treats these camera schemes as just another annoying, expensive fact of London life. People look at the massive revenue generated and accept it as the norm.But if you look at the raw data through a strict safety engineering lens, the reality is terrifying.Ealing Council claims these camera zones exist to protect children as young as 3 to 11. Yet between Orchard House and Southfield Primary, the cameras are logging 4,513 fines a year—meaning a vehicle violently breaches the safety perimeter every 8 minutes of active restriction time.The student-to-fine ratios prove these are not one-off mistakes; the council is trapping repeat offenders who drive through the zone out of sheer daily habit. In safety science, Heinrich’s Triangle proves that for every fatal accident, there are roughly 300 near-misses (unsafe acts).By allowing over 4,500 illegal vehicle incursions into these pedestrian school zones, the council is expanding the base of the accident pyramid—statistically, a major accident is now long overdue.Below is the formal assessment I am sending to schoolstreets@ealing.gov.uk. It outlines why passive billing lenses are a total failure for child safety, how they lull families into a false sense of security, and why physical engineering controls are the only acceptable solution.Subject: Official Warning: School Street Systemic Failure, "False Sanctuary" Hazard, and Council Corporate LiabilityIn response to the Chiswick W4 article "Bedford Park School Street Fines Exceed Half a Million Pounds" published on 26/9:To the Ealing Council School Streets Team,I am writing to deliver a formal assessment regarding the systemic failure and severe safety hazards generated by your current School Street camera enforcement schemes at Orchard House School and Southfield Primary School.Your public marketing claims these schemes “create a safer environment for children, young people and their families to walk, cycle or scoot.” Your own data exposes this statement as a complete fiction. Across these two neighbourhood schools, your cameras are grinding out 4,513 total Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), extracting over £720,000 in face-value fines from a single neighbourhood. This equates to an average of 26.7 illegal vehicle incursions breaching the perimeters every single day, or one vehicle cutting into a school street every 8 minutes of active restriction time.A passive camera does absolutely nothing to physically stop a moving, multi-tonne vehicle from entering a zone filled with pedestrians. Human behavior is an unstable variable; a stressed parent running late in the morning rush will always prioritize immediate convenience over a roadside sign. An £80 penalty completely fails to act as a preventative deterrent. The astronomical localized volume of 4,513 total fines across these campuses proves these are not one-off mistakes; you are trapping repeat offenders who continuously breach the safety zone out of sheer daily habit. You are running a highly lucrative revenue-generating compliance loop localized to this neighbourhood, rather than a fail-proof safety system.Under the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines used in professional risk management, safety follows a strict "Hierarchy of Controls." Ealing Council is intentionally deploying the lowest, least effective tier:• Administrative Control (The Council's Choice): You put up a sign and a passive camera. In an industrial setup, this is the equivalent of placing a sign on a dangerous, exposed conveyor belt saying "Please don't touch while moving" and filming the workers as they get injured. It is an entirely unacceptable way to manage risk.• Engineering Control (The Safe Mandate): If a machine poses a physical threat to humans, the law mandates physical interlocking or guarding—like a solid steel barrier to make a collision physically impossible.By substituting signs for steel, you are actively gambling with the lives of children aged 3 to 11 using the "Math of the Near-Miss." In safety science, Heinrich’s Triangle proves that for every fatal accident, there are roughly 300 near-misses. By treating these 4,513 illegal vehicle incursions into these pedestrian school zones as active near-misses, you are expanding the base of the accident pyramid. The fact that there have been no major injuries so far is not proof that your system works—it is pure statistical luck, and a severe accident is now mathematically long overdue. In a warehouse, waiting for a worker to get killed before fixing a known, highly repetitive hazard is legally deemed criminal negligence.Worse still, you have introduced a catastrophic risk factor by creating a false sense of security. By explicitly labeling these areas as restricted "safe zones," you are lulling children and parents into dropping their situational awareness, leaving vulnerable pedestrians exposed to an ongoing hazard that logs an illegal vehicle crossover every few minutes. Children must not be used as a moral smokescreen to protect a corporate cash cow.By maintaining this broken layout despite holding the FOI logs that prove continuous non-compliance, Ealing Council is stepping directly into the territory of gross criminal negligence under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. If a child is injured or killed, you have a documented paper trail proving you knew the hazard loop was active, yet you chose to tolerate it to preserve a steady stream of easy revenue.If Ealing Council wishes to satisfy its legal obligations and prevent an inevitable disaster, you must immediately implement fail-proof engineering controls:1. Abolish the passive ANPR cameras which merely monetize the ongoing danger.2. Install automatic rising bollards synchronized to the daily school timers, dropping vehicle entry to 0%.3. Integrate automated acoustic/transponder overrides to allow emergency vehicle sirens to lower the steel gates instantly in real time.If you refuse to replace these billing lenses with physical barriers, you are publicly admitting that this scheme is optimized for cash flow, not the lives of the children.Regards,Hans Lund-SorensenChiswick W4 Resident

Hans Lund-Sorensen ● 12d41 Comments ● 4h

Mobile Speed Camera - Dukes Avenue

A warning that the Police are out in Dukes Avenue again today (10am on Tuesday 13th) with a mobile speed camera. Must be a very lucrative operation.

John Rogers ● 6h4 Comments ● 4h

Irony or what?

I am flipping news channels and caught some of an interview by Jon Kay with Jeffrey Archer,who was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001,what was his opinion of the calibre of today's politicians.Perhaps if he had asked him if he thought they had more integrity than him,the question would have more gravitas.ps..I have a brilliant joke about Archer,which I think some on here would appreciate,and some not so much.

Keith Iddon ● 14d12 Comments ● 1d

Lib-Dem flyers

Whilst I welcome any political parties actively pushing leaflets and letters to residents to support their party, the cheek that the latest Lib-dem flyers invite you to 'join their party' and the second page after entering personal details is to ask for a direct debit for money. Haven't politicians learnt enought that people aren't happy to pay for poor services and useless schemes. The absolute cheek of it all, straight into the bin.

John Bird ● 1d6 Comments ● 1d

Local restaurants

It has been sad to see the closure of so many local eateries not least the beloved Silver Birch.  But for this particular cloud there has been a silver lining.  Under the same management it has re-opened as Brook and Green possibly referencing sea food and plants, possibly Stamford Brook and Acton Green.  I will check on my next visit.  Rather than fine dining it now presents as an all-day bistro offering carefully sourced seasonal produce at more affordable prices. It was already quite busy before 12.30 on the weekday that I arrived there for lunch accompanied by two local dignitaries.  Being of the senior persuasion we probably ordered fewer dishes than most of the many younger diners there but enough to form a very favourable impression. The two starters we shared, cod’s roe and calamari were prettily presented and delicious.  The one dessert, crème brûlée, was among the best I’ve ever had. Of the main courses, the sea bass was fine, the crab pasta a little under-seasoned.  The three wines were good and reasonably priced.  Service was brisk and friendly.  I’m very happy to recommend Brook and Green.  It’s not cheap but is excellent value.Another local ‘phoenix’ is Mirtala, formerly Sam’s Larder on TGT.  A friend who went there, not one normally inclined to hyperbole, described it as ‘f…ing great’.  Can’t wait.

Alastair Banton ● 12d13 Comments ● 1d

Weltje Road trail starts 07/10

First two weeks warning letter then fines.

Paul Brown ● 8d37 Comments ● 1d

Local locksmith

Can anyone recommend a local locksmith to do a small job please?

Robin Knight ● 4d10 Comments ● 2d

Sainsbury's thwarted

On the basis that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, it seems likely that the Sainsbury's development has been canned because they couldn't come to an agreement over the affordable housing content. There is no need to imagine that some ancient covenant is responsible.While I had reservations about the way this project seemed to be shaping up - it is a shame that the housing will no longer be delivered. The government seemed to have finally worked out that cheap housing can't be ordained but that you have to boost supply above demand to keep rents and prices down. That should have put a stop to councils hold out for more affordable units - which is a good thing if they were at minimal discount to market rent or shared ownership schemes which are proving to be very problematic for those who end up living in them.I think Sainsbury's/Berkeley thought in the current environment they could get a better deal - looks like they were wrong.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 39d45 Comments ● 3d

Awesome

Many, many Congratulations to all the volunteers at Dukes Meadows on their achievement of winning the London in Bloom Gold medal, and the achievement by Kathleen Healy who won the only Judge's Award this year! As well as this amazing award Kathleen has also Chaired the Hounslow Friends of Parks Forum over the last two years, which has taken considerable patience and enthusiasm. This award is a reminder of the number of people who give of their time and expertise to keep our parks and open spaces places we can all enjoy. Well done Kathleen, Paul and everyone at Dukes Meadows.

Vanessa Smith ● 3d0 Comments ● 3d

Monthly loan of a minibus for Age Concern Chiswick

We run popular monthly days out for Age Concern members going to gardens, carveries, events, garden centres, etc..Sadly we no longer have access to a minibus for our volunteer drivers as Hounslow has stopped Community Transport, Ealing has changed its terms of hire and now Age UK Hammersmith has lost its bus. This is obviously all due to budget cuts.We are appealing for help from any organisation or charity that has a minibus they could loan us midweek, once a month, from about 10am to 4pm.If you think you can help, please get in touch with Age Concern Chiswick (ageconcernchiswick@outlook.com)or reply here.We will be happy to cover costs but cannot afford a commercial rate.Many thanksAnnette

Annette Mathers ● 22d12 Comments ● 4d

Kew Riverside Primary

Richmond Council are currently proposing to close this very good school. I know some, but not many, children from Chiswick have attended there.It is probably too late to save this school but parents with children at William Hogarth can use this closure to strengthen their case against any plans they might have to shut the local school.

Diane Brown ● 4d0 Comments ● 4d

Trouble with EE tv box

Every time I restart my EE box I have to login to ITV, ITVX, even though it tells me I only have to do it once.Anybody any clues how to fix this?I rang EE Help line and a sweet lady put me through a whole string of procedures with my remote, all to no avail.

Denis I. Fox ● 4d2 Comments ● 4d

Southfield Road closed

A quick warning that Southfield Road is currently closed due to a burst watermain and looks likely to be shut for a while yet - there are two quite big holes in the road. There was already work going on by the entrance to Southfield Park - presumably for the long promised crossing. The two way lights are still operation even though traffic can only go one way. I would imagine the E3 is now going down Acton Lane and along South Parade.

Anita Blake ● 5d0 Comments ● 5d

West London Orbital Rail

Consultation for proposed plans out now.https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/west-london-orbitalLocal stations on the route are South Acton and a new station at Lionel Road beside Brentford stadium.WLO line would stop at an Old Oak Common station for interchange with Elizabeth line and HS2 (assuming it is actually completed....) I think the Old Oak Common station would also be a stop on the Mildmay line for Gunnersbury.As predicted, there are proposals to close level crossings at Churchfield Rd Acton, Bollo Lane Chiswick and Wood Lane Isleworth.At Bollo Lane, the proposal would be to close the southern Mildmay line crossing while the northern WLO line crossing would be still in operation to permit bus services through Chiswick Business Park."other options for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the railway would be available at the crossing closure points or nearby" and they say these would be accessible.https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/plans-for-west-london-orbital-rail-link-would-close-level-crossings-in-acton/

Michael Robinson ● 18d90 Comments ● 5d