Councillor life in Turnham Green ward is extremely busy all the time but this week seems to have been even more so. Tuesday presented us with diary clashes: the Hounslow cabinet meeting, a public meeting on the recent Waterworks festival in Gunnersbury Park. We had an important and urgent action before the cabinet meeting: responding to the council's proposed policy on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Thursday was the Ealing scrutiny committee call-in of Ealing cabinet's decision to make the closure of Fishers Lane permanent. But first, a little bit of joy.
Diwali festival of lights
May I wish you everyone a Happy Diwali (festival of lights) for 4 th November. Stay safe and enjoy the fireworks for a safe distance.
Problems with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are, of course, valuable forms of housing. There can't be many residents who haven't shared flats or houses, either as students or later in life. Any flat or house of three or more people from different households is now classified as an HMO. Problems arise when they are not well-managed by their landlords or agents. Unfortunately, several HMOs have proved to be hugely problematical in the Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate (GPGE), the pretty conservation area of 1927 mock-Tudor houses around the Gunnersbury Triangle Club in the north-west corner of Turnham Green ward.
Here, in an area that is in roughly one tenth of the ward, there are well over half of the ward's HMOs. It is disproportionate. Some are in clusters owned by the same landlord and often sources of extreme anti-social behaviour. One had its own Facebook page advertising debauched living and terrible living conditions and, for about 15 years, nearby neighbours experienced all-night raves most nights. Several of these relatively modest family homes are licensed for 10 people which is the same as experiencing a very noisy party next door all day long if residents are working from home. Many cause chaos on grass verges and pavement with dysfunctional and uncollectable waste and recycling, the most recent heap provided a stench of rotting food and soiled clothing that pervaded almost the entire road.
Hounslow council's cabinet paper recommended implementing an Article 4 Direction throughout the borough so all landlords have to apply for planning permission to convert their properties to HMOs. The GPGE conservation area already includes an Article 4 Direction so, in our view, the proposal won't provide any safeguards against rogue landlords and certainly none against bad tenants. My ward colleague Cllr Joanna Biddolph sent a long and detailed submission to cabinet to which, I'm pleased to say, the response from council leader Steve Curran was not entirely dismissive. Jo tells me she's still recovering from the shock. You can read her recommendations and Cllr Curran's reply here.
Music festivals in Gunnersbury Park
Staying in this part of the ward, we have seen a tentative return of music festivals in Gunnersbury Park as Covid-19 restrictions have eased. Experiences of the most recent, electronic music festival Waterworks were discussed at a feedback session for councillors 10 days ago and at a public meeting this week. It seems to have caused by far the least disturbance of all festivals so far – a few noise complaints – and was considered to have been generally well-managed. However, any festival brings drug dealing to nearby local roads and graphic evidence of the need for more loos along the route. Our work agitating for better continues.
The good news is that there has been a bit of a light bulb moment at the community interest company (CIC) that runs the park. Based on the experience of Waterworks, CEO David Bowler recently said that festivals for 13,000 people are about the right size, prompting silent thoughts of ITYS among councillors. What does this mean for the five-year Lovebox (50,000 people) contract? First, Lovebox has transferred to Finsbury Park as a one-day event in July 2022. Secondly, the CIC is negotiating with festival organisers, Festival Republic, about a replacement event for summer 2022. We are watching this space attentively.
Fishers Lane – Ealing supports the displacement of congestion and pollution
It is always interesting experiencing how other councils work and the three of us – Cllr Joanna Biddolph, Cllr Ron Mushiso and I – were present in person at Ealing Town Hall on Thursday for the overview and scrutiny committee's call-in of the cabinet decision to make the closure of Fishers Lane permanent. The similarities were alarming. All but one of the councillors voting on the issue knew as little about Chiswick as Hounslow's councillors do though, as with our recent call-in, there was a rash of comments such as "I was in Chiswick in the summer" to give an impression of detailed knowledge. One claimed that there are no residents on Fishers Lane – true of the five-yard junction that Ealing controls north of the tube line but scandalously ignorant about the rest of it. And this was despite all members of the committee being sent many representations from Chiswick residents, in both boroughs, giving the facts.
Cllr Gary Malcolm (Southfield ward) and Cllr David Millican (Northfields ward) jointly brought the call-in with Cllr Malcolm speaking on Fishers Lane, urging the committee to send the decision back to cabinet either for rejection of the scheme or to hold a consultation. Cllr Anthony Young, who used to own and run Young Veterinary Practice at Bedford Corner, asked the most pertinent and penetrating questions – unsurprising considering his deep knowledge of Chiswick.
Some Hounslow cabinet members are given scripts to read but fail to get through them without slipping up (whether because they can't ad-lib or because they interrupt themselves to let-rip and shout at residents). Ealing deputy leader and cabinet member for climate action, Cllr Deirdre Costigan, was masterful with hers. As with the best of actresses, she had learned her lines and didn’t need any prompting. They were recognisable – I noted they mirrored the content, if not the delivery, of Hounslow cabinet member for transport Cllr Hanif Khan's claims. Many were fictional and straight out of the London Cycling Campaign's fantastical briefing notes. One resident who attended noted that Cllr Costigan's closing remarks were identical to her opening remarks; she clearly hadn't listened to any voices other than her own.
Her claims of increased cycling along Fishers Lane became ever more fantastical and ended with a brilliantly imaginative flourish, considering her many references to having "great data": "200% and that's a conservative estimate!" she said adding that there was "no concomitant impact on South Parade and very little on Acton Lane".
Local resident Kay Etherington, who spoke for residents, blew holes in Cllr Costigan's unsubstantiated cycle count claim. Kay had run a count of cycling through the bridge, in both directions, at three peak times a day, over several days all with good, mild weather and found there were on average 60 cyclists at peak times per day. If the numbers Kay counted were 200% higher, it means the previous count was a tiny number. Even the increase is not significant enough to warrant a closure to all cars. Kay, who works from home, now has to close her windows while at her desk because of the pollution from stationary traffic caused by the closure of Fishers Lane.
For someone with responsibility for climate action, Cllr Costigan's dismissal of the effects of displaced congestion is irresponsible. Her view is that "everyone is going to have to do their bit" and if that means the "inconvenience" of travelling longer it's for the greater good. She appears to be unaware that residents aren't worried about "inconvenience" but about climate change. And she appears to have forgotten that travelling longer means increased emissions and increased pollution. We've had similar nonsense from Hounslow's most senior transport officer.
We're used to Professor Tom Pike's creativeness from forum discussions. This time it was to link Fishers Lane with Roman road building, claiming that means it wasn't built for cars. Isn't that true of all Roman roads everywhere? And other roads that were built before cars were invented?
Why didn't any of the three of us speak? Our request was refused. You can read the briefing we sent to councillors, here.
If you'd like to see and hear the committee meeting, here's the video.
Councillors are human beings, too
Although our personal lives are not meant to dominate these blogs, I have sometimes commented on life with my partner Peter who has dementia and is in a care home. Although now it isn't life with him. All recognition has gone. He doesn't know me, and he doesn't know our little dog Lulu. Visits are painful but not visiting is out of the question, at least for me. There are great memories of travelling all over the world, visiting about 80 countries together, when we thought this was the life. Then the rude shock of that life taking an entirely unexpected turn. Memories on Facebook pop up automatically and are great, with friends and family enjoying them just as I do. But what I would give to have Peter back in my life, to live the life we planned together in our retirement, to have the love, the faithfulness, the honesty, the kindness, the caring. I know other residents are living with similar experiences and I'd like you to know I think about all those who are coping with changed lives and unfulfilled expectations. Dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease, take away the life of the person with the illness – and of others too. My thoughts are with everyone experiencing a new life they hadn't planned for. Of course, Dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease can happen at any age. Enjoy life and make the most of everyday.
