Name-calling and Abuse of Authority

Chiswick Homefields councillor Gerald McGregor reports back


Cllr Gerald McGregor

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March 12, 2023

Local Politics

A hard fought By Election campaign in Heston West was a big element of my time over the last five weeks working as Agent for Muraad Ali Chaudhry, a local resident of long standing, who fought a solid and much appreciated campaign. At the last by election in 2019 the then Labour Candidate was elected with 3,440 votes. The number of votes cast this time (last Thursday) dropped considerably with many people abstaining or protest voting.

Big features on the doorstep were the huge rise in Council Tax and the impact of ULEZ and poor maintenance of council properties. A typical comment was that thanks to ULEZ second hand prices had dropped for non compliant vehicles and the HP or leasing financial burden on the family car was now greater than the current sale value (which does not help in financing the next higher cost and higher spec’ed vehicle.

The Labour vote for their winning candidate fell dramatically to 1,104 this time. The ward is also represented by the Labour Leader of the council so this result will have had a chilling effect.

The Budget for Hounslow Borough Council

The Labour Controlled Administration continues on its historical pathway of raising taxes across the Borough. The three wards of Chiswick (Homefields, Riverside and Gunnersbury) provide more than 40% of taxation, fees and charges raised into the coffers of the Local Authority and effectively subsidise the rest of the Borough which Chiswick has little in common with. Without this revenue Hounslow would lose a million a week from its income. At the Budget meeting, the Leader of the Number One Council in England in 2021!!!!, declared that Chiswick was a backwater. Well this sort of insult (subsequently apologised for) is not the form of leadership of a Borough that residents deserve.

The overall budget increase for Chiswick Residents is 6.2% with the Labour Mayor of London bunging us an increased charge in his costs of 9+%. The Conservative opposition at County Hall and the Conservative Opposition in Chiswick and Feltham were able to show that these increases were both unnecessary and could be covered by taxpayer financed balances and reserves already held in the Council and the GLA.

ULEZ

The small print and detail of the budget papers also revealed the truth about ULEZ and its effect on Hounslow, with £13,000,000 allocated to replace the Hounslow vehicle fleet that does not meet the Mayor's pollution criteria (70+ vehicles). This sum is greater than the whole budget increase being paid for by Council Taxpayers.

The Conservative Group pressed for the Council to allocate £315,000 to join an appeal by other London Boroughs in a court case against the Mayor for various breachers of the act setting up the GLA ie going beyond his responsibilities without authority. Nick Rogers, the London South West GLA Assemblyman has been leading on this action and took the Mayor to task at a recent public meeting

Traffic and Transport

The Conservative Group on Hounslow Council currently has real concerns about the transfer of experimental schemes into permanent schemes that continue to be controversial, where consultation has shown that four in five respondents do not want them and that traffic limiting schemes such as Hartington Road and Staveley Gardens do huge harm to motorists and enforcement with huge fines (84,000 penalty charge notices so far mainly to local residents) and unfair permit schemes; or where the interests of cyclists in Chiswick High Road involves spending tens of millions of pounds of taxpayer money without negative feedback being acknowledged.

These schemes are spreading across Brentford and Isleworth and into the west of the Borough with the same pattern of behaviour by those in authority.

Chiswick Library Surgery Report Saturday 4 th March

The Conservative group who hold weekly surgeries at Chiswick Library all tell the same continuing tales of residents fighting to understand what is happening to them on the streets and roads whilst the group tries to hold the Labour perpetrators to account through scrutiny and publicity.

The surgery was busy with people from start to finish.

Big issues this week from tenants who need help from Hounslow Housing with repairs promised and not delivered or complaints about workmanship not being resolved. Many residents do not understand documents they receive from the council, so form filling and advising on how to negotiate a council demand are a standard feature

Helping with an appeal because the post failed to deliver a letter from the council is not a new thing but when the issue is a Penalty Charge Notice it becomes a rising financial penalty because of delay

Feedback on salary and payroll issues is becoming more common, still dealing with an ongoing payroll deduction problem in a Borough Council Subsidiary

Having three phone sessions with different people unable to get to the Library and Following up on case work already in place by going outside the Library; and Library staff as helpful and friendly as ever.

Cllr Gerald McGregor 

gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk  

07866 784821

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY  

Tuesday, 14th March at 7:00pm: Chiswick Area Forum

Tuesday, 28th March at 7:00pm: Cabinet

Tuesday 11th April at 7:00pm: Overview and Scrutiny

Tuesday 9th May at 7:00pm: Overview and Scrutiny

Tuesday, 23rd May at 7.30pm Borough Council AGM

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 (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

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 

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