Today, I found out that almost half of the 60,000 entries in the Scots version of Wikipedia were created by a North American teenager who started contributing at the age of 12, seven years ago. Further research showed that not only did this person not have a firm grasp of the language used by Robert Burns, but also that their grip on American English was tenuous. Interesting, right? But what does this have to do with what I’m hearing and seeing as a councillor? Bear with me, and I’ll explain.
At first, my reaction was, wow, this kid has a really interesting hobby, and a huge amount of dedication to do this in a language that is not their mother tongue and, indeed, that is not widely spoken. Why does this matter? Because it’s a fierce reminder to us all that small actions can have long-lasting and broad ramifications.
It reminded me of the phenomenon of informational cascade - whereby people accept information and conform to certain behaviours without even questioning it, because they base their acceptance of an idea on the presumption that whoever is spouting the information must be fully aware of all the facts. Albert Speer used it as an excuse for how he, the minister for armaments and war in 1930s Germany, allowed the atrocities that took place in that era to happen. The reasoning was that because everyone else believed their truth it must then be true. There was no room for challenge or questioning.
Who is the silent majority?
If you look at the local media in Chiswick, or social media posts regarding Chiswick, you could be fooled into thinking that your local councillors are anti-walking, anti-cycling, pro-car, pro-smog-filled-children’s-lungs. Shall we look at the facts? Seven out of nine of us own a car. Four out of nine of us use a bicycle as a primary form of transport. We all are pro-cycling and pro-walking and all want much improved and good air quality throughout the borough. I grew up on one of the most polluted roads in Chiswick (it’s very close to the A4).
In May, after the government’s announcement of extra funding for cycling and walking as a result of COVID-19, we issued a new policy on cycling and walking which is based on clear principles, locally applied. These include:
- cycle lanes should go with the traffic flow wherever possible;
- cyclists and pedestrians should be kept separate, with road space used to create cycle lanes and pavements reserved for pedestrians, not least to maintain social distancing;
- cycle lanes must not come to a sudden end or disappear at junctions;
- local councils must fill potholes within two working days of them being reported on all roads where cycle lanes are installed; if potholes occur in cycle lanes they must be filled within one working day after they are reported to ensure they remain usable and safe;
- cycle lanes should be clearly marked in ways that ensure the safety of riders and reduce conflict with vehicles and people;
- civil enforcement officers should be empowered to apply the law to the minority of cyclists who flout the rules, freeing police officers to deal with more serious issues including traffic offences;
- changes made because of the pandemic should be temporary and only made permanent once the current crisis has passed and following proper consultation with residents, road users, traders and businesses as well as cyclists.
However, what we have seen is a council that is so gung-ho about the ideology behind a 15-minute city (don’t we, largely already have that?) that, as part of its work around creating a so-called Liveable Neighbourhood in South Chiswick, it hasn’t even bothered to find out how residents normally get around their own neighbourhood. How do I know this? Because I asked and was told they don’t know. So now for a quick straw poll. Feel free to email me with your best guesstimation of how many times you walk / cycle / drive in any given week? I’ll issue the results in my next blog.
Given the number of emails I have received, it is clear to me that the majority of residents in Chiswick Riverside ward agree with the principles of reducing traffic on our local roads, but it is the means of execution to which people object (in fact, by a 10:1 ratio against any part of the scheme). There is a difference between the principle and its execution . Many residents inevitably start with concerns about the new measure directly outside of their door, or on their normal route , only to come back with concerns about other aspects of the changes.
I acknowledge that to draw comparisons between Nazi Germany and what is happening locally, is really far-fetched, but, to go back to my earlier point about ... , the rhetoric we are hearing from the council must be questioned. Without questioning, and challenge, how do we reach good conclusions?
The Importance of Questioning and Consultation
I have written about this before: the absence of a culture of questioning within the council which then comes across as compliance and acceptance of the status quo. This has been a long-standing frustration of mine to the extent that I raised it at our most recent Borough Council meeting at which we were asked to approve the 200-page Hounslow Licensing Policy Statement 2020-2025. As a member of the licensing committee, I had been part of the discussions on this report, from draft to final version and again at the borough council meeting.
This document is a legal responsibility, meant to help new licence applications across the borough, and part of yet another poorly-received consultation - 135 responses in total, 66% from individuals who did not identify as either personal licence holders or premises licence holders (of who fewer than 1% replied). This was, therefore, yet another example of those who will be most impacted by the changes being least represented. As befits such an important document, the chairman of the committee requested that all members should attend the meeting where we were due to approve the final report.
It was extremely apparent to me during the meeting that several members of the committee had not read the document: some questions had no links with licensing responsibilities. In my view, if you hold a position of public responsibility, receiving public money in members’ allowances, and are part of a committee, you should at least read the documents you are being asked to approve. It doesn’t then take a genius to come up with suitable questions to challenge the integrity of the document.
Borough Council - “More Entertaining than Eastenders”
A councillor’s life is not all about traffic, licensing or the committees that they sit on, and an opposition councillor’s life is certainly not just about holding the administration to account. We also have a responsibility to represent our residents, acting as liaison between the behemoth that is a local authority and residents when they are in need. Many times, I have found that residents come to us about one issue, and we end up dealing with a variety of departments just trying to figure out who you need to talk to. The council does not provide councillors with any form or organigram – besides, its structure keeps changing.
Coming from an international corporate background, where you can “ping” a colleague to find out who best to talk to, I have found it frustrating to find that the council’s culture of working in silos is so entrenched, and that was before lockdown. As councillors often deal with casework late at night and at weekends, this delays being able to talk to officers. Since March and working from home, it’s been easier to track down officers during core working hours so it’s been a lot quicker to get things done.
While working with one resident, I suggested that she tune into the borough council meeting as she had sent me an email just before we were due to go live. Afterwards she told me that she had found it fascinating because, although she has been a Hounslow resident for years, she never thought about all the moving parts of the council before. She said it had been very interesting to see who was paying attention to what was going on, who would rather be anywhere but in the meeting, and said it was, “more entertaining than Eastenders”. To paraphrase the rest of the conversation, she mentioned that if more people knew what the council was responsible for, and how the decisions were made, then there might be more of an interest in what was being decided in the chamber.
I suppose, if, as a result of what is happening out there in the world, more people get interested in how decisions are made locally, are engaged in the process, and question the status-quo, we could end up living in a borough that really listens to what residents have to say. Just think of the possibilities of what coul d be done if we challenge our thought processes a little more, and rely on fact not purely what others tell us is right.
Caption for screenshot of council: At our online meetings we are asked to turn off cameras and go mute. Oddly, we are identified by the initial of our role (C for Councillor) and surname. So, I am CG (C for councillor and G for Giles) , and in the picture CG represents Councillor Ranjit Gill.
No, it doesn’t make sense to me, either.
Cllr Gabriella Giles
Chiswick Riverside ward
[email protected]
07966 270823
