As the date of the next local election approaches – it’s Thursday, 7th May 2026 – councillors, candidates and local political party activists are canvassing door to door to identify where their supporters are. It catches out many whose normal life’s rhythm is, well, normal, unlike that of a councillor. Thank goodness for that as it is that normal view of the world that opens eyes to problems and generates work for councillors to do.
Knocking on doors last weekend, one was opened by someone who knew of me only because I had helped a friend of hers, a resident with a subtle but firm way of raising problems. Speaking softly, as she walked past me a couple of years ago, saying that the lights at a crossing over Chiswick High Road aren’t on long enough, she spoke for many older people whose first step off the pavement is more cautious, whose pace is less brisk, and whose common sense is more sharply focused on practical needs than many a highways engineer. Her quiet comment was in fact a very loud request. We didn’t achieve a change but I can’t not think about it when I cross at that spot, so powerful was this resident’s passing comment. People power, I thought. I will revisit it when I sense council obduracy is softening. Perhaps that will be in the run-up to the local elections.
Councillors were recently consulted (I am being ironic) about locations for more bike hangars in their wards, before the consultation went to residents near the spots where the bike hangars had been proposed. As happened before, some of the options had been very poorly chosen – in front of a house where its use was likely to be disruptive, instead of five yards away where it could be against a blank wall, bothering no-one. I recommended. No reply. Out knocking on doors again, two residents (several houses apart and on opposite sides of the road) commented on the badly chosen location of a bike hangar, suggesting … guess what … the blank wall a few yards away. My suggestion had been ignored. Why ask, I wondered (that’s irony). I encouraged the residents to suggest this other sensible location. People power? Perhaps. If residents are ignored, I will revisit it when I sense council obduracy is softening. Might that be in the run-up to the local elections?
It reminded me of a consultation (more irony) on the location of e-bike bays. A computer-based plan placed an e-bike space bang on the corner of a complex five-way junction with tight turns in all directions. I suggested moving it a few yards up the road where there were no conflicts with junctions. I suspect you can see where this is going. Ignored. Why ask (ironic). I’ve had numerous comments from residents about this location, including at last Saturday’s surgery, all suggesting that the e-bike bay should be moved … yup, to the spot I had suggested. People power? What are the chances of change … in the run-up to the local elections?
Leaves
On the doorstep, and at the monthly surgery my Chiswick Gunnersbury ward colleague Cllr Ron Mushiso and I hold in the Gunnersbury part of the ward we represent, the current hot topic – in fact it’s cold sludge, on pavements, along the kerbside and under parked cars – is leaves. Golden and glistening on magnificent trees; ghastly and grimy on the ground. Dealing with the same frustration year after year – swishing like children through dry leaves, everyone hoping (imaginatively) that they will be swept up before they become sodden and slippery after a winter monsoon – this murky mess is the price we pay for living in leafy Chiswick. But it need not be like this. We need more frequent road sweeps, especially in autumn.
Check Hounslow Highways’ current leafing programme to see when, or if, your road is to be swept. It will be this week for some lucky residents of Chiswick.
Councillor Joanna Biddolph
Read Cllr Joanna Biddolph's blog as published in The Chiswick Herald: https://hounslowherald.com/people-power-in-the-run-up-to-the-local-elec…
