Category Archives: Association

John Squiers

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It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of John Squiers. John was a long-time committee member of the Association and was Membership Secretary for a good number of years. He was very persuasive on the Association’s behalf. If he called to discuss a member’s offer of help, they somehow ended up doing more than they had originally thought!! He was also one of life’s true gentlemen in both senses of the word a very gentle man and an old fashioned courteous man . He will be greatly missed.

 

This picture shows John doing sterling work for the Association during Gala Day in 2002.

If you would like details of the funeral arrangements please email ickenhamresidents@hotmail.com

Residents’ Association AGM

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We were delighted to see so many members packed into the Village Hall for our AGM last Friday.

We were also pleased to welcome so many of our local councillors: Ray Puddifoot; David Simmonds; and John Hensley from Ickenham Ward, as well as Philip Corthorne and Brian Crowe from West Ruislip ward. We also welcomed our MP Nick Hurd and Squadron Leader James Tenniswood from RAF Northolt.

The formal business proceeded smoothly and the Committee members were duly re-elected for another year’s term of office plus the two co-opted members, Beryl Upton (HS2) and Simon Taylor (Traffic).

Ray Puddifoot spoke about the Council’s opposition to the third runway and its work to get agreement on traffic etc. from HS2.

Sqdr Ldr Tenniswood updated us on the planned improvements to the runway and arrester beds. He stressed the strategic importance of RAF Northolt. He also explained NORFEST and invited local organisations to take stands on the day.

Questions from the floor were mainly about HS2 and pollution. R Puddifoot stated that LBH would install monitors and keep a close eye on the results

The meeting closed with the traditional light refreshments. Our thanks to the ‘kitchen team’ led by Barbara Buckle and to Vic Silk and David John for keeping the drinks flowing.

Ickenham Pump Road Plan

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As you probably know, the accident-prone Ickenham Pump area is to be redesigned. What follows is extracted from a letter to the Residents’ Association from LBH and a link to the proposed plan. Comments have to be in to the address at the foot of this letter by February 15. The proposals are an improvement on what exists. The question is “could they be better?”

Here goes:

Formal Consultation: Swakeleys Road and High Road Ickenham – Proposed Road Safety Improvements

The informal consultation responses have been analysed which indicated a majority in support of the proposed measures. Following consideration of the consultation responses, the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling has approved for formal consultation to be carried out on this proposal.

The optimum proposal identified by the independent study, and supported in principle by Ward Members and the Metropolitan Police, includes the following proposed measures, as shown in this plan:-

Ickenham Pump
• Closure of the central access to the Ickenham Pump (vehicle surveys and vehicle tracking software has been used to ensure vehicle movements can be maintained within the Ickenham Pump service road with the inclusion of additional yellow lines)

• Residents’ permit only parking bay extended within the Ickenham Pump service road

• Two raised tables on the Ickenham Pump service road to calm traffic

• Potential options for sympathetic landscaping within the closed central access to the Ickenham Pump

Swakeleys Road
• Re-location of the existing zebra crossing on Swakeleys Road to 20 metres from its junction with High Road Ickenham. This would require;

• Closure of the access to the service road opposite the Post Office

• Re-location of the existing northbound bus stop and goods vehicle loading bay

High Road Ickenham
• Extended ‘Keep Clear’ markings on High Road Ickenham at the northern access to the Ickenham Pump

• Extended operational hours of the existing yellow lines on High Road Ickenham adjacent to St Giles’ Church The proposed scheme has been subject to a positive review undertaken by an independent road safety auditor.

The statutory consultation period will run until 15 February 2017. A formal notice will appear in a local paper as well as street notices displayed on site during this time. If you would like to comment on the proposal, please write to the postal or email address below by Wednesday 15 February 2017 and include your address to help us analyse all responses.

Transport and Projects Residents Services
London Borough of Hillingdon,
4W/06, Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge, UB8 1UW

T.01895 556266 F.01895 250676

PS (11 Feb): Reading the Council’s official notice, it suggests quoting the reference number 4W/06/25/01/17.

It also says this:

If you have any comments or feedback on the proposed parking and traffic improvement schemes below, please contact the Transport and Projects Team:

I don’t know whether telephoned or emailed comments have the same weight as physical documents. I shall enquire, but time is running out…

PPS: Email is fine. My thanks to Cllr Hensley for calling me about this at 9:00 this morning. He’s probably the most responsive ‘official’ I’ve ever met.

HS2 House of Lords Presentation of Petitions

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The Ickenham Residents’ Association, along with other petitioners from Ickenham, will be presenting from 2 pm on Monday November 21 to the House of Lords HS2 Select Committee. We all would appreciate your support when we present. The public have access to the Select Committee Room 4 – please allow 30 -40 minutes to get through security and make you way through the myriad passages in the House – there are lots of people who will be happy to give you directions.
The Association with many more Ickenham petitioners presented to the House of Commons Select Committee in June 2015; at that time we were all requesting that the tunnel be extended beyond the Colne Valley thereby saving Ickenham and our surrounding areas. Although we believe this is still the best option the Secretary of State for Transport has confirmed that there will be no tunnel extension; this was on same day that the Secretary of State also advised that HS2 will not fund the relocation of HOAC.
The House of Commons Select Committee in their final report did state that we deserved special mitigation particularly regarding the traffic and dumping of spoil. There has been a working group between HS2, LBH and TfL which has determined that based upon a number of conditions – all of which are uncertain – there is scope for reducing HGV lorries and dumping of some spoil.
We however do not consider this is good enough; it still puts over 100,000 HGVs down Swakeleys Road during the construction period with horrendous emissions. We still have 3 major construction sites, road closures due to utility works and concrete factories sited on green belt. HS2 Ltd have held 2 events in Ickenham to put a positive spin on this but nearly all attendees advised us afterwards that they were dissatisfied with HS2 ‘s proposals.
The London Borough of Hillingdon will be presenting to the Select Committee on November 17. They will be raising similar issues and of course the situation with HOAC.

HS2 House of Lords petitions

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If you are interested in reading our HS2 petition to the House of Lords Select Committee, you’ll find it on pages 27-34 of this document. Others look out for are:

Document 1: Beryl Upton, and many others,  pages 40-43; Eric Gustavson, pages 281-284

Document 2: The Drive/Uxbridge Golf Course, pages 66-74;

Document 3: Matt Semple, and many others, pages 19-21; Mary Cockerell, and many others, pages 42-48; Brian Cable, pages 54-60

Document 4: London Borough of Hillingdon, pages 384 to 389

Document 5: North Uxbridge Residents Association pages 74-75

All bar the LBH will appear on 21st November between 14:00 and 17:30

[Update: 10th November: Four more petitions have been squeezed into an already tight slot.]

LBH is scheduled for 17th November – time slot still unknown.

If you are willing and able, please attend these sessions. The more of us who turn up in support, the greater the influence on the Select Committee. Thank you.

HS2 Village Hall tomorrow (3 Nov)

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HS2 will be holding an Information Event between 3 pm and 9 pm Ickenham Village Hall tomorrow, November 3. We will have a stand there and will on hand to answer questions, suggest questions to ask HS2 and listen to  your feedback.

The more of you that come and share your views with us, the better informed and prepared we’ll be when we present to the House of Lords Select Committee.

Some things to bear in mind (quoting from an earlier email):

“The government has reneged on its commitment to fund the relocation of HOAC. As it stands HOAC will  close down.”

“Also, the Secretary of State will not agree to extension of tunnel.”

 “This does not bode well for us trying to get improvements for the community.”

We have to keep on pushing as hard as possible for decision reversals and mitigation.

See you there?

 

 

 

HS2 village events – latest

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HS2 Ltd has announced that it will be holding Information Events between 3 pm and 9 pm in St Giles Church Hall, Ickenham on October 13 and Ickenham Village Hall on November 3. They wish to present their conclusions resulting from the Hillingdon Traffic Study carried out with Transport for London (TfL) and London Borough of Hillingdon.


What is HS2 Ltd proposing? …

HS2 believes it can reduce the maximum daily peak of HGV vehicles to 550 and with signalisation on Swakeleys roundabout this, in their opinion, will be manageable. HS2 also believes, subject to certain conditions, that it can reduce the amount of spoil to be dumped on the fields between Harvil Road and Breakspear Road South by re-using the spoil in the building of the new Harvil Road bridge and Uxbridge golf course. It will also re-use spoil from the West Ruislip tunnel portal on Ruislip golf course.

These efforts were as a result of the petitioning last year by Ickenham residents to the House of Commons Select Committee and political pressure from our council leader and local MPs.


What do we believe? …

We, of course, welcome any improvements in mitigation but do not share their optimism that our local roads can support HS2’s construction activities. Its plans still require over 100,000 HGV vehicle movements on roads which today cannot support the daily commuter traffic and already suffer high levels of air pollution. In addition to the construction sites in Harvil Road, Breakspear Road South and Ickenham High Road (West Ruislip) – which in themselves will cause traffic congestion – there will be significant utility works in West End Road Ruislip, construction sites in Harefield and West Hyde.  We know, from the National Grid utility works in Breakspear Road South in July/August this year, that any work by any party can cause horrendous congestion.

Our position remains that no HGV vehicles should be allowed on our suburban roads, through our shopping centre, along commuter, bus and school routes and known accident black spots. The traffic modelling upon which HS2 Ltd is basing its conclusions has not yet been agreed with TfL, LBH and our Residents Association and is unlikely to conclude until next year. The traffic numbers could change. It was our opinion that, until there was more substantive evidence, these conclusions were premature and should not be presented to the residents.

We are also disappointed that HS2 Ltd still wants to build and run concrete factories on the Green Belt by Harvil Road. We do not believe this is environmentally sound – the risks of environmental pollution are too great. We believe best practice would be to bring in the finished concrete tunnel supports from existing factories which have been proven to be environmentally safe.  HS2 Ltd has agreed that this alternative would not create additional traffic.

The Ickenham Residents Association will have a stand in the HS2 Information Event and we thank HS2 Ltd for this opportunity. Please come and meet us.