Area Forum, Youth Counselling and Traffic Updates

The last fortnight has been a tale of two halves - I’ve just come back from a few weeks away (getting married!), so a chunk of my time has been taken up with the inevitable catching up on emails and casework. I’m lucky to have two fantastic ward colleagues in Gerald and John, so Homefields has remained well served during my time away!

Being a local councillor doesn’t allow you to stand still, though. It was very much a case of coming back with a bang, from chairing the Chiswick Area Forum on Monday to getting back out in the ward and talking to local residents on the doorstep.

Chiswick Area Forum

Monday saw the Chiswick Area Forum come to Bedford Park, as part of my commitment as this year’s chairman to bring the meeting into different parts of our local area.

A well attended St Michael and All Angels saw is first hear from the Chiswick Flower Market about an exciting new grant scheme, with a pot of money available from the market for local projects. Full details can be found here. A big thanks to Kathleen for presenting to the meeting - we’re all excited to see the fantastic projects to come out of this scheme!

E-bikes

The other big issue on the agenda was e-bikes, and the council’s recent decision to dump Lime in favour of Forest and Voi. I was grateful to both of the borough’s new providers for sending representatives to the meeting, and we were able to hear about their plans for deployment in the borough.

We also heard from a transport officer from Hounslow Council, who “took away” several questions on why the contract was taken away from Lime and, importantly, how we clean up the mess of Like bikes dumped on our border with other boroughs. The council’s decision to change providers has caused misery for Chiswick - what we really need is a pan-London approach so that e-bike users can travel across the city rather than being stopped at artificial borough boundaries.

We discovered after the meeting that Lime has actually decided this week to change its rules and allow users to ride through the borough of Hounslow. This decision should go some way to mitigating the build up of dumped e-bikes, but issues with the council’s bizarre handling of these contracts remain.

Hounslow Youth Counselling

The final big issue to be raised at the Area Forum was the sad news that the council have given notice to Hounslow Youth Counselling Service. This charity looks after hundreds of young people in Chiswick and elsewhere in our borough, supporting them through mental health challenges. They have been active for 38 years, which they have spent based at their current premises in Isleworth.

They spoke at the Area Forum about the council’s inexplicable decision to give them notice to vacate “out of the blue”, and have just a few months until their notice expires in December (the busiest period for mental health support services). The charity says paying rent is not an issue, despite the council recently cutting funding. Why, if they can pay for the lease, does the council still want to take this building away from them?

Despite this charity not being based in Chiswick, it does offer a vital service to young people in our area - Chiswick’s Conservative councillors have offered our full support in getting this decision reversed, and I’m happy to report that an initial discussion between the charity and the relevant council department is now due to take place shortly to try to resolve this.

Burlington Lane Gas Works

Late last week we received confirmation that the emergency gas works on Burlington Lane have been extended again, and are now due to finish next Friday. The project has caused significant traffic disruption, and given the nature of the works Cadent can’t rule out yet another extension past next week.

To mitigate some of the disruption, the council has lifted access restrictions to Staveley Road throughout the duration of the works, following discussions with Homefields and Riverside Councillors. We have also pushed for access restriction signs in the area to be covered up during this time.

Riverside Drive Resurfacing

Riverside Drive continues to deteriorate due to years of council inaction. As a councillor, I’ve been campaigning since I was elected in 2022 for action to be taken on this dangerous stretch. As announced a few months ago, we have secured £70,000 of funding to completely resurface this road, and I’m glad that the council has now confirmed this resurfacing work will begin the first week of November.

Cllr Jack Emsley

jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk

07977 396017

DEMOCRACY: MORE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Council Meetings - Borough Council

Tuesday 25 November

Including the first call on the Medium Term Financial Report for the Annual Budget 2025/26

Then a lengthy gap (why?) until:

Tuesday 10 March

Including the Annual Budget 2025/26 and Council Tax setting for the Borough and to add the Mayor of London’s tax demand to bills to residents

There is public access for these meetings via a direct lift from the ground floor to the Council Meeting Room, 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

Council Meetings – Overview and Scrutiny Committee

6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

27 November 7.00pm

Council Meetings – Audit and Governance Committee

Tuesday 4 November 7:00 pm

6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

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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