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Controlled Parking Zone in Linkfield Road

The council are consulting residents in the Linkfield Road area about introducing a CPZ.  This is for part of Linkfield Road & some surrounding roads.I'm afraid I don't have all the details to hand as I no longer live in Linkfield Road & haven't seen the documentation, but my mother asked if I could post something on this forum for her, so I'm doing this from memory...The council want to charge £60 (or £65?) per annum.  Anyway, that's for the first year - a friend's CPZ charge in a neighbouring borough got substantially increased for the 2nd & subsequent years!  Once it's in they seem to do what they want!She attended a meeting about it yesterday evening. My mother is against it.  She believes that CPZs are just a revenue generating scheme for councils.  As a pensioner, she will be getting an increase of £3 something per week in her pension & the council want to take £1 something of it so she can park in the road outside her house! (& with no guarantee of a space either.  In fact, the council want to introduce some yellow lines to the road, so existing parking spaces will be reduced).There aren't any parking problems during the day on week days anyway.  There is more of a problem in the evenings & at weekends, which is when the CPZ wouldn't be in force anyway!Another reason a CPZ is being put forward is to ease congestion in Linkfield Road due to it's narrowness, as when two or more vehicles meet it is very difficult for them to pass each other.  The current works in St John's Road & the crazy diversion scheme put in place have only made this situation worse. Again, presumably, these yellow lines would not be in force in the evenings/weekends, so do not present a solution.  For many years now we believe Linkfield Road should be made one way.  Now that Amhurst Gardens has been made one way (due to the St John's Road works diversion) & from what we understand, is to remain one way, it adds weight to the argument that Linkfield Road should be a one way street in the opposite direction to Amhurst. I couldn't find anything on Linkfield Road CPZ when I Googled, but I did find some contact details for Hounslow regarding CPZs which might be helpful if anyone wishes to contact the council about this or any other proposed CPZ:Traffic SectionCivic CentreLampton RoadHounslowTW3 4DNTel: 020 8583 2000E-mail: traffic@hounslow.gov.uk

Lynn Clark ● 7168d27 Comments ● 7162d

Rogues Gallery

I am so fed up with people deliberately parking their cars and vans in our drive, even directly under the signs saying it’s private, with bays marked out for our client’s use.It quite simply means that those with a legitimate right to park there are often forced out elsewhere.It’s the one’s who you’ve spoken to nicely and politely, appealing to their neighbourliness etc rather than getting legalistic and stroppy, who get up my nose. (Those that completely and brazenly ignore you of course, - sometimes a quiet word to ordinary people is all it takes, they can pretend they misunderstood the situation but now they know better for example). But those others who are happy to carry on sticking two fingers up in your face!!Yesterday I came back to find a long time offender parked at the end. There’s always someone different driving it every time I see it, but notes have been placed on the car, friends have pointed out the signs and read them out – (they claim to be unable to read English!), I have spoken nicely to one driver in the presence of police, they grunt agreement, then back they are, soon as one’s back is turned.This time I saw a woman enter and drive it off. I strolled up to the gate and took a photo to log the event, and I will be doing so consistently in future, for whatever good it does.What it did do this time, was provoke an unexpected visit to the front gate by a big glossy black well groomed gentlemen demanding to know why I’d photographed ‘his woman’ and promising that he’d get back from me that photo, just wait and see! Well I’m not sure even now what his problem was, or what he expected from me. Giving him a copy of the photo is easy, and I told him I’d send it to the police and he could get a copy from them as well. But if he wanted the ‘original’ then how does that preserve ‘his woman’s’ soul if that was the cause of their upset? Copies are now all over the place, is she splintered amongst the digital universe irretrievably? Gone are the days when you could destroy a negative and any prints. Maybe it was jealousy, thinking of others having an image to perve over? (Excuse me while I puke quietly off to the side). Scarcely enough seen of her for that, but still …Then again, maybe it was more prosaic, she’s not licensed to drive? That seems quite likely, and he doesn’t want the evidence that she does?I’m posting it here so he can assuage his tortured soul with the realisation that she can’t be recognised anyway. Not having left a name and address, how else could I oblige him?

Nigel Moore ● 7165d2 Comments ● 7163d

Crime is Not Acceptable

I just found out that someone stole two of my bicycles from the "secure" underground parking garage at The Island. In speaking with several people around Brentford, this kind of thing happens all the time.Crime should not be tolerated as an inevitable part of life! We should demand that the police beef up their presence in Brentford. I honestly can't recall ever seeing an officer walking the street with the exception of the parking patrol. And then to have the police station closed on Saturday and Sunday? C'mon! Criminals don't take the weekends off.Another way to fend off crime is to create a vibrant community; a community where people go into the streets after dark because there is something to do; a community where people look out for each other.A side effect of a vibrant community is jobs! The criminals who stole my bikes might not steal if they can make decent wages at an honest job. Of course, another side effect is that criminals leave vibrant communities to prey on the weak people of down-trodden areas.As much as I want to help Brentford become a thriving community though, I may not be able to stick around to see it happen:1. I don't feel safe, and I'm not willing to wait for safety to happen.2. Major development on the High Street won't happen until someone can figure out how to cost-effectively raise the south side of the street by 3 meters so that it will be out of the 1000-year flood plane. Am I throwing in the towel? Perhaps. Or maybe I'm just extremely frustrated. Why do other people think they have a right to my things? Brian

Brian Bishop ● 7189d30 Comments ● 7165d

Mogden on its knees?

The Mogden Residents Action Group (MRAG) has asked me to post its latest update on your forum. Apologies that its being posted a bit late as it has already been emnailed to hundreds of residents last week:    Dear Residents (copied blind to protect email privacy) As we enjoyed  a few days of warmer, dry weather, complaints against Thames Water's Mogden site are set to achieve record levels for March as Mogden's management fail to explain and thus abate the problem.  In reply to a serious complaint from Community Councillor Paul Fisher, Thames Water said there were no operational issues at Mogden, however there has been frequent use of the Storm Water Storage Tanks due to the treatment processes receiving very high flows recently. This was confirmed by Hounslow Council who advised that  there has been  recent prolonged use of the storm water storage tanks. Thames Water went on to say that it is  unable to respond to Cllr Fisher's  complaint received via MRAG in light of the current legal action being taken by residents.  The company referred us to its website where we had been assured that all recent events would be posted on its site log.  It was however noted that no site log has been posted since 4 March  and the company has not been in a position to investigate complaints thoroughly  to establish the source of odour because there has been a  problem with  the unit that converts the sensor signals so there have been  no wind speed or wind direction readings since 26 November 2006. The company has claimed since November 2006 that  the unit is being replaced but still no date can be provided on when the replacement or repair can be expected. In light of the company's inability to control odour from its site,  Hounslow's Lead Member for the Environment and Planning, Councillor Barbara Reid,  is demanding immediate answers why prolonged use of the storm tanks has been necessary over the last few  of days during dry weather, how many storm tanks have been in use,  and if the current improvement program will obviate the necessity for such prolonged use of the storm tanks.  She is also seeking  confirmation on when the tanks were last cleaned and explanations on what is causing such a huge increase in odour during the current dry weather. Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, Mary Macloud,  has now asked MRAG for an emergency meeting so she can be briefed on residents' concerns and updated on the history of Mogden and the current issues affecting residents. Besides the unprecedented and unexplained HIGH LEVELS OF ODOUR there have also this week been complaints on INCREASED MOSQUITO ACTIVITY as well as NOISE POLLUTION being caused by plant machinery at Mogden during the night.  We have asked Hounslow Council to investigate. Thank you to all who have logged complaints via MRAG. We will let you know if Thames Water or the Council offer any intelligent response. In the meantime please do dot hesitate to log your complaints via MRAG27@aol.com if conditions in your area do not improve. Mogden Residents Action Group  (MRAG)  www.mogden.org.uk

Steve Taylor ● 7172d0 Comments ● 7172d