I'm Only Convinced When There are Spades in the Ground

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert reports back

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert

November 15, 2024

It’s getting tricky writing blogs round here. I think my duty is to do my best to deal with concerns in the town and if this sometimes implies criticism of the council it may conflict with some other principles I have signed up to, allegedly.

I think I said two things which upset some people last week (and excited the Brentford version of the Daily Mail On Line). I am delighted that we now may have progress with both the redevelopment of the Police Station, Watermans and Fountain sites, but I have been living with these for at least 9 years in various ways and I will not be convinced it is real until there is a named set of partners and spades in the ground, as the cliché goes.

In some ways we are less advanced thane we were many years ago, because we did then have named developers and named Housing Associations in the frame. Sadly, for various reasons none of them progressed. Of course, before this summer we were in a different environment with a serially incompetent right wing government whose priorities were leaving the EU and rewarding their wealthy sponsors, many in the real estate trade. But it will take a while for development to be back on an even keel. Salman is a very talented leisure lead member and I have confidence if anyone can bring these matters to a happy conclusion, Salman is top of my list.

The other thing that I mentioned is that we apparently have tenants for all the shops in the new council block on the High Street. I am not allowed to know, because of what I am told is confidentiality, the identities of the shops with whom the council are negotiating. By contrast, I am aware of most of the ones being negotiated by Ballymore in their end of the development. There are one or two tenants with whom I have been in contact for several months, who have been allocated units but have no information about when they can complete a lease and get going at setting up their businesses. I do not shy away from saying that Brentford needs this resolved urgently. Chasing by potential tenants seems to bring no useful response.

Back to last week and my activities. Friday was a day off and a trip up to the NEC for the Classic Restoration show. This probably reflects being old but being stung for £40 for an entry ticket and then £20 for parking there rather gobsmacked me. I will use my private helicopter next time. Good inside though, with lots of nostalgia for cars of my yoof – Minivan, Anglia, Escort, Viva and the ones I dreamed of like Jensens and Gordon Keebles and of course Bugattis. Apparently the first outing for the Type 35 – the most iconic Bugatti – was at Prescott Hill Climb and there were no less than 7 of them at the show. Apparently they normally sell for about $2.2 M so I hope the insurance was up to scratch. The picture of the Bug was taken by Alan Cox, my bestie from school days who went on to be a prominent motor sport photographer, especially of old ones. Cars I mean.

I am a little enamoured of those American cars that we as kids used to describe as ‘half a mile of motor car’. I like this Cadillac, though what it had to do with Wales is a puzzle.

On Saturday I decided it was time to cross something off my bucket list, so I took my bike on a trip on the Overground from Acton Central to Stratford to take a look at the Olympic Park, which I had never seen. Well, I had, I even had a business there but that was before it all got bulldozed. Stratford was also where I was at Polytechnic polishing my business skills and I thought I might take a ride around to revisit my alma mater. But it turned out the golden glades of the former cigarette factory have been demolished (not before time!) and seems now to be a lorry park. This was fun, but I was amazed how busy the train was, until it dawned on me that West Ham were at home that day.

It is an amazing transformation and I couldn’t really recognise any of Stratford but once the Hammers went in the stadium it was quite peaceful. Poked my nose into the aquatic centre (left in the picture) but I hadn’t brought my cozzy and in any case it was reserved for the swimathon. I used to do that regularly in Chiswick ‘new’ pool. The swimming pool is smart and probably a bit more impressive than whatever replaces the Fountain.

On Sunday it was the Remembrance Service at the library. The usual good turnout and The Melvinator singing the first verse of the National Anthem. He is a lovely singer and remembered to Save the King rather than The Queen, which was impressive. I have suggested he trains Keir Starmer on the identity of the Prime Minister. Then we were down to the Digital Dock for our surgery, which frankly was a bit boring. We get very little traffic and much as I love my fellow councillors in Brentford chatting to them for 2 hours is a bit unnecessary. I suggested we cut it to 1 hour and Emma and I have started a Saturday surgery at the Library. But that is also very quiet and my sense is that now the telephone is well-established as a way of communicating (when I was a kid we had a party line, and we could only call anyone by asking the operator to connect it having first eavesdropped for a bit if the party line had anything interesting or salacious going on) and we have some new-fangled things like telexes and emails. To be honest, I no longer own a telex machine so don’t try.

I filled a bit of time at the Dock looking at pictures. I hadn’t realised they were doing life drawing classes in there. Don’t be alarmed if you spot something you didn’t expect.

On Monday I had a call to an interview with the Chief Whip. Somebody apparently complained that my blog last week was uncomradely. I am making no criticism of comrades, but I want the town fixed.

In the evening I had a session with my neighbours in Ferry Quays, where we have new directors who are looking to improve the management of the estate. Welcome, and they are making some progress.

After that, it has been a quiet week. Of course some casework, some of it long-lasting and some new ones like concerns about activities in Makai, which seems to have become Ukrainian rather than Japanese. I had not heard of Varenyky until I perused their menu. Look them up – apparently potato and onion filled dumplings – sounds like health food to me with all those vegetables. A few locals are upset about noise late at night, which is a worry given a historical problem in that building under previous management – it has changed completely at least 3 times since I have lived nearby. Our enforcement team have been engaged to assess any problems and take action if needed.

Last week a mysterious orange boat appeared in the Brent. First spied beached at low tide on the Brentford Dock side. Initially I thought it had someone sleeping in it and I couldn’t work out he had got there (I didn’t suspect it was from Calais, but you never know) and it wasn’t clear he could get out of it. Later I saw it moving about and I decided he might be attached to the people who are redeveloping the Heidelberg site, though I don’t think that little boat will absorb much of the racket. By the way, those of us who live in Ferry Quays are a little bit worried, not only about the intermittent racket but also about the vibration that accompanies the racket. We are a little bit concerned that it will damage the structure of the place, just as I know some people from Brentford Dock are worried. The ironic thing is that Fairview also constructed the flats in Ferry Quays and some of us take the view there was room for them to have built it better than they seem to have done!

On Wednesday I made my umpteenth visit to Metro Bank in Hounslow trying to persuade them to let us open an account for a community society. I blame the parents. I have always been called Guy but my Birth certificate gives my name as Edwin Guy Lambert, after my father, Ted. Banks take that as evidence that I’m a terrorist. Perhaps they are correct (I never like to upset bankers). If you have a lovely bouncing baby don’t confuse people by calling them by their first name!

Well, there’s my week. Here’s a thought that someone sent to me. I think she was thinking of the White House but it would have been perfectly apt for 10 Downing Street several Prime Ministers ago.

Councillor Guy Lambert