| London Borough of Hounslow | |
 Shown within Greater London |
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Status | {{{status}}} |
| Area — Total |
Ranked 264th 55.98 km2 (21.6 sq mi) |
| ONS code | 00AT |
| Admin HQ | Hounslow |
| Demographics | |
| Population — Total (2008 est.) — Density |
Ranked 65th (of 326) 222,600 3,976 /km2 (10,298 /sq mi) |
| Ethnicity White British White Irish Other White White & Black Caribbean White & Black African White & Asian Other Mixed Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi Other Asian Black Caribbean Black African Other Black Chinese Other |
(2005 estimates)[1] 53.6% 2.4% 6.7% 0.7% 0.5% 1.2% 0.9% 18.3% 4.4% 0.8% 2.4% 1.3% 3.2% 0.4% 0.9% 2.3% |
| Politics | |
| Hounslow London Borough Council | |
 |
|
| Leadership | Leader & Cabinet |
| Mayor | Cllr Paul Lynch |
| Executive | Conservative / Independent |
| MPs | Alan Keen Ann Keen |
| London Assembly — Member |
South West London Tony Arbour |
| Coat of Arms | |
 |
|
| Official website | http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/ |
The London Borough of Hounslow (
pronunciation (help·info)) is a London borough in West London, England.
Contents |
Political composition
The council was controlled by Labour from 1971 until 2006. Labour lost control of the council in the 2006 local elections which produced a hung result and, subsequently, the Conservative group have formed an alliance with the Community group councillors which, barring any political differences, will form the executive until the next elections in 2010.
Corporate identity
The stated policies of the new administration include "restoring civic pride". As part of this, the council's visual identity has returned to a more traditional 'municipal' style, with a shade of purple replacing the former light green as the basis of the corporate colour scheme. The stylised green 'H' logotype used in the 1980s and 1990s is gradually being replaced on signage, stationery and other official uses with the borough coat of arms and "London Borough of Hounslow", usually in black type. This full title "London Borough of Hounslow" is also being increasingly used again by the council in referring to its own activities, or in demographic information. Consequently, the use of "Hounslow" used alone to refer to the borough (without the "London Borough of" descriptor) is discouraged in official usage. Although the full title can sometimes look a bit cumbersome when used in print, this does avoid a confusion often previously encountered when it was not always clear whether references were being made to the town of Hounslow itself, or the whole borough consisting of several towns and smaller villages. Local reference however tends still to be either to "Hounslow Council", "the council", or "the borough" when referring to events across the whole local authority area.
Seat distribution as of April 2008:
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 24 | |
| Conservative | 22 | |
| Community Group | 6 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 4 | |
| Independent | 4 | |
| Total | 60 | |
Districts in Hounslow
It includes the areas:
- Brentford
- Chiswick
- Cranford
- East Bedfont
- Feltham
- Grove Park
- Gunnersbury
- Hanworth
- Hatton
- Heston
- Hounslow
- Hounslow West
- Isleworth
- Lampton
- Lower Feltham
- North Hyde
- Osterley
- Spring Grove
- Woodlands
- see also Hounslow parks and open spaces
The various electoral wards of Hounslow are divided up into 5 Areas, each of which is afforded a measure of self-government:
- Chiswick
- Chiswick Homefields
- Chiswick Riverside
- Turnham Green
- Central Hounslow
- Hounslow Central
- Hounslow Heath
- Hounslow East
- 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
History
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.[2]
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, 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 travellers. This time it was mainly due to its connection to Heathrow Airport, though in fact the aviation links date back to the early 1900s when some of London's earliest airfields were sited here 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 contained some of the most famous manufacturing names in the world, including Firestone, Gillette, Coty. As a result, the area became known as the "Golden Mile". Few of these factory sites remain today, Gillette Corner being one of the remaining few, but the Great West Road is still home to many prestigious names (see "famous companies" below).
Transport
Air
Hounslow abuts the perimeter of London Heathrow Airport (itself located in the London Borough of Hillingdon). Plans for the expansion of Heathrow Airport are vigorously opposed by Hounslow, despite the alleged employment benefits it might bring to the borough.[3]
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) and two all-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: the District and Piccadilly. Three District and five Piccadilly line stations are located within the borough:
- 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;
- Boston Manor: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch;
- Osterley: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch;
- Hounslow East: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch;
- Hounslow Central: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch; and
- Hounslow West: Piccadilly line, Heathrow branch.
Three further 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
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009) |
Before its dissolution, British Mediterranean Airways was headquartered at the Hetherington House in Hounslow, near London Heathrow Airport.[4][5]
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.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
- ^ Room, Adrian: “Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles”, Bloomsbury, 1988
- ^ http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/campaigns/heathrow.htm hounslow.gov.uk
- ^ "Contact." British Mediterranean Airways. 26 June 2006. Retrieved on 20 May 2009.
- ^ "Maps & GIS." London Borough of Hounslow. Retrieved on 20 May 2009.
External links
Sources
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