The Hounslow Chamber of Commerce has launched its Policy Council in Chiswick and pledged to lobby on behalf of local businesses to bring investment, jobs and wealth into the borough.

The Chamber Policy Council consists of key business people who will act as facilitators or convenors for Policy Fora in a range of sector and specialist interest areas. These include; Planning & Transport, Retail, Tourism , Education, and four specific “Community Issue Fora” which includes the areas of Chiswick, Feltham, Hounslow and Brentford. 

Stephen Fry of the Chamber of Commerce

The Chiswick “Community Issue Forum” will have a role as a point of contact for community groups, residents, businesses and anyone who works or lives in Chiswick.  It is designed to act as a place where issues can be raised, debated and shared across all interested parties that make up the “Village” of Chiswick, according to the Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Stephen Fry .

“The Chamber is the Voice of Business in the London Borough of Hounslow.  We are completely independent and therefore have the capacity to be objective in thought and free from outside influence.  Our interest is primarily the success of business.  However, the mistake is often made to presume that business is something different from everyday life.  The Chamber understands that business is also about people, usually local businesses are run by local people run local businesses. 

The basic principle is to create Local Economic Communities which generate business, wealth and money which is kept in the local community.  Buying and selling locally is at the heart of our strategy.  The Chiswick Community Issue Forum will feed its thoughts, ideas, needs, wants and arguments into the Policy Council.  The Chamber as a whole can then be the independent voice that speaks out and supports business, business people, employees and the market that makes our local economy tick.

Launching the Policy Council in Chiswick, Mr. Fry said the Chamber of Commerce was the voice of business for some 10,000 firms in the borough and the expertise of its members, drawn from businesses ranging from architecture to estate agencies, would help identify areas where the Chamber could lobby.

Mr. Fry told ChiswickW4.com that one example of the lobby power of the Chamber was when it recently opposed Hounslow Council's Master Plan and SPD to regenerate Hounslow Town Centre. The Chamber felt the consultation process was too short and not inclusive enough. Members such as Chiswick-based architect Mustapha Erdem ( head of the Planning and Transport policy forum of the Chamber) were able to identify areas in the plan which they felt would not work. The Council was now re-opening the consultation, he added.

The eight policy areas (fora) are retail, planning and transport, tourism, taxation and legal issues, 'Business for Business', Education, Communication and Media, and Regeneration, which would be business-led but involve local residents.

Mr. Fry said the Chamber would be closely working with Ashford, Spelthorne and Hillingdon Chambers of Commerce as a Partnership Forum to share expertise and information.

 

September 20, 2012