Time Givers, Kew Railway Bridge and Market Licensing
Chiswick Riverside councillor Gabriella Giles reports back
Cllr Gabriella Giles
July 19, 2025
Looking back at my last blog, I mentioned that our eyes had been focussed on the Vatican. I don’t know about you, but since Thursday, my phone has been going crazy with memes and comments about what happened at a Coldplay gig in Boston and a certain scandal that’s arisen. It’s a lot more low-brow, but definitely has resulted in a lot of laughs - if only from some friends and colleagues who are grateful that they’ve never been in a similar situation.
So with a focus a little closer to home, it would be impossible to mention all that I’ve been up to in the past two months since I last wrote, but I’ll share some highlights:
Timegivers and Strand on the School Juniors
Councillor Peter Thompson and I attended the re-opening of the revitalised playground at Strand on the School Juniors. The playground has had a bit of a refresh thanks to work done by the school in conjunction with the Chiswick-based charity, Timegivers.
The charity was set up by Kate Deighton (pictured with Peter and myself), four years ago to enable children to get involved in their local communities by volunteering.
I’ve often written about the importance of community, and was recently reminded that it’s up to us to build our communities, and to see so many pupils from the school get involved and be really proud about the work they’ve done so far was really inspiring. To date, they’ve been involved in litter picks, have sung at a local care home, are managing their own community gardens and most importantly for the day, their artwork was converted into panels that now border the large playground at the school.
It was also a valuable opportunity to catch up with the Headteacher, Ruth Woods, and discuss challenges that they’re currently experiencing to see if there’s anything that we can support in the future.
Kew Railway Bridge
At our last Chiswick Area Forum, the railway bridge was raised as an ongoing issue by residents. Both Peter and I have been keeping track of this issue, having contact Historic England and Network Rail to gain insight on the works. Due to my connection to many of the river groups along our stretch of the Thames, this has been a recurring concern and I’ve managed to get a reply from Network rail stating:
“ The planned works involve holding repairs to stabilise the deteriorating brickwork while studies are carried out to identify the root cause of the structural issues. Once the study has been completed, a full repair will be undertaken which will be delivered in consultation with all the relevant parties, including English Heritage. This process will include sourcing appropriate bricks in line with the historical theme of the structure.
With regards to your concerns about the process being used currently with long bolts, this is the holding repairs. As I mentioned above, we need to do this to stabilise the failing section of brickwork whilst we develop a permanent solution that addresses the route cause of the failures. The plan is that these will be made redundant in the long term, and not affect the historic character of the abutments.
The structure continues to move so it is essential these works are being undertaken to mitigate the risk to both the public and the railway until a permanent solution can be implemented.”
This response has only just come back, so I will be sharing this with those concerned parties, digesting and reverting next week, so if you have any additional comments or questions, please do let me know so that I can include these in my response.
Licensing
As one of the longest standing members of this committee, I have attended two licensing meetings over the past two weeks, and next week will talk about the new licensing policy that is coming to Borough Council on Tuesday. In the last municipal year, I understand that I sat on more licensing panels than any other councillor, and chaired more meetings than the chair (who was in receipt of a Special Responsibility Allowance for the honour), and wrote about it for the Hounslow Herald. So when it comes to issues around licensing and specific events, I find it extremely disappointing to see when those we’ve entrusted simply don’t adhere to the conditions we’ve attached to a licence. As a panel, we make decisions in good faith, with the understanding that license holders will read and apply the conditions as relevant to be good corporate neighbours in our communities.
As such, when I see that a licence isn’t being adhered to, or that they simply flaunt the good faith we’ve imparted, it leaves me with no choice but to speak to those involved - as was the case following a recent market in Chiswick. In this case I spoke to the licence holder and operator, advised them of the breaches I had observed, before reporting these along with 90+ photos and videos of the infringements to licensing and licensing enforcement.
It’s not a job I want to do, but in this case I had a duty to report what I had seen.
Grove Park Primary School Needs You!
Grove Park Primary School will be resurfacing its back playground, alongside which, they have applied to Tesco for a grant to fund a new storage and equipment unit for its Forest School. The funding is granted based on a popular vote, and this is where you come in!
When you shop at Tesco, please collect a blue token, available at the checkout or self-service tills, and drop it in the Grove Park collection box.
Participating local stores include:
- Chiswick High Road Express (W4 1PD)
- Osterley Extra (TW7 5NZ)
- Twickenham Extra (TW7 7JY)
- Isleworth Express (TW7 5AY)
- And other Tesco stores across Feltham & Hanworth
The voting closes at the end of September, so please support this excellent project and help one of our local schools to win some additional money!
Party on the Pier - 27th July 2025!
The Chiswick Pier Trust’s annual Party on the Pier will be next week, kicking off at 11am, there will be fun for all the family, free boat rides up the river (tides permitting), and lots of food and drink options to choose from.
Come down and join in the fun, as a trustee, I can honestly say that this is a great community event, and always a lot of fun!
Keep an eye out for the trustees, as we’ll be wearing our snazzy new blue bibs!
Bibs modelled by CPT Trustees, Jaz Crocker and Cllr Gabriella Giles.
Cllr Gabriella Giles
gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk
07966 270823
DATES FOR YOR DIARY
Tuesday, 22 July: Borough Council
Tuesday 16 September: Borough Council
Monday 13 October: Chiswick Area Forum
Anyone can attend public meetings of the council. Most meetings take place on the 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, TW3 3EB. Hounslow House is fully accessible. The nearest tube is Hounslow Central which does not have step-free access. Parking in local roads is limited.
Emergencies
You can report emergencies outside office hours by ringing the council on: 020 8583 2222.
CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES
Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the seven 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 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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