Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

Presenting the Special Waste Service - like the SAS but without Kalashnikovs

Guy Lamber launching the Special Waste Service

The Cleaner Hounslow Community Reference Group was a bit of a misnomer as only one person who was not a council employee (or member) turned up. I hear later in the week that at least one other didn’t get an invitation so I have instigated a witch hunt to find out why that is. In the past we had excellent community attendance at these things and it’s not as if everybody is too busy sunning themselves in Barbados, or even Bognor.

Anyway we were updated on recycling performance (inching upwards), food waste recycling (footing or even maybe yarding upwards, ie going up a lot faster than recycling in general), the birth of the SWS (Special Waste Service – modelled on the SAS without Kalashnikovs, to help stamp out flytipping) and the launch of the Environmental Champions scheme (is there a champion in your street? Could it be you?).

A lot of this has been delayed many months because of the difficulty of recruiting and training people for these front line tasks during the pandemic (plus the fact officers have been a bit busy keeping the wheels turning and addressing urgent challenges) and it’s heartening to see them now really getting a bit of momentum back.

Later it was a planning presentation about the Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow West. This is a massive site with a lot of listed buildings, a large green area and a number of decidedly not listed buildings. The horses have trotted off elsewhere and the Irish Guards have either gone or are going soon, so this will become a big new residential enclave. It’s never entirely safe to rely on developers’ presentations but I found nothing to criticise in what I saw. I guess it will be coming to planning committee proper in a few months, but I had to duck out before the end to attend the Brentford Ward police panel.

We have an entirely new cast of Coppers in the ward with only our fab PCSO Angela Mirzai providing a bit of continuity from the ancien regime. It was good to meet the new team including our shared Sergeant and they seem responsive and committed, which is good as they have a strong act to follow. Nothing humungous to report – crime in general is down a little but still goes on in all the usual places (no doubt with the usual suspects).

Friday was a whole day of interviewing. We were looking for an environmental guru to be a non-exec director for Lampton companies in general, plus a local GP to serve with Lampton Leisure as we try to enhance its services and role in improving public health. There was more of this on Wednesday this week and we have now come to the end of this phase, prompting me to ask what I am going to do with the rest of my life. Throughout the process I have been stunned by the quality of people who want to work with our companies and this final element was no exception. Further, as an interview panel we were genuinely bowled over by what lovely people all of the GPs we saw were, and how eager they are to improve people’s lives in Hounslow. It was extremely difficult to choose from this field (apologies if I sound like Simon Cowell).

Monday morning I was in Kingsley Road for a photoshoot for the launch of the aforementioned SWS. It was good to see one of our new team (a former detective, no less) and (not so good to see) a pile of black bags etc with ‘Environmental Crime Scene’ tape around them and (even worse to see) Roger ‘King of Kingsley’ Rat turning up to have a nose around and no doubt eager to take part in the photoshoot. I will not give him the oxygen of publicity.

Monday was free during the rest of the day, which allowed a bit of catching up. My mailbox is particularly relentless at the moment. In the evening we had a meeting of the cabinet and senior officers to talk about One Hounslow – the way we are organising to make progress with our corporate plan and the diverse challenges facing the borough.

The focus here was about prevention. We have already made progress on prevention in many areas (eg, preventing homelessness by catching early warnings) but there’s a lot more to be done and this has to be a focus for public administration in general, and Hounslow in particular. In my area of responsibility I’m keen to tackle the scourge of flytipping at root. Some flytipping is unscrupulous crooks emptying flat bed trucks and we will do our best to catch and prosecute them, and some is people who just don’t care. But quite a lot of the black bags etc we see around and about are from people who either don’t know better or have no facilities. Backed by the SWS and our neighbourhood officers, and our volunteer Environment Champions we will tackle this much more effectively. We have already seen bookings for our bulky waste ‘Tidy Town’ service more than double since we cut the price and improved the service last June.

Tuesday was busy with a West London Waste update first thing, then a session with Brentford Voice about the Watermans Centre and what they can do to support it, then our ‘Network Board’ with Hounslow Highways. Their performance on cleanliness is gradually improving and we discussed the things outside their responsibility, like where we abut TfL, Network Rail etc or where Thames Water maintain (or don’t) manholes.

In the afternoon a webinar about idling. This is more Hanif Khan’s department and he was present also. We can probably do more but if you drive, think about how much an idling engine pollutes, and don’t do it! It’s not as if you’re driving a car like my 1964 Hillman Minx where you had to keep the engine running to have a fighting chance of moving in the foreseeable future.

Then our Active Travel programme update. All moving along, except the one thing that occupies more of my attention than all the others put together – Swyncombe Avenue. Officers have decided that they have to delay implementation of changes there whilst more evidence is gathered and the results of various legal challenges and changes in guidance from Department for Transport work through. I am not half as frustrated by this as the people who live in Swyncombe, but that doesn’t mean I’m not spitting feathers.

Wednesday, the last of our Lampton interviews and in the evening a Labour party webinar featuring our GLA candidate, the exceptional Candice Atterton, our MP, the excellent Ruth Cadbury, and the outstanding Rachel Reeves MP who has the dubious privilege of shadowing Michael Gove. I sometimes wonder if Michael Gove actually casts a shadow as he is transparently plotting at all times. It was inspiring, and we must get Candice elected in May to support our area in the wider metropolis. We have been very poorly served by Conservatives.

In dead of night, this scene played out by Watermans Park. They have finally managed to get their wrecking gear past Hammersmith Bridge, and work on clearing the wrecks has begun, huzzah!

And in the daylight – that old pontoon is gone.

Cllr Guy Lambert

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February 26, 2021