Guy does seem keen to blame everyone else for the inactivity with Waterman’s, but he’s not being entirely honest.The call in of the proposal by the Secretary of State was entirely legal and part of the process due to the impact of any development on Kew Gardens, which is a Workd Heritage Site and has protected characteristics. Just because Guy didn’t like it, doesn’t mean it was incorrect for it to have happened.As for Covid, well nobody knew that was coming except perhaps some Chinese scientists in Wuhan.Truss was a disaster but the construction industry was already in difficulties before she came along, largely due to the exodus of foreign builders from the UK. Many Poles went back home because the economic opportunities there were better than in the UK, with low business taxation and better standards of living fuelling an economic boom there. Now, I wonder which current government is stifling the UK with idiotic policies? Probably the one Lsmbert was so enthusiastic about 18 months ago!Guy also ignores the way those running the old Waterman’s ran it into the ground. Its offer became so niche nobody was particularly beating a path there. Meanwhile, events that were attractive were simply not advertised by the organisation either on its website or in-house. Surely the councillors who sat on the board of trustees all those years, including one G Lambert, might have noticed there were problems but seemed to do nothing about it.As were elsewhere in Brentford things are being built, but an arts centre is about the lowest priority for a developer because it doesn’t bring the 25-30 percent profits routinely expected from any project.It has been open to the council to put in a Compulsory Purchase Order on the site to break the deadlock - as happened with the Filmworks site in Ealing - but the time for that has probably now passed.Don’t hold your breath on a new Waterman’s, folks. And any pre-election promises from Cllr Lambert that he will push it forward should be taken with a big pinch of salt.
Simon Hayes ● 33d