A Week In The Life Of A Chiswick Councillor

Sam Hearn discusses issues of local interest

Cllr Sam Hearn, who represents the Riverside ward in Chiswick, is chairman of the Chiswick Area Forum. He has written this account of his life as a busy local councillor.

Sunday 28th September: Did a little work for a small group residents suffering from a particularly intractable noise issue. I still have much work to do. An insightful sermon by lay reader Simon Surtees who successfully managed to reconcile “rationality” with belief was followed by lunch in country pub with old friends. The friends include a retired investment banker/strategist with plangent atheistic and socialist views. It’s always stimulating to have two high quality sermons on a Sunday.

Monday 29th September: Followed up emails from residents by enquiring of Officers and Councillor Colleagues on what exactly is happening about the Travellers camped on Dukes Meadow. I was reassured by the swift and informative updates by the Head of Leisure and Cllr Robert Oulds. Responded to a resident’s query about whether weekly collections of plastic could be introduced. It’s a good question. Recycling rates remain appallingly low.

Tuesday 30th September: Received a copy of the CPZ re-consultation for Park Road and part of Staveley Road. A little baffled by this since I had thought that this exercise had been deferred until a comprehensive report had been brought to the Chiswick Area Forum in November. Apparently I was mistaken. Ho hum.

Wednesday 1st October : Joined Councillor Todd for a meeting at the Civic Centre and an update on emerging financial issues and budget monitoring. As usual Councillor Todd’s pre-meeting preparatory work was exemplary. Arrived late at a meeting of the trustees of the Chiswick Pier Trust (I have been reappointed as one of the Council’s nominated trustees). There was a fascinating discussion on the Thames Panorama Project.

Thursday 2nd October: Continued with our weekly canvassing in the Ward with Councillor Paul Lynch and a couple of others. Once again we are getting again strong feedback from residents on the need for more CPZs both for and against. Sadly but helpfully we also uncovered some fly-tipping issues that I had not heard about before. Residents say that the Community Police and Neighbourhood Watch have been a great help.

Friday 3rd October: Had detailed discussions with an Officer clarifying what exactly had been agreed at the July meeting of the Chiswick Area Forum about the CPZ re-consultation. Agreed in principle that it would not be possible to fully analyse the feedback from the consultation in time for a report to come to the November meeting of CAF. There is now general agreement that a separate single issue meeting of the CAF will be required to discuss all the CPZ issues. This will be held either in December or preferably January.

October 3, 2014