Basketball, Climate Change and Saving Trees
Chiswick Homefields Councillor Jack Emsley reports back on his week
Cllr Jack Emsley at this week's local Chiswick surgery
It’s my turn again to report back on my week as your councillor for Chiswick Homefields. I originally thought this blog would be all about the planned borough council meeting on Tuesday, where us councillors were set to discuss Hounslow’s new Corporate Plan (and where I was set to make my maiden speech). Unfortunately, and a little ironically given what I was planning to talk about, the extreme weather had other ideas, but more on that later.
We’re incredibly fortunate in Chiswick to have so many amazing community groups, and last Friday I was lucky enough to be invited to visit the brilliant Chiswick Gators, a local basketball club based out of Chiswick School. The club has several teams, ranging from under 10s to under 18s, which bring in students from across the borough who share a passion for the sport – a special mention for the under 12s, who won the London Community Basketball League back in May! The club has been running since 2016 under its fantastic head coach Mike Kwentoh and has inspired hundreds of young people to play basketball.
But it’s also so much more than a successful sports club – the team are in the process of setting up a new charity, the Coach Ali Foundation, in memory of Ali Abucar Ali, a former player and coach at the club who was tragically killed last year. The foundation will aim to widen access to the sport to young people from all backgrounds, a continuation of Ali’s legacy as a much-loved coach at the club. Chiswick Gators will be hosting a free basketball tournament in Ali’s memory on Sunday 31st July – I’m looking forward to attending what will be a great celebration of both basketball in our borough and Ali’s incredible contribution to the community.
Playing a game of spot the councillor
On Saturday I held our weekly councillor surgery at Chiswick Library, which was much busier than usual with a mixture of different issues (some thankfully straightforward to solve, some more complex). One recurring issue which has come up at each of my surgeries since being elected is the ongoing saga of Hounslow Labour’s traffic schemes in South Chiswick. One of our key pledges during the election was to secure a review of these schemes and reform them where they’re not working – what I can say is that, following constructive meetings with council officers and the lead member for transport, there’s now a recognition from the council that things do need to change, and a willingness to work together to make those changes where needed. Watch this space…
So, onto Monday and Tuesday where we broke an unwanted record here in West London – the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK. Following discussions with council officers and both councillor groups, a decision was made to postpone the borough council meeting set to be held on Tuesday due to the red heat warning. Ironically, I had been planning to speak about the council’s corporate plan and the importance of doing more to tackle the climate emergency – whilst there are good parts to the council’s environmental plan, it needs to go much further.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing in Labour’s corporate plan on improving air quality monitoring (why are we one of the only London Boroughs not part of the London Air Quality Network, for example…), and very little substance when it comes to mitigating and defending against the increased risk of flooding brought about by climate change. Chiswick Homefields residents will remember the infamous case of 17 Hartington Road, where council officers recommend approving a development on land at high risk of flooding. This development, had it not been challenged by local residents and blocked by local councillors, would have put the entire neighbourhood at risk of flooding, not to mention cause significant destruction of local biodiversity – there needs to be a commitment to changing the council’s approach to planning to prevent dangerous developments in flood risk areas, and I’ll be arguing for this at the rearranged meeting.
Less than 24 hours after the worst of the heatwave ended, I received several emails from residents in Swanscombe Road worried about the council’s decision to cut down two healthy and mature trees in the road due to the roots causing issues with the pavement. These trees provide much needed shade (trees can cool the surface temperature of roads down by as much as 12c) as well as a natural hub for nesting and biodiversity. Whilst I understand the importance of a level pavement, surely there’s a better way to achieve this than cutting down otherwise healthy trees? After a few emails back and forth with the officer in charge of environmental enforcement (and thanks to the tenacity of Swanscombe Road residents), the trees thankfully now have a stay of execution whilst officers look for alternative solutions. One such alternative is a pavement build out which, for the price of a single parking space, would create a level walkway whilst also preserving the trees – seems like a good deal to me…
Right, that’s my allotted word limit done – from basketball to climate change, it’s been another brilliant week representing Chiswick Homefields!
Cllr Jack Emsley
jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk
07977 396017
SURGERIES IN CHISWICK AND GUNNERSBURY
We are back to our usual routine of holding face-to-face surgeries in Chiswick and in Gunnersbury.
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the eight Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).
Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors take this surgery).
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Thursday, 14th July at 7pm: Planning committee
Tuesday, 19th July at 7pm: Borough Council
Tuesday, 1st September at 7pm: Overview and scrutiny committee
Tuesday, 13th September at 7pm: Chiswick Area Forum
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS
Chiswick Homefields ward
Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017
Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821
Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651
Chiswick Riverside ward
Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810
Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823
Chiswick Gunnersbury (was Turnham Green) ward
Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446
Cllr Ranjit Gill ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702956
Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887
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July 22, 2022