Councillor Tony Belton’s Battersea February 2023, Newsletter (# 164)
- Continuing with the Xmas spirit, I went to the Battersea Society’s Xmas dinner on Twelfth Night. The evening is a very traditional occasion and a good chance to meet old and new friends, but, if I may say so, to those old friends in the Battersea Society, the format needs to change a bit. There were some new people there this year, which was great, but insufficient. The format needs to be refreshed just a bit – or those new people might not come again!
- That was, of course, on the 6th
January, and the next day we were off to Westcliff-on-Sea to see the Saturday matinée performance of The Nutcracker ballet. The Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, is magnificent; it seats a 600+ audience and it has a large orchestra pit as can be seen here. The troupe was from Bulgaria and the dancers were of the highest quality but the direction, alas, was wooden and, despite the appearance from this rather poor picture, neither the lighting nor the staging were, however, up to the quality of the dancing.
The next morning, the Thames estuary at Southend was grand, almost Dickensian, and forbiddingly chilling – one could almost hear Magwitch’s chains rattling. It was a tranquil ending to a pleasant, overnight stay for a family get-together.
- On the 13th January, I went to Roehampton Gate, Richmond Park, to discuss with a Royal Parks team their plans for opening a pedestrian gate into the
Park from Roehampton’s giant Alton Estate. It would be a fantastic bonus for residents of the estate to get direct access into the Park, and it has been an ambition for many years – hopefully, it will happen shortly! Whilst there I came across this temple, hidden in a “no man’s land”, between the estate and the Park – quite a sight! The picture is, as it is, as I took it through a gap in the heavy-duty fencing around the temple to counter vandalism – what a shame.
- Mid-January and back to business. It’s now been eight months since Labour took control of Wandsworth and January is, in any case, a traditional time to take stock. It is the 13th time I have been at this stage of a Council but for half of my colleagues, it was their first, perhaps daunting, time. On the whole they have been brilliant and energetic – a video of their so-called ‘maiden’ Council speeches would be quite impressive. Moreover, Simon Hogg, the Labour Leader, has taken the opportunity to do precisely that – lead. What have we achieved? Such a lot – I suggest searching Simon Hogg on Google for access to our response to the pandemic; our climate initiatives; our new homes programmes, etc. It is quite a change, after 44 years in opposition, to be one of a group of councillors enthusiastically and positively in control.
- On the 19th January, I had the Planning Applications Committee to chair. It was an interesting occasion, for a couple of reasons: one being that large planning applications are becoming almost but not quite as rare as hen’s teeth – no doubt thanks to the nation’s financial situation: but the second reason was that there were a couple of applications, which were in effect retrospective – the developers had already done the work, prior to getting permission. There is almost nothing that a Planning Committee hates more than that, but in itself, the fact that an application is retrospective is not, in law, sufficient grounds for refusal. There were, however, grounds to refuse and that is what the committee decided to do. It will be interesting to see what happens next. In theory, the developers will have to appeal and/or the Council will have to pass an enforcement notice to have the existing buildings amended or demolished – as I said – interesting.
- I had the Finance Committee on the 25th An old friend rang me, to say nice things about what I had to say that night so, just before I wrote this newsletter, I watched the webcast of the Committee. I had forgotten after only one week, how much I had relished an exchange about the definition of equality between right-wing Tory councillor Peter Graham and myself. He was proud of being content with equality of opportunity and antagonistic about any form of equality of outcome. He obviously had never heard that “freedom for the pike is death to the minnows” – Christian socialist R. H. Tawney’s famous aphorism about equality and freedom. The webcast can be seen at https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=766&MId=8852&Ver=4
- And then on Saturday, 28th January, life took an interestingly new turn. It was not that Spurs won 3-0 away from home, in a televised match; it was not that Heung-Min Son scored twice, once brilliantly; it wasn’t even that in this season, under Conte, that was rare enough. No! But it was because, half an hour later as I settled in to watch, hopefully, ManU lose to Reading (they actually won 3:1), I quite suddenly couldn’t see the TV – or at least not properly.
- Twelve hours later, I was in George’s Hospital, having had a “minor” (for some but hardly for me) stroke. Painless, but paining; of little consequence, but terribly consequential; two days later, I was back home and recovering, after 48 hours in what also suddenly became a Covid-isolation ward – a fellow patient was discovered to have it although thankfully I have been cleared. So far, so good, but I will say more next month. Meanwhile, I will need to recuperate and reflect.
My programme for February
- In these new circumstances, who knows exactly but maybe:-
- The month starts with the, 1st February, Transport Committee.
- On 3rd February we are going to the Coward Theatre to see The Best of Enemies, of which more next month, by when it will have closed. Meanwhile, if you are interested in the theatre, and in politics and, in US politics in particular, then book to see it NOW.
- On the 6th January, I have an in-depth Design Review Panel on a major development in Lombard Road.
- On the 8th there is a Council Meeting, outlining the background to what will be the decision on this year’s Council Tax level – but it is all background statistics and is NOT the real decision, which will be taken on March 1st.
- The Planning Applications Committee is on February 23rd.
Did you Know?
Last month, I asked what suburb was memorialised by a spoof Peter Sellers sketch, and who were his companions in this photograph.. Many of you, especially those who live in SW 14, knew that Sellers’ catch-phrase was “Bal-ham, Gateway to the South”, His colleagues in the picture were on the left Spike Milligan and on the right Harry Secombe.
And this month?
Can you name the famous Wandsworth born-and-bred athlete who starred in the Council’s recent (October) celebrations of Black History Month?
Tony Belton
Tony Belton 