A Week In The Life Of A Chiswick Councillor

Issues ranging from wheelie bins to nurses in Afghanistan

Cllr Sam Hearn, who represents the Riverside ward in Chiswick, is chairman of the Chiswick Area Forum. He has written this account of his life as a busy local councillor.

Saturday – 8th November: Reading ahead for meetings in the early part of the week. So much paper to read through, annotate and generally make sense of.

Sunday – 9 th November: Preparing for another delivery of leaflets. Thankfully help was at hand from Mike Denniss and Paul Lynch.

Monday – 10 th November: At Strand on the Green Junior School in the evening for a Governors’ meeting. A full agenda skillfully managed by Chair Lisa Hutchinson. The school has a great story to tell.

Tuesday – 11 th November: Chaired the Chiswick Area Forum. I brought forward and extended the time allowed for the public forum part of the agenda to allow proper discussion of the Wheelie Bin issue. The Leader of the Council attended to respond to residents’ complaints and questions. The meeting finished at 10.30 and not the planned 10.00pm. Unfortunately few members of the public were present for items later in the agenda such as the draft LBH budget for 2015/16.

Wednesday - 12 th November: Canvassing in the Ward again. At St Paul’s Vicarage later for a fascinating talk on the experiences of a nurse training local women in northern Afghanistan in 2002 just after the fall of the Taliban. We learnt a lot about mid-wifery. I was bowled over by the beautiful photographs illustrating an uplifting but at times harrowing narrative.

Thursday – 13 th November: Filing papers and reflecting on the Area Forum meeting.

Friday – 14 th November: Breakfast meeting with fellow Ward Councillors Paul Lynch and Felicity Barwood to discuss developments on a range of local issues.

November 14, 2014