Blog 517 19th February 2026

There's an old legend (maybe true, who knows) that a team of monkeys with typewriters would in time create the full works of Shakespeare. Sometimes I think that a single Brentford monkey has achieved something similar in volume, though of markedly lower quality. So this is 517 in the series. One of my friends observed that a lot of people in Brentford think this is absolute rubbish. I have always had plenty of faith in Brits and in particular Brentonians so this confirms my conviction that they are not fools. Of course I am a fool myself. Someone asked me once what was my superpower and after thinking for a bit I decided that this was that I have a good heart. Doesn't butter the crumpets, I suppose, but it does guide my work as a councillor and despite my inadequacy in many ways it convinces me to carry on.

Blimey, he does write tripe doesn't he?

About developments and our town centre, I did write to the 'powers that be' the lead Member Tom Bruce and the Director of Regeneration, and the Syon and Brentford Lock councillors. This is an edited version of what I wrote (editing not related to Epstein but mindful of protecting the innocent).

As to shops, my current main concern, I would certainly not dispute that finding tenants is not easy, but I don’t think our current approach is at all effective.

We are offering small shops as shell. I believe that is industry standard and is probably OK if we are in a prime retail location but Brentford is palpably not that. It frustrates me that retail in Chiswick rarely has voids for long. That is an achievement for LBH because you certainly could not say the same for Hammersmith. I cycle Hammersmith and Chiswick regularly and the contrast is obvious.

We are offering our shops in Brentford by Levy. After being on the market for many months they still have not managed to get the shops which bear stickers saying ‘To Let’ to be listed on their website. Even the three of ours they listed have again disappeared today and the nearest properties they offer are in Twickenham (1) or Chelsea. [Our Famous Three have now reappeared]

The agents are based in Regent Street and IMO are inappropriate sole marketers for small shops in a secondary centre like Brentford.

I enquired in a local estate agent who are very active and known in Brentford and when I talked to them they told me they were excluded from handling LBH properties because of conflict of interests because the agent is a LBH tenant. I’m afraid I think that is nonsense and a number of our councillors who are council tenants or leaseholders might be disbarred by the same rule. {They, rightly, continue as councillors because there is no clash of interests!]

Local estate agents have people walking in and enquiring. The very day I talked to them they had had an enquiry for someone who deals in something like antique musical instruments. Very Brentford. Nobody is walking in in Regent Street looking for shops in Brentford. I lived for 25 years in Chiswick and everybody knew who the local commercial agents were  - MJ Finn, Whitman, Frost Meadowcroft etc. Of course if you’re looking for M&S or IKEA they would not be the right agents, but we couldn’t accommodate them anyway!

So is there no demand for space in Brentford? On the contrary, there are a lot of local businesses – usually artisans or artists – who are desperate to stay but can only find meanwhile places in insecure and often inappropriate places like Lots or Johnsons Island (and dealing with regular floods) or Watermans Park (where they are likely to be evicted at short notice yet again).

Meanwhile the town centre has more than a dozen empty shops, and a lot that are there are struggling and lack of footfall threatens their survival.

There are currently (I believe) 9 units without immediate prospects in Tintern House and any minute there will be another 8 coming free in Printmakers yard. It looks like Printmakers Yard might have a tenant looking for a shop opposite Lidl. II know about this because they have applied for a licence to sell alcohol. [On their website it shows as 'sold' for £950,000. The picture shows how competent marketing of shops looks]

[Compare to our 'marketing']

[Though to be fair there are details on the Levy site and a smiling picture of the partner who handles this which must be a big attraction. Note, 'Tintern House was completed 18 months ago and Printmakers is not even complete yet!]

Meanwhile, Ballymore talk a good game but the only two that have arrived in the last year or two are Holland and Barrett (great) and a little community operation led by a local entrepreneur and housing 5 micro-shops in the unit previously occupied by the bookshop (where the basic fitout had been handled, presumably by either them or Ballymore). They gave up because of the lack of footfall, as did the barber shop that lasted only a few months. I am in that little shop most weeks - today buying little plants, last week having my bike fixed.

I know me complaining about all this is unpopular, but I live here and I care about this little town. It has real advantages – right on two rivers and a canal, rich history and fast increasing population with varied income including many in and around the town centre.

It is beset by development failures, I’m afraid – late Ballymore, empty Tintern, derelict police station and Watermans, abandoned marina – and people are losing faith.

A new approach is needed, urgently.

Naturally, nobody has bothered to acknowledge my interest in this, and my reputation as a troublemaker is no doubt cemented! I am really NOT looking for trouble. I am looking for a thriving Brentford that we can all be proud of.

On Friday I talked to people from Hadley, the developer who have bought the GSK site. They were giving me an update on their plans, which they are hoping will go to the planning committee in March. I appreciate that they go to some length to keep me updated as their plans emerge and they have also held several public presentations. There is a degree of disappointment because they have not seen a way to preserve the iconic GSK headquarters, which is only a few years old, This goes against the preferences of us Greens but in reality I do understand that the current building is difficult to reuse, unless a wandering multinational sloping along the GWR thinks 'Wow, that would make a great European HQ'

In the afternoon I re-reported two horrible potholes in Brentford High Street which are potentially lethal to cyclists like my goodself (many think I am lethal anyway, as a cyclist).

Not sure if anything has been done but I would definitely have been a troublemaker for Hounslow Highways had I stayed on the Cabinet. The current cabinet seems much more relaxed and satisfied with progress as long as they can send a press release out!

On Friday evening I was invited to an informal gig given by my friend Edwin in an unconventional new hotel in the centre of Chiswick - https://room2.com/about/ He was not overwhelmed by punters but he doesn't mind and the dozen people there - me included - enjoyed it very much. Edwin is a very interesting local man (originally from Yugpslavia) and also the co-author of the excellent (and cheap) biography of The Real Alfie which I enjoyed so much last summer. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Alfie-100-Lives/dp/B0FCG1G2BB

Edwin is trying to persuade me to be the next biography but my life compared to Alfie is very boring! By the way, I still hate Amazon, but they are very difficult to avoid, like the common cold.

I enjoy going random places I haven't visited and on Saturday I decided Thamesmead needed my attention. Not a bad journey - cycle to Ealing Broadway and then Lizzyline to Abbey Wood (I saw neither an Abbey or a Wood). Bussed a bit around Thamesmead but from the little I saw it made Milton Keynes look like Venice. Probably unfair but the centre seemed to be a big Morrisons, Aldi, KFC. B&M and McDonalds with very little else not even a pub 😱. I went on to Plumstead which was a bit more traditional - like this building

Plumstead Radical Club is my sort of club!

Out with a bunch of those radicals on Sunday and got through 4 streets.

First time someone answered the door and said he voted Reform last time. He didn't say so clearly but I don't think he will repeat that mistake from the way he talked! One of my colleagues met someone who I remembered from talking to in many campaigns and always assured me she was a Conservative. This time, she told him she was going to vote for me.

On Monday morning I went to the library and met one of the unhappy leaseholders at Bond House in Baltic Avenue. I have met or spoken with about 7 or 8 of them now and I now have an agreement from A2 Dominion, their landlords, to have a meeting about this. Date yet set.

For leaseholders under the council, Housing Associations or private freeholders, lease and service charge problems are the rage this season. The sooner the government can get through reform, the better, but one of the podcasts I've heard say it will face a lot of resistance from big landowners. After all, they need to keep their income so they can give large chunks of it to Nigel Farage (and Kemi Badenoch and maybe Keir Starmer) to make sure they retain large chunks to spread around. No danger of that with Green and I still have no lucrative offers. I did get a small windfall from the Local Government Association for a committee I didn't know I would be paid for (about £3k/year, gross) so that money will find more worthy homes - a bit with my party and most with local charities.

On Tuesday I had a meeting with the man who leads the business on Lots Ait, John's Boat Works. It is always a great pleasure to go there and see the amazing small businesses that live there - I think he said 12 now! Forgot to take any pictures, dolt. He is also very keen to support rowing etc on the river and is working hard to support that in cooperation with various community clubs, so I now expect good news soon after the recent fiasco.

That'll do for now. This evening I will be part of a welcome on Zoom for another batch of new Green members. I am so happy being a Green now. I get on with all my colleagues and we are striding on with developing our manifesto for May. It is a pleasure to work with such positive people without any Morgan McSweeneys (or local disciples) breathing down my neck. Tomorrow I have that LGA committee (170 pages to master after a pre-meeting yesterday)