Hi Andrew Yes you are quite right - I put that very badly and I apologise unreservedly as I am fully aware that you, as Leader of the local  Lib Dems, are not involved in any power struggle. I was of course alluding to Cllr Cadbury and her lackeys who so blatantly supported the application for political reasons. What was made very clear was that the majority of the Committee were out of their depth and didn't know how to vote; e.g. Cllr Brad Fisher admitted he was for / against / for / against / for; Cllr Bath first said she needed more info and was frustrated that officers recommended approval without having all the info to hand; Cllr Reid admitted that she changed her mind in 5 seconds; Cllr Cooper was the most naive and it was clear that he didn't understand "the whole bunch of 'ole' docs" he had been expected to go through and he made it clear from the beginning that he just wanted to get it over and go home; Cllr Aulds made some sense but complained of it being late and referred to the "thingamajigs"; Cllr Barwood claimed she had never been to Mogden because she had not  been invited; Cllr Cadbury mislead the committee by incorrectly stating that Thames have to get Ofwat approval for capital expenditure. And this is democracy at its best?  I also believe that her declared interest as being in the rowers club should have disqualified her as it is clear that the alleged cleaner river could  be at an environmental cost to local residents, of which she is not one!. I don't believe it was made clear that the expansion will not result in increased odour. It was made clear by environmental scientist Barry Edwards that it may result in increased odour but in any event Mr Edwards' reasoning on 'sustainable' was ignored. Whether or not the odour at the end of the project in 2013 / 2014  is increased or not, Mr Edwards voiced concern about increased odour 'during'  the project. i.e. is the development sustainable during the project timeline? No evidence was provided to assure the committee that odour will not increase whilst the project is underway. I further believe that the borough legal assistant was wrong to inform the committee that there is a damages claim against Thames Water after admitting that she was not familiar with details of the litigation.  Firstly she should be aware of the details of the litigation because the Council has been fully involved in the document disclosure process and secondly the litigation is first and foremost an injunction against Thames Water for neglilgence. Cllr Reid's reason for refusal was quite sound inasmuch as there was no evidence to support the claim that residents would not be adversely affected by increased odour during the expansion program. There is little doubt that Cllr Cadbury supported the approval for political reasons and to show the Departmental officers  that she is still in charge and have have her full support and there is little doubt that Cllr Reid performed her incredible u-turn in her attempt to demonstrate that she is in control and for fear of Thames appealing. And again the Borough Legal Assistant was wrong to bring possible defence costs into the fray. Cllr Reid  made it quite clear that she wants to 'control' the situation even though the Department has demonstrated over 10 years that Thames is fully in control of its own destiny. Thames Water also made it clear to the SDC that the 'clock was ticking' and they would not accept a deferment thus putting the fear of God into the Lead Member.  So keen was Cllr Reid to demonstrate her 'control' that she broke protocol and 'voted' before allowing Barry Edwards to voice his opinion that residents would actually welcome the application being taken out of LBH hands and left instead with the Mayor and/or the Secretary of State. I for one endorse that view as the Department has shown over the last years to offer little more than an apathetic 'tick box' regime allowing Thames to walk all over its officers. I fully agree that the community has very many issues that need to be addressed by Thames Water but it is now too late to address them through other routes. The only route is through the Council.  Since the application was approved Thames employees have demonstrated clearly that they will not communicate with the community and are now hiding behind the fact that its operating regime at Mogden is being conducted with the full blessing and approval of Hounslow's EHO's. Thames Water also made this very clear to the SDC during its presentation. The buck stops with the EHO's and there is very little residents can now do to stop this area becoming a larger and more disgusting cesspool than it is now. Only the Council now has the power and 'control' to address these issues with Thames Water but experience has shown that there is little chance of that happening and, with a Department that can't even control litter collection ....what hope is there?   Watch this space! Kind rgds Steve

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Tell me about Brentford	19/03/09 13:30:00	Paul Daubney
Re:Tell me about Brentford	19/03/09 21:39:00	Vanessa Smith
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	19/03/09 22:24:00	Kath Richardson
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	19/03/09 22:31:00	James de Vivenot
Re:Tell me about Brentford	19/03/09 23:03:00	Keith Iddon
Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 07:44:00	Jim Linwood
Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 10:27:00	Steve Bullman
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 11:25:00	Helen Martin
Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 13:50:00	Paul Daubney
Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 15:10:00	Kath Richardson
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 16:35:00	Helen Martin
Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	21/03/09 02:32:00	Pat Skvarc
Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	21/03/09 14:09:00	Paul Daubney
Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	31/03/09 15:45:00	Julie Moore
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	02/04/09 23:27:00	William Micheal Read
Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 18:31:00	Chris Dakers
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 19:29:00	Steve Taylor
Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	28/03/09 22:30:00	Andrew Dakers
Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	29/03/09 14:28:00	Steve Taylor
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	29/03/09 15:53:00	Phil Andrews
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	29/03/09 17:03:00	Steve Taylor
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	29/03/09 19:02:00	Phil Andrews
Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/03/09 19:42:00	Deborah Hall
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	21/03/09 04:12:00	Marlo Hale
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	29/03/09 15:54:00	Robert Lucas
Re:Tell me about Brentford	23/03/09 09:07:00	Mrs. Sue Cain
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	23/03/09 21:36:00	Neil Chippendale
Re:Tell me about Brentford	24/03/09 15:57:00	Beccy Thorp
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	26/03/09 12:57:00	Jon Hardy
Re:Tell me about Brentford	18/04/09 08:53:00	Barbara Dudley
Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	18/04/09 09:35:00	Phil Andrews
Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/04/09 12:20:00	Julie Moore
Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/04/09 13:25:00	Phil Andrews
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Tell me about Brentford	20/04/09 13:54:00	Julie Moore

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