London Assembly representative has ambitious plans for West London
One month into the job, and Shepherd’s Bush’s GLA representative, Kit Malthouse, is a busy man: Not only does he represent the whole of the West Central constituency (Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster), but he is also Deputy Mayor for Policing.
“The bulk of my work is going to be about making the city as safe as possible,” Malthouse told ShepherdsBushW12.com, suggesting that his role as Deputy Mayor may take precedence. But he clearly sees his roles as overlapping: “Getting policing right is part of getting West Central right,” he said.
As Deputy Mayor for Policing, Malthouse has been tasked with bringing in Boris Johnson’s crime mapping scheme – a website allowing Londoners to see exactly how much criminal activity is going on in their area.
Despite concerns that this might send house prices tumbling, Malthouse is adamant the scheme will have positive effects: “I don’t think you should hide reality from people. The benefits of crime mapping will be felt in Shepherd’s Bush as it will help police allocate resources and raise awareness among the public. Lack of knowledge makes people scared. The truth gives them power,” he said.
For Shepherd’s Bush and the surrounding area, Malthouse’s ideas are focused on transport and the huge changes that lie ahead: “The key thing for Shepherd’s Bush is Westfield. It’s going to have a massive effect. We want to make sure we get policing and transport right there. In the northern part of Shepherd’s Bush, we want to get a Crossrail station, as Crossrail will come just south of Wormwood Scrubs. In the south of the borough, the District Line is annoying. It’s the last line to be scheduled for upgrade. We want to try and get this brought forward,” he said.
He also said he wanted to look into the feasibility of putting the Westway underground – a radical, if potentially costly, solution to West London’s congested roads. “We’ve got to look at tunnels. We don’t want to just deal with today’s traffic jams, we want to deal with the jams of the future,” Malthouse said.
Labour’s Murad Qureshi came second in the race for the West Central seat and is now a London-wide GLA member. “If he does concentrate on West Central issues, it will be in the south, rather than the north of the area,” he says of Malthouse. Despite having lost the West Central seat, Qureshi says he is still interested in tackling local concerns, such as the future of Shepherd’s Bush market and of Queens Park Rangers: “l have already made contact with the market traders and QPR supporters to make sure their views are represented in the activities of the GLA Group,” Qureshi said.
Others have questioned how Malthouse will be able to divide his energies between so many important tasks: “Depending on how much this new role will call on his time (the Deputy Mayor’s role), it may very well detract from his ability to devote his time and energy to his constituents of West Central, which is the size equivalent to five Parliamentary constituencies,” said the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, Merlene Emerson.
But Malthouse rejects such concerns: “If you want something done, give it to a busy person,” he said. “I don’t think the two roles are incompatible and I’m confident I can cover all the bases.”
Emerson says the primary role of Assembly Members is to scrutinise the work of the Mayor: “Malthouse has been appointed as 4th Deputy Mayor of Policing, hence reducing his own ability to be impartial on the Assembly. Clearly he will be unable to scrutinise his own work and that of the Mayor's in this important area. We have to question where his priorities and loyalty will lie,” she said.For Shepherd’s Bush residents, Malthouse says constituents can contact him on any issues of concern: “We will respond efficiently and quickly. That is my pledge,” he said, even insisting that matters more appropriately dealt with by Shepherd’s Bush’s Labour MP, Andy Slaughter, would be passed on to him: “If there’s something more relevant to him, we would direct it to the MP,” Malthouse said.
But he clearly sees this as a short-term situation: “In two years’ time, the whole of West London will be blue,” he predicted.
8 May 2008
|