Steve Curran could reverse all the Streetspace measures without losing face if only he'd recognise the strength of feeling in Chiswick. The difficulty is that he only listens to those he wants to hear and that isn't the majority of Chiswick's residents and retailers. The recent call-in of the LTNs policy decision was actually two call-ins. One was by Conservative Chiswick Homefields ward councillor John Todd, whose call-in was signed by eight of his Tory councillor colleagues (all nine would have signed but only eight signatures were required). The other was by Labour and Co-operative Party Richard Eason representing Osterley & Spring Grove ward, whose call-in was signed by eight Labour councillors including Javed Akhunzada, the Labour chief whip; Amrit Mann, chairman of the planning committee; and Afzal Khiani, chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee's housing and environment panel. That's a very strong expression of disquiet. So Steve Curran isn't listening to councillors in his own party, just as much as he isn't listening to the 10 Conservatives. In fact, he's not listening to more than the nine Labour councillors who signed the call-in. We understand the labour call-in would have been signed by more than the required eight. We also understand Steve Curran's leadership election was secured by a majority of one. He hasn't done anything to correct this understanding, not even when, in the council chamber during a meeting of the full borough council, I likened it to the outcome of the referendum which left almost half those who voted unhappy. Having been a councillor for nearly three years now, I don't recognise the link between the words "Steve Curran" and "pragmatist". His record is of powering on through, trampling on majority opinion. He'll be hanging on until 16th/17th June, the date of the judicial review of C9 brought by OneChiswick - though I would love to be proved wrong. Go on, Steve. Do it!
Joanna Biddolph ● 2075d