A Tale of Two Meetings, Potholes and Celebrating Culture

Chiswick Riverside councillor Peter Thompson reports back


Cllr Peter Thompson

March 9, 2024

A Tale of Two Meetings

Virtually no one – no matter how much it might bruise the ego – listens to our council meetings. This is probably linked to the fact that trust in politicians remains the lowest since records began.  A recent Ipsos Mori report tells us that just 34 percent of the British public believe local councillors to be truthful and trusted.  This is a worrying statistic for those of us who volunteer our time as elected representatives.

At our recent Borough Council meeting Labour Councillors voted through the maximum Council Tax increase allowed without a local referendum of 4.99%.  This is the 8th year in a row that our Labour Council has increased the burden of council tax on the residents of Hounslow – that’s an increase of just under £400 at Band D.

Our amendment took seriously the financial hardship faced by many residents of Hounslow.  We proposed a zero increase in the Council Tax, to cut the cost of politics by abolishing 13 unnecessary Special Responsibility Allowances paid to Councillors,  to strengthen the current civil enforcement team by recruiting 40 additional officers to keep us safe, to increase street lighting to create a safer environment, to offer residents a free one free bulky waste collection per year to enable residents to dispose of large items quickly and tackle fly-tipping in our borough and to increase investment in repairing potholes and pavements. All this was fully costed and fully funded.  

We sat in the council chamber and heard from our Labour colleagues how much they care about our residents; how much they care about our local businesses; and how much they care about the poorest in society - and the lack of support from central government. There was no mention of the fact that Hounslow has received an additional £18 million in extra funding for this year to help us through difficult financial times and to support us in delivering adult and children’s social care. Labour Councillors had a real and tangible opportunity to put their money – or should I say our money - where their mouth is and follow through on their virtue-signalling credentials and make a real difference to people’s lives - yet every year they nod through increases in Council Tax.

Last week's special ceremonial meeting of Hounslow Council might have helped in some small way to restore that missing trust in Councillors.  We gathered to confer the title of honorary aldermen and alderwomen on five long-serving and widely respected former councillors - Melvin Collins, Steve Curran, Corrina Smart, Paul Lynch and Barbara Reid. From our side Cllrs Jack Emsley, Gabriella Giles and Gerald McGregor spoke powerfully of Barbara’s and Paul’s contributions to Hounslow and their work that will be remembered for generations. Labour colleagues reminded us of Corrina’s, Steve’s and Melvin’s legacy and efforts.  

As I said at the meeting what they all had in common is that they gave years of their lives to improve lives in the community they served. They did this with integrity and dedication and their efforts made a difference. They reminded us that politics can be decent and honourable and that politicians can use their skills to improve their part of the world and help their fellow citizens. Being elected an alderman or alderwoman is the highest honour that a Council can bestow on a former Councillor, and the criteria is that they gave eminent service. They certainly did give eminent and distinguished service during their years as a Councillor and rightly disserved this award. 

Potholes

Councillor Guy Lambert, Cabinet member for Highways, Recycling and Health Integration, took exception to our budget proposal to spend more on fixing potholes across the borough.  He proudly stated that have some of the best streets in London!  When I am knocking on doors there is debate about the level of Council Tax, improperly parked Lime Bikes, and our LTN.  But I can assure Cllr Lambert that anger over potholes is pretty high up on the list of voter concerns.
Councils spend a lot fixing potholes. In addition £20 million a year is spent nationwide in compensation for pothole damage to vehicles. But the cost to motorists is much higher. A survey for Kwikfit puts the cost of repairs at £1.25 billion. A third of drivers said their vehicles were damaged by potholes in the past year. For cyclists, the impact of potholes is more than financial.  Cyclists routinely experience injuries due to potholes – including dozens of serious injuries a year and often some deaths. According to data from the Department for Transport, at least 425 cyclists have been killed or injured due to poor or defective road surfaces since 2016.
A few councils around the country are making great progress by purchasing a new machine from JCB, called the PotholePro. It fixes a pothole in eight minutes – four times faster than existing methods. It also does it at half the cost. Most importantly the repair is also much more effective.  I hope the Council is exploring this new technology which would result in permanent repairs rather than a temporary bodge-up we experience at the moment.  If indeed we have a few knocking around I can recommend several roads in Chiswick Riverside that need sorting out.

Chiswick Area Forum and Celebrating Culture

The Chiswick Area Forum meets this Tuesday (12 March) at 7.30pm in Chiswick Town Hall to provide “clear, accountable, community leadership and tackle the unique challenges and needs of (the) area. The forum monitors and reviews services delivered by the Council and other agencies in that area.  The theme of this meeting is “Celebrating Culture” and we will be given a presentation by the Hounslow Arts Centre – they do a wonderful pantomime every year and offer a wide variety of events!   The Digital Poverty Alliance will also be with us.  Not everyone is online and this impacts people in many ways as they are unable to access education, the social security system, job opportunities or get cheaper gas and electricity.  Finally the Council will be telling us what it is going to help people use digital tools more effectively.  There is also the regular opportunity for members of the public to raise issues of concern in the Open Forum. Hopefully we will see you there. 

Cllr Peter Thompson

peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk

07977 395810  

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Tuesday 13 March 2024 from 6.30pm Chiswick Area Forum Celebrating Culture

Monday 18 March 2024 at 7:00pm Cabinet

Tuesday 26 March 2024 at 7:30pm Borough Council

THEN:

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

During weekends, residents can still access council services on-line or via emergency numbers:
To inform the council of an emergency, please call 020 8583 2222

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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