Separating the Art from the Eyesore in Local Graffiti

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert reports back

Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert

September 12, 2025

Back to scaffolding. I was sitting here doing my emails when suddenly there was a head outside my window, slightly disconcerting on the 3rd floor. I had a brief exchange with the head (and the body that supported it) and agreed to clear all the gubbins off my balcony.

A few minutes later there were 3 heads (etc). The wooden decking disappeared. There was a bit of drilling and supports fitted. Then a pristine aluminium deck appeared. Then the heads (etc) disappeared, together with the sign saying don't exit and the tape that held me inside.

This morning a new head. Scaffolding is disappearing at an impressive pace. I must say I am impressed with their efficiency and energy. Currently there is no rain, but I doubt that will last. My clematis, affectionately known as Triffid, lost most of its limbs. If there was screaming I didn't hear it.

On Friday I went out on my bike to take the air and went down to Putney Bridge along the river (where it's allowed) as is my wont. I come back through Hammersmith and Chiswick along the treasured Cycleway 9. All of last week a chunk of it was out of use. Someone (I think the usual suspect Cadent) had dug a small but deep hole in it, then left it to mature like a fine brandy, as seems to be the practice. It was still there on Friday.

The cycle lane was undisturbed apart from the hole at the end of this stretch (you can see the red/white barriers) and the lorry park (normally one of the 2 lanes on the South Circular) was vacant, a bit like those in charge of the work. So cyclists (in 2 directions) pedestrians and people with prams (in 2 directions) are expected to share a narrow pavement whilst infuriated motorists fume at the pointless lane closure. Naturally I have moaned to TfL but nothing will change. It had been like this for a week, but on Monday or Tuesday they put a bit of tarmac in the hole and the panic was over. They even removed the signs and the barriers!

On Saturday, my calendar said 'Apple day' at Chiswick Library. However, I had domestic things to attend to and the apples were neglected. Sunday had a number of appointments, starting with the 5th anniversary of the Chiswick Flower Market. The team there have made a fantastic success out of nothing, despite a lot of objections from some of the councillors.

There was free fizz and I think birthday cake on offer but I decided to ignore it because there was a queue and I am an impatient man and often pretend to be dynamic and busy. I noticed Andy Slaughter MP was there. He is a really active representative, very similar in his approach to Ruth Cadbury. Neither of them need the enormous income and publicity given to Nigel Farage. They also go to the House of Commons regularly and live locally, rather than getting their French girlfriend (or boyfriend) to buy a house in their constituency whilst they stay in one of their houses elsewhere. I don't know who paid the stamp duty for that constituency ‘home’ and whether that tax level was for a first home or fifth home.

I wasted no time there as I was off to Ashford for a classic car gig. This was my kind of thing because it was short of Porsches (so common) and had a lot of Cortinas and Vivas. A lot of the cars were ones I had had during my driving years, though this one was from my parents' driving years and took us down to the South of France - 3 in the front, 3 in the back.

Mum, dad and me in the front; my sisters Toni and Vicki and Aunty Betty in the back. By the way. Toni and Guy is no relation. Anyway, that was fun but new horizons were beckoning.

Next stop was Blondin Park, where what apparently will be the last Brentford Festival, in Ealing! The redoubtable Linda Massey is stepping down and nobody has emerged to lead this local institution. We do of course have the Canal Festival and the Creative Mile, but it would be good to have a Brentford festival back next year , hopefully in Brentford. But organising and running it is a big job for a volunteer. Thank you Linda, for doing this all these years.

My camera must have run out of film at the festival, but I did the rounds and talked to various people. There was a stand run by something called BLAG, which was a new one on me (nothing to do with blagging I think but Brentford Local something or other). They had two books on their stand and I ended up buying both of them.

There will be at least one of these available at the Brentford Market this Sunday and they are both well worth having. The Indian picture on the cover is a bit misleading, because it has dishes from all sorts of local people of English, Welsh (from the name) Polish, West Indian and Nepalese and even a doggy treat though I don't think the chef is canine.

Quite a Sunday, but this week has been very quiet apart from domestic and family matters. I did have an online meeting about how to progress (or not) festivals in Bostin Manor Park after recent troubles.

I am also looking to start a small court claim with some residents against a problem with shrubs coming over from Ealing allotments but damaging peoples garden fences and sheds in Brentford. We've been trying to move this forward for many months, but we need to bring it to an end.

On Tuesday I managed to get a guided tour inside what will always to me be Honeywell House. It is now known as Great West House and is on the junction between Church Walk and the Great West Road, and for several months the landlord (apparently from Islamabad in Pakistan though there are a number of companies involved and I heard a rumour it was owned by Saudi or UAE people) are busily turning this building and its neighbour into - inevitably - small flats.

This was once my office on the second floor. I migrated from there to the 6th and gave up my private office which was the fashion then.

The only bit I really recognised was the stairs, and I remember being in charge of refurbishing them.

Good to see they have lasted 30 years in good condition though I would be unhappy by the cleaning regime.

I've also this week had another go at sorting out parking for Orchard, Glenhurst, York amid Windmill Road, which has been a problem ever since I inherited that issue! Still no progress really but I have recaptured some attention from officers.

Going around the ward I found an outbreak of graffiti.

I was on the point of reporting this, but decided it was a little artistic and arguably an improvement on the dreary green paint provided by the developers and decided to let it be,

This on the other side of the road, on the now derelict former housing office, and briefly our local community bike repair place is another matter .

That is really unpleasant and I have reported it, together with the flyposting.

That's all you're getting this week, so be thankful for small mercies.

Councillor Guy Lambert