Our environment is changing all the time.  In our borough the population will grow and economic activity will increase with new and expanding businesses.  There will be increased demand for homes, employment, leisure and travel.  Development will take place, and our responsibility is to ensure that it takes place in a sustainable way, contributing to our social, economic and environmental health.

The Adopted 2004 Plan for the Environment takes up this challenge by setting out policies for land use planning that will manage the pressure for new development. It encourages good development, which will meet community needs and produce a better quality of urban design. It discourages projects that are poorly designed or in the wrong place.  The plan is the statutory document that will guide planning decisions in the future.

The plan is based on the principle that our social and economic activity must be sustainable in the context of protecting and caring for our environment.  This means that the need for homes, for transport, for recreation, for education and for other community facilities must be provided for in a way that maintains quality of life, the economic viability of our local economy, and amenity and biodiversity of our natural environment.  Above all it means looking to the future so that the economic, social and environmental balance is maintained for our children's generation - and for future generations.

• Improved policies for the design of new development
• The identification of a range of sites which can contribute to  Ealing's development needs
• The protection of much more community open space (80 sites) and land with nature conservation value (81 sites and areas)
• Extension of the borough's green corridors - now including the A40 in Acton
• Many more buildings locally listed and protected for their architectural or historic character
• The release of surplus industrial land for housing and mixed use in Greenford and Perivale
• Encouragement of more provision for public transport, walking and cycling, and encouraging people out of their cars.

In addition, the plan is accompanied by supplementary planning guidance on twenty-two different topics, on the five town centres in the borough, and on over one hundred sites for development.

The plan and the guidance have been in preparation for four years. It has taken this long because of the need for public participation in the process. Great care has been take to clarify what we are trying to achieve through planning policy, with supplementary guidance on particular issues and particular sites.

The community now owns these documents, and the documents are there to be used - not only by the Council, but by everyone with an interest in the development of the borough.

Of course it doesn't end there. Ealing Council is committed to maintaining and improving the framework for local development. To get the best results, the whole community, including residents, businesses and other organisations need to make their views known on how the policies are working and what new policies are needed.

Cllr Stephen Sears
Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport
Ealing Council