JimThe issues which tax us all as elected members are aplenty - Council Tax, frontline services, Heathrow, education, crime and safety, public transport, the environment, etc.Each locality has its own special concerns. In Osterley & Spring Grove these are likely to include the impending developments at Brunel and Campion House, the CPZ north of the A4 and the lack of one despite numerous requests in Thornbury Road, inappropriate private development threatening the character of the area and so on.Every ward has its share of potholes, cracked pavements, overgrown verges, etc. and each party will tell you that for some unexplained reason its candidates will be able to address these issues more successfully than any of its rivals. The reality of course is that a good councillor is a good councillor whatever the colour of his or her rosette and a good councillor will be constantly tackling these issues with varying degrees of success, although they will always remain nonetheless.For us in the ICG the crux of the matter is not whether our councillors can get cracked pavements fixed more quickly than others, but the manner in which Hounslow Council is being run. I'm not going to give chapter and verse about this, (a) because I have some leaflets to deliver (brrrrrrrrr) and (b) because I have done so so many times already. Everybody who has lived locally for any length of time has had the opportunity to watch this council in action and will be familiar with the insistence of the ruling party upon dominating every aspect of our community life, stifling participation where it cannot be controlled or regulated by themselves and subverting the democratic process by expecting council officers - employees and servants of the taxpayer - to serve the ruling party before the people. Because they have been in charge for so long, many officers who require little persuading in this department are in positions of considerable influence, thus demoralising the decent and professional majority. For us in the ICG the question is one of openness and honesty in local government, as opposed to cronyism and the "not what you know but who you know" culture of which New Labour actually brags on the doorsteps (see the thread entitled "An Interesting Encounter" for more details). Our strategy for this election is no secret. We intend to increase the number of seats held by community councillors and by so doing to contribute to New Labour losing overall control of the council. What happens after that is down to the other non-Labour parties and groups but the price of our co-operation would be the implementation of some very profound changes which would rapidly reverse the process of "cronyfication" which has been the curse of our borough for too long.I would predict Jim that when you scan the election leaflets which will be arriving thick and fast through your letterbox during April, you'll be surprised how little difference there will be between the promises made by the various contenders. All of them will, for a month at least, be concerned about Campion House, Brunel, traffic, overdevelopment and so on. If you intend to base your decision purely on who promises what at election time, it will be a difficult choice to make.For us, issues are not the issue. We are concerned by the attitude and past performance of Hounslow Council, and intend to do something about it.
Phil Andrews ● 7046d