Meet the ICG Council Candidates

For Brentford and Syon Wards

Dave Cox - Brentford

Dave lives in Brentford with his wife, son and granddaughter and is Chair of the Charlton House Residents’ Association, a position he has held for five years.  He is well-known throughout the borough as the former Chair of the Hounslow Federation of Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations (HFTRA), an umbrella organisation for many residents’ groups operating on estates owned by the local authority and comprising 24,000 households.  Dave joined the ICG after HFTRA was replaced. 

In the light of his experiences Dave is naturally troubled by the democratic deficit that he considers due to the attitude of the current Labour administration, and he is also deeply concerned about the lack of respect for the Community Vision contained in the current plans for the redevelopment of Brentford High Street, where he wants to see a response from the local authority which is community-led.  He also wants to bring the Brentford Festival, which once again takes place in Ealing this year, back to Brentford and wishes to see a more cautious approach to Controlled Parking Zones in which local support would clearly need to be demonstrated on a street-by-street basis before implementation.

Caroline Andrews - Syon

Caroline works with children and was a Syon councillor from 2006-2010, and was Deputy Mayor in 2007-2008.  When serving on the Council she sat as a Board Member of Brentford Dock Ltd., where she was able to help resolve a long-standing issue by establishing ownership of the Augustus Close bridge. 

She is married to Phil and has 16-year-old twins Joseph and Rosina.  She has been a member of the ICG for twenty years, and having a particular interest in environmental issues has been active with Friends of the Earth and supports Greenpeace.  She is also Secretary of Isleworth Congregational Church and a Trustee of a local housing charity which provides good-quality affordable housing to people in need. 

Shirley Fisher - Syon

Like Caroline, Shirley was a Syon ward councillor from 2006 until 2010, and was Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Hounslow in 2008-2009, during the year in which the borough was also represented by an ICG Mayor. 

Married to former Isleworth councillor Paul, Shirley is a reservations agent for a global corporate law firm and was for a long time Chair of the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee (IBAC), now area forum.  

A keen supporter of local community groups such as The Isleworth Society and the Friends of Isleworth Public Hall, during her free time Shirley enjoys cycling and gardening.

Ian Speed - Syon

ICG Chair Ian has been a member of the group since 1996 and has lived in the Isleworth area for almost his entire life.  He has been a council accountant for over 25 years and is very familiar with the financial issues facing local government and the local council ‘system’.  

Ian has been an active participant in various planning campaigns, including the successful Campion Concerns group and LBH Watch, in many respects the forerunner of the present G15+ group of residents’ associations and community groups, which he chaired.  He is keen to see community consultation and public opinion taken into account by the Council in this area, particularly with regard to Brentford High Street, and is appalled by the overdevelopment of the area hinted at in Labour’s draft Local Plan.  In his free time Ian enjoys using various local facilities such as the Isleworth Leisure Centre, and regularly follows the live music scene in and around Brentford Town Centre.

ICG are also fielding Phil Andrews,  Patricia Doran and Paul Fisher in Isleworth.

May 9, 2014