WE'LL GO WILD FOR BRAVE IAN - Glasshouse/Sherwood Street Walkway to be named after Conservative councillor who fought to clean up streets
Published: 9 April 2010
by TOM FOOT
A FORMER councillor described as a politician of “passion” and “rare integrity” is to receive a memorial in the heart of the ward he served.
Conservative Councillor Ian Wilder represented the West End for more than 15 years until his death in 2009.
He fought tirelessly to clean up the ward from drink and drugs and is remembered by residents as a man of action.
Even when he was being treated for cancer in the US he would join council meetings from his sick bed via a video link.
Now the politician’s legacy is set to be etched in stone with plans to name a new pedestrian footpath in Soho “Wilder Walk”.
A plaque in his honour will also be erected next month in Meard Street – across the road from the house Cllr Wilder’s tailor grandparents lived in after emigrating from Poland in the early 1900s.
Speaking from Beijing, his son David said he was both “surprised” and “touched” at the plans.
“Though nothing will compensate for his loss, the knowledge that his name could adorn both a plaque and walkway in the city that he loved and worked so hard for is of immense pride to us,” said David.
“It ensures that future generations of Dad’s family – including his three grandchildren – will have at least some understanding of how dedicated he was to the city in which he grew up, and how missed he is there.”
The proposals have been submitted by the Crown Estate as part of the redevelopment of the historic Regent Palace Hotel, which is expected to be finished in 2012.
The new covered walkway will link Glasshouse Street with Sherwood Street, running diagonally between new shops, flats and office buildings.
David Shaw, who is spearheading the development for the Crown Estate, said: “Ian Wilder was very active as a councillor in the West End and we recognised a feeling when Ian died that he should be appropriately commemorated for his contribution.
“When the opportunity arose to name this new walk after him, we discussed the idea with other members of the local community who were entirely supportive.”
The plans have received overwhelming support from friends and colleagues, who remember Cllr Wilder as a community champion and vociferous campaigner with an unshakeable belief that it was his destiny to serve the West End.
David Bieda, the Labour candidate for the West End ward, who is responsible for the plaque, said his former friend was “more than deserving” of both tributes.
He added: “I wanted the pathway to be called Wilder’s Way, because Ian always liked to go his own way: he was like a whirlwind passing through this area. We were political opponents but we were also great friends. He deserves to be remembered.”
Fiona Rhys-Jenkins, chairwoman of the Soho Society, recalled long phone conversations with Cllr Wilder.
“He used to phone me even when he was seriously ill from his hospital bed in Texas and we would talk for hours about serious issues,” she said. “Ian was a marvellous councillor who really loved Soho and the West End. Everybody wanted a memorial and I think this is perfect.”
Cllr Wilder, who was a former chartered accountant for the music impresario Harvey Goldsmith, was renowned for his fight to expose the impotence of the council’s licensing enforcement. He gained the nickname the “video vigilante” for his late-night walkabouts, where he took to the streets to record scenes of violence in the West End.
Among his long line of achievements was laying his hands on the binding 175-year-old covenant that consecrated the land on which under-threat St Mark’s Church stood for “ecclesiastical purposes forever”. The miraculous find ultimately persuaded the council to throw out plans to turn the Grade I-listed building into a health spa.
Glenys Roberts, who worked alongside Cllr Wilder, described him as someone who was “not just an effective politician but also a true friend”.
She added: “Ian was as funny as he was eccentric. Most people describe politics as the art of the possible, but to Ian, only the impossible was worth doing and he sometimes achieved it.
“He certainly deserves a memorial and if he were here he would love it.”