Glyphosate, Lime Bikes, the Marina and the Gillette Building
Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert reports back
Brentford West councillor Guy Lambert
August 1, 2025
My work life is increasingly quiet, because this is a small ward with less problems than many, and of course we have summer coming on and I suppose a few people away.
There's been a lot of stuff about weeds this week. The change in policy by Hounslow has been announced, where they will reintroduce the use of Glyphosate, the controversial chemical which is very widely used but has fairly clear evidence of hurting insects and less clear evidence it may be carcinogenic.
During the 6 years I was on Cabinet I was responsible for the street scene, and we had stopped using glyphosate throughout that period, though the temptation to reverse that had increased. We tried numerous alternative methods to control weeds on streets and pavements but the only one that really worked was workers with hoes etc, digging them out. In the first year or two that was OK, but as time went on it got more problematic because manual weeding leaves the roots and over time they became more established and virulent, so we had to deploy more workers and the slow speed of weed removal upset some residents, including the man who lived in £4million house in Chiswick complaining that he lived in a toilet.
A year ago, an initiative started by the Friends of Parks led, after what for me was a rather farcical interlude when Hounslow made a scientific review (farcical because there have been over 100 specialist investigations in the USA and probably as many within the EU which had not led to an agreed position). Ironically, at the end of that the council will be redeploying Glyphosate , but I'm told not in parks, where the whole change was supposed to effect! A number of streets in Brentford have said 'we'll do our own weeding' with some support with disposal etc by Hounslow Highways. That is probably the way out of this for those who are worried. I always defended the ban on Glyphosate because as an old lefty I suspect the studies sponsored by the chemical companies who say it's safe is highly dubious, but it is a challenge for the Cabinet to stick to that with the costs and slowness of manual weeding where many people are outraged to see a weed in their street.
On Saturday I had my surgery at the library. One customer, who wanted help with persistent graffiti on his private wall, plus a familiar complaint about multiple Lime bikes parked in a place where they are not supposed to be. He was also upset by a PCN he had received when he parked a hire car in his parking area. I am not allowed to intervene in these matters but it doesn't stop me mentioning the upset to the officers and suggesting they might want to reconsider, which I did.
This was his photo: on Boston Manor Road just down from the Church Walk junction. There is an official bay across Bostin Manor by the station, 100M away, but this is often empty!
I have worked with Katherine Dunne who is working hard on trying to get better discipline from Lime, but this far we have no real power over them, other than trying to persuade them. We need progressive legislation from the government please, because councils are struggling, especially in central London.
In the afternoon I made a trip around Dukes Meadow, my favourite leisure ride. Two new things I hadn't seen before. There is some development starting just by the railway bridge. The local councillor thinks it’s to do with the bridge.
This area is one which has been derelict for several years so I suppose improvement would be welcome, but I am very unhappy with so much of Dukes Meadow being occupied with empty car parks (they are very rarely used at all!). I searched for a planning application but cannot see one so I have enquired of the powers that be on the basis somebody know what is being done on council land (well, I hope somebody knows!)
Also, sniffing around there I found yet another private boat house there, again I think built on our land. I am certainly not against boat houses - the opposite - but we could do with at least one in Brentford (and Isleworth for that matter) to balance the private ones in Chiswick, where there are at least about 7 of them, mostly on what I believe is council land. This one is rather tucked away and I hadn't realised it was there until Saturday.
Later there was a concert in Watermans Park, the last this summer, which is a pity. It was a particularly good event with excellent musicians. This one caught my attention to the extent I bought a CD. Now, of course, I will have to work out how to play one. Oh, I have an ancient music machine, but these days PCs don’t seem to have CD drives 😱
Nice (?) to see the occupant of Ambulant had new flags on Saturday.
Totally francais on Saturday. It was Japanese combined with the USA by Monday. Still cannot get any answer from the council about the status of this boat. 6 or 7 years ago, after we evicted all the other squatters and had our legal costs reimbursed, I was told he was in conflict with the Port of London Authority but I have had no updates despite frequent requests. I presume he still does not pay any Council tax and still does not pay any rent for the use of access to Watermans Park. How he deals with drainage and sewage is unknown, though river people say they have ways I don't understand! Perhaps I'll find out some time. There has been little progress on the new marina: the council gave the developer a 'drop dead' date of 1st July. They did very little in the year they had and have now asked for more time. Like they did at previous ‘drop dead' dates, such as the one on 20th December 2020! Still sort of alive, and no date yet as to when this will be completed. Of course, they did make a contribution to some of the recent works in Watermans Park, but had we met the previous drop dead dates the council would have had rent and council tax for at least 5 years (oh and new moorings to provide homes for some river-loving people). Originally there were supposed to be 32, in 2 phases. but we are still nowhere near having phase 1.
Sunday was Brentford Market. It was lively as it always is, though I was disappointed that the fountain, now owned by Johns Estate Agents, a company associated with Ballymore, do not work on Sundays so nor do the fountains. I would have thought a company so passionate about Brentford would manage to find a switch on Sunday. Still, kids of all ages were having lots of fun with the bubble man and the rest of us were enjoying the stalls. I was delighted also to see a new flower shop within the former bookshop down the side of Morrisons. A bike place, a cobbler and some nice plants (I even bought 2 - excellent value).
Now one day this century we will have the council owned shops opening. One of them - an unnamed hairdresser - looks ready to open. Don't know about the 10 other secret tenants which I was told were committed nearly a year ago. A few of them have fallen by the wayside.
I spotted a very discreet Estate agent sign a few days ago with my eagle eyes so I am sure this is catching the attention of potential tenants as the walk or drive past.
As of a couple of days ago it is now on their website.
3 units available, it seems. I'm not holding my breath… After all. one of our manifesto promises was "Provide support for new SME’s to locate in vacant Council owned Commercial Units with a phased approach to rent."
Delighted to get Kew News this week. I'm a little uncomfortable it being called 'Kew' but I'll let that pass because it is one of my favourite charities, and the London Museum of Water and Steam seems to be going from strength to strength after a very difficult period.
There is loads going on there. Don't miss visiting the museum (also the 3 other museums in Brentford (though the bureaucrats in the Electoral Commission have moved one of them to Chiswick).
On Wednesday I met a French PhD student whose thesis is about the relationship between councils and religious organisations. He is comparing Paris with London, but one of the things he has discovered is how different it is around London. I am not at all religious and I suggested I was not the right person to talk to, but he was keen to talk to me as my views on it are as interesting as God lovers. He lives in Tower Hamlets and he suggested (I didn't press him) it was pretty different there to what I said about Brentford/Hounslow. I have a friendly relationship with various religions and sects and have never really had any problems other than one of the church schools being not very responsive. I'm actually delighted that our very diverse borough and town generally rub along together with little friction, though I fancy it is a little more challenging in Feltham and that end of the borough, but nothing bad.
Later on Wednesday, as life dictates, I was actually visiting the Armenian Diocese Centre where there was once a Princess Royal, but we have been demoted to housing a Bishop. This was to update on the Griffin Park development and the event was organised by a company called Myco whose catchphrase is Future Driven Construction. It occurs to me that that is pretty basic for any developer, but I don't want to carp. It was very busy and the person I spoke to couldn't answer my question. She referred me to someone else, but they were heavily engaged and I decided to give it a miss and enquire separately. All I really want to know is timescales and I was encouraged to see diggers already messing with the once sacred turf. I was pleased to see this plaque on the wall.
I reported some flytips as I walked along Brook Road South etc and reminded myself it was worth walking rather than cycling sometimes.
That was the worst. Not a flytip because within the property boundary but we need a bit of education on the art of getting rid of rubbish responsibly.
Today, Thursday, I was up to the old Gillette building. It has become a studio area and is very important for the development of our local economy. There is an important planning application in progress which makes changes to the iconic listed building. Apparently, this had been approved in March this year but I wasn't aware of it. It is frustrating for me that I have no opportunity to be on the planning committee, which means I miss things that matter to me. In the old administration planning membership was determined by an election within the Labour group and I managed to secure election every time. In this administration, decision is made behind closed doors by the Leader, and no doubt his clique. When I resigned from Cabinet the one thing I asked for was to be on planning. The Leader told me that was not possible because I am not a woman, something that I think is baloney, but I know I was always a member of the committee that made my own mind up, as then did The Melvinator, Tony Louki, John Todd. This sometimes irritated Steve Curran but to his great credit he never held it against me. At least John Todd is still an independent voice on the committee, but I understand he will step down next year, which will be a big loss for the council and an enormous one for what's left of the Conservative party.
Apparently, this was approved unanimously and there are some old shed round the back that nobody will miss and it's good to have new industrial activity in what has been a semi-derelict building for years. We had presentations from the great and possibly good from the council and one from the new occupier, which is a company called Vinyl Factory. It was introduced by director, Tim Robinson who is obviously a serious player in the music business.
Unfortunately I could not follow any of the speeches, a regular problem for me, though a few people I spoke to had the same problem. It was well attended and quite an exciting venue (though really the inside of an abandoned factory) and with stunning visuals.
That'll do for today.
Councillor Guy Lambert
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