Reading the exchanges about Chiswick Pets again it is is obvious that the lack of alignment of Campbell's views with reality and common sense simply illustrates his ignorance and prejudice and how he and his fellow activists always seek to distort truths to defend the weakness of their single-minded beliefs. His attacks on the owners of the pet shop, the electrical shop and others have no substance since anyone with a thread of understanding retail would know that reduced footfall only means reduced business. The true culprits in all of this situation are the lead councillors and submissive transport officers sitting miles away in Hounslow Council's offices. They are unhealthily aligned to the thinking of the activists and have repeatedly ignored genuine local opinion as expressed in their own surveys. The so called consultation concerning Devonshire Road was so technically flawed and poor that it could never be representative of trader and other opinion yet the Council applied its "we know best" approach and proceed to reduce short-term parking anyway and introduced an ill-conceived access restriction that has at times confused visitors to Devonshire Road. Traffic flows on the road have been historically low and there has not been a conflict/accident problem for vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists before and after the pandemic, yet a need for reduced parking and pointless access restrictions was "manufactured" and they were implemented. The Council and its supporters appear to be blind to the fact that post-pandemic the retail trade needed as much support as possible and there has been too much emphasis on supporting restaurants and cafes with fair-weather, outside dining while not recognising that the majority of fashion, and service retailers who have on-line competition still required a mix of footfall from both pedestrians and vehicle users, especially for bulk items or because some customers simply have to rely on their cars for mobility etc. It is all about balance which the Council and the likes of Campbell simply do not understand. If the Council really believes in a Chiswick as a vibrant mixed-used town centre then it should remove the pointless access restriction, re-instate all of short-term car parking spaces and thus encourage the necessary mix of customer footfall. As an aside, a Freedom of Information request has been submitted to Hounslow to find out how much public money has been spent on the latest pavement build out that seems to have one purpose only, cheap dining space in good weather only for one restaurant. Is this a balanced use of public funds? Finally, I wonder where Campbell buys his dog food?
David Kerr ● 25d