Weekly Update From Councillor Guy Lambert

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Realises that food isn't actually recycled

River Life by Wendy Mackenzie

A relatively uncontentious planning committee. The only one with any real controversy was Mr Lemon car wash in Feltham. We hear this has been a local bone of contention for some time but the application is to build a shed to enclose the Jet Wash so that the noise is reduced. Nobody spoke against and it was hard to see this as anything but an improvement. If I was a local I would be urging Mr Lemon to change his name to Mr Avocado or Mr Parsnip so he could paint the front of his building in a more restful shade. Anyway, we approved it but this caused some concern with two members of the audience who marched out casting aspersions on the motivations (and perhaps parentage) of the committee members. Lambert’s Hot Tip: if you don’t like a planning application, at least speak formally against it. Complaining after it’s passed is not too effective.

Friday morning I’m up in Harrow for a meeting of the West London Waste Authority. A bit of a snafu about timings – the agenda says it starts at 11 when it actually starts at 10 so I miss the first bit. Anyway these meetings are interesting because WLWA deals with all our ‘residual’ waste – what isn’t recycled – and most of the waste of all types for 5 other boroughs in the West so I get to compare notes with neighbours and press WLWA for things we want. The big focus is on food waste. Because of what waste professionals describe as the Yuk Factor we collectively recycle (actually anaerobically digest – half-eaten bananas are not turned into new ones, at least not directly) far less than we could and aside from being not very eco, this lack of recycling costs about £100 per ton.

In the evening I eat in the restaurant of The Griffin. First time I’ve eaten a formal meal there, and very good it was too.

Saturday morning it’s our local Co-Op party meeting in the St John’s Community Centre. I am billed to present about the Credit Union, but my co-star is His-Ex-Deputy-Worshipfulness, the artist formerly known as Councillor Mukesh Malhotra. I didn’t get where I am today by not recognising an irresistible force when I see one, so I kept schtum whilst MM waxed lyrical about Credit Unions, just coming in at the end, David Cameron-like and saying ‘I agree with Mukesh’.

On Monday morning I attend what I suppose you’d call a seminar on our approach to Homelessness. People become homeless for a variety of reasons, none of them positive, and in general the council has a duty to assist them to find a place to live. The team are rather proud that they have largely eliminated B&B, which is expensive and horrible, other than for very short stays, though as luck would have it I get my first ever piece of casework about somebody living in a B&B the same day. I’m hoping this is the exception which proves the rule. Anyway, we are addressed by 4 officers who give us a really good explanation about how housing eligibility is assessed and how they allocate actual housing to those who are eligible. Rough sleepers are a slightly different issue and dealt with in a different way. Contrary to popular belief (including what I previously understood) it is very rare for people to be housed outside the Borough and when it does happen it is much more likely to be just over the border in Ealing or Richmond than further afield. As ever, impressed by the professionalism of all those involved.

I then come back to Ye Olde Blacke Dogge (well, the pub must be at least 3 weeks old now) for lunch with the Brentford Recycling Action Group. Lovely people and a very nice lunch. The menu is umm, unusual, and amongst the BRAGgers there is great enthusiasm for Weed Pie though I must insist to the Constabulary that it doesn’t contain the kind of weed that Bob Marley would have appreciated. Personally, as ever, I choose the healthy option – spare ribs and chips. I also have the opportunity to buy Wendy Mackenzie’s lovely calendar – have a look at www.wendymackenzie.com if you want one or (I think) you can buy one at the Brewery Tap.

In the afternoon I’m off to the House of Commons. I have been invited by the Tory MP for Waveney (think Lowestoft), about as Brexitty as it gets, to the launch event for ‘Green Cities for a Sustainable Europe’ sponsored, inevitably, by the EU. If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that the EU features in the news from time to time at present so the timing could not have been sweeter. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to listen in on T May’s burblings on the subject in the House, but I did have a look at some of the banners being touted by various enthusiasts. I was particularly taken by the one that said (I paraphrase) ‘God says independent nation states are best’: in fact, it gave me quite a giggle. But then I’m just an old agnostic, what know I of The Lord? Anyway, Green Cities, which is being promoted by the Town and Country Planning Association in this country is about recognising the value of green infrastructure in cities for both mental and physical health. I was delighted to see two of Hounslow’s planning team there and I’m sure we will all work to get better greening in planning applications as they come through.

In the evening, I swap the flock wallpaper and intricately painted ceilings of the Strangers’ Dining Room in the House for the equally lavish environs of Brentford’s Scout Hut in Willow Close, for the Brentford Community Council. Mainly planning, as ever: another chance for me to hear about Brentford FC’s ‘Duffy Site’ and the first time I’ve caught up with emerging plans to redevelop Churchill House, a long, thin, currently industrial site between The Globe and St Faith’s Church.

Tuesday is mostly a day off. Email in the morning then one of my regular lunches with old work pals (yes, they really are old) up in Covent Garden. In the evening I drive to Heathrow: I have house guests arriving from Vienna who will be with me on and off until Christmas, so I have spent the afternoon frantically making my flat look half-habitable – these Austrians have high standards.

On Wednesday morning I despatch my visitors off to Chichester then meet a candidate to be a director of the credit union in the civilised environs of the Verdict. Then into the Civic Centre. First it’s a kind of open day held by the Community Partnerships Unit, which seems to do what it says on the tin. Then a farewell event with exotic cups of tea and Danish pastries to mark the departure of acting Chief Exec Alan Adams. By all accounts he has done a stunning job improving Hounslow’s formerly wobbly Children’s and Adults Social Services which are now getting glowing reports from OFSTED. Our new Chief Exec starts next Monday, and Alan decided this was the time to leave and have a short sabbatical. Nice man with excellent jokes.

After that we have a brief informal cabinet meeting – mostly, inevitably, about money – before rushing off to a Labour branch meeting where we have a lively debate about the arms trade, and our enthusiasm to sell arms to Saudi Arabia in particular.

Off to the Civic shortly – an update on our Highways pledges, an FM360 board meeting at the depot, if I get a chance a look in at the exhibition for a proposed development in Osterley Station car park then a Foodbox Trustees meeting. Not much rest for the wicked today.

Cllr Guy Lambert

December 13, 2018