London Borough of Hounslow

London Borough of Hounslow
—  London borough  —
Coat of arms Council logo
Hounslow shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Status	London borough
Admin HQ	Hounslow
Incorporated	1 April 1965
Government
• Type	London borough council
• Body	Hounslow London Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Labour)
• Mayor	Cllr Amrit Mann
• MPs	Seema Malhotra Mary Macleod
• London Assembly	Tony Arbour AM for South West
• EU Parliament	London
Area
• Total	21.61 sq mi (55.98 km2)
Area rank	264th (of 326)
Population (2011 est.)
• Total	254,900
• Rank	56th (of 326)
• Density	Bad rounding here12,000/sq mi (Bad rounding here4,600/km2)
• Ethnicity	53.6% White British 2.4% White Irish 6.7% Other White 0.7% White & Black Caribbean 0.5% White & Black African 1.2% White & Asian 0.9% Other Mixed 18.3% Indian 4.4% Pakistani 0.8% Bangladeshi 2.4% Other Asian 1.3% Black Caribbean 3.2% Black African 0.4% Other Black 0.9% Chinese 2.3% Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes	{{{postcode_areas}}}
Police force	Metropolitan Police
Website	www.hounslow.gov.uk

The London Borough of Hounslow ( pronunciation) is a London borough in west London, part of Outer London. Apart from the borough's town of the same name, the largest settlements in the borough are Chiswick, Brentford and Feltham. The borough includes Osterley Park, Syon House and to the south-east borders the River Thames. The local authority is Hounslow London Borough Council.

Districts in Hounslow

See also: Hounslow parks and open spaces

Settlements grouped by post town

Post Town	Other localities
Feltham	Bedfont	Hanworth	Hatton
Brentford	Brentford Dock
Hounslow	Cranford	Grove Park	Lampton	Heston	North Hyde	Woodlands
Isleworth	Spring Grove	Osterley
South Acton (Part)
Chiswick	Bedford Park	Gunnersbury	Strand-on-the-Green	Turnham Green

The Thames at Brentford.

The various electoral wards of Hounslow are grouped into five Areas, each of which is given an extent of self-government:

• Chiswick
  • Chiswick Homefields
  • Chiswick Riverside
  • Turnham Green
• Central Hounslow
  • Hounslow Central
  • Hounslow Heath
  • Hounslow South
  • Hounslow West
• Isleworth and Brentford
  • Brentford
  • Isleworth
  • Osterley and Spring Grove
  • Syon
• Heston and Cranford
  • Cranford
  • Heston East
  • Heston Central
  • Heston West
• West
  • Bedfont
  • Feltham North
  • Feltham West
  • Hanworth Park
  • Hanworth

Political composition

Elections across London Boroughs are currently held every four years. Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two elections: in 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the 2006 local elections which produced a no overall control council. Although Labour was the largest party by councillor the Conservatives formed a coalition with councillors from the independent Isleworth Community Group (ICG) which administered the area until the 2010 local elections when all seven independent councillors lost their seats. No other parties are currently represented on the Council.

Seat distribution as of May 2010:

Party		Seats
	Labour	35
	Conservative	25
Total		60

Reflecting how votes were cast in the national elections, in separate polls held the same day, for the 2010-2014 period, the Conservatives and Labour won fifteen seats each from the Brentford and Isleworth (UK Parliament constituency). Overall, control was held by the council's Labour administration as 20 Labour Party Councillors and 10 Conservative Party Councillors were elected for wards in the Feltham and Heston half of the borough.

Between 1998 and 2006 Independents were elected to the London Borough of Hounslow from the area. The first Independent Community Group (ICG) councillor was elected in 1998 as Isleworth Community Group in Isleworth. In 2002 three ICG councillors were elected in Isleworth. In 2006 six ICG councillors were elected (Syon and Isleworth wards), and former Labour Leader of the Council John Connelly was re-elected as an Independent in Hounslow Heath ward. However, all seven of the Independents were defeated in the local elections held on May 6, 2010 by, in their respective wards, Labour Party candidates.

History

See

Main articles: Brentford, Chiswick, Feltham, Heston, Hounslow, Isleworth, and Osterley

for the history of each

Hounslow Civic Centre

Etymology

The town of Hounslow, which has existed since the 13th Century, is located at the centre of the Borough of Hounslow. The name Hounslow means 'Hund's mound'; the personal name Hund is followed by the Old English hlaew meaning mound or barrow. (The mound may have been his burial place.) It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Honeslaw.

Foundations

The borough was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the merger of the area of the former Brentford and Chiswick Urban District, Feltham Urban District and the Heston and Isleworth Urban District (which held borough status as did Brentford and Chiswick) of Middlesex.

This outer borough of Greater London lies on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames and was the site of the first stop on an important coach route to Southampton, Bath, Bristol and Exeter. The A30 "Great South West Road" trunk road, which runs down to Penzance in Cornwall, starts in the borough. Hounslow town developed on either side of the main Great West Road from London to the West of England (not to be confused with the modern road of the same name), causing a large number of inns to be built to serve the travellers. A few, such as The Bell retain their names, although the buildings have largely been replaced. The Bell marks the former junction of the coaching routes. Historic milestones are preserved on the Staines Road (now re-numbered as the A315 but joining the "old" A30 again just inside the borough's western boundary)

Hounslow grew rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century due to other travel, a connection to the largest of London's Airports since the 1940s, Heathrow Airport which is in the Hounslow post town. Little known is that aviation dates to the early 1900s here when one of London's earliest airfields was situated on Hounslow Heath because of the extremely flat terrain. The Great West Road which runs from the start of the M4 motorway at Chiswick westwards towards Heathrow, at one time served some of the most famous global manufacturers, including Firestone, Gillette and Coty. As a result, the area became known as the "Golden Mile". A few of these factory sites remain today, Gillette Corner being one of the remaining, and its by-pass, the Great West Road is still home to many prestigious names (see "famous companies" below), providing easy non-motorway access between Slough, London Heathrow Airport and Central London.

Transport

Air

Hounslow abuts the perimeter of London Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Plans for the expansion of Heathrow Airport are vigorously opposed by Hounslow if such plans increase or widen noise and pollution, weighed against arguments of greater employment and spending.

Bus

The borough has forty-seven bus routes (27, 65, 81, 90, 94, 105, 110, 111, 116, 117, 120, 190, 195, 203, 222, 235, 237, 267, 272, 281, 285, 290, 391, 423, 440, 481, 482, 490, 635, 681, 813, 941, E2, E3, E6, E8, H20, H22, H25, H26, H28, H32, H37, H91, H98, R70, X26), some of which are 24 hours services, and two night services (N9 and N11).

Rail

The borough's railway stations are:

• on the North London Line: Gunnersbury.
• on the Hounslow Loop Line: Chiswick, Kew Bridge, Brentford, Isleworth, Syon Lane, and Hounslow.
• on the mainline: Feltham.

River

River services between Westminster Pier and Hampton Court depart from Kew Gardens Pier just across the River Thames from Hounslow.

Road

Principal roads in Hounslow include the A4 (Great West Road), the elevated section of the M4 motorway, the A406 (North Circular) and A205 (South Circular) roads, all of which meet at Gunnersbury just west of Chiswick. The A4 runs eastwards into central London via the Hogarth Roundabout where it meets the A316 (Great Chertsey Road) which runs south-west, eventually joining the M3 motorway.

Underground

The borough is served by branches of two London Underground lines District Line:

• Stamford Brook: District line, Richmond and Ealing Broadway branches;
• Turnham Green: District line, Richmond and Ealing Broadway branches and Piccadilly line (early mornings and late evenings only);
• Gunnersbury: District line, Richmond branch

Piccadilly Line:

• Boston Manor: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch (as all stations below);
• Osterley: Piccadilly line
• Hounslow East: Piccadilly line
• Hounslow Central: Piccadilly line
• Hounslow West: Piccadilly line

Three stations lie just outside the borough's northern boundaries. Chiswick Park and Acton Town (both in the London Borough of Ealing) and Hatton Cross tube station (in the London Borough of Hillingdon) serve the borough's residents.

Economy

The borough is home to the headquarters of GlaxoSmithKline, and British Sky Broadcasting's studio complex, both based in Brentford's 'Golden Mile'. Fuller's Griffin Brewery is also in the borough, in Chiswick. Aston Martin were based in Feltham for several years before moving to Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.^{[citation needed]}

Air France-KLM's head office for United Kingdom and Ireland operations, which includes facilities for Air France and KLM, is located in Plesman House in Hatton Cross in the borough. The Plesman House, outside of Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport, has the UK commercial team, sales team, and support team. Sega Europe has its head office in Brentford. Menzies Aviation has its head office by the airport in Feltham. JCDecaux UK has its head office in Brentford.

Before winding-up British Mediterranean Airways was headquartered at Hetherington House near London Heathrow Airport.

Sport and leisure

The borough of Hounslow has several Non-League football clubs:y

• CB Hounslow United F.C. who play at the Osterley Sports Ground.
• Hanworth Villa F.C. who play at Rectory Meadow.
• Feltham F.C. who currently play at the Orchard in East Bedfont.
• Bedfont Sports F.C. who play at the Bedfont Sports Recreation Ground.
• Ashford Town F.C. (Middlesex) who play at the The Robert Parker Stadium.

Twinning

Hounslow has a sister district agreement with Leningradsky District in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

People from Hounslow

Main articles: Brentford, Chiswick, Feltham, Heston, Hounslow, Isleworth, and Osterley

Ian Gillan, vocalist for Deep Purple, and formerly of Black Sabbath and Gillan, is a native of Hounslow.

See also

• Hounslow local elections
• The Community Group (London Borough of Hounslow)
• List of schools in Hounslow

Notes and References

Notes

References

External links

• The London Borough of Hounslow
• Public Transport Guide

Sources

• Hounslow Community - The history of Hounslow and the local area