Just before Christmas the battle for a fair deal for residents over Mogden entered its latest phase as three Abatement notices were finally issued. This was a key milestone in the battle for better treatment of local residents by Thames Water. MRAG and Cllr Jon Hardy are to be congratulated in their persistence. It was good to see Jon get the recognition he deserves in the Hounslow & Brentford Times as Thames Water, unsurprisingly, announced they will be appealing against the Abatement notices. In my view the Leader of the Council was unduly credited for Jon’s work in the local media before Christmas.

Along with my colleague Vince Cable MP I have argued that given the unfortunate expansion of the plant approved last year it is essential the six storm water tanks are covered.

For residents that witnessed the Mogden expansion S106 agreement coming back to the Sustainable Development Committee last Autumn it would have been a depressing experience – any meaningful debate was quashed. Some days after the meeting I am pleased to say that one of the key concerns that Cllr Hardy and I pressed on was addressed with the agreement text being revised to read: “……which will be undertaken by an external INDEPENDENT specialist consultancy TO BE JOINTLY AGREED BETWEEN THAMES WATER AND THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW.”

This revised text seems like a good step forward. In implementing this clause though it is vital is that the procurement process is open and transparent and that a cross section of local councillors are involved. I wonder how quickly the Terms of Reference will be drafted?

Cllr Hardy is rightly – at times against the odds – trying to get the different stakeholders to work together to control the blight that is the Mogden stench. It is tough, but thank goodness someone with his tenacity is ensuring residents’ concerns are heard within the council.