Consultation on Character Areas

Important summaries of the past and threats to the future

Hounslow have issued two conservation area appraisals that affect Brentford: one for St Paul's and one for the Grand Union & Boston Manor.

These set out the character of each area, what makes them special and why/whether they are important heritage assets.

They help influence future planning applications and guide development so are important for the future.

The descriptions cover the history of the area with lots of photos past and present and so are interesting to anyone curious about the local history.

Statutory and locally listed buildings are also featured in the character areas and the appraisals include recommendations for changes to these, as well as other lists such as war memorials.

There will be a drop in session on Wednesday 8th November at Brentford Free Church, Boston Manor Road from 5-8pm

Full details are available online and the consultation closes on 17th November.

Character areas also end with a full listing of all properties in the area.

St Paul's Conservation Area

The map summarises the state of the area with the orange buildings representing the positive contributors, including the terraced housing, Brentford School for Girls and some other modern buildings. In red are the statutorily listed buildings and yellow show the locally listed. The one grey building is the police site, identified as a negative contributor.

St Paul's CA extends south of the high street including Pump Alley and east to the old fire station. To the north west it includes Brentford station, The Dell and the Medical Centre.

There is no suggestion to widen the area east to Ealing Road, to incorporate Mafeking Road, Braemar Road and New Road, all of which could be said to be of a similar nature to the included terraces.

There are recommendations for further local and statutory listings (pp46-).

Emphasis is also placed on minor amendments to houses that detract from the area as a whole: UPVC windows, fences rather than walls, painted frontages, front roof lights, solar panels etc. but no mention of satellite dishes. Advice and links are given to help with regular maintenance of properties to help support the character of the area.

Grand Union Canal and Boston Manor

This is an oddly shaped area that basically comprises Boston Manor Park and the Grand Union Canal from the Ealing border down to the Thames. It includes the northern outskirts of Brentford Dock and the marina as well as Dock Road and 80 High Street

Unsurprisingly the M4 flyover is seen as a negative contributor to the area.

It is proposed to add The Ham to this area.

Both Boston Manor House and St Lawrence's Church are on the Heritage at Risk area. The graffiti under the M4 bridge is strongly criticised.

Existing conservation areas can be downloaded as pdfs.

October 17, 2017