The Great River Race and Sewage, Roundabouts, Weeds and Crime

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Chiswick Riverside councillor Peter Thompson reports back

Cllr Peter Thompson

September 30, 2024

Great River Race and Sewage

One of the joys of living in Chiswick is being so close to the River Thames.  I spent a happy hour watching the impressive sights of the annual Thames River Race as it passed Strand on the Green last week.  270 boats made their way along the Thames on their way to Richmond.  Longboats, gig, skiffs, sloops, jolly boats, whalers, Hawaiian outriggers, Spanish traineras from Cantabrian and a cockle boat sailed past me - in case you are wondering I am not an expert on boats, but I do have access to the internet!  The weather thankfully stayed fine, and you could not but be impressed with the training and physical effort that the crews exhibited. 

The next day the weather changed and rains came.  Mogden Sewage Treatment Works in Isleworth had to discharge raw sewage into the Thames for 15 hours and 8 mins and a local kayaking club had to reconsider if they would be going out on the Thames later in the week!  Dirty water in the River Thames affects the rowing community, with sessions cancelled and club members frequently ill.  The number of hours in which sewage was dumped into the River Thames has more than quadrupled in the last year.  This is completely unacceptable and Thames Water need to clean up their act and our river fast.

 

Chiswick Area Forum – Roundabouts

As ChiswickW4 reported it was standing room only at Chiswick Town Hall for our local area forum meeting and there was no support from councillors or residents for TfL plans for Hogarth Roundabout. 

Several people questioned the data behind the plans and the closure of Church Street got the thumbs down.  I raised the issue of creating a new feeder lane to take traffic down to the A316.  My own experience of such feeder lanes is that unless they have physical barriers they don’t work.  If you have ever driven up Warwick Road to turn onto the A4 you will know what I mean as drivers skip queuing traffic and force their way into the turn-off lane, thereby blocking on-going traffic. 

Hogarth Roundabout

I also reminded the meeting that when CPZs were introduced in this area we deliberately kept Mawson Lane – which would go to create the new lane – as workers in Fullers needed somewhere to park.  I was pleased to hear that the brewery owners have made their views clear to TfL! 

I remain doubtful whether cyclists will ever want to use the roundabout! My colleague Cllr John Todd powerfully referred to a report by independent transport planners commissioned by the residents group.  This concluded that the current scheme does not comply with highway design standards and would increase collisions on the A316 southbound exit from the roundabout.  TfL officers accepted that there was a lot more work to be done on the scheme. 

Chiswick Area Forum – Call to get our weed problem back under control!

Conservative Councillors in Hounslow have argued for years that we need a new approach to tackling overgrown and dangerous weeds on our pavements and roads.  Uncontrolled weed growth is a big problem for Chiswick.  Years of relying solely on manual weeding have left some of our streets unsafe or inaccessible to wheelchair users, parents and carers with buggies and those with visual or mobility impairments. Roots are also breaking up footpaths and weeds are restricting drains.  They look like a mess! 

It was reassuring to hear at the Forum that our manual weeding-alone policy might be about to change, and we might restart using glyphosate as a herbicide.   Glyphosate is considered safe to use across the world and is used by local authorities all over the country. The EU re-approved it for use for another 10 years in December 2023.  Labour-controlled Brighton and Hove Council recently started using it again.  They have adopted a ‘controlled-droplet application’ that gets to the root of the weeds while also reducing the risk of runoff to other plants or parts of the street where it’s not needed.

Manual removal requires a lot of time and resources, and it hasn’t been effective. It only removes growth above the surface so roots would continue to grow, and the problem continues to get worse year on year.  Ps – manual weed cleaning will stop in a few weeks and the Hounslow Highways will focus its attention on leaves. 

Chiswick Area Forum – Crime

In our Area Forum there is always an ‘Open Forum’ item where residents can raise any issue.  Parents and teachers raised the issue of robbers targeting our children for their smartphones and valuables.  The journey to and from school should not have to be a dangerous one and such attacks are traumatic. 

Our local police sergeant was on hand to tell us that the police have been targeting the offenders in Chiswick around our school.  He could not give us full details of their operations, but undercover police officers have been used and one suspect was arrested locally last week.  Many of us have seen groups of young males on bikes operating in teams of two to three members and wearing balaclavas and surgical face masks to conceal their identities on the streets of Chiswick.  As our sergeants told us, there is no reason for these groups to be wearing balaclavas at this time of year and if you see such groups phone 999.

Cllr Peter Thompson

peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk

07977 395810  

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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