Three Meetings In One Evening!

A week in the life of a local councillor as told by Sam Hearn

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

Friday 25th September: To Ramillies Road for the inaugural meeting of a new Chiswick group formed to campaign against the proposed third runway at Heathrow. John Stewart the Chairman of the HACAN group speaks eloquently and informatively. He appears to have a real grasp of the nuts and bolts of the politics involved. Several people were unhappy at Hounslow Council’s “limp wristed” stance on airport expansion particularly in comparison with that of neighbouring Borough’s.

Saturday 26th September: To Aylesbury for the annual meeting of the Bucks Local History Network. The event is held in the newish offices of Aylesbury Vale District Council. The combined conference centre and council chamber of AVDC puts Hounslow’s plans for the council chamber in its new civic centre to shame.

Sunday 27th September: Into darkest Oxfordshire for a meeting of the trustees of a small educational charity. I finish annotating the papers for the following day’s meetings. Trying to attend three meetings in one evening is a bit daft even for me.

Monday 28th September: I make a “ghost” appearance at a Governors’ meeting of Strand on the Green Junior School. Hard to walk out when important matters are being discussed. I arrived late for the Housing and Environment Scrutiny Committee. Heavy duty discussions about the need for a task and finish scrutiny group to delve into the intricacies of domestic violence and how effective and joined up all our support services are. The Lead Member, Cllr Mann, delivers a presentation on the Borough’s new waste management strategy. We have to do something radical. Our recycling performance has scarcely improved since my Party left office four and a half years ago. As the meeting ends I trot briskly to the room where the Pension Fund Investment Committee has been meeting - but they have all gone home.

Tuesday 29th September: The Pension Investment Fund Committee was more interesting than expected and there are a few emails flying around. Knot weed and street trees blocking out floodlights appear on my agenda again. I must get to the bottom of this.

Wednesday 30th September: Time well spent running through some old emails on my I-Pad to see if any progress has been made in answering residents’ queries. Two steps forward and one back. Still no comprehensive answer to what happened to the penalty fines imposed on people parking in the Chiswick House Car Park. Does the Council now have an agreement with Chiswick House Trust?

Thursday 1st October: An early start for a breakfast meeting in Central London to discuss the setting up of a procurement consortium. I haven’t had kippers for years. I continue discussing the issues arising from the Hounslow Employee’s Pension Fund Investment panel by phone and email with Councillor Todd and Pension Board member Neil Mason. I make a quick dash to Teddington for the re-adoption meeting of our GLA Member, Tony Arbour. He is elected unopposed. I have another early start tomorrow.

October 3, 2015