What do you like best about where you live? Well, more than a thousand people took part in a survey and it showed that quite a few of you would say it was our borough’s parks, public transport links, and the community spirit.

In fact, the overwhelming majority (90%) of respondents said they were satisfied with their local area as a place to live. This compares to the national average of 74%.

Who did they tell? It was the latest independent residents’ survey carried out by a research company on behalf of Ealing Council. The researchers knocked on doors across the borough over the winter to get a representative mix of local people, and the results are now in. They were presented to a meeting of the full council last night (Tuesday 8 April).

Let’s look a little more at what was said in the survey.

Good reasons

When broken down by each of our 7 towns, satisfaction was no lower than 85% – and the highest was 96% in Acton, where ‘peace and quiet’ was listed as among the reasons by a quarter of people. Other popular reasons included:

• the area’s quality of parks and open spaces (particularly popular in Ealing, at 28%) and the access to nature
• the availability of public transport (Hanwell residents, at 49%, appreciated this most, and people in the 25-34 age bracket most of all)

The sense of wellbeing provided by the borough’s parks and open spaces was supported by almost two-thirds of people saying they visited a park at least once a week; and the 18-34 age group were the keenest visitors (at 69%). Reasons given were fresh air, exercise and enjoying the surroundings.

Community spirit

Tying into this sense of a good neighbourhood is that 87% of respondents agreed their local area was a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together.

And, just under a third (28%) indicated they had volunteered, or given unpaid help, in the last 12 months, and 14% said they had done so at least once a month or more. In fact, a quarter of people in both Hanwell and Southall said they regularly did a quick favour or chore for a neighbour.

What about the council?

Consistent with the overall satisfaction with the area they lived in, 80% of people answering the survey said they were satisfied with the way the council runs things. This compares to the national average for councils of just 56%.

Just under three quarters (72%) agreed that the council provided value for money, which is double the national average of just 36%. Of the rest of respondents, most people were neutral or didn’t know, with only 8% disagreeing.

More than 4 in every 5 people said the council is doing a good job and, also, that it is making the area a better place to live.

Problems to deal with

The survey provides valuable insights into what the council should prioritise.

Around 80% of people listed walking, cycling or public transport as their most common ways of making short journeys around the borough. However, 22% said they did not walk or cycle more often because they didn’t feel safe, or they thought cycle routes were unsafe.

This issue is not just shining a spotlight on road safety. It also has the potential side-effects of worse congestion and air pollution if some people feel they need to drive a car for all of their journeys.

That is why, in 2025/26 the council is spending a lot of money on better cycle routes (including in Hanwell, Park Royal and Southall) as part of its £28million programme of ‘active travel’ investment. And it will also spend £6.25million on improving and resurfacing roads and pavements.

Meanwhile, the proportion of people feeling safe after dark (60%) is lower than those who feel safe during the day (95%). Only 12% said they feel very safe after dark and 21% said they feel unsafe. The number of female residents feeling safe after dark is notably lower.

Therefore, addressing the fear of crime has been identified as one of the council’s priorities for the year ahead. There has already been quite a bit done over the last year to start to improve things, including measures coming out of the council’s strategy for tackling male violence against women and girls such as the new Safer Ealing website to make it easier to report incidents and find advice. It was part of a 4-year programme costing £13million to fight anti-social behaviour, burglary and violent crime, which will continue this year. Also this year, although 77% of people in the residents’ survey said they were satisfied with street lighting, another 1,500 streetlights will be upgraded across the borough to improve visibility. Meanwhile, more alleyway gating will be installed and the council’s CCTV control room will continue to work with police to identify and prevent risky situations.

More information

• Read more about the council’s plans for the year ahead
• You will soon be able to view the full residents’ survey 2024 on the council’s website

Before you go…

Thank you to all those who said Around Ealing magazine and website, and Around Ealing Extra weekly email, were their preferred methods of receiving information about the council and the borough. The numbers have risen considerably since 2023’s survey. If you haven’t signed up for Around Ealing Extra emails, you can do so online.