Forum Topic

Proposed closure of Church St.

From Cllr. Guy Lambert's weekly TW8 Newsletter."Saturday was monthly surgery in the Mission Hall. A lady looking for a venue to run an after-school group (must get back to her) and another lady who wanted to protest about the imminent trial closure of Church Street in Isleworth to cars, which she believes will make her late for work each day after depositing her child at the Blue School. I’m sympathetic to her personal difficulties but we did hear the arguments for and against this closure at the last Isleworth and Brentford Area Forum and councillors unanimously (I think) agreed to the trial."Clearly Cllr. Lambert didn't pay any heed to the public meeting held at the Isleworth Public Hall recently, where it was quite clear the arguments for and against this decision seemed to consist of offering residents several options all of which contained a closure! He along with others needs to understand that where traffic is concerned you CANNOT look at things in isolation, this stupid and misguided plan will cause gridlock on the Twickenham Rd. The whole area from Busch Corner right up to the A316 roundabout has to be considered. Is Cllr. Lambert familiar with the area? If he is then he's talking balderdash, if he isn't then he should try driving around here in the rush hour. Listening to officers referring to their reports is not enough, councillors should familiarise themselves with the issues they are being asked to take decisions on, then he might understand the dreadful implications this decision so easily taken will have for all local residents.

Vanessa Smith ● 3734d1 Comments

It's not just Church street.It's the dismissal by officers of valid input by residents and the awful distortion of facts presented to both councillors and the public.Thankfully one or two councillors are astute enough to realise this.But even they did not get entirely satisfactory answers.Sitting through Last night's area meeting was indicative of that. Answers to pertinent questions went unanswered to councillors and residents alike.You could feel the contempt for 'the public'.  "How dare they."Albany road has been blocked off for the access to a new school annex.This should have been better arranged as it , coupled with separate matchday closures denies the quickest, most manouverable and safest access to most of the St Pauls/Griffin Park area for emergency services vehicles.The designated landing area for the air ambulance for riverside and local incidents is St. Pauls rec on the Albany road side and is now no longer easily accessible from the riverside or High Street. ( Emergency vehicles often transport paramedics to the incident location from the landing site.)So rather than removable barriers to Albany Road, they have installed permanent obstructions that would stop a Challenger Tank.As it is Cyclists now use the pavement and there have already been collisions with pedestrians and the risk to kids is more likely from a cyclist.LBH were made fully aware of this but dismissed it as irrelevant preferring to err to the schools one track agenda. Fine. And understandable to a point, but,  What if it's one of their pupils needing the air ambulance one day and they are not right next to the landing site at the time? Or that the Emergency services cannot access the school adequately? The fact is common sense is completely ignored and arrogance and a pure lack of respect for local advice and knowledge all too prevalent.

Raymond Havelock ● 3734d