No Such Thing as a Summer Holiday for Chiswick Councillors
Chiswick Homefields councillor Jack Emsley reports back
Cllr Jack Emsley, Chiswick Homefields
August 26, 2023
August is usually a pretty quiet month in Chiswick, with most people taking advantage of the school holidays to head abroad or taking a well-earned summer stay-cation in one of the many beautiful UK seaside spots. As a (relatively) new councillor, I don’t have a point of reference but had assumed this would mean a bit of a slow-down for us councillors too.
As the past week alone has proven, though, that’s not been the case at all. So, from wildlife photography to some naughty fibbing from the leader of Hounslow Council, here are the main highlights from the past few days…
Snapping Chiswick’s Wildlife
You may have noticed a surge in keen photographers across Chiswick this summer thanks to Wild Chiswick’s photography competition. With hundreds of entries celebrating nature and wildlife in Chiswick, the competition has inspired people of all ages to head out with their camera or smartphone to capture the beauty of local nature. As one of the judges of the competition, I spent my Monday evening having a drink by the river with celebrated local photographer Anna Kunst to sift through entries and decide a winner in our judging category ‘Marvellous Mammals’.
After long deliberation, we managed to pick a winner and runner up amongst some fierce competition – no spoilers in this blog unfortunately, but you’ll have a chance to see the winners revealed at the Wild Chiswick photography competition awards evening on the 3 rd October, with the full collection of photographs then exhibited in locations across Chiswick over the autumn. Keep an eye out for details!
A New Market for Chiswick
Last week also saw the council’s Licencing Panel grant a limited trial licence to a new monthly food market on Chiswick High Road. Tuesday’s meeting of the panel did a good job of considering the large number of submissions on the application from local residents, which ranged from concerns about the impact of the market on local businesses and potential for increased levels of rubbish, to highlighting the positive effects a new market could have on our community and the attraction of even more footfall to our High Road.
The Licencing Panel decided to grant the market a temporary licence on a 3-month trial basis, restricting the market to a maximum of 20 stalls so that the impact of the new venture could be properly assessed. This is a sensible compromise which allows any issues to be identified and hopefully ironed out over the next few months, whilst still presenting an exciting opportunity to build on the success of the existing Sunday markets. I’m looking forward to popping down and giving the Food Market a try when it kicks off later this year!
Talking of markets, the Create Streets survey on the co-design initiative for the car park on Chiswick High Road closes at the end of August. I’ve written before about how exciting it is to have Create Streets involved in proposals to improve public spaces in Chiswick, and I’m glad to see a large number of local residents and businesses have already had their say on the proposals. Any last-minute submissions to the survey can be made here.
Action on Crime
The worrying rise in violent crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour across Chiswick hit national headlines last week following an important special report by the Chiswick Calendar’s Matt Smith (which underlined both the importance of good local journalism and just how lucky we are in Chiswick to have high quality local media like the Calendar and ChiswickW4.com).
Local Conservative Councillors are concerned about the general rise in crime across Chiswick, and in Homefields we’re already in discussions to deploy new CCTV provisions on the path between Barnes Bridge and Chiswick Station after a spike of crime there. We think the rise in crime on the High Road, though, requires a bigger change, which is why we’re arranging urgent meetings with the council to discuss the creation of a dedicated Law Enforcement Team, a uniformed group of council officers who provide a visible deterrent against crime. A similar scheme has been in operation in Hammersmith since 2021, with the borough now employing 70 Law Enforcement Officers to work alongside police officers.
These officers would have the power to issue fixed penalty notices for anti-social behaviour, report abandoned bikes for removal, enforce public space protection orders and obtain the name and address of offenders to coordinate with police officers. It’s not a replacement for our local Police Team (who do a fantastic job in difficult circumstances), but rather a smart use of council powers to address a growing problem. It was revealed last week that the Local Government Ombudsman has found that councils are frequently failing to use their powers to tackle crime such as anti-social behaviour – the deployment of a dedicated enforcement team would be an effective way to use existing powers to keep residents and businesses safe.
ULEZ Fibs
Talking of Hounslow Council, the leader of the council was left red-faced earlier this month after the independent fact-checking website FullFact found claims he made about the ULEZ expansion were untrue. Both council leader Shantanu Rajawat and Hounslow Labour’s Chief Whip (and Chiswick resident) John Stroud-Turp shared tweets in the wake of the Uxbridge by-election claiming Sadiq Khan’s expansion plans were only being carried out under orders by the government. FullFact found this to be untrue, rightly stating that “misleading claims about the political process behind the ULEZ expansion can damage trust in politics and harm public debate.”
At a time when residents across the borough are increasingly having to differentiate between facts and local Labour councillors “speaking figuratively”, it is crucial that those in charge of the local council are not seen to be spreading misinformation online.
So, another bumper week as your local councillor in Chiswick Homefields. It’s been a busy August and, as we head into a September which includes both the Area Forum and Borough Council meeting, things are only set to get busier!
Cllr Jack Emsley
07977 396017
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
Nothing in the immediate future
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery).
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS
Chiswick Gunnersbury (was Turnham Green) ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
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