Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

Meets the two lipped Thames door snail at soon-to-be redeveloped Town Wharf

Well, the car made it to Kimbolton with only one warning light permanently on (and this one I have resolved to live with!) and I got back in time for the Isleworth and Brentford Area Forum. We have a new chair this year in the shape of the suave Salman Shaheen as Tony Louki has now taken on the elevated role of mayor and cannot bother himself with such trifles. It’s quite a lively meeting with lots of questions from the floor. I had nipped in to Boston Manor Park during the day – I’m doing so most days at present to monitor repairs to the grounds – and was able to give a bit of an update.

My personal ‘project’ is to get step free access along the Thames path between Strand-on-the-Green and the heart of Brentford and I had a lively exchange with a resident about this. Trouble is, progress is dependant on opening up a Kew Bridge arch – which needs TfL to eschew the rental income – and a new answer for Smith Hill, which probably depends on the Watermans/Max Factor development going ahead and that has now been called in by the Secretary of state. We could have 3 new “Prime Ministers” (inverted commas in view of current candidates) and 107 new SoSs before that one is concluded.

On Friday I get a phone call from a director of Hyundai, who brings depressing tidings. They have bought the freehold of the Baltic Centre and Baltic Avenue from the previous obscure owners and I had thought that meant they would get on with their plans for a big showroom and centre there. But with changes in the way the world works, with car sales like so much else going online, they have changed their minds and will now be looking to sell the site on. Very disappointing. I suppose we can take small solace that it looks a bit more respectable now and they have so far been much more responsive as a landlord, but it can only delay redevelopment of this important site which has been blighted for too long.

Also on Friday I wend my way to Town Wharf, hidden away in the heart of Brentford. I have arranged to meet Amelia, the defender and champion of the two lipped Thames door snail. Apparently they are in serious danger of becoming extinct, partly due to habitat loss but mainly for reasons nobody understands: they were well established on Isleworth Ait but now seem to have disappeared from there. There may be more about than we think, but they are not exactly easy to spot, as you could easily mistake them for, say, a seed.

Amelia with a snail habitat (BBC Springwatch)

Anyway, Amelia is breeding them in captivity in large glass bowls and enthusiastically points out babies – yes, I can just about see something under a magnifying glass – teenagers (they have only one lip) and grown-ups, like most of the ones in the picture – bet you can’t spot the teeny.

Maybe a local school would like to help with saving this little darling, or we can get someone to establish them on Lots Ait – at the moment there is little evidence of them anywhere, except, obviously, where Amelia lurks.

two lipped Thames door snail (BBC Springwatch)

I do a bit of chivvying to ensure the refurbished St Paul’s Rec playground is reopened for the weekend. The Friends, and one local mum in particular (she knows who she is!) have worked so hard to get this done. I forgot to look over the weekend but it was certainly humming at school exit time on Monday.

A nice weekend for cycling and generally chilling. Talking of park amusement, as I pass through Gunnersbury Park I’m delighted to see some boats on the pond once more. I remember them from 30 plus years ago and lovely to see the fun being had by one and all.

On Monday I had a meeting to do with Walnut Tree Road in Heston. This is a residential road blighted by having a busy builders merchant yard at the end of it meaning lots of heavy wagons, noise, mess, pollution and a generally debilitating environment. So I go to Walnut Tree Road for the pre-meeting and after a bit I observe that the meeting seems to involve only me talking to myself (to be fair, this is a lot better than many meetings I attend) and perhaps I should check. When I arrive at Hounslow House, somewhat hot but not that bothered, the meeting is in full flow, with traffic officers, coppers, ward councillors, Highwaymen (from Hounslow Highways :-)) residents etc. This problem does not really have an answer – it’s an established business that has been there for decades and all we can do is try to persuade them via carrots and sticks to act in a more neighbourly manner, plus improve various aspects of services to the road to mitigate the impact.

Then it’s back to Gunnersbury for the last of the pre-Lovebox consultations. I miss the councillors-only bit and most of the first public session but the Melvinator has been covering and I catch the second session. This latter attracts only one member of the public, and he is a Masters student who I think is writing a paper on it as part of his studies. I have two major concerns – that decent marshal etc cover is provided for those who choose to depart via Gunnersbury, Kew Bridge stations, local buses etc (time will tell) and disturbance for residents caused by taxis coming through the park. We’ll see how that plays out – I did my best!

Meanwhile, Lovebox have sponsored a training programme for local people who’d like to get qualified to ride a cargo bike – definitely the coming thing as these are already appearing. Perhaps I should apply – I could certainly use a City & Guilds in bike maintenance.

On Tuesday I have a brief meeting with the Director of Finance about arrangements for the property arm of Lampton360. The investment arm in particular looks like having a good story: they buy existing properties – almost all of them former Hounslow council properties – update them and then let them out for a truly affordable rent to people on the housing list. Trouble is there’s a bit of up front cost – stamp duty, refurbishment cost etc – and it takes a while before each property shows a surplus so we agree to slow the rate of acquisition to bring forward the time when this business will show a profit.

In the evening a lengthy meeting of the cabinet and senior officers, preparing for the formal cabinet meeting which takes place in a couple of weeks. The cabinet agenda isn’t published yet so I think I have to keep mum about it. Anyway, nothing really ground-breaking, but steady progress on a lot of things.

I had written to the lead member of Rotherham Borough Council as I wanted some tips about the ‘River of Flowers’ they have introduced there. I drove through there a few years ago and was moved to write to them to say how great I thought it was. It’s something I’ve wanted to explore for a bit and it’s coming up in our workshops with the public, so it was great to get a response and a view that it’s workable and can actually save money. Here’s hoping in a year or two we can have some rivers of flowers in Hounslow.

Rotherham's "River of Flowers" (photo Rotherham Advertiser)

Wednesday morning I took to the river of tarmac from Brentford to Hounslow House to have our formal quarterly meeting with the Hounslow Highways senior management. The roads and footpaths etc maintenance programme continues to go OK and we are on top of the ‘Pothole Pledge’ (press release very soon [Oh joy, Ed]) but we still are not satisfied with the cleanliness of our streets. It’s easy to blame all this on Hounslow Highways, and they take their share, but the issue is wider than just Highways and there is a big focus on improving the system in its entirety. We are making good progress with this across the piece, and Highways are happy to play their part. But we are not losing sight of the fact we don’t think they have adequate resources deployed and we are not shy about telling them this. They say they are improving this but time will tell!

Then I have my regular catch up with the MD of Lampton360. We discuss the 4 elements of his business – Waste and Recycling, which I think is generally OK but plenty of room for improvement; Greenspace, not in my portfolio but seems to me things have improved significantly since the demise of Carillion (and we have banked a big saving); Development, which is difficult and slower than we would like but which has been repositioned; and investment which I mentioned earlier. I’m also pressing Lampton to develop a bit quicker as an external business: this is the main reason it was set up and the businesses are now stable enough to be getting on with this as a priority. He’s off for a few days in France where he says he plans to cycle for 2-3 hours each day, which will be a challenge if it’s really 45 degrees!

Then back to Brentford for a Trustees meeting for the FoodBox. A couple of new trustees adding energy and, as every time we meet, we marvel at the support we get from local businesses and people, and most of all at our wonderful volunteers who do all the work with minimal input – local heroes and heroines for sure.

Thursday morning it's parks day. I haven’t been to Boston Manor for a couple of days so I want to see how repairs are progressing. Not much has happened since I last looked but new grass is beginning to grow. I’ll carry on monitoring this.

Then to Gunnersbury for a meeting under the oak tree by the lake. No Oak Processionary men on this occasion, but Andrew Smith, the co-author of this book. Destination London. Somebody had pointed me to an ITN clip he did and I thought it would be interesting to get his perspective. The topic is controversial because there is little legislative restriction (beyond planning law) and various things are in play. First, there is disruption to local people: this is inevitable if large scale events are allowed. Second, there is impact on the fabric of the park (see Boston Manor). Third, a pressure to generate some income to offset the considerable costs of running parks. People are often suspicious that revenue is spun off to pay for other things but this doesn’t happen in Hounslow (and least of all in Gunnersbury, given it is run by an independent Community Interest Company). People are also concerned that use for events will become excessive, effectively denying the space to local people. There is no legal limit on this (there used to be, apparently, abolished by Ted Heath’s government in 1972) but I don’t see it happening in Hounslow. Finally, there is also a desire to get parks more widely used, especially by younger people. There’s no doubt events help that, though obviously paying audiences can come from far afield. I was really heartened by the turnout for the family day at Junction 2 I don’t have precise numbers but certainly 2 or 3 thousand and I wouldn’t mind betting some of those were first time visitors and many will be back again.

Anyway, we had a good discussion. Personally I think these events are OK but we need to limit their number, limit their impact on the parks both in size and duration, and have them impeccably managed, especially outside the arena.

Hounslow Cycling tonight, assuming they haven’t moved the venue again to throw me off the scent.

Cllr Guy Lambert

June 28, 2019