Visit from the Mayor of London
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, paid a visit to Brentford on Wednesday. He had been invited to Brentford by Mary Macleod and met with local people and businesses, including Brentford Chamber of Commerce President Suzie Betlem.
At at time of major change and upheaval within Brentford, Suzie had a brief discussion with Boris, during which they discussed the various issues currently faced by Brentford businesses and residents alike. She explained that many believed that Hounslow Council and TfL had failed to comprehend the enormity of the transportation limitations and that the road infrastructure was already at breaking point – this was backed up by many attendees with people saying that it had taken 45 minutes to travel from Kew Bridge to Brentford. Indeed the Mayor himself was delayed.
The lack of plan from TfL to drastically improve the situation, coupled with huge pressures to build as many apartments as possible, mean that Brentford is in danger of becoming permanently paralysed. Once the approved plans have been completed, which is approximately 10,000 dwellings, and if the Golden Mile revamp gets approved, Brentford will be at a standstill. With no Cross Rail plans, no Tube Line, 4 trains an hour in rush hour and two main artery roads Brentford simply cannot cope with extra capacity.
The business community is suffering; most of the commercial industrial units have been pulled down, or face imminent demolition and these sites are not being replaced with similar buildings. Suzie stressed that whilst the Brentford Chamber of Commerce was very much in favour of regeneration, we felt that far more planning considerations needed to be in place before any further build is allowed in the Town Centre.
The Mayor wholeheartedly agreed and very quickly took on board our concerns. He assured Suzie that he would personally look into our concerns as a matter of urgency, as he could clearly see our needs were not being met. The Mayor informed us that he would be in contact with us shortly to arrange a meeting with his planning officers.