I just wrote a long reply and it has disappeared! I am going to try again.Firstly, thank you to everyone who has responded, I am glad you find the information useful. Colin, I will try to answer your questions as best I can. As I mentioned, I am a Trustee but there is an Exec Committee in place which deals with the running of the Assyrian House. I am not actually on this committee, but I am aware of all the goings on so I hopefully can help with your queries.500 capacity venue: I am not sure where the 500 figure is from. I believe our hall has a capacity of around 300 and the application did not intend to increase the capacity of the hall. Regarding the proposal, it was put to a vote by the members of the Assyrian House and it was rejected.Previous work done: any work that was done (it was around 10 years ago I believe) did have permission and were done by a reputable contractor. I am not sure if you are referring to something else?Parking: Yes, I agree, personally I also thought the Wickes/ECC idea would not work. As I mentioned, the proposal which this was included in is not going ahead anyway. Parking in general, of course we have consideration for our neighbours, we do advise and remind members to give regards to the community and neighbours. If anyone is parked illegally then I would expect the Council to issue a PCN. As a separate point, I have personally noticed the local minicab firm using the spaces outside the gates regularly, particularly when they are closed, so it isnt always someone connected to the Assyrian Society. Letters: sending the letter was discussed before any work started, and yes it would have been better to send it prior to work beginning, however, it was sent before the actual building of the fence begun (at the moment the old fence has been removed and we have done some groundwork preparing the foundations). We weren't obliged to send letters, we just thought it might be helpful. I am not sure which road you live on, but as far as I know they have been sent to approx 50 houses surrounding the Assyrian House. As mentioned previously, one of the key factors in deciding to replace the fence was that we had comments and concerns from our neighbours about the state that it was in.I don't know what you mean by "community card" but the Assyrian community is quite small and has been settled in Ealing since the 1950s. This is the only centre we have in the UK for our community. It is used for things such as wakes, memorials and occasional parties (Christmas, Easter, New Yr). It used to be used to hold our Sunday Mass in the 70s, but since we purchased a small Church in Hanwell, it is no longer used for this purpose, only for as I mentioned wakes, saints days and usually this takes place as a sit down breakfast for everyone. It has also been used as a venue to teach our language (Aramaic) to our children. It i also generally used as a social club for members, to play pool, dominos have a cup of tea etc.The Assyrian House doesn't make any profit, noone involved is paid, it is all done on a voluntary basis. Colin and Peter, I have seen that you have raised a number of concerns and if you would like, we can meet in person (at the Society if you want so that it is local) over a cup of coffee and I will be more than happy to discuss everything with you.We have engaged with concerned locals before, we had quite a few attend the food festival (everyon was invited). I was there myself and chatted to a few and as I said, this is where the fence issue was brought up. We have had other events previously which have also been attended by neighbours. If you feel it is too late, fair enough, but the offer is there.Sorry for such a long reply, I am trying to be as open as possible and to give you as much detail as I am able to.Best wishes,Bob.
Bob Babakhan ● 4342d