Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea December, 2018, Newsletter (# 114)

1. On 1st November, I went to the Commons for our (Battersea’s Labour councillors) monthly meeting with the MP, Marsha de Cordova. What a change has taken place in Westminster over the last 40 years, (no) thanks to terrorists! I can remember just walking in off the street to meet the MP and then going up to the public gallery to listen to the debate. But now, understandably, one has to go through body searches both mechanical and manual and then undress (well take off belts, shoes, etc. – it’s just like flying). And as for the public gallery, what was a fascinatingly real experience now has to be viewed through bullet-proof glass. All justifiable, I suppose, but to put it mildly a crying shame. Terrorism certainly has been effective at some things. The meeting – oh nothing special; just party business.
   

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2. The following day, we went to Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) to see Chekhov’s First Play by Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel. It was a play about perceptions of people and truths and as such very ambitious, but unfortunately it did not work for me; I simply left a little lost and not persuaded. I guess that it is what should be expected from experimental theatre and it did seem to work for many in the audience.
   

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3. It was also the first time that I had been to what was, before the disastrous 2016 blaze, the Grand Hall. Have you been? It’s well worth a visit, along with the other new features of the Arts Centre. Contentiously, the designers have left much of the building cleaned up but simply as the fire left it. I am not sure that works as it looks a bit dark and miserable for my taste. But there is nothing irreparable about that and it could be put right, in my view, by a good plasterer and a bit of paint, or pictures or murals or even tapestries! What used to be the Lower Town Hall has been converted into a work hub and I think it looks really good. The object is to supply nursery space for seed businesses. There is work-space and access to computing resources, meeting rooms and a community of small creative and/or start-up businesses.
   

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4. Throughout the Arts Centre you can find small spaces where the wall-paper is designed by Nicholas Hughes, especially for BAC. It is a brief pictorial representation of some of Battersea’s history. So apart from the Town Hall itself, you can find John Archer, the first black mayor of a major authority (Battersea, 1913-14); the statue of the Brown Dog, the cause of the Brown Dog Riots, 1903-10; John Burns, MP and the first working class member of the Cabinet, 1905-10; and Pluto, the BAC cat (now retired). A busy but stimulating wall-paper design.
   

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5. On Sunday, 4^th November, I and maybe 100 other London councillors from all parties went to Camden Town to Jewish London: A Seminar for Councillors at the Ort House Conference Centre. It was organised by London’s Jewish Community, I imagine, in the light of the perceived rise in ethnic and religious tensions in Britain. It was informative about Jewish views on such things as Faith Schools and on Jewish concerns about anti-Semitism in the UK and, specifically, in London. As it happens, I am opposed to Faith Schools in principle, so there were limits to my support, but that didn’t stop the conference being an interesting and educative experience.
   

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6. On 6^th November, I played for Battersea Chess Club against Hammersmith and Fulham Chess Club. For those interested in these things, I do not have a national grading as this was my first competitive game (except against my brother-in-law at Xmas) for many years, certainly this century! My opponent, Andy Routledge, was graded 128; we were playing on board 25! I think we are the largest two clubs in the country. He won but I was holding my own until about move 26 – so not too bad!
   

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7. I went to the club again, which meets every Tuesday at the Labour Club in Falcon Road, on 20^th November. As you can see in the picture, it was set up for a massive event – there were well over 100 players – so I joined in. What a mistake! I found myself playing eight three-minute games in quick succession and being hammered in every one of them. The club write-up the next day said “It was as big a night as we’ve ever held with 12 International Masters, five Grandmasters and a host of well-known faces in the chess world at the club”. This experience should teach me to read meeting notices properly!
   

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8. I had a pleasant lunch with Wandsworth and Merton’s GLAM (Greater London Authority Member), Leonie Cooper, on 7^th November and also had a brief chat with Labour’s Leader on the Greater London Authority, Len Duvall.
   

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9. On 9^th November we went over to the Clapham Picture House to see Mike Leigh’s film, Peterloo. Leigh certainly picks some interesting subjects such as the great painter J M Turner and is clearly interested in the very early nineteenth century, when Turner was working. The Peterloo Massacre took place in 1819; fifteen demonstrators died in a clash with the military. It was a major moment in the development of British radicalism; it marked a stage in the advance of suffrage, with the Great Reform Act following 13 years later. It should make the subject of a great film, and it certainly is a good-looking one, but I am afraid that there is something wooden about Leigh’s film; it’s almost an oil painting. What did others think? Oh, on the same theme, the TV special of the month was, I suggest, They Shall Not Grow Old – were you a big fan or again like me, impressed but not wowed by the technological wizardry?
   

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10. Then on Saturday, 10^th, I went to Providence House’s Annual Fund-Raising Dinner. Providence House, under the devoted leadership of Robert Musgrave, is one of the most successful and few remaining youth clubs in Battersea. With so many of us concerned about knife crime and the vulnerability of youth in today’s society, it is essential that clubs like Providence get everyone’s full support. It was a great evening, for the best of causes.
    

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11. The Remembrance Day Sunday Service on 11^th November was something special because it was, of course, the centenary of the end of the World War, aka The War to End all Wars – if only. The Vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Canon Simon Butler, gave an admirably thoughtful and ecumenical sermon – it was brimming with understanding and compassion. If I were a practising Anglican, he would be just the kind of vicar I would like.
    

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12. The Civic Awards Ceremony took place on 13^th November. This event gives an annual opportunity for the community to thank some individuals for the outstanding contributions they make to our society. One of the seven winners was, this year, a Latchmere resident, and, she told me, a regular reader of this newsletter. Ayan is, and for several years has been, a leading light in the Association of Somali Women and Children.
    

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13. The Planning Applications Committee, on the 21^st November, was, if possible, even less substantial (about back extensions and the like, not over-sized developments) than last month. Is this a major indicator of the economy turning down even further than it has already? I suspect so.
    

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14. On 24^th November, we went to see Peter Groom’s Dietrich at Walton’s Musical Hall, Wapping. I thought it was a brilliant performance and have said so in my review on my website at https://tonybelton.wordpress.com/2018/11/28/review-of-peter-grooms-dietrich/ The picture illustrates Groom’s very androgynous but sensual performance.
    

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15. On 25^th November, the Latchmere Labour Party had a pub quiz night at the Anchor pub, Hope Street. Not of itself of particular note, but just to flag up that it looks unlikely that we shall keep this nice, little local unless it gets a bit more custom. It’s such a dilemma for the pub business as in their desperate bid to maintain custom, they sometimes provide loud, noisy entertainment. I have already had (reasonable) complaints from neighbours about the Anchor! Let’s hope any disputes are amicably resolved and the pub thrives.
    

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16. There are a few local developments of interest that I have noticed over the last few weeks, which are not particularly date related but are noteworthy. They are as follows:-

consultations have just begun about the details of the new Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) due to be installed from 21^st January 2019 in the Rowditch Lane (off Culvert Road) area;

the start to the “improvement” works in Falcon Park, including in particular the installation of an all-weather soccer pitch. It is also intended to improve the northern (i.e. the one off the passage-way) entrance to the Park. I believe that there will be an improvement although the work will not be completed until late summer, 2019. But there is soon to be a consultation on the details, which I hope will get lots of responses;

the Council has consulted on the possibility of proceeding with the new pedestrian and cycle only Pimlico Bridge. I think that it is unlikely to be built, because Westminster Council is against it. Hence, I don’t think that it’s worth us Battersea Labour councillors opposing it and getting bracketed as “refuseniks” – but all my colleagues think I am wrong! I guess you win some and lose others!

perhaps most significantly, in London-wide terms, on 23^rd November, Millicent, a tunnel-boring machine named after suffragist Millicent Fawcett (not sure that as a feminist I approve of a tunnel-boring machine being named after a leading suffragist!), started digging London’s super sewer under Battersea. This is the start of building the 25km, or 15 mile, Thames Tideway Tunnel, which is designed to cope with the increasing pressure on our sewage system;

the Council’s consultation on the future of the York Gardens Children’s Centre can be viewed at https://haveyoursay.citizenspace.com/wandsworthcsd/childrens-centres-18/consult_view/. In theory, consultation ended on 3rd December, but legal decisions have shown that any responses, made before the final decision, have to be taken into account, so don’t be put off! The Children’s Centre is under threat so respond now!

My Programme for December

1. 1. 1. On 6^th December, I have the final Council Meeting of the Year. I am due to speak on the Regeneration Programme for the Winstanley Estate. I am a little concerned that when we vote against the Council paper, there will be a possibility that our opposition will be mis-understood. I want to make it clear that we will NOT be voting against the re-development and the improvement of the estate, as such, but against the amount of private as opposed to public housing that will replace the current buildings.
      2. On Sunday, 9^th December, I hope to go to a meeting of the newly formed Friends of Christ Church Gardens.
      3. On 12^th December there will be a commemoration service for the 35 passengers, who died in the (so-called – actually Battersea) Clapham Train crash of 1988 and, totally separately, the funeral of long since retired Wandsworth Chief Executive, Albert Newman. I will go to Albert’s funeral.
      4. And as its December, I suspect that there will be the Battersea Society, the Battersea Park Rotary Club, etc., etc. Xmas socials!
      5. And, of course, there is the tragi-comedy of Brexit to be played out! At the time of writing, the Government had merely been defeated three times in the Commons. When will we all come to our senses?

Do you know?

Last month, I asked, “Just what are these posts? What do they de-note? And how many of them do you know?” These two, on Wix Lane, mark the Battersea and Clapham Parish boundaries. If you want to know more and there are many more, all documented by my old friend Philip Beddows and co-founder with me of the Love Battersea website. See https://sites.google.com/site/lovebatterseacampaign/batterseaboundarymarkers.

And my question this month is: So, Battersea Chess Club is one of the largest in London. It also claims to be the oldest, continuingly functional chess club in the country. Take a guess as to which date is the nearest date to its foundation

1. 1850?
2. 1900?
3. 1950?