Last Tuesday evening I attended the Chiswick local area committee for the first time as an observer. As a Group Leader it is useful to maintain and develop an understanding of how local democracy is working across the borough.

It was a meeting of the local planning committee and the possible Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Grove Park and Strand on the Green were key items on the agenda. Committee chair Cllr Hearn provided a lively, frank and informative introduction to the item and the discussion that followed bore many parallels to our exploration of similar CPZ schemes on the Isleworth and Brentford area committee.

Residents often ask whether CPZs will generate surplus revenue over and above operating costs, which could then keep down council tax (effectively a stealth tax). Cllr Hearn assured residents at the meeting that this was not the case. My understanding of Council finances too has always been that the significant income generator for the Council is parking enforcement. If I was a driver my concern at the moment would be the network of community safety cameras recently installed at some point being turned over to parking enforcement as well to ratchet up this income stream. Fortunately most of the time I cycle!

With the set-up of any new CPZ the inevitable impact is always displacement of cars into neighbouring ‘uncontrolled’ streets. For this reason the committee sensibly accepted officers advice to again include the residential area between the two proposed CPZs in next phase of consultation. These residents may again decide against a CPZ. Were this to happen I would not be surprised if they changed their minds a year later. I could well imagine a petition, at that stage, requesting the committee to introduce controlled parking after all. It is difficult to imagine the additional parking pressure CPZs create on surrounding areas until you experience it first hand.

The surprise of the night for me was that the colourful and Euro-sceptic Cllr Oulds who turns out to be a passionate supporter of small shops and the need for free short stay shopper parking. This is something I have also advocated strongly in Brentford with some success. It is the only way that shopping parades and High Streets can compete effectively with the likes of Tesco. Cllr Hearn was not too impressed though and thought that including this issue in the next phase of the consultation might make it too complicated! A real shame and I hope Cllr Oulds keeps up this fight.

My over-riding disappointment observing the meeting was that there was no opportunity for the public to speak at this second meeting on the issue. At Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee an approach we have adopted on similar issues – to get around the restrictive protocol of planning committees – is that we switch into Monitoring committee mode for a short time, which gives residents the opportunity to speak. Perhaps this would be something from which the Chiswick committee could learn?

The meeting as a whole was entertaining to watch. Whipped into following a party line when they sit on full Council, the local area committee is clearly where Chiswick Conservative councillors let off steam and speak their minds. This made a refreshing change and there was plenty of good spirited laughter as, with a glance in my direction, it was suggested on one planning item that the retail unit could become a KFC and, if so, consideration would have to be given to the welfare of chickens!