Forum Topic

Postbox still not in use - Gordon Road/Haven Green - Enforcement Officers

Apart from the strange obstacles placed at the beginning of Gordon Road at its junction with Haven Green, the brand new Post Office red postbox is still out of use despite its installation several months ago following the original postbox having been badly damaged by a vehicle.The new postbox is very smart looking - but when can it start being used please?Yesterday, at about 5.45pm, I noticed two Council "Enforcement Officers" in black uniforms actively following a man who was smoking whilst walking along Haven Green presumably hoping that he would discard his cigarette end.  The officers hurried after the man with one of them even "hiding" behind a pillar by the Caspian B & B and then again behind a tree in Castlebar Road when the smoking man stopped to speak to someone in the road.Is this really what Cllr. Peter Mason wants his Enforcement Officers to do?

Victor Mishiku ● 1202d62 Comments

But you are so, so wrong Paul. A lot of members there are regular cyclists. The common ground is the opposition to ill-conceived and implemented traffic schemes. As you know the campaign successfully saw the removal of most of Bell’s LTNs. That must have had you choking on your muesli. And they are still your neighbours, perhaps even potential clients for you.It’s not a cesspit. That tag applies to Twitter, of which you are a very active, vociferous and nasty participant. That seems to go for all you cycling fanatics on there judging by what passes for debate on that forum.I’m on her to debunk the utter nonsense you and other uninformed types try to pass off as fact. If you don’t like it you can always stick to your Twitter account.You really ought to seek some help for your issues Paul. All that anger isn’t good for you. And actively seeking confrontation will only cause you more problems.

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

sadiq james, you are only unpopular one on here.Your blinkered hypocritical views.You never answer a question & think you are some kind of policeman.You only post stupid comments to keep your anti car rhetoric in the spotlight

Peter Yale ● 1171d

>Why is it a cesspit Paul? Nasty place, where people are winding themselves up into an anti cycling and anti cyclist frenzy.>The members there, all 3,500 of them, are your fellow Ealing residents. A reminder that you are a fellow Ealing resident Simon, and you're in there and look at you on here, helping to make this place a cesspit as well!>But you are definitely unpopular thereWy do you think that is?

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

Why is it a cesspit Paul? The members there, all 3,500 of them, are your fellow Ealing residents. Some of your neighbours might even be members. I doubt your friends are. But you are definitely unpopular there, along with your fellow LCC zealots.You seem to be some sort of misanthrope. Why do you hate anyone who doesn’t think like you do?

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

Unpopular where Simon ? :D In that cesspit Facebook group you're a member of :D

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

You are either extremely stupid or just in denial Paul. Being unpopular, which you are, doesn’t constitute a ‘threat’, it’s just an opinion of you held by a large number of people. It’s like your opinion of car drivers.Why are toutso paranoid?

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

...and perhaps Simon you can expand on your thinly veiled threat by going into detail about what sort of danger or threat exists to me by being "unpopular" in there and why you would mention it?

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

(and I have to add, if I'm unpopular in there I must be doing something right!)

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

Ah, Ealing Residents against LTNs. Ealing's own cesspit anti human Facebook group for, as Jeremy Vine would put it, petro-sexuals.Have you done a poll in there or something Simon?

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

Don’t be paranoid Paul. I’m not threatening you. It’s all in your imagination because you seem to exist in a parallel reality to the rest of us.You know there are several thousand members of the Ealing residents against LTNs group who think you are a smug fool, along with the other LCC fanatics. This isn’t news to you as it’s been pointed out to you before. It’s not ‘another audience’ you don’t know about.Your claims that I’m threatening you are classic diversion tactics. Always the victim, eh?

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

Lots of people Simon? Who are you talking about Simon? You Nigel and and couple of others here, or another audience I don't know about but you do?What you've written hear sounds like a threat.

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

No Paul, it’s not a threat. It’s a statement of fact. There are lots of people sick of you and your constant whingeing, always playing the victim and staking dubious claims to the moral high ground.You never answer a straight question, simply deflect, obfuscate or ignore.You seem incapable of telling fact from fiction and are entirely selective in your observations.You really ought to get yourself some help to overcome your issues.

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

>It’s not making you very popular.Is that a threat Simon?

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

Dud I suggest that Paul?You just carry on with your crusade. It’s not making you very popular.

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

>And how many kids were crushed by the truck? Do you think I should have ignored it Simon? A driver engrossed in their mobile phone as they moved their flat bed truck forward at a zebra crossing at school opening time with loads of kids around?

Paul Richard James ● 1171d

Paul, you clearly have some mental health issues. I really do hope that you are getting treatment for them.

Simon Hayes ● 1171d

James you are an absolute ****er.Selective hearing etc.Never answer a question & only put a comment to keep cycling anti car ***ers comments in headlines

Peter Yale ● 1172d

One other question.You sound like a 14 year old nasty school bully Simon, are you happy with that? I'm being serious.

Paul Richard James ● 1172d

>Perhaps he could extend his responsibilities to enforcing dog poo removal by owners You don't think I've had words with people leaving dog poo?> pothole filling I've reported many pot holes, I'd recommend you do the same, the council get to them quite quickly!>Indeed, I’d suggest he picks up all litter he encounters on his roundsI do litter pick, I did some just the other day actually, do you?>and maybe trimming back overgrown hedges and trees encumbering the pavements.Now I'd LOVE to take out some electric hedge trimmers and walk with them 90 degrees up in the air past many of the hedges and bushes that make pavements too narrow, but I think that's a bit too far.

Paul Richard James ● 1172d

Dear blinkered vision & selective hearing james.Why did you drive to Richmond??????You do drive but are so anti car there’s no reasoning with you.Cyclist want more & more road space & demand more rights.They need to be registered, pay insurance & some form of tax,Been through this before, what don’t you understand DDD

Peter Yale ● 1172d

And how many kids were crushed by the truck? Thankfully serious injury and death are relatively low in Ealing. Your problem Paul is you are too highly strung and a catastrophic, always fearing the worst. You remind me of that character from Asterix fearful that the sky was about to fall on his head.I’ve never denied that there’s a problem with mobile phone use, and it annoys me as much as it does other contributors to this forum. Yet, you only see what you want to see.In English law there’s a principle of contributory negligence, long established but something the current government seems keen to eradicate, probably because the Prime Minister is such an irresponsible fool. If you step out into the road into the path of an oncoming bus or lorry because you weren’t paying attention and get killed or injured you don’t get my sympathy.

Simon Hayes ● 1172d

So reassuring to know that Paul is out on the streets safeguarding all the vulnerable citizens of Ealing. Perhaps he could extend his responsibilities to enforcing dog poo removal by owners and pothole filling while he’s about it. Indeed, I’d suggest he picks up all litter he encounters on his rounds, and maybe trimmingback overgrown hedges and trees encumbering the pavements.Ealing would be one a veritable paradise if only SuperPaul was doing all these things....

Simon Hayes ● 1172d

Good, few things annoy me more on the road, save for those who wear haeadphones when riding or driving making them totally oblivious to what is going on around them.I do hope that you also report some of the  two-wheel users on phones as well. Seems like some have never heard of Bluetooth!

N V Brooks ● 1172d

( I do have to say I don't report ALL drivers I see on phones, I'd be doing it all the time if I did that, it's so common to see, although I do make a special effort for van and truck drivers)

Paul Richard James ● 1172d

Nigel, I do have a word at the time (as they represent a severe danger to themselves and people around them) and I also  report afterwards.

Paul Richard James ● 1172d

Don't 'have a word' mote the registration numbers, take GoPro footage and submit it. The police will prosecute if the evidence is clear.https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/rti/rti-beta-2.1/report-a-road-traffic-incident/?stepid=1-1-2-1-1&lid=9cf5ace7-2ab5-47a2-9a43-52dfdf5b9e91&rid=1610NO excuse to use a mobile while driving.PS You might want to also have a word with the cyclist often seen in Hanwell with a distinctive silver helmet, who rode into the back of a 195 bus by The Village Inn while riding with no hands so that he could text on his phone!  No injuries just a lot of shouting.

N V Brooks ● 1172d

>  that there’s a huge and worrying trend of people paying little or no attention to what’s going on around them when out and about. Clearly staring at a phone screen is more important than watching where one goes.Wow Simon yes, I didn't think you'd notice.On my short trip to Ealing and back yesterday I had words with about six drivers who were using their mobile phone whilst driving, including one driving a flat bed truck approaching a school crossing with kids on it.

Paul Richard James ● 1172d

No point trying to engage with Paul on this. He always plays the victim card. The idea of personal responsibility only applies to others.He may not have noticed, since he’s utterly preoccupied with trying to prove black is white, that there’s a huge and worrying trend of people paying little or no attention to what’s going on around them when out and about. Clearly staring at a phone screen is more important than watching where one goes.

Simon Hayes ● 1172d

Equally of course it enables the 'entitled' hapless careless cycling idiot to ride with impunity blaming anyone other than themselves for any mishap that may befall them. Equally transparent and a predictable reaction from among the supposedly persistently persecuted - poor dears.

N V Brooks ● 1173d

>But if you can cycle properly, uses your eyes and ears and signal and position properly on the road, be able to take a hand off the handlebars for more than a nanosecond then you will fare safely.What an utter crock of victim blaming nonsense this is.It just allows you to say anybody injured or killed by a driver whilst cycling wasn't being careful enough and it's their fault not the driver's.So transparent.

Paul Richard James ● 1173d

I've cycled that Route since I was 12 and the biggest hazard was the buses, especially the single deckers on the E1 E2 and 273. The oversewing at the back as well as the back wash of air was dreadful.But if you can cycle properly, uses your eyes and ears and signal and position properly on the road, be able to take a hand off the handlebars for more than a nanosecond then you will fare safely.Unfortunately it's very evident that far too few on two wheeled machines cannot manage these basics and it is insane to alter roads for those who really ought not to be on the road without being thorough tested for proficiency.There's two tiny little boys who ride bikes home from Mount Carmel school. How they are allowed to be riding on the road on bikes that cannot be seen from the pavement as a pedestrian or a larger vehicle is frankly insane.They both ride well albeit a bit wobbly. But their chaperone, (presumably their father)  rides worse than they do.  Never signals clearly, rides in front looking back all the time, rides out of give way junctions with out any due care and never acknowledges drivers who pull over to allow them to pass even when they don't have right of way.  Some example.Why this school allows such tiny kids on the road ( it used to be 11 or 12) is simply stupid. At the very least their tiny not fully road legal bikes should have 5ft orange pennants so they can be seen.This has been the norm in the US since the 1950s . A learner driver cannot drive a car without a full licence holder with experience.Learner cyclists should be escorted with a certificated proficient cyclist.Why is that such a taboo?  It's common sense.One wonders just what goes in in some heads of those who ought to know better.

Raymond Havelock ● 1174d

Thank you. What you have said is really all that was needed by way of justification to be frank. Sadly. communiction is not a card that Ealing would appear to have in its hand let alone one4 that is plays on such matter.

N V Brooks ● 1174d

So.. if I can insert a touch of sanity back into this strange discussion. I'm not actually sure the change to the junction of Gordon Road and Spring Bridge Road was primarily either the protection of vulnerable cast iron post boxes or the easing of passage for equally vulnerable cyclists. What I do know, with that stretch of Gordon Road being a bus route with parking on both sides was that it often difficult to navigate whatever mode of transport one was using. I have found the road much better now that there is not the addition of traffic moving east from Haven Green. And I say this as someone living on Gordon Road who now has to travel via Castlebar Road if I am coming via car from the town centre.

Kenneth Day ● 1174d

Watch out for ‘howls of derision’ from PRJ.Poor Paul. It’s a wonder he can stay upright on his bike since his idea of balance is so one sided.As we’ve pointed out repeatedly before to him bad driving is bad driving, whether in a car, lorry, bus, van, motorcycle or bike. It’s the people who are stupid, not the machines.

Simon Hayes ● 1174d

I just wish the existing laws were being enforced, most notbly red light jumping and use of mobiles and headphones while driving or riding.  That, before certain 'permanently persecuted' parties react, of course, refers to ALL road users.

N V Brooks ● 1174d

"Tory demands for crackdown on killer cyclists: Ministers told to bring forward new law for 'death by dangerous cycling' offence and harsher penalties for reckless riders"    😆

Rosco White ● 1174d

So, you see what everyone else sees but choose to fantasise about who, when and how often. Why?

N V Brooks ● 1174d

Nigel. It's not three year olds on scooters knocking over bollards, taking letter boxes out of action and smashing down trees! :DYou don't have to be there at the time to know this.

Paul Richard James ● 1174d

Not "howls of dersion" you poor persecuted soul, just a question of balance.You claimed that you saw it every day and that skip lorries were being driven like rally cars (your words, look back) without a shread of evidence. We could all take photographs of damaged street furniture but until you actually witness (not the fantasies that you post on Twitter where cars stop for you you but are still invading 'your' space) these incidents then your claims are little more than fabrications to meet your individual agenda. Sorry chap, must try harder.

N V Brooks ● 1174d

>Skip lorries and construction delivery trucks cause the most damage,Yup skip lorry drivers and construction delivery truck drivers do cause a lot of damage, and skip truck drivers in particular often drive their vehicles as if they are rally cars, I've said that before to howls of derision from Simon and Nigel  :D :D :D

Paul Richard James ● 1174d

Skip lorries and construction delivery trucks cause the most damage, damaging kerbstones, paving trees, lampposts and other posts.It is very seldom reported, primarily as it is such a palaver trying to do it online and impossible by phone.It's too late and too slow.I've tried to report one or two of these while witnessing it happening. and is ongoing for hours. Yet the best you can get is  a " We strive to respond within 12 working days"A film unit smashed one of the cast iron lampposts a year or so ago.  The officers for media were contacted whilst it was ongoing and did nothing, not even internally to the relevant dept.  The cost of replacement was never forwarded to the production company.The street lighting people were only informed by residents well after the shoot was long packed up and goneLast week, a wheel nut sheared of a new 65 bus. Tried to report the defect by phone and it will take 14 working days. The acknowledgment came this morning that it will be looked into and responded to in a further 14 days. I've kept the offending article as it hit my vehicle. They were not interested in having it back and as it has sheared on a brand new bus would have thought it imperative to see and examine it.Yet using weedkiller or cutting back overgrowing nettles on the pavement and someone is knocking on doors within hours.

Raymond Havelock ● 1174d

Very true. Not helped by reducing the width of a number of roads, so large vehicles tend to clip poorly sited street furniture. Plenty of bashed signposts and lamp columns around to illustrate the point.Similarly, with trees the damage to branches is far higher up than could be caused by a car. There’s one poor specimen in my road which seems to be a ramming station for Amazon drivers.

Simon Hayes ● 1174d

Absolutely, shame that you never actually witness any of these events.Taking out bollards and railings would normally result in a vehicle being nearby for quite some time afterwards. So many HGVs ploughing through the streets at the moment to support the over development of building sites that damage to Street furniture is hardly surprising

N V Brooks ● 1174d

Damage is done to kerbs, pavements, bollards, trees, etc, but most of this is caused by large, heavy vehicles, usually vans and lorries. As has been pointed out elsewhere it’s quite often Council vehicles doing this.Oh, and the council refuse collectors still leave the Diesel engines on their vehicles running when on their breaks. Apparently they like to listen to the radio and having the aircon on while eating and drinking.

Simon Hayes ● 1174d

I normally take them when reporting to the council via the love clean streets app to get them fixed, like the bollard taken out by a school the other day, and the railing smashed off on the road exiting the carpark near the clock tower.Civic duty surely Nigel?

Paul Richard James ● 1174d

Still avoiding an answer sadiq james???

Peter Yale ● 1175d

Most damage is caused by works vehicles or oversized vehicles.Very, very few are followed up even when reported.  Usually from lack of evidence of the actual incident and details lacking.Do you have photographic evidence of the actual incident with the vehicles involved or just the damage? Have you submitted the evidence at the time?Actual proof or assumption?Currently the councils own refuse vehicles are creating potholes in resurfaced roads caused by the bins impacting the surface. This sets off potholes and completely undoes the resurfacing.

Raymond Havelock ● 1175d

Thank you, and you think that banning left turns will prevent this? While it may do so in this location, it is not a 'solution'. Do feel free to post your evidential photos from the 'loads' you have. What a happy existence.

N V Brooks ● 1175d

(and trust me, I have LOADS of pictures of on pavement street furniture wrecked by drivers)

Paul Richard James ● 1175d

In the original post here Nigel!"the brand new Post Office red postbox is still out of use despite its installation several months ago following the original postbox having been badly damaged by a vehicle."

Paul Richard James ● 1175d

He doesn’t substantiate anything. Answers questions with a question & ignores most things.Asked him 50 times to explain, why did he drive to Richmond?Silence will be deafening

Peter Yale ● 1175d

The fact that you add a question mark says it all.Where are all these post boxes in Ealing being taken out of action by people driving into them Paul?You made the claim surely you can substantiate it.

N V Brooks ● 1175d

>The fact is, any car colliding with a postbox would come off second best. The are built like tanks for a reason.Yet the postbox was put out of action by somebody driving into it?

Paul Richard James ● 1175d

More than happy to allow a couple of days for a response before concluding that it was simply the musings of a delusional fantasist.

N V Brooks ● 1176d

You’ll get no response from our cyclopath. He dishes direct questions, as instructed by the LCC leadership. Complain but don’t explain.The fact is, any car colliding with a postbox would come off second best. The are built like tanks for a reason.And of course ‘making cycling safer’ doesn’t really encourage new cyclists. Not owning a bike is the biggest factor stopping people cycling.

Simon Hayes ● 1176d

A totally unnecessary 'no left turn' imposed without a single element of pulished data. How does this 'make cycling safer'?Evidence please, particularly of pavement postboxes in Ealing that have been run over by people in cars.

N V Brooks ● 1176d

Balderdash, or was it you driving back from Richmond???

Peter Yale ● 1176d

The "strange obstacles placed at the beginning of Gordon Road" are to help make cycling safer so more people cycle and there are fewer people in cars that run over postboxes on pavements...

Paul Richard James ● 1176d

Not sure when you last went by it, but it has been in use for some time now.

Kenneth Day ● 1176d

This out of order post box (closed as opposed to its attitude), is this down to Royal Mail? Which post box is it? I have a good contact at RM so I can liaise with EB cllrs to pursue this.

Joanna Dabrowska ● 1196d

Or indeed recruiting staff under an umbrella group to 'facilitate' green policies and control charitable and volunteer groups by invoking 'approved' ideologies.Or thought policing local groups.

Raymond Havelock ● 1202d

This is what happens under Communism ......... Comrade!

Rosco White ● 1202d