About Southall Stories
Southall Stories is independent local journalism for Southall and the London Borough of Ealing.
It investigates local government, planning, housing, the environment, public health and the use of public power – with particular attention to decisions that are difficult to see, poorly explained or weakly scrutinised.
The aim is simple: follow the paper trail, test what people in power say against the evidence, and keep a public record of what happened next.
Who runs it
Southall Stories is reported and edited by David Marsden, a long-time Southall resident and investigative journalist.
The reporting draws on public records, Freedom of Information requests, council papers, planning documents, data analysis, correspondence, interviews and first-hand reporting. Where possible, primary sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence for themselves.
How the reporting works
Southall Stories is interested in patterns as much as individual announcements. A council press release may describe what is promised today; the archive helps show what was promised before, what changed, and what was actually delivered.
Stories may be updated when new evidence emerges. Significant corrections should be made clearly and transparently.
Every published story has a public reply route. Corrections, clarifications, objections and substantive responses are welcome and may be added to the reporting where relevant.
For stories involving Ealing Council, publication summaries may also be sent to the council press office before publication where that is useful and proportionate.
Independence and funding
Southall Stories is independently published. It has no corporate or political sponsor, and editorial decisions are not controlled by advertisers, donors or political organisations.
The site is free to read. Reader support helps cover practical costs such as hosting, domains, research tools, document access and Freedom of Information work, but does not buy editorial influence.
Support options are available through the site for anyone who wants to help keep the work independent.
Southall Stories and Ealing Civic Commons
Ealing Civic Commons grew out of the same concern with local power, public information and institutional memory.
Southall Stories is the reporting publication. Ealing Civic Commons is the civic-information layer: a public, connected record of what is happening across the borough, who is making decisions, and how places, organisations, documents and events relate to one another.
The two projects are separate but deliberately connected.
Contact
Corrections, tips, documents, right-of-reply responses and story leads are welcome.
- Email: southall@davidmarsden.info
- Personal website: https://davidmarsden.info/
- Ealing Civic Commons: https://ealing.civiccommons.co.uk/
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