The London Borough of Hounslow Contingency Planning Unit has shared details of a London Fire Brigade exercise scheduled for Thursday 21 October 2021 at the University of West London site close to where the A4 and M4 meet Boston Manor Road in Brentford.
The Paragon, Brentford
Under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), Category 1 organisations such as the council and fire service have a statutory duty to “test the effectiveness of their emergency plans by carrying out exercises”.
This exercise planned for from 1.00 pm, tomorrow 21 October 2021, will last approximately three hours and involve 12 or more LFB appliances as well as smoke machines to practise high rise fire and evacuation procedures. A briefing may be found here.
The event will therefore be very visible to the public, potentially from some distance away, including people of Osterley and Spring Grove Ward. Residents should be reassured but, obviously, if in any doubt the advice is to still call 999 who will appropriately field calls.
The organisers have worked with the council’s traffic team and Transport for London to put in place arrangements to minimise any traffic disruption with the large number of Fire Brigade appliances taking part.
The LBH Contingency Planning team will be at the exercise with LFB on the day assisting with coordination of some volunteer students from West Thames College who have kindly agreed to be ‘evacuated’ from the building and testing some of the council response arrangements on site.
TL 20.10.2021
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At Monday’s (24.8.2020) Labour Listens event, a resident asked of progress to complete level access to the three stations in Osterley and Spring Grove Ward. This item includes updates sought from Hounslow Council’s Traffic and Transport Team
Syon Lane Station lift commissioning
Platform 2 at Syon Lane Station October 2016
The 2012 planning consent for extensive development of Sky Campus at Grant Way yielded £1m for improvements at Syon Lane Station, implicitly to improve the flow of peak use commuters and achieve step free access.
New lift and additional footbridge at Syon Lane Station August 2020
Nearly complete in March 2020, the final pieces of construction were disrupted by COVID. Works are expected to recommence in September for up to six weeks. An accurate handover and operation of the new lift and footbridge will be subject to Network Rail inspection; a firmer date should be available by October 2020.
Osterley Station lifts completion and commissioning
Soon after Boris Johnson became Mayor of London in 2008 he reduced the tube stations step free access programme begun by his Labour predecessor; plans for lifts at Osterley Station for the benefit of the disabled and less mobile were in the throes of approval but then abandoned.
Osterley Station, Great West Road
Johnson, however, began to reveal a proclivity to spaff Transport for London money on vanity projects such as the unrealised Garden Bridge, overheated and overpriced toy buses and that cable car from nowhere to nowhere.
Osterley Station lift on eastbound platform under construction March 2020
Following his election, new Mayor Sadiq Khan in 2017 resurrected the lifts programme. Approved and already under construction before the lockdown, the lifts, to each platform at this famous Grade II Listed building, were due to be delivered and commissioned by the end of 2020. TfL have confirmed that all its step free programmes paused in April have not yet restarted and are expected to be opened six months after construction recommences.
Isleworth Station
Often with its own resources or by securing S106 planning gain, Hounslow Council has a track record back to the late 1980s (Hounslow West Station being the first) for improving level access to stations across the borough.
Where local funds are not identified, the council’s transport team promote the priorities of residents and councillors and bid for funds when opportunities arise.
Isleworth Station forecourt, London Road
A range of lift locations designs for Isleworth Station were developed by previous franchisee, South West Trains and have laid fallow since 2015. Optimism, however, has been buoyed since the 2019 Department for Transport announcement that Isleworth is on the list of stations for an Access to All programme upgrade.
Isleworth Station, behind Platform 2
Although some disruption togetting this project going has occurred, Network Rail have continued to develop plans for the station and Hounslow’s transport officers maintain dialogue with them and South Western Railway to agree options for step free conversion down to London Road and nearby.
New information on our stations will be shared when available.
Following previous meetings with residents when the company emphasised its commitment to Isleworth should its planning applications come to fruition, the building, with planning consents for both commercial and residential is up for sale, with planning permission.
From the marketing site for the Adini Building, 891 Great West Road
Asking price is £6,000,000.
TL 20.5.2020
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A twelve year wait for any sustainable action on the former Syon Gate Garage site at the corner of Syon Lane and Great West Road is about to end as owners, Access Self Storage, are about to implement the permission granted by Hounslow Council Planning Committee on 2 May 2019.
The site looking south east
This will be a maximum six storey, storage only development as opposed to earlier ambitions for something more than twice the size including residential.
As with all these major schemes, permission was given subject to a fair few conditions just being finalised, including the all important to residents at least, Construction Logistics Plan. This suggests a six stage build sequence through to around September 2021 although mostly indoors and describes delivery vehicle routes (Great West Road, Syon Lane, Northumberland Avenue), hours of operation (should be, Monday to Friday 08.00 to 18.00, Saturday 0.900 to 13.00, not on Sunday or a Bank Holiday without council permission) and a fair bit more.
A contractor, Harmonix Construction, has been appointed as has a Project Manager, Troy Hunter, whose email is troy@harmonixconstruction.com and telephone is 079 3950 9552.
Artist impression looking west from Harlequin Avenue
Construction, starting with piling, should commence in mid-June 2020.
I have asked for regularly delivered bulletins for residents, the maisonettes from Northumberland Gardens to at least to Redesdale Gardens and nearby homes on Great West Road. The first issue can be found here.
Will make a change from the unauthorised site incursions experienced by residents.
Finally, the developer has advised to expect an amending planning application looking to increase the height by approximately 1.5m to address a need to increase internal floor to ceiling heights.
TL 20.5.2020
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Transport for London’s preferred developer, Apartments for London, received a fair amount of stick when first suggesting that a development of 118 flats within up to nine storeys, in December 2018.
Residents learning more about Apartments for London latest proposals at Osterley Station
The latest idea is for 68 units within a development of three to six storeys on part of the Osterley Station Car Park. A copy of the proposal may be found here.
There will be an exhibition of the new proposal this Tuesday 18 June 2019 between 2.00 pm and 8.00 pm at the Indian Gymkhana, Thornbury Avenue, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 4NQ where the architects and developer will be present to explain, justify and respond to questions.
If interested, please attend to see the new scheme and make comment. As always, Osterley and Spring Grove Ward Councillors would also be interested to learn from residents what they think, too.
TL 17.6.2019
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Hounslow's streets and street services are having a major make-over. If you have problems or questions concerning any aspect of this work then please contact <a href="https://fms.hounslowhighways.org/.
Tony Louki's Report Back 