January 8, 2018  

Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea January, 2018, Newsletter (# 103)

        1. On 1st December, I went to Theatre 503 to see The Dark Room, an Australian play by Angela Betzien. First a word about Theatre 503, it is based above the Latchmere pub. It is, as they say, intimate or, rather more plainly, very small, which puts you in really close contact with the action and the actors. It invariably hosts “experimental” theatre and as it’s above the pub, it gives one a great chance, after the show, to have a drink and chat with the cast and discuss the play, which I did with Alasdair Craig, one of the four actors.
        2. As for the show: The Dark Room was about one of Australia’s darkest subjects, the relationship between the indigenous population and the overwhelmingly white, European population of today. What starts off as a “scene” between a white, female social worker and a young aboriginal woman develops, with a confrontation between two white policemen over the death in police custody of an aboriginal boy. To complicate matters the social worker also has a dysfunctional relationship with one of the policemen. Interestingly directed and well-acted, the play poses difficult questions. If my experience is anything to go by Theatre 503 is always worth a visit.
        3. I had my Council Surgery on the morning of 2nd December, but it was not a very busy event. I only had one constituent visit. Looking through the log, it is very rare that more than two constituents turn up. I know that MPs always have far busier surgeries, which is understandable, but frequently misplaced as MP’s cases are often about essentially Council issues, such as housing. But actually, nowadays not many constituents come in person as most casework usually comes through email or the telephone.
        4. Talking of cases, one reader commented last month that my newsletters were all about social events and that he rather doubted that I did anything real or useful. For the record, I dealt with 81 separate housing cases in 2017, which was 6% of the cases dealt with by 59 councillors (N.B. honesty compels me to admit that one independent councillor dealt with just under 40% of the whole! He really is exceptional.) The system for monitoring queries other than housing is not so simple but these figures suggest to me that I dealt with above 200 cases in 2017.
        5. As for what these cases are all about then the housing ones are largely about rehousing, over-crowding, homelessness and repairs and maintenance. Unfortunately, actually succeeding in getting someone re-housed is a pretty rare triumph. Non-housing matters are most frequently about environmental issues such as planning disputes, pot-holes, fly-tipping and road sweeping, oh, and, of course, noisy neighbours!
        6. I also don’t make much of many other necessary activities, most notably Labour Party matters, which whilst not of great public interest are an essential part of being a councillor. Nor do I write about the boring stuff of reading agendas, preparing for meetings, writing letters, etc. But they all take time.
        7. On the 3rd, Battersea Labour Party ran its own jazz night, starring Rosena Allin-Khan, Tooting MP, on vocals and Martin Linton, ex-Battersea MP, on horn, with Battersea’s own Junction Jazz band. Rosena is a star in her own right and it’s stunning that, as an MP, a doctor and a mother, she manages also to perform as she does.
        8. I had the Passenger Transport Liaison Group on 4th December, which was principally concerned with the continuing engineering works on the mainline into Waterloo. Nothing really new was noted then but, talking of transport, I later had notice of roadworks on Battersea Park Road just to the west of the Latchmere pub on 8th-9th January. My advice is to avoid that stretch of the road if at all possible – for example, turning left from Latchmere Road into Battersea Park Road will not be allowed – even for cyclists.
        9. On 6th December we had the last full Council Meeting of the year. There was one set piece debate with half a dozen contributions from both sides. These debates don’t get any press coverage nowadays, but I really enjoyed making an off-the-cuff speech. If you are really, really interested then you can see and hear it at the following address, whenever the Council loads the video, which is not yet! http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/info/200318/decision_making
        10. And on the 7th December, I appeared at the Licensing Committee arguing for tighter licensing controls on the Anchor pub, Hope Street.

          The Anchor

          This was a difficult matter in that neither I, nor the residents I was representing, wanted to close the Anchor – far from it. After all, it is one of the very few public facilities in that part of Battersea. However, pub use should not be allowed to disturb the peace of close neighbours beyond reasonable hours and I was persuaded that the nuisance caused by the Hope justified some restriction. The Committee agreed with me and the neighbours; but unfortunately, early indications (as of 4th January) are that the nuisance continues. Early days! But the festive season is hardly over and we shall see.

        11. The December meeting of the Planning Applications Committee was on the 14th. Many of the applications were “technical”, such as, for example, changes in obscure building conditions. But there were some interesting exceptions. One was the application for the new Battersea Power Tube station, which is being built right now, opposite the Duchess pub. In reality, of course, there was not much for us to decide. Clearly refusing permission was not an option, nor was changing fundamentals about layout but we could have expressed a view about the “finishing”; a bit like choosing the colour of the wallpaper. My view was that given the amount of time and effort put into the design of a really, modern, attractive station by good designers, it was absurd for us to disagree with their recommendations – we shall see whether the station is as good as I thought it looked!
        12. There was also notice of an application in Lambeth, which will affect nearly everyone, who travels up and down to town, and that was for the re-design of the Vauxhall bus terminus. Lambeth Council wants to change, as in get rid of, the massive Vauxhall one-way road system and were asking for our observations! I am not being totally flippant in saying, “Good luck to them on that one”, but I can’t imagine it will happen any time soon.
        13. And there was one other interesting set of 24 applications for advertising hoardings all over the Borough. The hoardings will replace telephone kiosks and will include information bulletins and mobile phone charging points as well as the illuminated ads. They will, however, need careful monitoring. The addition of brightly-lit billboards along many main roads in Wandsworth could confuse drivers, cause distractions, increase street clutter (contrary to　recent trends in trying to simplify street scenes) and　add further garish lighting just when the Council (wearing its environmental hat) is installing new street lights to　reduce the amount of light needlessly beamed into the night skies. We must not worsen street design for the sake of advertising revenue – but rather improve street safety, efficiency and environmental friendliness for all.
        14. The rest of my December was full of Seasonal events, such as an Xmas lunch with the other Labour councillors and Xmas drinks with the Battersea Society; a couple of resident association Xmas drinks and three visits to the theatre. Two of these were to see plays by Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, A Woman of No Importance and Misalliance respectively. They were both very funny and clever and, appropriately for these days, very “feminista.”
        15. But the third theatre visit was the one that has made my friends very envious as it was a visit to the Victoria Palace Theatre to see the American blockbuster Hamilton. How I got the tickets is a long story but they are like gold-dust! I didn’t have high expectations. I didn’t really think that an American rap musical, played by a multi-ethnic cast, about an Independence war essentially between two groups of Brits (and a few French and German settlers) could work. I was wrong. The cast were great, the rap worked really well, the staging was great. The history wasn’t perfect; but nothing is perfect though Hamilton almost was.
        16. I spent both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve quietly and very happily at home (from where I took this pic on the 25th!) and went to see the grandchildren on Boxing Day. PS do you like the lunar illusion over the sunset as seen from the bedroom?
        17. Finally, you might remember that last month I commented on the wretched condition of the old Vestry School, on Battersea Rise. Well, I am now delighted to note that there is scaffolding round the building and positive steps are being taken by the church authorities to safeguard the building and carry our essential repairs and maintenance before a final decision is taken on what use is to be made of this slice of Battersea’s heritage.

 

My Programme for January

  1. On 4th January I have a meeting of Wandsworth’s Design Panel. This is an advisory body relating to architectural design and the physical appearance of the Borough.
  2. This is followed by the Conservation Area Advisory Group on the 9th.
  3. And on 25th January, the Planning Applications Committee, followed by the Heliport Consultation Group on 30th January – a quiet month

Do you know?

 

In November, I asked “Who or what were Fawcett, Coppock, Hicks, McDermott and Wolftencroft – apart from being Battersea street names? Last month I gave the answer as regards John Bridgeford Coppock, so this month let’s try Fawcett Close.

Most people I know assume that Fawcett Close is named after Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929), who gave her name to the Fawcett Society, an organisation, which campaigned for women’s suffrage. However, I think it more likely that the Close is actually named after her daughter, Philippa Garrett Fawcett (1868 – 1948).

 

Philippa went to school in Clapham High School (now Thomas’s School in Broomwood Road). She was a brilliant mathematician and achieved the best Cambridge maths degree in 1890, at a time when women were not actually awarded degrees. She was subsequently unable to get an academic job, simply because she was a woman, but in 1905 she was appointed principal assistant to the Director of Education of the then newly-formed London County Council – surprisingly, at the same salary as a man would have received. She developed the south London teacher training colleges of Furzedown and Avery Hill. It is because she was a Battersea school-girl and died only 20 odd years before the Kambala Estate was built that makes me think that the Close was named after her and not her mother.

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About Tony Belton

Labour Councillor for Latchmere Ward 1972-2022, now Battersea Park Ward, London Borough of Wandsworth Ever hopeful Spurs supporter; Lane visit to the Lane, 1948 Olympics. Why don't they simply call the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, The Lane? Once understood IT but no longer

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