Forum Topics

BRENTFORD CARNIVAL

I have lived in brentford all my life and we used to have a good carnival years ago and i think the last one was 2000. I tried getting on the commitee but they were very unhelpful.Its a shame we have lost our carnival many other towns like hanworth and hanwell have great carnivals and go to great length with them so why cant we.there are many talented people in and around brentford it could be fantastic esp the parade.I have been talking to different people around brentford and here is some of there views.1.The carnival should be before the kids break up for the holidays so that each and every school could take part by teacher nominating 2 pupils from each class to enter for the beautyqueen/princess or stud/king of Brentford which could be judged at the watermans art centre .and for every school to make a float and costumes to be in the parade with the best school winning a prize. and all the brentford residents to be invited to dress up in costume to add to the atmoshire and be in the parade. the parade is the most important part of carnival.2.All the pubs and clubs to take part with a float from there brewrys and to have teams for  tug of war between the pubs thats what we used to have years ago. and the shops to take part would be great and free advertising for them.3.Lots of competions with prizes and certificates Animal, Bouncing Baby, Dancing Best D.J best Break dancer five aside football etc some of the competions to be judged at the watermans a month before and the winners to perform on the day. and small prizes to go to all that attend the cometions to say thank you get all the local news papers involved on the day.and a disco with local d.js 4 The parade to be more colourful and flambouent costumes and proper canival calipso music little a mini notting hill and milatry bands and drummers and dancing in the streets whistle blowing and horns beeping like it used to be.5 A carnival workshop to make costumes through out the year and to meeting at.the Football ground,  watermans art centre,clayponds hall or mission hall would be good for this. Free advertising in all the local paper in the shops and schools not days before but a good month before.6. Volentry security of brentford people for the day. famous brentford person to open the new carnival.Stalls to be only £5 so everybody gets a chance to come and sell things and craft and art stall by local brentford people would be great. which could be done at the  carnival workshop. all clubs eg brownies guides scoutes and classes to be involved and all the local shops to donate money or goods for raffles and tombolas.7. Proceeds from the carnival to go to the special care premature baby unit at west middlesex hospital many of us are greatfull to the special care our babys born early recieve at west mid i have had 2 of my own children in the unit they are fantasic and need funding for more incubators and when you have had a premature baby born early you appricate all they do there without them my babys might not have survived. Also putting some back in to making the carnival suceed for the following year.8.To hire with the donations a bouncey castle and small fair rides and candy floss and popcorn machine  so we could charge a small amount rather than £1.50 for a candy floss many people said it was always to expensive at the carnival. when you have more than 1 kid its very expensive. pony rides 50p9. a news letter just about the carnival for school and groups and local places 2 months before and for stall holders. volunteers for all aspects of the carinival. The route and the time is very important people always want to give small change as the parade goes past so buckets would be helpfull or collection pots.10.To end the evening at the watermans art centre with a carnival themed costume ball  with balloons and decor done by myself  as im a qualified balloon artist and florist and costume maker, for cinderellas and princes allowed out past midnight and prizes for the best costumes and proper carnival soca , reggea salsa music for all who want to party through the night. After the carnival photos and costumes to be displayed at the watermans art centre for all to see what fun us BRENTFORD people can really have A big good Luck to Brentford Football club in ther games to come.If anyone has any views on the carnival or would like to do anything with me on it please do hesitate to get in touch i would be interesed to see if any one could get this off the ground.all the best and thanks for readingDebbie Dewar

Debbie Dewar ● 7091d20 Comments ● 1d

Developments on Commerce Road, Brentford.

Whilst all eyes and ears may be concentrated on the Ballymore development ...south of the High Street ... and perhaps on the skyscrapers rising to the east of Brentford ... near the Football Stadium ... there is evidence that Commerce Road is in for further changes too.The old factories have gone and new builds are already occupied and being referred to as Brentford Lock West.A brand new Bus Garage is now open which was much needed.Some of the new builds look most boringarchitecturally and are most uninteresting to observe.Another large "old factory" area on the west side of Commerce Road is currently boarded up ... and it's fate seems obvious. In addition we hear that Sega (on the Great West Road, opposite Gunnersbury Park) are moving to Chiswick ... which enables the  site to be demolished and replaced by buildings of greater volume.So many industrial buildings on the Great West Road have been adapted for residential use that the number of incomers in the next few years is going to be staggering and the pressure on local services should be of concern.I think that these future happenings are not known by local folk and the implications not understood.Are you alarmed?

Jim Lawes ● 9d6 Comments ● 1d

Chiswick and Ealing Isolation Hospital

A very interesting but sad story about the nurse killed by her father in the thirties on the front page currently. It shows honour killings are not necessarily a new thing.If I am reading this right there would have been quite a substantial medical campus reaching from the existing Clayponds site right up to the South Ealing Cemetery. What a shame all the land wasn't kept for NHS facilities.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 8d0 Comments ● 8d

Regarding Dial a Ride if you’re interested

Please remember this service is for people who cannot use public transport and do not have their own vehicle, and that the drivers of the buses are not volunteers.My solutions for Dial-a-Ride would be to start they must be better funded, they need the app to be clearer when bookings are confirmed, they need to speed up the recruitment process, they need a bank of drivers that they can draw on when there are staff shortages, they need to prioritise certain types of bookings, particularly those going to medical facilities, if this needs other types of bookings to be rearranged, so be it, another possibility could be to return to one passenger journeys most of the time, I know this sounds strange but it will speed up the process and enable them to take more bookings, I don’t have a problem sharing the bus with other passengers if their Collection point or destination is the same as mine or is on the way to mine or vice versa but that isn’t always the case.The backup system for Dial-a-Ride Is Taxicard However, They either don’t turn up or turn up late most of the time. I’ve missed Doctors appointments and was left for more than one hour in the street two weeks ago, they didn’t turn up due to a lack of availability. this is not unusual and happens regularly to me, just think about it, how long would you wait for a cab? Would you wait more than an hour? Even if it was a very cheap service? I think not! I have concluded that the simplest solution would be to give the contract for Taxicard to Uber. A more complicated solution is to give people who are members of the Taxicard scheme digital taxi vouchers, like a preloaded debit card and make all taxi companies and taxi drivers take them. that way, if one company can’t fulfil your booking someone else can. And you might be able to hail a taxi in the street sometimes as well as use a cab service.I’ve had to delete most of what I’ve written because it was far too much. So this is just the basics. And it still seems too much!

Patricia Feeney ● 13d2 Comments ● 13d

Incessant thumping

If it’s bad for us, god only knows what it must be like for residents closer to the building site. We work from home and are going out of our minds. Anyone doing shift work or trying to put a baby down for a nap must be virtually homicidal. Does anyone know how long it’s going to go on for? It’s unfair and intolerable.

Tracie Dudley Craig ● 45d17 Comments ● 14d

APCOA Takes Over Local Boroughs' Litter Patrols

News item on this site.This could herald an improvement.  I'd like to know whether their contract includes residential streets and will they be reporting fly tipping and excessive littering?Any further info on this Councillor Guy?

Andy Herrick ● 18d6 Comments ● 14d

Fly tipping

Whoever fly tipped the bed and mattress on our street at 1030 pm last night probably didn’t twig that they are fully covered by CCTV…. So when we are able to confirm where they came from, are the street residents allowed to lift it and put it back on their driveway?

Sarah Felstead ● 31d27 Comments ● 15d

Pollution map

Just published - the Watershed Pollution Map.https://watershedinvestigations.com/home/find-out-whats-polluting-your-local-rivers-lakes-and-coast/"The Watershed Pollution Map reveals a huge range of potential pollution sources that can harm rivers, lakes, groundwater, coasts and more"

Andy Herrick ● 16d0 Comments ● 16d

GSK site could accommodate 4,000 new residents

Reading the report on the front page, the developer seems to be working very hard to play down the likely scale of this scheme with its touchy feely language but it looks set to be huge.I asked Chat GPT what the number of residents for a 5.4 acre site in this part of London would be and the answer, for a high rise residential scheme was 4,000. This takes into account the London Plan and planning restrictions.To be clear, this housing is needed and I don't buy into the argument that new people moving into an area causes problems with services other than transport. People in other parts of the UK, where population is falling can't get GP appointments - the issue is chronic under investment by the government.However, we do need avoid having the wool pulled over our eyes about how massive this plan is and to think carefully how this new neighbourhood appearing will impact the area.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 35d8 Comments ● 20d

Forum Comments

Please does anyone know how long it takes for questions/comments to appear on the forum?  I've posted a couple & nothing has appeared!

Alison Smith ● 22d4 Comments ● 21d

Councillor Guy Lambert's weekly Reports improving!

We must ... well I do ... give credit to Guy Lambert who has now relinquished his Hounslow Council 'Cabinet' role.His current Report (on the front page)reads well. Informative and with a bit of bite.He must now feel more relaxed in not having such an extensive portfolio ...and health permitting, he should be able to further concentrate on Brentford matters.I liked the informative reference to the Honeywell building and it's long empty neighbour across the road etc.It was a good read ... compared with some airy fairy Reports before ... which seemed to skip over feedback on the meetings he attended.So, an improvement is my view!Like others ...I wish him well.

Jim Lawes ● 54d12 Comments ● 27d

Chatting to new people on the buses & at bus srops

Being a bit of an old git these days,I find walking and "talking to strangers" such a delight.Sometimes I can speak with 5 or morenew people a day in Brentford and around.Several Ukrainians and Polish people come to mind. At Brent Lea yesterdayI spoke to a lady who had been at the Holiday Inn for a conference. She was on her way to Boston Manor Station and onwards to Kings Cross and Yorkshire.She had recently returned from a one year assignment on Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic and prior to that 4 years on the Falkland Islands."Where you in the Services"?" No I worked for the UK Goverment"Then my bus arrived. Not hers!On buses I chat to 90 years olds whorarely engage in conversations.(they say)Speaking to a Russian student at a W6 cafe was interesting too.So if you CAN get out and about (not in a car!) enjoy walking and talking.It's good for your mind ... and theirs perhaps.Any similar experiences?

Jim Lawes ● 90d16 Comments ● 31d

Brentford Canal Festival - visits to St. Lawrence's Church

As part of the Canal Festival on 22nd June, there is an opportunity to visit the interior of St. Lawrence's Church.Free entry will be available by ticket only, with one ticket per person. The tickets will be provided on a first-come first-served basis and will be available on the day from 12.00 noon at the Hounslow Heritage Guides/Local History stall at Brentford Lock piazza.There will be four separate timed visits, with a maximum of 30 persons per visit. The visits will begin at 1.00, 2.00, 3.00 and 4.00 p.m. and each will last about 30 minutes.

Jim Storrar ● 36d2 Comments ● 34d

ULEZ

I read this morning that 70% of fines are un-paid and one driver has over 200 unpaid fines which amount to £46.682 with all the cameras I find both 70% and 200 fines appalling. No point in having the ULEZ if you can't enforce it.

David Squire ● 56d15 Comments ● 41d

Watermans Fire - an opportunity?

This might seem like a desperate attempt to see the glass as half full but maybe the Watermans Fire was not the complete disaster it appeared to be at first sight. The centre was still technically occupied by the Hounslow Arts Trust and it appears nothing significant could have been done to the structure until their lease was up in September.Now remedial work needs to be carried out straight away and insurance presumably will cover much of these costs and perhaps an extra pot of funding could be found to upgrade and repurpose the building.On the other hand someone who is a 'glass half empty' person will tell you that before the end of the year the council will announce that the cost of repairing the centre isn't justified and complete demolition is the only viable option.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 50d13 Comments ● 42d

Stray Dog Found

Good afternoon everyone. A stray dog (a female, staffy cross) has been found on Green Dragon Lane today. She is safe and well and all owner claim enquires should be directed to animalwarden@hounslow.gov.uk - Many thanks.

Tony Bull ● 45d0 Comments ● 45d

Amazing news about Lidl

Really pleased to learn that Lidl will be taking over the old Morrisons site. I had been hoping it would be them. It is hard to say whether Morrisons have increased prices in the new store beyond what they might have done if they had stayed put but Lidl is much cheaper either way. I strongly recommend you sign up for the Lidl Plus card as it regularly gives you free stuff including a fresh baked loaf of bread every month.

Kenneth Seally ● 50d14 Comments ● 47d

Lost bag Glenhurst/Windmill Road 090625

Hello - unfortunately I have lost my black shoulder bag with a yellow wallet, earlier today in the vicinity of Glenhurst/Windmill road earlier this afternoon.  Hoping someone has found it, thank you

Paris Draghici ● 47d0 Comments ● 47d

Gillette Clock - scaffolding

Does anyone know why scaffolding has been erected around the clock face of the famous Gillette Tower?

Richard Atterwill ● 87d3 Comments ● 47d