Solving the failings of Hounslow Streetspace with Democratic Common Sense
If Council Leader Shantanu Rajawat is serious about working for all parts of the London Borough of Hounslow then undoing the failings of the Hounslow Streetspace programme implemented by his predecessor needs to be quickly addressed. The first step is to understand the magnitude of the problem.For the local elections on 5 May, the old Labour leadership, egged on by their few friends, mistakenly thought that the combination of the popularity of Hounslow Streetspace in Chiswick and as Ruth Cadbury stated, earlier this week, “this appalling government led by the worst Prime Minister this country has ever had” would see the Labour party romp home to victory across all seats in all wards. In Chiswick so confident were this elitist left wing momentum led minority, they even put forward the former Transport lead Hanif Khan as a candidate.Well, what transpired was that democracy prevailed and whilst Labour’s Amy Croft won a seat, and congratulations to her, the opposition to Steve Curran’s led Hounslow Labour Streetspace programme resulted in the Tory Councillors holding their seats. It has been good to see Cllr Croft say in the Chiswick Calendar that she was the beneficiary of the mood against this “appalling led Boris Johnson Government”, whilst Cllr Peter Thompson on Chiswick W4 has clearly articulated that during the election campaign “virtually everyone I spoke to had their own story of how the Hounslow Streetspace scheme was not working for them”.The cover of Covid allowed those in power, and those narrow interest groups, nationally and locally to abuse their positions, to disrupt the lives of many without regard to the wider interest of the people. Nationally, the Government said the rules applied to the masses but not their elite selves, and locally in the case of Hounslow Streetspace the Council thought they could ignore the huge majority negatively impacted as is made clear in Peter Thompsons Chiswick W4 article. As many of us, even those traditional Labour voters have said too.From the local elections the result, and as such the magnitude of the problem with the Hounslow Streetspace programme, was clear: it is the Hounslow Streetspace programme and the architects of that programme in Steve Currans former Hounslow Labour administration, egged on by narrow interest groups, that lost the election for Labour in Chiswick. A complete reset now needs to happen. Democratic common sense needs to return. As residents of Chiswick we should look forward to Cllr Shantanu Rajawat delivering on his promise and working with local residents through their Councillors, led by Cllr Peter Thompson. All the current schemes need to be amended now and to work for all of Chiswick, not an elitist few.
Jonathan Mabbutt ● 1558d14 Comments