It’s always somewhat surprising to me how quickly the opportunity to share an insight into my life as a councillor on these pages comes around.
However, this summer, it’s only been three weeks since I last wrote on the feeble motions that this current Labour administration decided to present at the last borough council meeting, so even for me, it’s come around quickly! However, that’s not to say that even with the summer holidays that we’ve been resting on our laurels.
Next week, residents of Cranford will go to the polls to decide who they want the third councillor to represent them to be…will it be more of the same, or something different?
I was out speaking with residents in Cranford a couple of weeks ago, and it really amazed me how many of them felt neglected by Hounslow Council. Despite having three Labour councillors, many felt like they had voices that were not listened to by this current administration, or were quite simply ignored. And to be honest, they were grateful to see a councillor of any political colour.
What were their challenges? Pretty much the same as Chiswick; poor quality streets, trees (not enough or in the wrong location), decent street lighting and weeds.
For so long, I’ve been told that the challenges in the east and the west of the borough are different, but speaking with residents, it was fundamentally clear that we all want the same thing - somewhere to live where we can feel safe, be part of a community we can be proud of and certainly not worry about making it home at night without tripping over some unseen obstacle because it’s too dark to tell the tree roots from the weeds!
I’m currently writing this from Scotland, having travelled for the wedding of friends that I made while I was living in Aberdeen, and what has been a lovely recurring theme is that in order to have a village, you need to be a villager. It’s a lovely sentiment, but what does that mean in this day and age?
Well, for me it’s about community and being an active participant in my local area through politics, for some it’s about helping their neighbours, and for others, it’s about creating a safe space where anyone is welcome to be who they are provided that they don’t harm or insult others. On those rare occasions where you don’t like the other villagers, it’s vital to remember that we’re all different and we all have something we can contribute.
Community doesn’t come in a one-size fits all, however if I learned anything from this wedding, it is that once you’re all standing in a circle being shouted dance moves by a man with a guitar, swinging each other round and trying not to fall over while listening to a fiddle in a field, it doesn’t matter where you come from. Provided nobody ends up with an injury, you’ll be laughing and have created memories that will last a lot longer than the songs played that night.
It’s just up to each of us to decide what kind of villager we want to be - do we want to sit on the sidelines, watching the revellers and listening to the music, or do we want to be in the mix, dancing the steps, and even if the risk of injury may be high; will the joy of being involved and part of something bigger than ourselves create a better change beyond the dance?
To those who may be waiting for someone to ask them to dance, it may never happen; but if you stand up and enter it the rewards could be life-changing.
