Time and Time Again Residents Deprived of a Voice

Chiswick Gunnersbury councillor Joanna Biddolph reports back

Cllr Joanna Biddolph

December 30, 2023

Hounslow House closes (for the most part) over the Christmas and new year break. Life usually slows down for councillors giving us a chance to re-energise while catching up on less urgent issues. Residents are doing similarly, including catching up with their pending heaps and emailing us. The time isn’t council-work-free but it is less intense.

On my desk were a challenging and sad housing case with a single mum-of-three in tears over the pre-Christmas weekend and immediately after Christmas; several planning applications; a few recycling and waste problems; and anti-social behaviour. All these were raised either by email or WhatsApp. No-one came to the surgery at the library on 23rd December.

What do residents want of their elected representatives?

Even if no-one comes, I am a strong advocate for regular surgeries to be held; everyone we councillors represent must be able to meet us face-to-face and to know when and where we are available (of course we are available to meet in between surgeries, too). But is there less enthusiasm overall for meetings with councillors?

Attendance was disappointingly low at the Chiswick Area Forum on 5th December [ the theme was youth employability and you can watch it here with many regular attendees missing. At cabinet question time in Feltham the following day, the chairman announced that about 30 people were present with one person in the audience noting at the end that attendance should be much higher. What’s putting you off these meetings?

That became the subject of a discussion among residents with comments including:

“December is a useless month for meetings.”
“People are busy. They want to talk about issues affecting them. They want to feel they can effect change. Otherwise, people just walk away if lip service is being paid to them.”
“People want to feel they are heard and that there is a dialogue and debate. We are given a few minutes to pose a question, a panel member answers it, frequently inadequately, and if you try and push you are told there are other people with questions and if you push more you are threatened with removal.”
“There is just no point in attending these meetings - we, the taxpayers, are simply not represented.”
“I would say Chiswick residents want to feel heard and that our voices count for something; that we can actually have some sway over where we live.”
“As it stands it doesn’t matter if we seem to be heard in a forum because the roads remain closed. What we have learned is it doesn’t matter what we say, no matter how many times we write and appeal to people’s better natures, no matter how many consultations are done and presented to the council as the will of the people, the upshot is we will be ignored if it doesn’t suit the current agenda.”
“We have no voice.”

Yes, we have no voice

This certainly applies to one of the Lime e-bike bays in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward. Local intelligence about the way a junction works counted for nothing; it was installed on that tricky junction anyway and is still a big issue for residents near that spot. They want it to be moved, not removed, but when I raised this direct with the cabinet member for Lime e-bikes, Cllr Katherine Dunne, I was told I was wrong; residents’ views were taken into account. Not so, here. Residents have no voice.

Similarly, with a new scheme to reduce speeding through the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate, locals know that one problem is drivers driving east to west along one road yet the council has insisted that the vehicle activated sign (which flashes when a driver is driving too fast) will face west to east drivers. Residents have no voice.

Cabinet question time returns – or does it?

Hounslow Council announced in November that it would be bringing back cabinet question time – the council’s equivalent of BBC Question Time. The first one was held on 6th December in Feltham with the request that all questions be submitted in writing in advance. According to the chairman’s introduction, a record number of questions were submitted but, as is so often the case, actual numbers weren’t given. Meanwhile, I have my own cabinet question time list with a record number of questions submitted at around the same time by me to the chairman of the cabinet, council leader Cllr Shantanu Rajawat:

Free parking to encourage Christmas shopping: Hounslow retail areas have usually benefited from some free parking before Christmas. I emailed Cllr Rajawat asking for it this year, suggesting dates it should apply. Was my email acknowledged? No. Did I get a reply? No. After Christmas, I found an un-dated page on the council’s website about council services over the festive period which included a list of dates on which PayByPhone parking charges would be suspended. For info, parking was free on 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th and will be free on the New Year’s Day bank holiday, 1st January 2024. So, supplementary cabinet questions from me, are: “Why keep it so hidden? Isn’t supporting our local retail, hospitality and service economy worth shouting about?” This is particularly important given the current shoplifting crisis – our shops need paying customers and parking encourages them to come to Chiswick; free parking before Christmas was potentially a big selling point across Hounslow … but who knew about it?

Lighting in the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate: In early November, a resident took an alarming video starkly showing how dark a stretch of road is between public transport and her home. The three of us in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward (Cllr Ranjit Gill, Cllr Ron Mushiso and I) have raised this before, shortly after being elected in 2018 when the council dimmed and trimmed lighting across the borough ; in a ward walkabout; in our 2022 election manifesto; and since. This specific spot is of particular concern after a frightening house break-in, car thefts, and a possible stalking incident so I sent the video to Cllr Shantanu Rajawat asking for improved lighting. I followed up by email and in person. Were my contacts acknowledged? Yes. Have I had a reply? No.

Lighting along an alley: At the first public meeting we held on crime and policing, the then borough commander stressed that good lighting helped deter crime (it’s common sense). Residents in and around a council housing estate want lighting along an alley known for attracting crime, anti-social behaviour and drug dealing. The estate improvement budget would not have covered it so it was logical for me to ask the council’s lead member for finance, Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, if he could find the money. You know what’s coming … I emailed; I followed up in person; my request was acknowledged. But did I have a reply? No. Later, after meeting an officer with a budget that goes beyond the limitations of the estate improvement budget, I asked that officer the same questions. It is being considered.

Law enforcement team: After the shoplifting crisis emerged, we as a group asked the council to introduce a law enforcement team similar to the one employed in Hammersmith & Fulham to patrol our streets and deter crime. I followed up our question during a meeting for our retailers and the police which was attended by Cllr Shantanu Rajawat. He gave his now typical immediate response: he’s willing to have a conversation but the problem is money. Have we or I had a reply? No.

Question time is back, in various forms, but answers came there none. Residents have no voice. But then …

Litter pick after recycling and waste collections: This arose longer ago, in May 2022, when the newly elected council leader, Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, announced it at the borough council meeting. Excellent, I thought, knowing how much litter appears after a collection and how much it annoys residents. After following up I was told, “in May 2023, realistically” then, in May 2023, “ This will be picked up as part of our street cleaning strategy which we are currently finalising. We will announce details of this and how it will operate as soon as possible”. I had replies! Has it happened? No.

Roads update

Devonshire Road: The parking areas currently fenced off by wands will soon be built over, removing the possibility of parking along those sections forever. In a classic bit of Hounslow planning, there will be changes – a recent survey revealed that one area to be paved would cover up a Virgin media utility chamber (visible when the change first emerged) so that space will become a disabled bay. Businesses wanted to use those spaces for summer weekend dining, as was revealed in this survey so this enforced removal of parking 24/7/365 shows again that residents (in this case business owners, too) have no voice.

Devonshire Road pavement plans. Larger version of image here

CS9 and Chiswick High Road: Eight Conservative councillors called-in the cabinet decision to make C9 permanent, challenging the plans that have also sneakily introduced some aspects of the hated original CS9 scheme and specifically that it will be routed through pavement along part of the south side of the High Road. It will weave round a tree to go through pavement just beyond the Catholic Church to Heathfield Terrace and create what some fear will be a dangerous merge with eastbound cyclists crossing from north to south near Waitrose, where it goes through pavement in front of Vodagone and Holland and Barratt before rejoining the road and crossing it. The entire scheme is now a shambolic dogs’ dinner cobbled together by a series of desperate measure attempts to make it work. We all know that this entire scheme has been imposed despite vast majority opposition. Residents have no voice. Will it be any different in 2024?

CS9 through pavement outside Waitrose then across Chiswick High Road and at Heathfield Terrace

CS9 through pavement from Bleak House Lane to the Catholic Church

CS9 through pavement from Dukes Avenue to Linden Gardens

Councillor Joanna Biddolph

joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk

07976 703446

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2024

Tuesday, 16 January 2024 at 7:00pm Cabinet 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

Thursday, 18 January 2024 at 7:00pm Audit and Governance Committee

Thursday, 15th February 2024 at 7:00pm Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Tuesday, 20th February 2024 at 7:00pm Cabinet

Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 7:30pm Borough Council budget-setting meeting

THEN:

Tuesday 26 March 2024 7:30 pm

Tuesday 21 May 2024 7.30pm

(The Annual Statutory General Meeting of the Borough Council)

6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

Open to the Public

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 Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823

Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810

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