Blue Badge Fraud, Drainage on Windmill Road and Local Rowing

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert reports back

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert

February 28, 2025

I won't bore you with old cars again this week, but I went on Friday to something called Race Retro. Surprisingly, old racing cars.

Sorry, can't resist this. Donald Campbell was a sort of hero in my youth although my father always said he wasn't a patch on his dad Sir Malcolm Campbell. He was spectacularly killed on Coniston water in an era when I was at school a few miles away, though this was the Christmas holidays I suppose.

And was this the ugliest Porsche ever built? Don't remember them ever racing but it seems they did. Prefer the pale blue Jowett from Bradford in the background

This show was at the National Agricultural Centre in Stoneleigh near Coventry. I've been to this a few times and always a bit of a hike across fields but now is a bit of a nightmare because the works for HS2 go across its fields. I'm not sure whether there is going to be a station there but it is in the middle of nowhere so probably meets the specification.

On Saturday I decided to follow a bit of my Ian Nairn obsession. Not in a Morris Minor Convertible but on my trusty bike and later on my dodgy feet. I decided to go to Hammersmith where once Honeywell had a training centre, and follow my internal compass North East from there on foot. I didn't get very far but found some rather splendid Victorian villas as well as dozens of Teslas, now more commonly known as Swastikars in deference to Elon Musk. Sales are plummeting in Europe (UK lagging I'm afraid) by around 50%. We probably don't need tariffs. None of these excrescences in the picture.

On Monday I did a bit of work about alleged (well, more than that) misuse of Blue badges related to people with disabilities. A recurring issue is of Blue Badges being stolen, with some people having had up to three instances of some lowlife breaking a window in their car and nicking the badge. People get a new badge (and a new window) at considerable inconvenience and expense, and a general frustration that makes even using this facility fraught.

I have wondered what happens to them (I imagine some other low life is a customer) and I see Blue badges being used in suspicious circumstances. Yes, I know not all disabilities are visible but what I see doesn't always add up. A particular new problem has emerged in the ward where it seems this has become a habit for people with no right to park in a particular CPZ area to use Blue badges, often from different places.

This week I have seen blue badges on streets and car parks issued in Reading, Wokingham, Kensington, Southwark and Richmond. No doubt some of these are perfectly valid but I don't think Enforcement Officers are equipped to deal with this. We are getting there, I hope, but a time-wasting exercise and as I have pointed out, may be evidence of the original crime of theft, more serious than a bit of parking fraud.

Plus some work on the infamous junction between Windmill Road and the A4. There are a lot of issues there but my focus is the messed up pavement on the NW side of the junction, which has been completely messed up by what as far as I can see is a completely irresponsible developer. I am harassing the planning and traffic people to get this fixed.

The junction is busy with people using Windmill north to south (including E2 buses) and people heading east on the A4 turning towards Ealing avoiding the awful Ealing Road junction. This week we had the not uncommonly present added bonus of floods, because this is one of the places where there are drainage problems caused by overloaded drains and too much concrete in gardens etc meaning all the rain ends up in inadequate drains. As I watched, I even have a video �� of people on the narrow pavement having an impromptu shower. One bloke was shouting blue murder at a driver, but in truth there is little a driver can do. Especially a big bus on a narrow road.

Later in the week, among other things, I began to research rowing facilities. All we have in Brentford is a small business and charity on a precarious lease on what rowers tell me is the perfect site for rowing. The club there has been trying to get support from the council and elsewhere to secure its future. It matters enormously for at least two reasons: Brentford really needs to reconnect with the river and for those lucky enough to live by it, like me, it is a joy to see people enjoying rowing in the twilight and freezing weather as well as the balmier summer; the new enterprise in Brentford has engaged with a lot of local 'ordinary' schools and they have introduced hundreds of state school pupils to rowing. I'm told they actually won a medal at Henley last year. They were the only state school based teams, competing against mainly public schools.

I have been trying to interest the Leader of the council, cabinet members and council officers to provide support to this excellent enterprise, but have not really been successful thus far, beyond encouraging words. There are at least 6 private boat houses hosting rowing in Chiswick, where the river is not as suitable (I'm told) as Brentford. There are zero in Brentford and I think none in Isleworth either. I will be returning to this matter, because we really need this to change.

On Tuesday we had the budget setting meeting of the council. I actually dislike these meetings and it's a relief not to be closely involved. There is always posturing by the opposition Conservatives who complain about the budget without having any value to add to the debate. The Labour members riposte and none of this generally shines any real light on anything.

On Wednesday I had a bit of an update with the manager of the development at Ballymore. I'm interested in the progress with commercial lettings - they are coming, slowly - and the demise of our bookshop - he says he did everything he could to retain them but the finances could not be made to work. He bemoans the lack of activity in the council owned block and like me looks forward to this being occupied and the added liveliness this will bring.

That's enough for this week, partly because I'm late writing it, but here's a visual update on my neighbour site, Heidelberg as was. Going ahead fast now!

Councillor Guy Lambert