Ealing (Parliament Politics Magazine) – North Acton Square’s condition raised concerns on safety and hygiene, prompting calls for action from Ealing Council, as it serves as entrance to Central Line station.
The entrance area off Victoria Road, which Transport for London (TfL) claims is the responsibility of the Labour-run Ealing Council, includes an unhygienic public refill water fountain covered in bird droppings and debris, as well as loose railings that wobble when used even though they were erected in 2020.
The North Acton Square neighborhood has not been kept up or cleaned up, according to locals, and is littered with graffiti and discarded bottles and cans of alcohol.
They also claim that without any action from the Ealing Council, people are dropping cans and bottles and consuming alcohol in the square.
Locals claim that despite their repeated complaints about the condition of North Acton Square over the years, nothing seems to have been done to address their issues.
One local said:
“It really is appalling to see the state of this new entrance and public square. Who is going to risk their health by refilling water with a fountain that is never kept clean?
Why is no-one doing anything to secure the handrails which are dangerous and why is it allowed to be run down and look like this?”
They added:
“Why are drinkers allowed to get away with this? It is causing a nuisance and is also frightening to see so much anti-social behaviour going on in a public place with no-one doing anything to stop this.”
In 2023, another resident told EALING.NEWS that the handrails had not been properly installed. They said at the time that it’s been like this for months. Three of the handrails never seemed to be properly installed and used to wobble when you used them. They’ve put some barriers up around three of them but haven’t provided any details of what the problem is, what is being done or who is responsible for this.
According to Transport for London, EALING.NEWS is not responsible for anything outside of the actual Underground station, including upkeep and cleaning.
A spokesperson said:
“Anything outside of the station is the responsibility of the borough environmental health team.”
Additionally, they stated that the water fountain, which is covered in grime and bird droppings, is a “Mayoral initiative” and is not their duty.
Athena Zissimos, the Environment spokesman for the Ealing Liberal Democrats, expressed her concerns regarding North Acton Square.
She said:
“Ealing Council should thoroughly clean up all the graffiti and repair the railings as a matter of course. The local safer community team should be moving on the street drinkers.”
Councillor Zissimos added that the council needs to step up and sort the area out, a proper plan should have been made when the square was built of how it would be kept clean and maintained on a regular basis, which has clearly not happened.
He said that he is wondering if anyone thought to put the drinking fountain on a cleaning schedule at all.
An Ealing Council spokesperson said:
“We have been on site and there is one section of handrail that is slightly loose and we’ll be fixing that shortly.
Repairs can be reported on the Love Clean Streets app which can be downloaded for free in the app store on any smartphone or on our website here.”
The spokesperson added that they are acutely aware of the issues at North Acton Square, and the wider area, including fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour and graffiti.
A range of maintenance and clean-up initiatives have been implemented, however, the problems have returned.
He added that they are working with Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), and local partners, to develop new plans for North Acton Square to tackle these issues and provide this public space with new uses for the local community, providing new opportunities for them to come together and enjoy this area.
He added:
“We will be making announcements on this, with our local partners, over the coming months with new uses aiming to be in place by this summer.”
What are the possible improvements for the hygiene of the North Acton Square in Ealing?
The construction of a completely accessible ramp in North Acton Station Square was finished in 2020, offering a step-free path from Victoria Road to station 4. Soft landscaping and new surfacing were part of this.
Additional public realm enhancements, such as a café, public restrooms, and a bike parking area beneath an accessible public terrace, have been proposed and discussed.
These ideas, however, require careful planning and financial support.
Significant improvements, such as step-free access and increased capacity, were suggested for North Acton station at Ealing in a recent survey.
To increase accessibility, this would entail regrading the East West ramp and constructing a new station entrance at street level.
Residents continue to voice their dissatisfaction with North Acton Square’s cleanliness in spite of prior improvements. This implies that in order to resolve these problems, continuous maintenance and care are required.