'Shanty Town' Streets In Chiswick As Unswept Leaves Pile Up

Councillors call for urgent action after local resident sustains injury in a fall

Chiswick councillors have criticised Hounslow Council's lack of leaf clearing on residential streets and have called for urgent action following reports of a local resident being injured by a fall. One local councillor described Chiswick as like " a shanty town" because of the unkempt state of the streets and pavements.

Councillor Patrick Barr said that a mum and her young son (in a pram) and daughter had been out walking on Thornton Avenue when the mum tripped and fell over the pram with her son , while crossing the road, injuring them both (her young son sustaining a head injury).

She wrote to Cllr Barr complaining that her daughter frequently trips over the uneven paving in Brackley Road.

Cllr Jo Biddolph said that she has been complaining about leaf fall on behalf of other residents in Chiswick for weeks; "I have not only submitted (on 4th November) but also chased a report to Hounslow Highways with photos of slippery sludge and a request for them to be removed from Elliott Road and Chardin Road. Despite the sweeping schedule, residents have been saying for months that these two roads have not been swept as they should have been - Elliott Road is a hotspot road but has been repeatedly missed.

"There is huge leaf build up between cars and the pavement and between the parked cars and the road as well as all over the road. There is nowhere along here to walk without fear of slipping and falling. This now needs special attention, with proper care taken to remove the build up and sludge throughout."

A resident emailed Cllr Joanna Biddolph saying: "We all know about Autumn leaf fall, but the road is in a terrible state, does he know about the lady who fell in November 2017 who is still walking with two sticks. How would he feel if it was his mother, by the way another woman slipped and fell, it is dangerous.”

Cllr Barr has written to Cllr Steve Curran saying, "the seriousness of the accident cannot be overlooked and I wanted to bring this to your attention as a matter of high importance for you to act on urgently."

He said the uneven pavement slabs (and excessive leaf coverage) on Elliott Road, Chardin Road, Hadley Gardens, Brackley Road, Thornton Avenue, Chiswick High Road were a cause for concern.

"It is Autumn, leaves are going to fall (excessively in some places) but quite simply, they are never swept on some of these roads. Leaf fall occurs, it rains, the leaves turn to sludge, more leaves fall covering the sludge making it a dangerous surface to walk on."

He has asked Cllr Curran to see that immediate action is taken. "Due to the severity of the issues raised, I urge you to have these two roads swept thoroughly and the uneven pavements to be fixed (on Brackley Road) to mitigate any further risk. Chiswick, quite honestly looks like a shanty town at times when roads (frequently) aren’t swept (the main CHR included). This is an all year around occurrence. Can I ask you to source a solution to the problems raised, both in the short and long term."

Victoria Lawson, Executive Director of Environment, Culture and Customer Services at Hounslow Council said: “As residents will have seen, we have had excessive leaves falling on Chiswick High Road, particularly alongside the Gunnersbury Close block, but I can confirm that a crew attended last week (week commencing 25 November) to clear the leaf fall.

“We have employed significant additional mechanical and labour resource to tackle the issue of leaf fall from mid-September to February and in addition to our established cleansing schedule we have also provided a clear programme of roads on our website indicating where additional cleansing will take place by one of our dedicated teams.

“I fully appreciate that Chiswick High Road may require repeat visits and so we will regularly inspect and if necessary undertake further additional cleans if the ward-based crews are not providing sufficient respite. If any resident feels an urgent visit is required due to its proximity to important areas such as train stations, then please do let us know and we will see if we can have a crew attend to alleviate the situation”.

Please check the website for more details:

December 4, 2019