Richmond has been in the news a lot this week – but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.
The first story to hit the news was about the heavy-handed action of enforcement officers pursuing a woman over some spilt coffee, on the grounds (no pun intended) that all our street drainage goes into local waterways, potentially polluting it.
Sadly, this story fits a pattern of recent high-handed decision-making by the Liberal Democrats. It’s not that the policy or decision is necessarily wrong – after all, the last thing we should be doing is polluting our waterways – it’s just that the public hasn’t seen the evidence of the problem, the public has not been informed about the Council’s policy, the public then gets punished. The whole saga backfires on this administration badly – but also tarnishes the Council’s reputation as a whole, which affects every councillor.
Thankfully, the Council has rescinded the fine – but what has it learned from the episode? Green Party councillor for South Twickenham Richard Bennett remarked drily: “What other liquids are you not allowed to pour down the drain in Richmond? Yes, to champagne but no to prosecco? Yes to Earl Grey tea, no to builders?”
The next story to land badly was the reaction to the new Cycle Hub at Richmond Station. It was a bad reaction from cyclists and cycle groups. Most of the cycle parking spaces are on an upstairs level, which means you have to wheel your bike up a fairly long flight of stairs, which in itself is problematic for many potential users. “I have to say it’s not what I expected,” said Deputy Leader of the Opposition Chas Warlow, “although I do appreciate that Richmond Council had very limited control over the design. It’s a crying shame that cycling groups were not consulted properly by South Western Railway. Richmond residents, who have inherited this facility with its inherent flaws, are the people most affected.”
The final story to get airtime this week was the news that Richmond’s bin collectors will go on strike if Serco (the contractor to which the Council outsources its waste and recycling collection) does not make an improved pay offer by today (Friday 24th October). This seems to have been an unexpected development for the Council – yet the same thing happened in 2022, when bin workers went on strike – only for the contractor to cave in after just one day.
Leader of the Opposition Andree Frieze commented: “It’s been a bad news week for the Liberal Democrat administration in Richmond. Residents would be justified in asking the question: what is the Council learning from these issues?”
