Temporary No Parking notices being posted across Osterley and Spring Grove Ward of late
Following weeks of numerous enquiries as to when the streets of Osterley and Spring Grove Ward would be liberated from weeds, Hounslow Highways sent me this list.
On checking the schedule, it was noted that a fair amount of roads and footpaths in the borough’s largest Ward were omitted so I shared this sheet with the missing third of locations and still await an update, hoping for the best.
About to take the Loukimousine to the football yesterday, I spotted a parking ticket under one of the wipers placed on the day the first side of the road got swept.
Yes, it has been paid; no councillor privilege expected nor sought. Rinsed as well as cleansed.
Would that the council’s parking contractor was as enthusiastic in enforcing the CPZs off the London Road School Streets Scheme during term time mornings and afternoons.
Local, low level, offenders have been carrying out unpaid work to tidy up some space in Osterley and Spring Grove Ward as part of the Community Payback Scheme.
Located at St Mary’s Tennis Club since Autumn 2020, they cleared rubbish on the nearby sports ground, trimmed overgrown bushes, painted boundary walls, the inside and outside of the pavilion, mown grass, undertaken planting and have currently been sweeping recent leaf fall.
Cut lawn, planting and tidying at St Mary’s Tennis Club, Musgrave Road
Before and after the Community Payback deep weed on Musgrave Road, October 2021
Not confined to within the boundary of St Mary’s, the participants, with equipment and bag supplies from Hounslow Highways, also litter pick locally. They have, this October, done a smashing job weeding the rather special crazy paved edge of the Musgrave Road footway between Wood Lane and College Road receiving compliments from neighbours.
At St Mary’s, offenders are supervised (by Trish of the London Community Rehabilitation Company) and must wear orange high-vis jackets, allowing them to be easily identified by the public; recognisable as doing work to improve local communities.
The Community Payback Scheme is a nationwide programme run by the National Probation Service and sentences of between 40 – 300 hours can be issued to individuals by courts, depending on the severity of their crime and previous offences.
When an offender starts on a project, they are also offered online education, training and employment courses if there is a need and these contribute towards their unpaid work hours by up to 30%.
In general, and it’s nothing new, this initiative has offered visible improvements to local areas, helps to reduce fear of crime, and also equips offenders with essential life skills which aim to prevent them reoffending.
Meeting with council officers and the London Community Rehabilitation Company, December 2020
Following my encounter with the offenders and Trish at Musgrave Road, last year, I arranged, as Mayor, a meeting between the service and senior officers of the London Borough of Hounslow with a view of offering more opportunities in similar settings and understand that a partnership is developing.
Also working at Gunnersbury Park, St Richards School, Hounslow Youth Centre and Hounslow Allotments and at various charity shops, Oxfam, Cancer Research and Sue Ryder; Community Payback completed 1132 hours of unpaid work within projects on the borough during the month of November 2020.
I have visited a couple of times since and remain impressed with the contribution to improving the Ward environment.
TL 30.10.2021
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The London Borough of Hounslow Contingency Planning Unit has shared details of a London Fire Brigade exercise scheduled for Thursday 21 October 2021 at the University of West London site close to where the A4 and M4 meet Boston Manor Road in Brentford.
The Paragon, Brentford
Under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), Category 1 organisations such as the council and fire service have a statutory duty to “test the effectiveness of their emergency plans by carrying out exercises”.
This exercise planned for from 1.00 pm, tomorrow 21 October 2021, will last approximately three hours and involve 12 or more LFB appliances as well as smoke machines to practise high rise fire and evacuation procedures. A briefing may be found here.
The event will therefore be very visible to the public, potentially from some distance away, including people of Osterley and Spring Grove Ward. Residents should be reassured but, obviously, if in any doubt the advice is to still call 999 who will appropriately field calls.
The organisers have worked with the council’s traffic team and Transport for London to put in place arrangements to minimise any traffic disruption with the large number of Fire Brigade appliances taking part.
The LBH Contingency Planning team will be at the exercise with LFB on the day assisting with coordination of some volunteer students from West Thames College who have kindly agreed to be ‘evacuated’ from the building and testing some of the council response arrangements on site.
TL 20.10.2021
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The Council’s Pothole Pledge for 2021 has completed the initial first phase of 14 roads across the borough, four of which were resurfaced in Osterley and Spring Grove Ward during August 2021: The Grove from Harvard to Spring Grove Road, Thornbury Road from London to Spring Grove Road, Weston Gardens and Thornbury Avenue.
The Director of Environment meeting my resident at Weston Gardens May 2021
Hounslow Highways is gearing up for 50 days of continuous work between October and Christmas to complete another 34 roads, five more in our Ward: Wood Lane north of Great West Road, Borough Road, part of Grove Road, Ridgeway Road North and Osterley Avenue.
Weston Gardens, Thornbury Avenue, Borough Road, Wood Lane and Osterley Avenue were earmarked because residents raised matters with Ward Councillors or contacted the council direct. The surfaces of most of those and of Ridgeway Road North, Thornbury Road and The Grove (not my preferred part) have also been the subject of numerous of my FixMyStreet reports to Hounslow Highways.
On a resurfaced Thornbury Avenue September 2021
The full list of roads completed and those to be treated can be found here. All roads will be closed to vehicles traffic for the duration of the works. Some will be completed in a day; longer roads may take up to 4 days. Closures will take place from 08.00 and 17.00 each day the highway crews are on site treating the roads.
Wood Lane and Ridgeway Road North are part of the H28 bus route and London Buses will arrange bus stop closures and diversions for the days in question.
Current state of Ridgeway Road North
Residents on affected roads will be written to, advance warning signs put up two weeks before works start, and cones and barriers put out the day before. Resident entry or exit at the closed areas, will be marshalled through the site by an operative at a maximum speed of 5 mph. There will be approximately an hour where no traffic will be permitted when the new surface is laid down.
Whilst all of the borough’s roads are not perfect, the Pothole Pledge has dealt with the roads that our residents and citizens nominated as needing treatment and has built on the work of Hounslow Highways over the years of their contract.
Borough Road to be fixed following residents’ approaches to their ward councillors
For the second year running Hounslow’s roads have been independently assessed, by the London Technical Advisors Group (LoTAG) as the best in London, see the report here.
Road surfaces do deteriorate and, when noticed, potholes can be reported to Hounslow Highways via FixMyStreet.
TL 1.10.2021
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Hounslow's streets and street services are having a major make-over. If you have problems or questions concerning any aspect of this work then please contact <a href="https://fms.hounslowhighways.org/.
Tony Louki's Report Back 