Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

How you can help the borough deal with banana skins

On Friday morning it was the formal board meeting of the West London Waste Authority. The timings were a bit askew so I was late joining: the meeting started with the audit committee and as a former accountant I am determined to stay on the wagon. Accountaholics Anonymous advise strongly against any involvement with audits, however it seems this was very short and sweet so the main board meeting started early.

The meeting was mainly about the budget for 2021/2. Most of the budget is for disposal of ‘residual waste’ ie anything that doesn’t get recycled. We get charged by the tonne for whatever we dispose of. It has been a particular challenge during the pandemic with waste volumes greatly increased as a result of so many people working from home or staying home on furlough (or, sadly, newly jobless). Of course we remain in a period of great uncertainty, not knowing how long lockdown will last, nor how many people will still be at home as we wind (I hope) out of it. We are budgeting for nearly 70,000 tonnes of residual waste next year. Quite a lot of this will be food waste so spare a thought for the budget and council tax bill every time you put a banana skin in the general waste: apart from the ecological damage you are costing an extra £95 per tonne, though to be fair it takes quite a few banana skins to make a tonne.

Later I have a zoom meeting with Ruth Cadbury and directors from A2Dominion – a housing association – about matters to do with recladding. This is a complicated subject, with A2D saying they were quick to remove any of the ACM cladding (as used in Grenfell Tower) from their estate, but there are other forms of cladding that are now viewed as a fire risk, plus issues with compartmentalising of flats within blocks, which have not always been built in line with specification (you’ll be amazed to hear).

There are many more complications: blocks are occupied by tenants, 100% leaseholders and leaseholders with shared ownership; they are owned by freeholders but often let to another body on a long or short lease; there is no clarity about who is responsible for the costs of rectification – the builders, the NHBC, head leaseholders, leaseholders. There is a government fund to address this but that’s £1Bn and the problem is between £10Bn and £13Bn. A2D have agreed a partial settlement with the builders and are pursuing other avenues but leaseholders are potentially on the hook for an average of £15000, which on top of anything else means the flats are unsaleable, and in some cases (not apparently with A2D) leases forbid subletting, so people are effectively prisoners. Other Housing Associations have taken a different approach so all in all it’s a mess and you might think the government would take some responsibility. You might think that, but I’d suggest you think again with this lot.

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas… well it came on Sunday but in a lockdown who’s arguing about a date. Ferry Quays looked lovely for a couple of hours before it turned to sleet but it was great to see kids out in the snow throwing snowballs at their parents, giggling and squawking, and the children weren’t much quieter.

Monday was meeting free during the day so it was a day of emails etc, 30 out, not sure how many in! Just a Labour group meeting in the evening.

On Tuesday my regular catch up with the chair of Lampton. Services are holding up under the strain of COVID, though we have some crews self-isolating which means we have a few agency staff, who with the best will in the world don’t have the local knowledge to give the good service we expect. I get the odd complaint, but our service levels are holding up very well while some other boroughs are suspending services. Of course, all this adds to cost pressures.

In the afternoon I had signed up for the ‘Identity Workstream’. This is about the council’s role as a corporate parent for children in care, something that has rather passed me by so far in my time as a councillor. We had been invited to attend some sessions to show support for our young people and understand some of the issues of those in foster care or children’s homes, and how they cope with life’s transitions. This was a strong learning experience for me. The young people in attendance were impressive and gave a real sense of their issues. One of the things that struck home to me was the need to create a kind of memory scrapbook, because often these young people are pretty much alone in the world, with nobody else who can really remind them of their experiences. I’m lucky enough to have two big sisters and a lot of shared childhood experiences and being alone in the world must make life so much harder.

After that came our cabinet briefing, where we get our heads around the matters which will come up at Cabinet in a couple of weeks’ time.

On Wednesday morning I attended a webinar put on by Future of London. The world has changed in the last year and this is likely to change the way London works everywhere, but is likely to be a particular challenge for the city centre. Much shopping will now probably shift permanently online and many offices are suggesting workers only attend maybe one day a week. This is likely to mean big changes in many people’s lives and it is by no means clear what retailers, cafes and restaurants, theatres etc will have to do to adapt to a new reality.

I get an update on Brentford library. In case you hadn’t noticed or guessed, it’s closed at present but I’m happy to hear that works are continuing behind closed doors (and up scaffolding) There is now a lift installed and internal scaffolding so they can get properly at the roof lantern. That needs replacing and a new one will take a number of weeks to arrive and be installed, but it feels like we’re on the home straight.

In the evening we have our regular COVID briefing from our public health people and, this time, the NHS. Vaccinations are proceeding OK though there are still quite a few over-80’s awaiting their first dose and over 75’s are proceeding now with over 70s to follow by mid February. Youngsters like me will have to wait a little longer. Meanwhile there have been nearly 150 deaths in the borough in January and whilst the infection rates are creeping downwards they are still way too high for anybody to be happy. Be careful out there, or preferably in there.

Thursday has been quite packed, starting with a meeting about the proposed skatepark in Brentford – ideas are developing – then dipping in to the Residents Association Forum, which I try to attend when I can. I had to leave after 45 minutes to attend my monthly catch up with the Exec Director of environment and her assistant director. Although we’re in lockdown, the pause in the autumn let us complete our recruitment in various areas and we have some funding from external sources to carry on with our ‘cleaner borough’ programme which I hope will see serious impact over coming months. Our recycling rate continues to edge upwards and we’re getting ready to decide where we’ll spend the rest of the ‘Pothole Pledge’ funds this summer and autumn.

Straight from that into a session about problem Houses in Multiple Occupation where we have some serious issues at present with anti-social behaviour. We’re trying to find new ideas/powers to address these problems which can make life a nightmare both for people who live in the HMOs and their neighbours.

Then it’s finish the blog. I was hoping to attend the online link to the funeral of local resident and much-loved community champion Monica Robb, but I couldn’t get the livestream link to work. She was a lovely person whom I was privileged to help with a couple of things over recent years. As I remarked elsewhere, she was one of the nicest people I have met in Brentford, from a crowded field of nice people.

After that sad note, a bit of beauty to lift your spirits. No, not a selfie, not even a picture of The Melvinator, just a bit of evening mist on the Thames last night.

Cllr Guy Lambert

January 29, 2021