Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea December 2022, Newsletter (# 162)

1. I did not get to the Civic Awards on 2nd November – probably the first I had missed for 20 years; just as I missed the Battersea Park Fireworks for the first time in years on 5th November, when instead we took some visiting Italian friends to Rules, Covent Garden’s famous very British restaurant. We had a very pleasant evening but instead of eating something truly British, from haggis to Lancashire Hotpot, our Italian friends went for Italian standards! How disappointing was that! I was also a tad disappointed in the Rules ambience, which over the years seems to be selling out a bit to the tourist trade and losing a little of its uniqueness, as London’s oldest (1798) surviving restaurant.
   

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2. On the morning of 5th I held my first Council surgery since before Covid. Frankly, I think that surgeries have largely lost their point – ever since the mobile phone and the internet took over much of our communications – but a couple of people, who had issues with the Council, did turn up to discuss their problems.
   

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3. On the 11th November, I attended the Remembrance Day Service in Battersea Park. Interestingly, the occasion is being honoured by more, and more people, year by year. One very notable development is the increasing involvement of schools. Here some primary school pupils are being marshalled by Mayor Jeremy Ambache, having regaled us with appropriate readings and hymns. As always, the ceremony was impressive and moving.
   

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4. That evening, Penny and, I went to see Living (dir O. Hermanus, 2022) at the Clapham Picture House, starring Bill Nighy. It was a remake of a Kurosawa film, and has a script written by Japanese Kasuo Ishiguro. It was based on a Tolstoy short story about the sclerotic bureaucracy of Tsarist Russia and many of the sets were in my old workplace of 20 years, London’s County Hall. The film opens with a brilliantly re-constructed 1950s London (grey and boring – not that it ever seemed so to me) and had a brilliant performance from Bill Nighy. But although Bill Nighy was brilliant playing an exaggerated version of Bill Nighy; that in fact was what he was doing, and so he was almost acted off the screen by Aimee-Lou Wood, playing a kind, caring woman, transforming from a potential sexual target into a loving daughter figure. And frankly ‘the Greek chorus’ of London bureaucrats was just too much of a caricature to be credible. As a result, we did not that it was the great film that a couple of friends had cracked it up to be. BUT it was one of our few cinema excursions since the onset of Covid!  And as it was set in my old office, I had lots of fun placing specific shots.
   

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5. Later in the month, 19th November, we took our first trip to the theatre since Covid to see The Doctor. This was Robert Icke’s 2019 adaptation of an Austrian play written in 1912 by dramatist, Arthur Schnitzler, staged at the Duke of York’s theatre after opening at the Almeida.  It was a complex, talkie piece about medical ethics, about professional pride and jealousies, and about politics and media ethics. It was also a pleasant surprise to see my old friend and Battersea Park constituent, Professor of Medical Ethics, Dr Gillon, quoted in the programme. The players, cast in a gender-blind, colour-blind fashion, were led by Juliet Stevenson.  She was simply brilliant. Both the critics and my partner also thought the direction was equally brilliant – I thought the direction very good but unsurprisingly so as the play was first and foremost cerebral. As a result, we left the theatre discussing medical and media ethics, the fickleness of public opinion and much else – no doubt as the dramatist intended.
   

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6. But before then on the 12^th November, the Wandsworth Labour Group of councillors had an Away Day get-together. It wasn’t, however very far away as it was at East Hill Baptist Church, maybe 100 yards from the Town Hall. It was in one sense a standard team-building event, that many of us know from all kinds of work experience. But that didn’t stop it being useful, worthwhile and friendly. It was all day Saturday, and in the evening, I was off to Eastbourne by train – a journey by train, and engineering works, and replacement buses, and late arrivals, and getting to Eastbourne too late for dinner – and Tories tell me that private train services run better than good old British Rail!
   

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8. Why Eastbourne? So that Penny and I could go on the Sunday on our annual family safari from the Birling Gap to Beachy Head. It was blowing a gale on the top of the cliffs, but nicely from west to east propelling us in the right direction. It was, despite the wind, a cracker of a day – take a look at this view of the Seven Sisters as we left the Birling Gap.
   

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9. On Monday 14th November, I went, for the second time, to a meeting of Battersea Together at St. Philip’s Church, Plough Lane. Battersea Together is a coalition of voluntary agencies and groups, brought together by the Katherine Low Settlement, Providence House, Carney’s People and St. Philip’s (apologies if I have left anyone out) to work collectively and constructively throughout the current social, economic and political crisis – and hopefully beyond. It’s a fascinating experiment in community self-help and hopefully, it will produce major community benefits.
   

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9. Last month I commented that work was starting on building 106 new council homes on the Surrey Lane estate; and this month I want to mention the new block 5 being built on the Winstanley Estate, which I had represented for many years prior to the boundary change in May, last. When I went away at the very end of August there was nothing there but a building site. On the 14th November, I took this picture of the new Block 5. This rate of construction marks a spectacular advance in the Labour Council’s efforts to build more council homes! Local people need good quality housing at council rent levels, instead of being exploited by rack-renting private landlords.
   

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10. On Zoom, on 16th November, to hear Sue Demont of the Battersea Society giving us a lecture on Battersea Baths. Everyone will know about the current Latchmere Baths, and many will recall the battle over its predecessor’s demolition in the 1980s, but, not so many will know about the massive Olympic-pool-sized Nine Elms Baths, which stood just about where the Battersea Park Tube Station stands today. A major part of the talk was, however, devoted to the original purpose of public baths, which was, of course, to provide bathing and washing facilities before running hot-and-cold water was available to many, many homes in Battersea. As usual, Sue kept us entertained with fascinating details, as well as her instructive overall message.
    

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11. The November Planning Applications Committee was held on 22nd, when there was little of general interest. Of course, planning applications always interest those involved and their immediate neighbours, but often few others. On this occasion, however, many will note with pleasure the action taken to save trees in Ransome’s Dock, by direct intervention by neighbours and council officers and by imposing Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) on the surviving two trees. In addition, it is worth noting that between 15th-29th November the Council has been hosting the public hearings about the Borough Plan, which sets the framework for future developments in the Borough both by the public and the private sector. The hearings themselves are almost unutterably boring, dry, and hard to take and I have great admiration for the representatives of the Battersea Society, who were listening with rapt attention on the half-a-dozen occasions when I poked my head through the door. However, the fact that the hearings are boring does not mean that they are unimportant – on the contrary. On the basis of these hearings, Government inspectors are now considering what will be in the ministerially approved Borough Plan.
    

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12. To St. Mary’s Church on 24th to hear Penny, otherwise known as Professor Corfield, Emeritus Professor of History, giving a talk on The Georgians to mark the recent publication of her new book. The talk was as interesting as ever – as I suppose I was bound to say; but, if you want a serious, thought-provoking read and are interested in history then I recommend it. By the way, it is not the sort of book where you can find the dates of George II, but rather a discussion of eighteenth-century attitudes to politics, sex, empire, slavery, science, and religion.
    

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13. The 25th was the night of the Battersea Ball – the biggest social occasion of the year, that I know of in Battersea. It is organised by the Crime Prevention Panel and raises money for events designed to keep children and youths entertained during the summer months. It was the first Ball since Covid struck and great fun for at least one table of Battersea councillors and friends – I was even told that one respectable councillor was seen dancing on the table – I missed that! The photo is of Sara Apps, on the left, and Penny; and is a Sara selfie.
    

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14. On the 30th November, I attended a Design Review Panel (DRP), looking at plans for an important potential development site of approximately two-football pitch size. I cannot mention the site because the principle of the review is for interested architects and designers to comment, praise and criticise, plans from the developer’s own architect in the hope, and expectation, that the plans can be reviewed and potentially improved to the highest standards. Hence, as I am sure that you will understand, developers are not keen on exposing their plans to rigorous peer-review without some level of privacy. It is a strange experience as the councillors, who do attend are meant to keep quiet and just listen – some may find that inconceivable, but I can and did even during the three-hour meeting. I think that this is a Wandsworth-only process in the planning process and I think it is a very helpful and constructive – peer reviews usually are.
    

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15. Finally, the evening of 30th November was the occasion for the Council’s investiture of Honorary Aldermen. This event takes place, usually after the Borough election, and is an opportunity to mark and respect the work, the hours, and the commitment that retiring councillors, have made. This honorary title is bestowed on councillors, who have served for at least 10 years. An old, cantankerous councillor friend of mine used to call this sort of event ‘municipal junketing’ or occasionally ‘municipal tomfoolery’. I agree with you, Bernard! What do readers think? Either way the picture is of the Honorary Aldermen of 2022, which means that as the Tories lost the election all but one of them was indeed a Tory!
    

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My programme for December

1. I have the Finance Committee on the 1st December.
2. A Northcote ward Labour Party Social on the 3rd, which is not as some fold would claim a contradiction in terms but a pleasant chance for members of a new branch to meet and blend.
3. A highly sociable Festive season kind of a day on 6th with old college friends at lunch-time and with Council colleagues in the evening.
4. I am going to the Ethelburga Residents Association Annual General Meeting on the 7th.
5. The Battersea Society’s Xmas social, followed by a Labour Group meeting on the 8th.
6. I am playing chess for Surrey on 10th against Middlesex in Hammersmith.
7. The Council Meeting on 14th December, followed on 15th by the Planning Applications Committee.
8. And all that surrounds Christmas Day; but I almost definitely will be having a quiet New Year’s Eve.

Did you Know?

Last month, I asked not very helpfully, just how many of you could name and place these three cottages and name them? And the answer was that none of you knew or were prepared to say. Their official address is 52 and 54 Albert Bridge Road and they are to be found in the south-west corner of Battersea Park. Interestingly they are named Pennethorne Cottages after the principal architect of Battersea Park, James Pennethorne (1801-1871).

And this month?

Do you know what this briefly famous Battersea landmark was, and what it was, and the names of the two blocks of flats which nowadays have taken its place?