Devonshire Road Consultation, Policing and Chiswick's Gay Scene

Chiswick Gunnersbury Councillor Ranjit Gill reports back on his week

Cllr Ranjit Gill

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BLOG 31/07/2022 RANJIT GILL

It only seems like yesterday since I last wrote a blog. Eight weeks comes around so quickly just as the first seven months of this year have gone past in a flash. It seems long ago that we were campaigning in the local elections.

Devonshire Road – another consultation

On Monday, 25th July councillors from Chiswick Gunnersbury and Chiswick Homefields wards met with Cllr Katherine Dunne, deputy leader and cabinet member for transport, and Victoria Lawson, director of customer service, so they could explain the findings of the council’s latest consultation on Devonshire Road and gather the views of the councillors who represent the residents on and around Devonshire Road. Devonshire Road is split between two wards, the western side in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward and the eastern side in Chiswick Homefields ward.

We have all been informed by the new leader of the council, Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, that he wanted Hounslow to be a listening council. When I asked why residents of the Glebe Estate had not been consulted, I was told that residents of the Glebe Estate had access to their homes via other routes so were ignored. I persisted, saying that Devonshire Road is also one of the main routes to the Glebe Estate so residents should have been consulted. That didn’t go down too well. Cllr Dunne stated that the council had looked at this in the past and that we should leave it in the past. Yet the residents of the Glebe Estate matter and their voices should not be silenced. Is the council only interested in hearing the views of those it thinks will give them the result they require? If the council is serious about listening to its residents, as the new leader Cllr Shantanu Rajawat says, then the views of all those affected should be taken into account.

Anyway, I requested that the residents of the Glebe Estate should be consulted. Let’s see if this happens.

My fellow councillors also raised various points.

Cllr Joanna Biddolph asked what the purpose was of any restrictions. Brought in ostensibly to encourage social distancing, now that was not needed, what was the point? There wasn’t a convincing answer. She highlighted that the allocation of space for eating out was unfair, with none for Napoli on the Road on the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward side, or for Beehive and Casa Dino on the Chiswick Homefields side. Spaces for loading and disabled bays had been installed lazily, blocking parking in front of stretches of shops. She also reminded Cllr Dunne that the consultation conducted through the Chiswick Shops Task Force had been sent to relevant cabinet members and officers a year ago but appeared not to have been looked at. Cllr Dunne admitted that was the case. It’s amazing how relevant information can be ignored. Cllr Biddolph has now resent the consultation outcome and analysis to be looked at again; she reminded them that the overall outcome was for a compromise. She also made the point that if Devonshire Road traffic arrangements were being looked at positively, the road needed a makeover to attract shoppers and diners. She had published suggestions, also last year, [ https://www.chiswickgunnersburyconservatives.org.uk/news/devonshire-road-its-time-makeover-attract-shoppers ] and sent them to cabinet members and officers. Those, too, had been ignored. She was asked to send them again and has done so. She also sent the Labour-commissioned research that showed the high level of car-free existence there has long been in Chiswick and the high level of environmental awareness there is here, compared with the rest of the borough, emphasising that our local culture is already to walk or cycle.

Cllr Ron Mushiso wondered if this consultation was just another tick box exercise or whether it will take on board comments made by residents and businesses and the emphasis made by Chiswick councillors based on the representations they had received from residents and businesses. In short, would the voices of residents and businesses be listened to?

Cllr John Todd raised the question of several business in Chiswick Homefields ward. The dry cleaner Top Hat had been badly affected by the closure and lack of parking. Two cafes, as mentioned by Cllr Biddolph, had no outdoor dining space while others had two or three spaces. He emphasised that this stretch of road is primarily a shopping and dining road where parking is essential.

Cllr Jack Emsley, elected to Chiswick Homefields ward in May this year, asked questions about whether and how air quality monitoring and modal shift were being measured on the road surrounding Devonshire Road. This was against the backdrop of all councillors making the point that they had had representations from residents whose roads had been affected by displaced traffic and its consequent congestion and pollution.

Cllr Dunne and Victoria Lawson claimed that no decisions had been made though some of us were sceptical. We discussed broad suggestions notably seasonal closures, seasonal closures on only some days of the week, and suggested looking at comparative schemes such as in Northcote Road in Wandsworth. We also discussed closure times, with Cllr Dunne nodding when Cllr Biddolph said that closing the road at 5pm met no-one’s needs; it reflected office hours, not hours on a shopping street.

I urge residents and business owners to make their views known by emailing Cllr Dunne, deputy leader and cabinet member for transport (katherine.dunne@hounslow.gov.uk), Cllr Shivraj Grewal, cabinet member for community engagement and consultation (shivraj.grewal@hounslow.gov.uk) and director of customer service Victoria Lawson (victoria.lawson@hounslow.gov.uk).

Crime and policing: meeting the Chiswick Safer Neighbourhood Team

A couple of weeks ago, the three Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors (Jo, Ron and I) joined a meeting of the three Chiswick Gunnersbury ward Safer Neighbourhood Team and several residents, upstairs at the George IV pub. Our two PCs and one PCSO (police community support officer) updated us on local crime issues and led a discussion on priorities.

Car theft (of items in cars, not of cars being stolen) is currently the top crime in the ward; we were urged, as always, not to leave anything visible in cars. Following a crime report since that meeting, the guidance is also not to put items in the boot when you have parked and are leaving your car; do it before as you set off, to avoid flash break-ins.

There had been an arrest after a raid on a house where drug dealing was taking place, the direct result of intelligence passed on to Cllr Biddolph by a resident. If you know of anything illegal taking place, please report it; if you want to remain anonymous, tell one of your local councillors or use Crimestoppers.

We’ve been lucky in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward with a series of good PCs, supported by our enthusiastic and hard-working PCSO. The trouble with having good PCs is that they get promoted and leave – as is the case with new PC Viktoria Fairnie who is returning to Hendon Police College to prepare for a new role.

A constant refrain from all our three ward police teams is that working from the Acton police station is not working. The teams don’t yet have a car, or bicycles, so journeys are long whether on foot or bus and are longer anyway because of the addition of Popes Lane, The Pavement Popes Lane, and Lionel Road North plus Gunnersbury Park to the ward.

The three of us have been working since before the Chiswick police station closed to try to find a space for them all to work from. Ideas start strong but fail, largely because of objections from the Met. We are pursuing one, supported by our GLA member Nicholas Rogers (a former Met Police special constable), but its viability depends, again, on the Met.

Local councillors with the police team

A third public meeting with the Borough Commander

If you recall, I organised two very successful public meetings on crime and policing in Chiswick with the then borough commander. We were promised a third, but the pandemic intervened. I am currently working on that third meeting, with the current borough commander, so residents and business owners can discuss their crime and policing concerns. I hope it will be held in the autumn.

Borough council meeting cancelled

Due to the unprecedented hot weather on Tuesday, 19 July the first full borough council meeting of this new administration was cancelled. There is no sign of an alternative date. This has left us frustrated, with significant questions to ask, pinning down the council on crucial issues including a recent OFSTED report of the borough’s special educational needs (SEND) services which identified areas of significant weakness but which has been buried; the need to reform the way the planning committee and licensing panels work often leaving applicants and objectors angry and feeling unheard; and a high number of empty council homes waiting to be repaired denying many residents the chance to move out of overcrowded flats. You can see the full agenda here.

West London Queer Project (WLQP)

Local resident Aubrey Crawley has quietly but successfully revived Chiswick’s gay scene, setting up WLQP and organising many local events, from socials in the pub to comedy nights and cinema screenings and, this Saturday, 30 July, a summer sunset cruise on the Thames. I was lucky to book before it sold out. It should be a great trip.

Cllr Gill with Aubrey Crawley

Summer holiday

August is upon us and many of us will be on holiday. I am planning a trip to Malaysia to be with my sister and brother and their families. It will be great to be together again, after such a long time apart because of travel restrictions. Sadly, this will be my first visit without my partner Peter accompanying me.

Meanwhile, we have all had to cope with extreme heat and, last weekend, the effects of the fires with West London covered in smoke for hours from a fire at Cranford Park. I was driving to visit Peter at the care home as it was his birthday. It meant two visits: one in the morning when I took him a birthday cake; the other in the afternoon when the care home celebrates residents’ birthdays with a birthday cake. It makes a huge difference now that visits can take place when it suits us rather than having to book one of the limited slots. A Covid test is still required to enter the care home, as is wearing a mask indoors. Luckily with good weather visits are outdoors and maskless which makes meetings far more pleasurable for all.

Councillor Ranjit Gill

Chiswick Gunnersbury ward

ranjit.gill@hounslow.gov.uk

07976 702956

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

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

July 30, 2022