People who live near or use South Street in Isleworth will probably know Wadih Chourey, whose brothers Joseph and Camil run the long-estabished Joseph's Patisserie opposite Isleworth Public Hall.
Wadih, aged 44, who has Down's Syndrome, has lived in the UK since 1997 when he came from the Lebanon with his parents as his life was in danger from gangs who were victimising him and encouraging him to commit crime on their behalf. Since then he has been a popular local figure, undertaking simple tasks in support of the family business and enjoying the trust and sense of responsibility that this brings. He is happy, helpful and always pleasant.
His parents have both since passed away and as a result of this he faces deportation by the Home Office back to his native Lebanon. His brothers, and his many friends in the community, fear that he would be in danger if he were to be forced to return. He is not capable of living independently, needing help to wash and dress himself.
Local people believe that Chourey has been an asset to the local community, he is integrated and is a popular local figure. His removal would appear to serve no useful purpose to anybody. A campaign is underway to prevent the deportation and this campaign is fully community-led, having been initiated by the Old Isleworth Four Roads Residents' Association.
The decision is currently at the appeal stage and I would invite readers of this blog to sign our petition to say Do Not Deport Wadih Chourey.
Showing posts with label Four Roads Residents' Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Four Roads Residents' Association. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Community voices in the wilderness
I was very disappointed by the response Councillor Jon Hardy's motion to Sustainable Development Committee (SDC) on the failure of Hounslow's Environment Department to address community concerns over its Electronic Data Management System (EDMS) received from fellow members this evening.
We are blessed in Isleworth and Brentford to have so many community groups that are familiar with the planning process and able to offer advice and constructive criticism when things aren't running perfectly. As a local authority that is publicly committed to Community Engagement one might have thought there would be a willingness to engage with members of the public on a matter of some importance, and on which it is in everybody's interests to get right, but rather the attitude from the Department has been defensive and antagonistic.
A planning expert who sits as a co-optee on Central Hounslow Area Committee, Brentford Community Council, Campion Concerns, The Isleworth Society, the Four Roads Residents' Association and the St. John's Residents' Association - all of these, as well as obviously the ICG, have been involved in the work. But tonight the two Labour members of the SDC who were present, both of them awkward and I would say a tad sheepish in disposition as they delivered their comments, sought to have the community motion struck out on technical grounds (one of them referred to it as "political"!), and most other members of the Committee, to me, gave off an impression that they hadn't really grasped what was going on.
Other than Jon and I only Brentford Lib Dem councillor Andrew Dakers supported the motion, and more precious time was stalled for as we head rapidly towards the local elections and the possibility, if we are not re-elected and back in office, of it being lost for good.
We must accept of course the democratic verdict of the Committee, and consider other ways of getting the problem resolved. At the moment we as a community feel we are being challenged to do our worst rather than co-operated with, but there are signs that the mindset is changing gradually.
We are blessed in Isleworth and Brentford to have so many community groups that are familiar with the planning process and able to offer advice and constructive criticism when things aren't running perfectly. As a local authority that is publicly committed to Community Engagement one might have thought there would be a willingness to engage with members of the public on a matter of some importance, and on which it is in everybody's interests to get right, but rather the attitude from the Department has been defensive and antagonistic.
A planning expert who sits as a co-optee on Central Hounslow Area Committee, Brentford Community Council, Campion Concerns, The Isleworth Society, the Four Roads Residents' Association and the St. John's Residents' Association - all of these, as well as obviously the ICG, have been involved in the work. But tonight the two Labour members of the SDC who were present, both of them awkward and I would say a tad sheepish in disposition as they delivered their comments, sought to have the community motion struck out on technical grounds (one of them referred to it as "political"!), and most other members of the Committee, to me, gave off an impression that they hadn't really grasped what was going on.
Other than Jon and I only Brentford Lib Dem councillor Andrew Dakers supported the motion, and more precious time was stalled for as we head rapidly towards the local elections and the possibility, if we are not re-elected and back in office, of it being lost for good.
We must accept of course the democratic verdict of the Committee, and consider other ways of getting the problem resolved. At the moment we as a community feel we are being challenged to do our worst rather than co-operated with, but there are signs that the mindset is changing gradually.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Once more into the breach
I'm genuinely very proud of the way the Independent Community Group's six councillors have performed over the past three and a half years, both as ward councillors and as a small but essential partner in the coalition which has managed the London Borough of Hounslow.
Like every other organisation we have our moments of introspection. We have our tactical disagreements. We have times when one member believes that another member is not pulling his or her weight, or that a colleague hasn't kept us properly informed of something that he or she has done. We are only human.
However - and I've said it before - when I think back to the humble roots of the ICG, and indeed the humble objectives that it set out to achieve, I find myself actually shaking with awe and even a little apprehension as to how far it can all go.
What began as a cry in the wilderness over the sheer unfairness of the way in which the residents' movement in our little Isleworth backwater had been stitched up by a very small but ruthless and unscrupulous political clique has developed over the space of a decade and a half into a huge, sophisticated and omnipotent community campaigning machine, practically guaranteeing that the voice of the people is heard whenever news of any local development, real or metaphorical, breaks out into the ether.
On Tuesday, when I visit the ROWE Community Centre for our monthly Worton surgery, I will be greeted by residents' leaders who have overseen the first estate-based Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in the UK, who have successfully applied for local authority funding to extend their community centre and develop it into an educational resource, and who run a successful young people's project which is the envy of the borough. On Ivybridge I am still reeling from the Anuual General Meeting, held in July, where over 100 people crammed into the hall and at least a third of them volunteered for committee duty.
I and my ward colleagues liaise with The Isleworth Society (TIS) on an almost daily basis about local issues and problems that they have identified. Where their observations are met with negativity or indifference we are usually able to grind out a result by working together and battling away until the residents' concerns are addressed. The tenacity and expertise of groups like the Four Roads Residents' Association (in Isleworth) and the St. John's Residents' Association (almost wholly in Syon), which often include people who themselves serve or have served as officers on other local authorities, ensures that the community is not short-changed.
The Mogden Residents' Action Group (MRAG), despite the fact that its concerns remain unresolved, can at least instruct elected members in the knowledge that it is our master rather than our servant, a relationship which most certainly did not exist with our predecessors. And it does so safe in the knowledge that as councillors we fight their corner every inch of the way.
In just over seven months the good people of Isleworth and Syon wards will have the opportunity to decide whether they wish this relationship to continue, or whether they aspire once again to be "represented" by people whose first loyalty is to a large political organisation whose policy programme is decided at a national level, and defined by a rigid and inflexible dogma. Aware as we are of the complications which the likely occurance of a general election on the same day will undoubtedly bring about, we will stand proudly on our record and take on all comers.
Last night several of us met at the Inverness Club in Brentford for our monthly social gathering. From the political conversation that developed over a few pints against some agreeable background music it was clear that next May will open up some very interesting and potentially exciting opportunities to advance our position and to shape a local authority which will help to develop further our community agenda. Mindful of events and developments in and around our wards, we will enter the fray better organised, better supported and with far more experience and knowledge than we have ever done previously.
This will be the fifth local election campaign to be contested by the ICG. As Shakespeare's King Henry V put it, it's once more into the breach dear friends. This coming contest should hold no fears for us in the ICG. Let battle commence.
Like every other organisation we have our moments of introspection. We have our tactical disagreements. We have times when one member believes that another member is not pulling his or her weight, or that a colleague hasn't kept us properly informed of something that he or she has done. We are only human.
However - and I've said it before - when I think back to the humble roots of the ICG, and indeed the humble objectives that it set out to achieve, I find myself actually shaking with awe and even a little apprehension as to how far it can all go.
What began as a cry in the wilderness over the sheer unfairness of the way in which the residents' movement in our little Isleworth backwater had been stitched up by a very small but ruthless and unscrupulous political clique has developed over the space of a decade and a half into a huge, sophisticated and omnipotent community campaigning machine, practically guaranteeing that the voice of the people is heard whenever news of any local development, real or metaphorical, breaks out into the ether.
On Tuesday, when I visit the ROWE Community Centre for our monthly Worton surgery, I will be greeted by residents' leaders who have overseen the first estate-based Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in the UK, who have successfully applied for local authority funding to extend their community centre and develop it into an educational resource, and who run a successful young people's project which is the envy of the borough. On Ivybridge I am still reeling from the Anuual General Meeting, held in July, where over 100 people crammed into the hall and at least a third of them volunteered for committee duty.
I and my ward colleagues liaise with The Isleworth Society (TIS) on an almost daily basis about local issues and problems that they have identified. Where their observations are met with negativity or indifference we are usually able to grind out a result by working together and battling away until the residents' concerns are addressed. The tenacity and expertise of groups like the Four Roads Residents' Association (in Isleworth) and the St. John's Residents' Association (almost wholly in Syon), which often include people who themselves serve or have served as officers on other local authorities, ensures that the community is not short-changed.
The Mogden Residents' Action Group (MRAG), despite the fact that its concerns remain unresolved, can at least instruct elected members in the knowledge that it is our master rather than our servant, a relationship which most certainly did not exist with our predecessors. And it does so safe in the knowledge that as councillors we fight their corner every inch of the way.
In just over seven months the good people of Isleworth and Syon wards will have the opportunity to decide whether they wish this relationship to continue, or whether they aspire once again to be "represented" by people whose first loyalty is to a large political organisation whose policy programme is decided at a national level, and defined by a rigid and inflexible dogma. Aware as we are of the complications which the likely occurance of a general election on the same day will undoubtedly bring about, we will stand proudly on our record and take on all comers.
Last night several of us met at the Inverness Club in Brentford for our monthly social gathering. From the political conversation that developed over a few pints against some agreeable background music it was clear that next May will open up some very interesting and potentially exciting opportunities to advance our position and to shape a local authority which will help to develop further our community agenda. Mindful of events and developments in and around our wards, we will enter the fray better organised, better supported and with far more experience and knowledge than we have ever done previously.
This will be the fifth local election campaign to be contested by the ICG. As Shakespeare's King Henry V put it, it's once more into the breach dear friends. This coming contest should hold no fears for us in the ICG. Let battle commence.
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