Ed Saper writes: "Politicians with an agenda don't do surveys because they want to know what people think. They do them to justify the decisions they've already taken. And yes - that works for both sides of course. But a survey designed and hand delivered* by a politician is going to have a lot more in-built bias than one done by an independent third party to Market Research Society standards (which this one wasn't, despite the claim). *Actually, I don't know if Biddolph hand delivered the survey, but I'm going to leave it in as it just sounds like the sort of thing she would have done :-)”For clarity, the Chiswick Shops Task Force did conduct the survey because we wanted to know what traders thought. That was the point of the survey. We had already had a great deal of feedback on the Devonshire Road Streetspace scheme which was a very useful starting point for compiling the questions. Those comments were not in favour of the Streetspace status quo. There was, however, a free-flowing section for traders to add their comments and many did. Some traders added comments in emails when they returned their completed surveys. They were free to say that they wanted the road to stay as it currently is. All those free flowing comments - on paper and in emails - were included in the analysis. A link to that is below. I sent the survey to traders by email but had numerous requests for it to be on paper so I hand delivered as requested. I hand delivered others when on Devonshire Road checking traders had received the email who then asked for it on paper. We received completed surveys by email and on paper. I hand collected the surveys that were completed on paper. Hand collecting was very useful as it resulted in a very high response rate - only two didn’t take part - which meant the responses were as representative as possible. The survey was compiled, with useful graphics and boxes to make choices clear, and analysed by a professional market researcher. If there was any bias it was because the survey was solely for traders. However, one of the most rewarding aspects of doing the survey was to have confirmed just how concerned traders are about the wider implications of any scheme on, for example, residents living above the shops, on Prince of Wales Terrace, in the Glebe Estate and further down Devonshire Road. Community-mindedness is very strong here. And that’s why we asked Hounslow to conduct a survey among residents on Devonshire Road, Prince of Wales Terrace, in the Glebe Estate and the southern section of Devonshire Road. The Hounslow council consultants who conducted a survey after ours, and who I met, asked some residents for their views and, presumably, that informed their recommendations which presumably, in turn, informed Hounslow council’s announcement today. I look forward to seeing that consultation and its analysis. So far, we only have Hounslow's statement which, judging by my email inbox and phone calls today, has left many confused. I have asked for clarity. Here are the results of the survey by the Chiswick Shops Task Force: http://turnhamgreen.yourcllr.com/2021/05/16/devonshire-road-first-survey-adhering-to-market-research-society-guidelines-reveals-that-while-over-half-want-the-road-restrictions-reversed-there-is-a-high-level-of-support-for-a-compromise/
Joanna Biddolph ● 1952d