July 2008 Archives

I was interested to read the posting on the website forum about 'the thousands of uncontrollable brats who roam our streets causing havoc everywhere - with or without their so-called parents.'

You can read the full views of the writer on the forum section of the site and I am sure they are likely to lead to some interesting debate over the next few days.

One thing I have noticed this school holidays is that Uxbridge appears to be heaving with more people than usual.

It appears to me that the 'credit crunch' has meant that far less people are going away this summer because I have never seen the town so busy before in the height of of the school holidays.

I am not sure too many people are actually spending money in the shops, perhaps they are just coming in to the town for something to do. Although the fact that virtually every shop seems to have a 'never ending sale' must be extremely enticing to some people.

And yes I have seen the odd 'uncontrollable brat' although certainly not to the extent suggested on the forum by the delightfully named 'MissModeration.'

Remember that the forum is there for you to comment on issues and matters from around the borough and on stories which appear in the Gazette. It's easy to join in the debate just go to www.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/forum

I am an early starter so I probably see the streets of Uxbridge town centre at their worse first thing in the morning.

They are usually littered with rubbish from the night before and the bins are overflowing and smelly, quite frankly it's not a pretty sight.

This week someone had actually dumped a fridge on gthe pavement close to the entrance of the Tube station - clearly in the dead of night.

However, by the time most people start their working day the streets are near spotless thanks to an army of early morning street cleaners.

Ok so they get paid for doing the job but it's a pretty thankless task clearing up bottles of stale beer and rotting food day after day.

So why do people have to create such havoc on our streets with their rubbish and how are we ever going to educate them to have a little more respect for our towns.

It's an on going batle and one that appears to be getting worse rather than better in Uxbridge and towns up and down the country....

On another subject, and I am delighted to see that the borough has been awarded 10 Green Fags for the quality of its parks and other areas of recreational spaces, which ranks Hillingdon second best London borough. You can read the full story in this week's Gazette.

We should be proud of these facilities and make good use of them something I discussed when I met up with council leader Ray Puddifoot last week.

Our new reporter Dan Coombs is being dispatched this week to savour the delights of some of the parks as part of a special feature we will be running on the borough success story.

However, he has been warned that only one ice cream is allowed on his expenses and certainly not one that comes with a flake and chocolate sauce.....

Well it's taken a long time coming but summer has certainly arrived over the last few days - although I am not sure it will last much longer.

And that has been the trigger for a whole host of meaningless emails from 'PR people' to hit my inbox linked to the current warm spell.

From barbecue recipes for baked pineapple and Mexican pork chops to how to keep cool in the car on a long journey, you name it they have sent it.

Suffice to say I have not actuially read any of them only taken one look at the header and quickly sent them to where they deserve - the trash can.

Don't they realise i am a busy persaon with a paper to edit and my readers want local news not that kind of rubbish!

Back to reality and this week's Gazette. We have some decent stories and a particularly strong exclusive splash for the main Uxbridge edition. I am not going to give any thing away here but pick up a copy of this week's paper, which is out tomorrow, and see for yourself.

I am still acting sports editor but only for a few more hours as Scott Newman arrives back tomorrow from his hols just in time for the new football season - how time flies it seems only yesterday that the last one was finishing.

Well you will be glad to know that the newsroom was all present and correct this week despite my earlier concerns.

No one has gone ill, Charlene Mitchell is back safely from Borneo and new reporter Dan Coombs is quickly settling into life on the Gazette.

One thing I forgot to mention is that our sports editor Scott Newman is away on two weeks' holiday which means I have drawn the short straw and have been acting sports editor this week.

That means I have had to divide my attentions between the news and sports agenda over the last few days.

While there has been no shortage of sports news on the hard news front it has been quiet - infact Monday's news meeting really was pretty dire in terms of how we were going to fill the front end of the paper with quality news.

Perhaps the so called 'silly season' has already started. Things did get better as the day progressed and in the end we have a good mix of news in this week's paper.

However, in terms of real hard news and stories that I would class as real sellers we are a little thin on the ground this week.

The rest of the week promises to be busy.

On Thursday, along with my new news editor Chris Longhurst, I am meeting up with the council leader Ray Puddifoot for lunch. No doubt there will be some interesting topics to mull over, which I am sure will include the proposed third runway at Heathrow.

Before that I have a meeting with Michelle Moffitt from The Chimes shopping centre in Uxbridge, who we work closely with on a number of initiatives

I will also be asking Michelle what she was doing posing 'nude' in the front window of Debenhams this week. If you want to know more pick up a copy of this week's Gazette and turn to page five, where all will be revealed!

I must admit that I feel rather nervous ....

The reason why is that for the first time in many months we could have a full compliment of staff on the Gazette newsdesk this coming Monday morning.

Charlene Mitchell, our Ruislip reporter, is due back from a holiday in Borneo and Dan Coombs will be joining us as a trainee reporter covering the Uxbridge area.

However, past experience has told me not to get too excited as a delayed flight or a bout of illness can easily wreck your best made plans.

But looking on the bright side it will be great to have the newsdesk back up to strength again and I know that my news editor Chris Longhurst will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

In next week's Gazette and Leader we will once again be launching our Let's Do It Awards sponsored by Barclays Bank.

This is the third year we have run the awards with Barclays and there will be £2,000 available in prize money for local community groups to win to help fund a local project.

In past years these awards have proved highly successful and I am delighted to have once again linked up with Barclays for this community initiative and look forward to the entries rolling in.

Make sure you see a copy of this week's Gazette for details on how your community group can enter and be in with a chance of winning one of the cash prizes.

Although our new look website has been up and running for a while now - this week it's being officially launched to the outside world.

Development of the site is still very much on-going and we will continue to add new features, although I have to say that already it is proving a great source of news stories as I have mentioned in previous postings.

The great beauty of the site is the ability to break news as it happens across the borough, something the news team at the Gazette are excited about.

A good example will be tomorrow morning when many Hillingdon borough council staff will be on strike as part of a pay dispute.

It is likely they will picket the Civic Centre in Uxbridge High Street and we will be able to report on this as it happpens on the website, rather than wait a week for the story to appear in the Gazette - when it's pretty much old news anyway.

As we move forward online and print content will work hand in hand and the Gazette newspaper and website will compliment each other - it's certainly exciting times.

This week's print version of the Gazette is now safely finished and a late flurry of decent stories yesterday makes it a good read, with a number of community talking point stories.

I hope that some of these stories will prompt readers to comment through the website and I would welcome your views and thoughts on the new look site.

It appears the system is having a few technical problems at the moment so below are the links that are missing from the previous blog (if they re-appear apologies).

Sign up today at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/bone-marrow

You can also read Adrian's blog at: http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk

It's not uncommon to get complaints about stories which appear in the Gazette - and sometimes they are justified and things are put right.

However, a complaint I recieved this week about publishing the picture of someone who had just been jailed for a particularly violent crime did not need any defending.

We are perfectly within our legal rights to print the picture and if 'criminals' don't want to see their face on the news pages then they should not carry out violent crimes in the first place. Enough said.

On another note I have already mentioned several times before the story of colleague Adrian Sudbury from Huddersfield who is dying of leukaemia and his Government campaign to ensure 17 and 18-year-olds are educated about bone marrow, blood and organ donation.

So far around 7,000 people have signed up to the campaign but if you have not already done so then please support Adrian's petition. The aim is to have 10,000 signatures by the time it is officially handed to Downing Street on July 23.

Join Gary Linekar, Natasha Kaplinsky and Jeffrey Archer and thousands of others in supporting his campaign and sign up today at:

You can also read Adrian's blog at:

This week all seems a bit of a blur with staff shortages meaning it has been all hands to the pump on a daily basis.

Despite various problems and a few fraught moments I was pleased with this week's Gazette which was another great team effort - and I am also delighted that news editor Chris Longhurst has returned from his short break.

Someone asked me if I had enjoyed news editing the paper while Chris was away and I have to say I did. I also realised just what it is like to be at the sharp end of things, particularly on deadline day.

While it has continued to be fairly quiet on the news front two of the big stories in this week's paper came in via our new look website.

The Uxbridge splash on the hospital patient files found in the street was sent in by a concerned resident and the story about a group of local soldiers being banned from an Uxbridge nigthtclub also came through the website.

The website really is proving a great medium for content both online and in print and another good story has just turned up this morning, which we wil be devloping for next week's paper and also posting shortly online.

The current credit crunch is the big news topic at the moment although the world of football appears to be immune from it.

While many other businesses are struggling to cope Chelsea star Frank Lampard has been offered a new four-year deal at the club on £150,000 a week. He may not accept because he wants a five-year deal.

It's a different world and quite frankly silly money!.

It's a lovely sunny summer's morning and Uxbridge is waking up to the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Early morning workers are grabbing that all important first cup of coffee (the latest addition to the town's coffee culture has opened its doors this morning) so why have I got Christmas on my mind in July?

It's because the Beck Theatre in Hayes is already advertising in our papers this week its Christmas panto which will star Leslie Grantham (of Dirty Den in EastEnders fame) no less in Peter Pan - http://www.becktheatre.org.uk

Do I really want to be reminded of Christmas in early July - NO.

However, I am sure there will be people who will now be booking their panto tickets on the back of the adveretisements such is the way that we now plan our lives often months in advance.