Cabinet Question Time

Isn't it financially better for the Council and the NHS to ensure that elderly people are as healthy as possible? Surely prevention is better and cheaper than cure. To spend a little to keep the classes for the 60+ opened would in the long term be beneficial for everyone and it is short sighted of the Council not to see that.

How do you plan to maintain the community connection these classes created?

Why are pensioners being punished and ignored?

Hello. Can some members of the Cabinet & decision making committee who are due to decide on the funding for the 60+ Activities Programme actually attend in-person at a variety of these 60+ events where they will see there has been enormous positive effect *BEFORE* they make their final decision? Thank you.

Why is the 60+ Activity Programme ending before a clear replacement is in place, given its proven success for older residents? Has the Council assessed the cost to the NHS and social care if this preventive programme ends? If so, will you publish these figures?

The Council has confirmed that Better Care Fund support for the 60+ Activities Programme will end in September 2025, with the programme itself scheduled to close in November. We recognise that budgets are under pressure, but this programme is widely acknowledged as low-cost and high-impact, improving health, reducing loneliness, and preventing avoidable NHS and social care costs.
Given its proven success and the disruption that closure would cause, can the Cabinet guarantee that there will be no gap in provision, and confirm what alternative sources of funding are being explored or secured to maintain the programme beyond November?

Will councillor Dunne add Lime to the LBH mix of e-bikes or are the deals done with Voi and Forest prevent this? I’ve stopped using them because I need to use 2 bikes to get to Richmond. This is not a London issue - this is a LBH issue

When are you going to stop renting the park out week after week after week for irritating concerts?? The key for the park is surely paid out of council Tax ??

This is the 3rd day of non-stop bass from Gunnersbury Park hitting Chiswick. Neighbours report 79dB+ at homes, above the 75dB licence limit. Why is Hounslow Council not fining organisers? Do we need to take this to court? Shockingly, the event’s own Sound Management Plan (Vanguardia, 27 June 2025,P/2025/1376) for Waterworks 2025 asks for 90db: “A maximum overall ‘C’ weighted level of 90 dB LCeq,15 mins is also proposed as a cap on low frequency bass noise.” They claim the premises licence allows 90db. It does not. Licence H01288 clause 17.6 states: “Noise… shall not exceed 75dB(Laeq,15min) at 1m from the nearest noise sensitive premises.” Why is planning overwriting licensing, already above the 65dB Pop Code applied in Hyde Park(25/01965/LIPDPS)?They are selling tkts for next year already

The Council must act to stop the frequent very loud & disruptive music events in Gunnersbury Park, which are the despair of local residents trying to live their lives, avoid headaches, their children to sleep - and are destructive of the park because of the huge footfall & vehicles setting up and taking down. These events regularly render a large area of the park inaccessible to normal park users.

When will the council take into account the residents' concerns with the number of commercial music events in Gunnersbury Park and the unreasonable disruption they create ?

We're currently sitting inside our house with the windows closed and we are being disturbed by the noise from the Waterworks festival in Gunnersbury Park. This has been going on all afternoon. We're in West Acton. How does Hounslow Council consider it to be acceptable to sanction events that disturb tens of thousands of people? There are plenty of indoor arenas for artists to play in. This smacks of commercialism by the council at the expense of the people who live in the surrounding area.

We are litteraly sitting in our home today(Sat 13th Sep) being blasted with 90db noise by Waterworks in Gunnersbury Park. The licence allows only 75db but Hounslow planning overwrote it and allowed 90db! Our baby can't sleep, we cant work! Seriously considering legal action against Hounslow council for allowing this year after year and ignoring those who voted for you. After 116 days of renting out our local park this summer to multimillionaire promoters we are sick of it! Will you stop this torture now or do we need to take the council who granted the licence and planning permission to court?

I am a resident on Jersey Road, near Osterley park. It is disgusting and a health and safety issue to tolerate the Food with Love kitchen. they leave fruits, food, bread, etc. outside, in rain, sun, etc. and all the rats and birds are just eating that and making more mess. not to mention the smell. I have pictures and videos, I did raise this with counsel, and nothing happened. The rubbish liquid that is on street is smelly, the area is disgusting. No matter how much I told the council, nothing append. Food with Love will be closed in any civilized country if they do what they do here. Why we tolerate them and WHY we must live with this mess and disgusting place, because council is blind.

With the changing of e-bike licences effective 11th Aug, LBH is now plagued by large numbers of dumped Lime bikes around the border of LBH and Ealing. This is entirely due to Lime bikes mismanagement of the geofencing and their inability to control users. Lime have consistently failed to enforce proper parking of their users, in stark contrast to other bike providers. The blocking of footpaths and driveways is causing increasing issues in the borough, almost exclusively Like branded bikes only. Logging complaints with Hounslow Highways has zero effect - they no longer respond to complaints and bikes are now left for days. *** When will LBH get tough on Lime and start impounding Lime bikes?? ***

Council policy and guidance documents- at the last Planning Committee meeting and Officer referred to the planning recommendation on 1 Burlington Lane was informed by the 'emerging Local Plan'. Where is this published, what is its legal status and to what extent has consultation taken place on its site-specific contents?
This question is asked because a) the extant Local Plan does not allocate the former McCormack building (1 Burlington Lane) as a site for development and b) the Area Character Appraisal highlights the substantial risk of non-sympathetic developments to this particular area. To what extent does the Council follow its own guidance?

We are local residents living near the Gunnersbury park and want to ask why the council is approving large-scale events and raising the noise limit to 90 dB?

Why is the council allowing 12 hours of continuous loud dance music at 90 dB for three days in a populated area? This is concerning given that there have been continuous events from May until September.

Why is the council allowing these events that have a negative social impact and cause significant distress for the local community?

The funds raised by the events are not reinvested in the community, while the park is continuously fenced.

There are also concerns that the 28-day limit for events is being breached, and the council seems to overlook this.

Where is the consideration for the taxpayers who fund the council?

I'd like to ask why your Planning department did not listen to objections from the many many local residents, the Old Chiswick Protection Society, St Nicholas Church, Richmond Council and more importantly Historic England - and suggested that the high rise building known as 1 Burlington Lane shoudl be approved?

Gunnersbury Park, which is designated as Metropolitan Open Land, is leased by Gunnersbury Estate (2026) CIC. A recent Companies House filing shows that the CIC has registered a financial charge over the land. Was the Council made aware of or did it approve this charge, and what steps has it taken to ensure the public asset is not at risk?

In addition, the CIC receives around £500,000 in public funding annually, and is required to follow a maintenance schedule under its lease. Yet there appears to be no public record of audits, inspections, or spending breakdowns. What systems are in place to monitor the CIC’s compliance and ensure transparency around the use of public funds?

Why has Hounslow Council allowed the Gunnersbury CIC to run up a £2.7m “operational budget” in Gunnersbury Park, while historic buildings crumble, £500k of taxpayers’ money is siphoned off each year only for £300k to be handed back to Ealing council for grass cutting and bins, over 98 days of hire in 2025 bring robberies and drugs to homes surrounding the park, and residents are left with planning permitting 90db noise at festivals and licencing 75db far above the 65db Pop code and Hyde Park standards? Where are the independent financial audits of how our taxes are used by this unelected third party? Where is the oversight and scrutiny? In short, why does Hounslow Council consistently prioritise commercial promoters profits over protecting residents and safeguarding public land?