Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

From flytipping to film star in a few easy steps

Goodwood Revival weekend

On Thursday I cycled into the Civic centre for a progress meeting with the leader. Progress is slow but I like to think steady and we discuss various schemes to move along faster. Late afternoon the Melvinator and I are crammed into the Brentford housing office with various housing officers, enforcement people and residents updating an anti-social behaviour issue in the Clayponds estate. Feels like we are making progress, and Mel and I then rush off to Planning Committee.

Only three to consider this time, all near here, and we’re content with all of them. Some flats preserving the Art deco façade in Commerce Road and providing 40% affordable (albeit more than half of them shared ownership). An amendment to part of the Brentford FC site (a few more flats – we are eagerly awaiting the social housing we fully expect on the ‘Duffy site’ which is likely to come to planning at the turn of the year) . And some extra flats squeezed into existing buildings at New Horizons Court – offices next to the Gillette building. Conversion of these offices to flats had already been approved by the Planning Inspectorate - we don’t get a say in these matters as a mere Local Authority – but we will get a £1.4M contribution to our social housing fund by letting them convert plant rooms etc into accommodation.

Friday I spend the day catching up prior to my weekend at the Goodwood Revival weekend, which I have been looking forward to. This is the extremely popular historic car racing event near Chichester and since hotel rooms seem to be about £250 per night I shall be commuting Sat and Sunday. The event is fantastic, with the majority of people making at least some attempt to dress in period. I have a tweed cap, bought in a vain attempt to keep my bonce warm on my previous visit to Goodwood in the snow. Others make more of an effort and I must say some of the women look stunning in their 1950s summer frocks whereas the blokes in tweed suits do nothing for me.

Monday it’s back to this millennium and a homelessness briefing from the housing team and lead member Lily Bath. Hounslow has made impressive progress over the last 4 years with the number of people in B&Bs down from 260 to 14 and temporary accommodation down from 1100 to 621. This means people are not only better housed but our spend on temporary accommodation has come down from £3.7M to £1.0M. It continues to be an uphill battle because for every new council home we provide, we lose at least one to right-to-buy. Many of these resurface after a few years as private rentals.

Tuesday I’m a film star. Hounslow Highways – or more accurately their parent, Vinci – are doing a film about major contracts for their internal staff ra-ra meeting and I agreed to take part with some of their executives, chatting in a very contrived way in Greedies café in Isleworth then wandering down South Street. Many aspects of the Hounslow Highways contract are working well and I think bolstering the relationship can only help us press on the things that are not going so well.

Then I’m back in Brentford for a FoodBox meeting and back to the Civic centre to meet some people who are promoting solar panels in schools. This is a co-operative, and they have a wizard scheme which costs the schools nothing but a small amount of hassle and delivers them immediate cost savings, a ‘green dividend’ and a good educational talking point. I really can find nothing not to like. Thanks are due to the ever-energetic Rin of the Cathja charity, who put us on to this. In the evening it’s a formal meeting of Cabinet. Nothing too controversial and we get through the business pretty quickly.

Wednesday I’m invited by the Heston Residents Association to inspect Osterley Lane, truly the only place for miles around where you really feel you’re in the country (shame about the M4 and plane noises off). It is subject to fly-tipping, some on the road where it’s clearly Hounslow Highways job to fix it, but much on the fringes of private land where HH’s remit doesn’t really run. However it still looks a shocking mess in the public realm. We agree a way forward, seeking cooperation with adjoining landlords.

When I used to do God, I heard that cleanliness was next to Godliness. It seems I am out of date, as religious books featured on both sides of the road in this humungous flytip.

The afternoon is in the Civic entre, with a series of meetings about housing, potholes, Lampton 360 etc then down to Isleworth Public Hall for our Labour Party branch AGM. The Melvinator helpfully nominates me for a party role, and the packed hall hears a screech of NO – I really want to concentrate on my ‘job’ as a councillor rather than Labour party distractions. A probably excessive quantity of Neck Oil is taken on board in The Swan afterwards but Pegasus leads me home without mishap.

Thursday I’m in the Civic again, for the board meeting and AGM of FM360 – the bit of Lampton that maintains council homes etc. Everything seems well on track here both operationally and financially. After that, a cast of thousands – Housing Association, developers, planners, planning consultants, architects – run us through the plans for 1-4 Capital Interchange Way. This is the currently derelict site opposite the Citroen garage and the plan is to build 450 flats, a sizeable office development and a small amount of retail. This area is likely to be heavily developed what with this, the Brentford FC development, Citroen garage and (over the council’s dead body) Citroen garage redevelopment, Wheatstone house and perhaps Chiswick Curve coming over the horizon. We urge the 40% affordable housing to be truly affordable (ie minimise the shared ownership and maximise London Living Rent provision) and to emphasise larger units. Our biggest strain is on 3 bed and larger properties. The other huge issue we need to resolve in my opinion is transport. Local roads are already very busy which affects the bus service as well as cars, Gunnersbury station is overloaded and the idea of a Lionel Road station linking up to other services via an existing goods line still feels like it’s in the realms of fantasy.

Back to Brentford with The Melv for a meeting with Brentford Towers Residents Association, together with housing people and the developers. They are now busy with the works to repair the concrete and replace the windows etc. Clearly this creates some challenges but it feels like there is an excellent spirit of cooperation with the residents putting their issues across assertively and being properly listened to.

Then I’m back to the Civic to attend the Heston and Cranford Area Forum. A lot of the faces in the audience are becoming familiar to me...

Councillor Guy Lambert

September 14, 2018