Recent News

As this saga continues, Councillor Joanna Biddolph reports on the latest round in the battle between one JC Decaux advertising hoarding and the Great Marlborough Estates’ multi-million pound regeneration of Empire House and stretch of Chiswick High Road opposite Turnham Green. It’s unsightly. It blocks the view of our historic Chiswick High Road. Its benefit…

So much has been written about TfL’s controversial Streetspace schemes and low traffic neighbourhood schemes (LTNs), or discussed at meetings, it’s easy to lose track of important articles, surveys, consultations, research findings and petitions.  This compendium will be added to as and when to create a useful resource for Chiswick residents and businesses.  Hounslow Council…

Chiswick residents are rightly taking Tier 4 and lockdown extremely seriously. Many essential retail shops, shops that are closed but allowed to offer click and collect, and cafes and restaurants that are allowed to trade for takeaway and delivery, are reporting that business is significantly lower – we aren’t ordering takeaways or shopping from our local shops…

TfL’s proposed Bollo Lane development will have an enormous impact on Hounslow residents, putting even more strain on local infrastructure – schools, GPs, buses, trains, tubes, roads and more. It will also tower over, and overshadow, the charm of the nearby Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate, pretty mock-Tudor houses built in 1927, in the important Gunnersbury Park conservation area…

Want to spend your Chiswick pounds in Chiswick? Here’s a road by road list, compiled by the three councillors of the Chiswick Shops Task Force, of all the independent shops where you can find gifts and treats for stockings, presents and the food and drink on your table.  It’s a fact that many of us…

Hounslow cabinet members’ lack of grip on their portfolios was exposed in overview and scrutiny call-in.  The cabinet decision was referred back on all four grounds of the call-in. Members of the committee noted cabinet’s imaginary consultation, non-existent change management, absence of evidence of need for the schemes, no consideration of outcomes relative to actions, and…

Hounslow’s Chiswick councillors tabled a motion of no confidence in council leader Steve Curran for debate at the Hounslow borough council meeting on Tuesday, 10th November 2020. This is what Cllr Ranjit Gill would have said if the Labour group hadn’t ended the debate early, stifling discussion.  The Leader of the Council is meant to…

Hounslow’s Chiswick councillors tabled a motion of no confidence in council leader Steve Curran for debate at the Hounslow borough council meeting on Tuesday, 10th November 2020. Cllr Joanna Biddolph of Turnham Green ward seconded the motion. Her speech is below.  Thank you Mr Mayor. I’m seconding this motion because of the total lack of regard…

Cllr Joanna Biddolph today asked Cllr Steve Curran, leader of Hounslow Council, to do the decent thing and admit his group has made a mistake; remove the temporary schemes; hold a proper unbiased independently-run and independently-evaluated consultation to draw up suggestions; then consult on those suggestions. Her email followed an exchange about the number of…

All nine councillors representing Hounslow’s Chiswick wards have signed an open letter to the secretary of state urging him to act swiftly to reverse the damaging new traffic measures and prevent others in the pipeline being implemented without full a public consultation and a thorough review by independent professionals. Speaking for all the councillors, Cllr…