PCA Spring 2022 Newsletter
Party in the Park 2022
We are excited to announce the date for #PartyInThePark
Sunday 26th June 2022 1 pm to 9 pm
Sponsorship packages are now open email rosie.wallis@pitshanger.org.uk for details.
We are looking for volunteers for the 25th June for setting up, 26th June for event day and 27th June for breakdown and tidy up. Volunteer slots start at 30 mins and go all the way up to all day.
If you can help, please email our committee member annette.walsham@pitshanger.org.uk
Our excellent craft market will also be back!
The PCA Annual Social and Update
Are you ready for our annual social?
It’s that time of year when all PCA members can gather and catch up. It’s been so long since we have all been together due to the dreaded C word!
Please come along to meet new people, catch up with old friends and be introduced to the PCA committee. During the meet up there will also be a presentation of the PCA plans and local updates.
If you are not a member but would like to come along all you need to do is join online via our website.
If you are attending the meet up please rsvp via PCA@pitshanger.org.uk
May Day Celebrations
Brentham May Day is back!
After a gap of two years, the Brentham May Day is returning, and the PCA is delighted to be sponsoring it this year (as we have done before too). Brentham May Day has been a tradition going for over 100 years, and it’s a lovely sight to see with the procession. This year, it’s being held on 21st May.
An update on 1 Pitshanger Lane from Debbie Edwards
Well, we tried as hard as we could!
Many of you attended the site visit by councillors at Kent Lodge. In good Pitshanger fashion, you made your views known clearly and politely.
At the planning committee meeting in October, James Murray (our MP) and our chair, Debbie Edwards, set out objections to the plans, and we know that we had the support of our ward councillors.
The vote was tight, with five in favour and five against. However, the chair, Councillor Ray Wall, used his casting vote favouring the proposals.
Since then, a solicitor acting on behalf of local residents has written to complain about fundamental errors in the assessment of the plans presented to the committee. The Council replied over two months later, rebutting all points.
The PCA has also complained – interestingly, we may complain again. The senior planner undertook to reply to the PCA's letter in detail by 21st February. As of the time of writing this, we await their reply.
Meanwhile, the application is still shown as Awaiting Legal Agreement, so we remain in the hope that some legal wrinkle might change things. A group of us are considering what action to take next.
Save Gurnell Update
(Image from savegurnell.org.uk)
You may have seen videos on Twitter or YouTube about the latest on Gurnell with the Council’s announcement that it has set up a “community sounding board” for Gurnell Leisure Centre.
The Save Gurnell group has been invited to attend (at the time of sending this newsletter, we were eagerly awaiting our invite). They will update their website once they know more. In the meantime, they are encouraging people to sign and share the petition to the Mayor of London asking for financial assistance.
Find out more about the campaign and the petition at savegurnell.org.uk
Meet the PCA Newest Committee Members
Annette was the fantastic volunteer manager at Light up the Lanes 2021, so many of you would have already met her.
A message from Annette
Having grown up near Pitshanger, it felt the natural place to bring up my own family. I have lived in the heart of Pitshanger for fifteen years and love the friendly community we are part of. With both my children now at University, I wanted to get more involved in the PCA and be a positive part of this vibrant area!
My name is Natasha joined the PCA in September 2021 to help the association with communications and social media. Natasha is now also a committee member.
A message from Natasha
In March 2020, the day before the first lockdown, we moved to Pitshanger. I'm a mum to two and work part-time in the corporate world and run my own business. Being involved with the PCA has been a fantastic chance for me to get to know our area better, build connections and also make new friends. We are so lucky to live in an area with such a strong and wonderful community. It's so rare to find, especially in London.
Are you a PCA Member?
Membership of the PCA is open to anyone who has an interest in the Pitshanger area. Support the local community by being a member for just Household £15, Individual £10.
Article about Jeff Pack’s book from Debbie Edwards
One of the joys of being on the PCA is reading the more unusual emails sent to PCA@pitshanger.org.uk. So imagine our surprise when one of our members and volunteer postie emailed us saying, “Just wondered if you might be interested in the following book on Charles Hughes Rector of Perivale?”.
“Not half,” I thought as I had heard about this book in Hugh Mather’s recent talk at St Mary’s Perivale about the history of the church. (YouTube link here if you want to catch up with that - St Mary's Perivale LIVE: Hugh Mather: The History of St Mary's Perivale - YouTube – and while you're there, check out all of their streamed concerts).
Back to the story of Charles Hughes. He was the Rector of St Mary’s Perivale for 46 years yet had only five parishioners, less than the number of his children, 11. Court cases bookended his life; the first, at the age of 1, set the course of his life to come. The second, in 1906, ended his life and completed his disgrace. He and his wife ended up as joint millionaires. How did they do this, and was it his doing or hers? The magnificent graveyard at St Mary’s gives a clue.
Charles Hughes: The Reluctant (But Very Rich) Rector of Perivale by Jeff Pack is available from the Pitshanger Bookshop.