Playground Politics, Absentee Councillors and Chiswick Tower

Chiswick Gunnersbury councillor Joanna Biddolph reports back

Cllr Joanna Biddolph addresses a council meeting

December 11, 2024

There is always a moment before writing this blog when I think I have nothing to tell you about. While doing something absorbing but unrelated to council work (this time, it was dicing onions and stirring spices into olive oil) ideas flood into my mind and the list seems too long. Let’s see …

In the council chamber

Every councillor has different reasons for standing for election. At the bottom of my list was standing up in the chamber speaking. It’s a set piece event five times a year when the full borough council meets with rules about how and how often councillors can contribute (at other committees, speaking is less formal and much less restricted). There is far too much game-playing – filibustering vies for attention against moving to a vote to stop the debate – which some of us find childish and not what we are there for. It’s the politics of the playground, in my view.

On the agenda of the November borough council, Cllr Gabriella Giles (Chiswick Riverside ward) seconded a motion I had proposed about the effect of Labour’s budget on the borough’s small businesses and charities including, of course, our own retail, hospitality and service businesses. I quoted one owner of a small café, and explained the impact on another business owner, with immediate calls from the Labour leader to name them – breaking procedural rules about interruptions, asking me to breach confidentiality, and implying I was making it up.

Some residents mock the Chiswick Shops Task Force that I set up shortly after being elected in 2018 but building strong relationship with local traders – independents and chains – means business owners feel they have a voice and provide us with essential facts. I don’t need to ask detailed focused questions. A “hello, how are things?”, an email about something entirely different, or simply walking in to buy, elicits information about the state of trade and fears for the future. The fact that Labour hasn’t worked this out yet is astonishing. Arguably (or not) listening is not the Labour council’s strength.

One café owner told me that his post-budget costs, including increased National Insurance commitments, would increase by £12,000 a year jeopardising his business, before adding increases in utility costs, the ingredients he needs to put coffee in cups and brunches on plates, and others such as cleaning that so many of us ignore but that determine profit and loss. As Gabriella said, we spent a lot of time crafting our motion, fact-finding, writing our speeches and anticipating ripostes – not, as Labour accused us of while doing it themselves: pulling them out of a playbook without even adapting them to our borough, towns or wards. I’m not making that up, either. At the September borough council, a Labour motion on defending democracy, about tackling abuse and harassment of councillors, was plucked from the Local Government Association’s Lib Dem group’s bank. Its lack of adaptation to our area, left Labour looking embarrassed. If you haven’t yet done so, do read Gabriella’s summary of the November borough council meeting.

Attending formal meetings is a crucial part of showing commitment to the councillor role; it is recorded in our attendance record. There were rather more apologies In November than usual and one notable absentee has led to more red faces in the Labour group. Councillor for Syon & Brentford Lock Balraj Sarai’s absenteeism record is notable; he hasn’t been seen for so long it’s hard to remember what he looks like. The rule is that if you are absent for six months, you forfeit your seat creating a vacancy. With no formal meetings in the diary until after his six months have elapsed, Labour needs to respond. The council can call an EGM to debate whether the six-month rule should be waived to avoid a by-election but it would be humiliating. If you haven’t discovered the uniqueness of the Brentford Today & TV Facebook page, do have a look. It often tests Labour’s conscience and has been leading on Cllr Sarai’s lack of attendance.

That’s about absenteeism. Many other Labour councillors are clearly indulging in a form of presenteeism: attending but not engaged, silent except for brief moments when they are obliged to rah rah rah the Labour leader or cabinet member, momentarily becoming animated with self-congratulatory clapping, or mocking us. It’s yet more politics of the playground, highlighting the value for money aspect of an inactive councillor claiming the councillors’ allowance.

Chiswick Tower development and Gunnersbury station improvements

Currently still the tallest building in Chiswick – it rises 19 storeys above Gunnersbury station – residents have understandably been nervous about its next incarnation. With changes to the way we work post-pandemic, traditional office space is less in demand. The main occupant, BSI, is to relocate to central London; around a third of the space remains vacant; its time has passed. A revamp is inevitable. Many are glad that the current proposition is to reconfigure it, not knock it down and start again, reducing the potential carbon impact of a rebuild.

I’ve been consistently critical of planning applications that create ghettoes, dividing residents from each other rather than building mixed communities. We are being asked to believe the applicant’s claim that the main tower can’t be reconfigured to provide a range of homes. Instead it will be transformed into co-living studios for rent. A new annex, on its eastern side, will be exclusively affordable homes including family homes (for which there is a huge need, to release families from chronic overcrowding that damages mental health, thwarts ambition, kills hope).

The online sessions were extremely frustrating. Billed as consultations, residents had to submit questions in writing then listen to a shortened version, all local nuance and often the main point removed, followed by stock, limited, glib answers that left attendees screaming (silently) for gaps to be filled. There was a lot of developer’s jargon, which sounded more like flim-flam, so going to the in-person event was a must. As I left, I saw a familiar face – a political friend from decades ago. The so-called consultations were his brainchild and his alone. Well, they obviously met the client’s needs (largely tokenism) but I’d have argued for better. I gave him a full debrief. If the application goes to the planning committee (which, as a major application, it should), I will of course declare the unexpected connection though it’s clear there is no meeting of minds to imply I’ve been influenced.

The principal concern of many locals is parking. With the addition of 394 co-living flats and 23 affordable homes, what would that mean for the nearby already full CPZs? I’m always surprised to find that the full extent of the council’s anti-car ideology hasn’t permeated every corner of the borough. With the exception of four Blue Badge spaces and one car club space, the development will be car-free. But won’t residents ultimately want to park somewhere, residents ask? They might but they won’t be able to and I can confirm that there are many Chiswick Gunnersbury ward residents who have tried to break through the ban but found they couldn’t because their flat is in a car-free development. No argument is strong enough to change those terms.

As for Gunnersbury station, the proposals are for the tower to be redeveloped first, leaving the two other plots – one on each side of the railway lines to the south – until later, specifically so that TfL can draw up plans to improve access to and accessibility around the station. All we can do is hope that the necessary funding (it will require £millions) will emerge.

This year, next year, sometime … never?

Councillors walk round their ward with eyes open all the time. I’ve written before of the relief we feel when we step over the boundary into another ward thinking “not my problem”. The exception – in terms of levels of fury – is litter which is terrible, as known by anyone who lives on a road other than those that our hard-working street sweepers tackle on their daily routes. It has been particularly bad in the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate – an out of the way conservation area of 1927 mock-Tudor houses opposite Gunnersbury Park – where waste and recycling put out before the weekly collection is spread by wind and vermin before and after the bins and boxes are emptied.

In May 2022, the then new and now current council leader announced a borough-wide post-collection litter-pick. I followed up asking for an implementation date and was told it would be introduced the next year – 2023. That didn’t happen and my next follow up revealed it would be collected in due course. After being told, after my next question, that it would be introduced this November, and as the deadline approached, on 24th November I asked again. No reply yet … This year, next year, sometime … never?

The time is now! Christmas scavenger hunt ends at 5pm on Friday, 13th December

What a pleasure it was bumping into a family of three, the youngest clutching a scavenger hunt competition form and very keen to say what she had found (eight so far, all of them right). If you know anyone aged five to 11, do encourage them to take part in what the residents who have organised it hope will become an annual Christmas tradition. Children are invited to look for unexpected items in the windows of various shops. Shops have enjoyed deciding what to display and how hidden or obvious it should be, as much as those looking for them are enjoying the hunt. The competition sheet lists the shops taking part but not what to look for. As a parent said, the prizes are very generous – the top 10 prizes are valued at between £110 and £50 each. Pick up a competition form from Chiswick Lighting, 30 Devonshire Road (it’s closed on Sunday) or download it here. Return it there by 5pm on Friday, 13th December. The winners will be notified by text the next day.

Please do your Christmas shopping along the way. Recovery from the pandemic has been slowest in London and Chiswick traders feel it. The Chancellor’s budget has made almost every independent trader’s future uncertain. If you can, please shop local and support Chiswick’s bricks and mortar businesses.

Free parking

Back to borough council. Cllr Gabriella Giles and I both spoke about the need for free parking to be just that … free. Residents have reported to councillors that it isn’t. Gabriella tested it and found it costs 15p. It really isn’t clear but the 15p charge is levied if drivers want to be alerted by text when their parking period is about to run out. This fee can be refused but not many know that – or how to do it. As Gabriella said, it should be explained better. Why is it so difficult to get to the facts? Oh, yes … £££

Chiswick Area Forum

It’s this Wednesday, 11th December. Chiswick Gunnersbury ward Cllr Ron Mushiso is in the chair and has set the agenda which includes a report on safety and crime from our police team. Chiswick Town Hall. Refreshments, stalls about council services, raise concerns with your local councillors, and a chance to mingle from 6.30pm. The formal meeting starts at 7.30pm. I hope to see you there!

Cllr Joanna Biddolph

joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk

07976 703446

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES

Wednesday, 11 December: Chiswick Area Forum

Tuesday, 17 December: Cabinet

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES

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 takes this surgery). 

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS

Chiswick Gunnersbury 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

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 Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823

Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810  

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