Forum Topic

Brentford High Street Community Clean Up Thursday 28th June 10am to 1pm meeting at Goddards Corner

This is part of a London wide initiative supported by the Mayor of London and Hounslow Council and sponsored by Proctor and Gamble.On Thursday 28th June from 10am to 1pm  we are inviting local people to join us to spruce up Brentford Hight Street, gathering in front of Goddards at 10. We will be clearing litter and rubbish, removing graffiti and cleaning street furniture. The event is being organised by Groundwork Thames Valley and we will provide gloves, litter pickers, black bags and materials. Hounslow Council will remove rubbish collected.Events are also taking place in Putney and other areas of London. Brentford has a terrific community and this is a chance for people to meet and improve their High Street, whilst chatting and maybe planning future events and initiatives. Please PM me if you can come along or if you would like more information.Best wishesKathleenCommunities Team ManagerGroundwork Thames valley

Kathleen Healy ● 4797d13 Comments

Hi,I,ve just been past there and can't see what has happened (apart from the blue red painty bit).Did money change hands to sponsor this?

Ian Silver ● 4787d

What can I say about this debarcle?I might start on a bit of a rant here but Brentford has history.  It might be a bit squalid but it's like that as a result of urban decay.  It might be in the brough of Hounslow but it is not Hounslow.  And some of us might like those derelict buildings as a reminder of the thriving businesses which once thrived in this area.  For a start the old factory was Wilson & Klyle not Wolfson & Kyle.  So I don't know where the author of thread got this misinformation from.Actually, on my way to West Mid this morning I noticed a gaggle of girls loitering outside Goddards; a bunch of girls who looked like they attended the local girls school and not girls local to the area.  I didn't see any blokes but then this wasn't really publised in the area except on this site.  On my way back from West Mid @ around half three this afternoon couldn't really see any changes except from a couple badly painted hordings at the bottom of Half Acre. No sign of wild flowers etc.It seems like everyone's trying to get in on the act cos of the Olympics torch relay or whatever trundling through the High Street and obviously someone is funding these types of fiascos but why waste money this way?

Xanthe West ● 4788d

All set for tomorrow. We will be meeting at 10 in front of Goddard's. Cultivate London are helping plant up the shrub beds in front of the store with colourful flowers and herbs and we will be paining the hoardings in front of the Wolfson & Kyle building in patriotic red, white and blue. I'll also have litter pickers and bags for a general clean up.Do come along if you can.

Kathleen Healy ● 4789d

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Sarah Felstead ● 4794d

I do wish you well,myself and a friend in Grosvenor road have been doing our bit for years, seeding unkept flower beds and patching grass areas, fixing railings and painting derelict items.Much to the amusement or disdain of others.But trying to organise a more active group has been thwarted again and again by the council. And much gets undone by vandals and those who treat their environs with no respect.If they did things well then I and others would not need to to this but we do and we will even if we have to be clandestine about it all.

Michael Brandt ● 4795d

Groundwork Thames Valley, local environmental charity, will be organising the event and providing insurance for volunteers.Suggestions for work so far include tidying and revamping the raised bed in front of Goddards and Cultivate London, who already maintain the bed in front of the Magistrates Court, may be helping with this.That's what it's about really, people who live or work in Brentford doing that bit extra, on top of the scheduled maintenance by the council to make it look really good. As Phil says these events work really well when lots of people come together. Bretford has a great community, so this should be a good event, already had a number of offers of help.

Kathleen Healy ● 4795d

Mrs Keen and Mr Harry Greenway used to ring up editors of local and national newspapers demanding to know why their pictures were not prominent in editions.Fair enough if it was the fruit of their efforts but it very rarely ever was.Another issue for Leveneson pushy politicians manipulating local journalists

Michael Brandt ● 4795d

Ann £een would have attended the opening of an envelope if to get her boat in the paper.

Keith Iddon ● 4795d

"The 6 months later hey! 'Labour organise clear up of park a community effort'"I'm afraid that kind of thing is par for the course when you are dealing with party politics, although that doesn't make it any less infuriating when it happens.  It is also very important for the people concerned, of course, to maintain the myth (even to themselves) that the wider community is incapable of organising anything without their help.  It gives their own political existence justification and meaning.It reminds me of the time back in 1997 when residents of the Syon estate marched to protest against plans by the Duke of Northumberland to create a vehicular access point into Syon Park from the London Road.  It happened to be during the build up to the general election of that year.The march was supported across the political divide with lots of groups involved, not so much working together as all helping in their own separate ways.  A local Socialist Workers Party activist provided a loudspeaker system.  The ICG produced a leaflet to hand out to passers-by and sent a number of activists to boost the numbers on the march.  The Liberal Democrat and Green candidates took part in the event.  But what was most important was that it was an activity planned by residents, and participated in by residents.When the march had finished all those residents who had taken part gathered outside Syon House for a group photo.  Right at that point both the Conservative MP (Nirj Deva) and his Labour challenger (Ann Keen) emerged from the car park opposite with their respective campaign teams (I assume from separate cars), positioned themselves at the FRONT of the group of residents for the photo, then promptly disappeared again!Most normal people would not have had the sheer nerve to do something like this, but to these two it was perfectly normal behaviour and there was not a hint of unease or embarrassment about either of them.  These types really are a breed apart.

Phil Andrews ● 4795d

I seem to recall LBH sending lawyers out to stop locals cleaning up a park not so many years ago.The 6 months later hey! "Labour organise clear up of park a community effort"Notable was the MP and Councillors only hung around for a photocall and even took tools off of those doing the work. Scoffed all the food and drink and went off leaving about 6 people doing the work including an old lady with a kitchen dustpan and brush.Sorry but people have huge contracts to keep everything clean and tidy and the politicians have a responsbility to us to ensure that happens and that those who litter and abuse the place get penalised.Secondly according to LBH. There are liability issues in such a thing so who is responsible if an accident occurs?

Anthony Waller ● 4795d

The purpose of events of this kind is to garner a sense of co-operation, community and social responsibility and their strength is in the way they pull together all the different agencies and interest groups - police, council (members and officers), residents' associations, civic and amenity groups, faith organisations - in a common endeavour.  They are good for locale morale and a superb vehicle for community cohesion.Sometimes Payback teams are also involved and this helps to instill them with a sense of belonging to a wider community as well of course as putting them to good practical use.When I was Lead Member for Community Safety at LBH I had the honour of overseeing several of these initiatives in different parts of the borough.  They were well received almost everywhere by residents who understood their ethos and appreciated the efforts of all those volunteers who gave of their free time to do something to try to improve their local environment, albeit in a very small and admittedly tokenistic way.Interestingly the exception was Chiswick, where having learned of our activity several locals came immediately onto the W4.com forum and proceeded to demand a Council Tax refund as they believed they should not be paying for such services if volunteers from other parts of the borough were prepared to do it for them for free!If I can get the time off work I will certainly be supporting this activity, and I have no hesitation in urging others to do so too.

Phil Andrews ● 4797d

Whilst I fully understand what Keith is saying - and agree with him too - a one off clean up as a community has a great deal of value and with the torch coming shortly, I would love the high street to look its best.  I have given up on Hounslow High Street however, and hope the torch passes the area by.It would be lovely to have some of those big community campaigns such as keep Britain Tidy – which I am sure we all remember – as there are so many pockets of rubbish which are ignored.Most recently I had to negotiate the piles of bread put out to feed the birds in Hounslow high street – in the rain the area become thick stodge ready for somebody to slide on – and the pathway between The Grove and Harvard Road Isleworth.  I may well take my own litter picker and bag and have my own clean up in the bushes on this footpath.I looked up the area in Hounslow High street (which had at least a loaf of bread distributed on the ground) and the picture on Google earth actually shows the pigeons munching on something.  Hope this link works and you will see for yourselves.
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Sarah Felstead ● 4797d

Thanks for the invitation Kathleen but I will not be taking you up on this.I already pay top dollar for LBH to do this and I don't see why,as I don't ask them to help me to do what I am paid on a contractual basis to do at my place of work, they or anyone else thinks I should do this.Let young offenders or those on community sentences do it and leave the rest of us taxpayers free to keep paying our taxes.

Keith Iddon ● 4797d