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The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
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Author:  Moley [ Mon Jul 07, 2014 6:52 pm ]
Post subject:  The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Living as close as I do I suppose I should be pleased with what is happening in my local shopping area but I'm not.

For several months now the northern end of Joel Street has been a shambolic wreck of a building site as the council spend untold sums of money on so called improvements. The funds have apparently been supplied by Boris Johnson via some hair brained regeneration scheme. In other words anyone who pays taxes in the London area.

http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/25 ... provements

To anyone who ventures this far north in the borough you will no doubt have experienced first hand the mess this has become. It's unorganised chaos, and is about to get much worse.

Apparently this section of Joel Street will be virtually closed from the end of July until early September though not surprisingly the timelines have shifted a number of times. This will have a major impact on local bus services and traffic in general.

Once it's all over us local residents can apparently look forward to a tree planted boulevard right down the middle of the road ( what is the point of that ? ), and 'bespoke' non-slip paving outside the entrance to Northwood Hills tube station.

In fairness to LBH they have at least managed to cap council tax rises for the last few years but at a time when we are all having to tighten our belts what possible benefit can this huge expenditure have to local residents ? None at all that I can see.

Moley :roll:
Author:  Jon [ Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Sounds like a nightmare. And these schemes are rarely as nice in reality as they appear in artists' impressions. The nicest towns in England are the ones the planners forgot.
Author:  Moley [ Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Jon wrote:
Sounds like a nightmare. And these schemes are rarely as nice in reality as they appear in artists' impressions. The nicest towns in England are the ones the planners forgot.


It is indeed a nightmare Jon, and if you look at the artists' impression in the link I posted I wonder how the plans even got passed in the first place. A 5 year old using paper and crayons could have done just as well.
Author:  john [ Mon Jul 07, 2014 9:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
I live just up the road from it , it needs double the parking , for a start , and free , why the side roads have yellow lines , i dont know
For a start the station needs a big free car park , maybe multi story
Author:  Kremmen [ Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
I'll be up there later this month on a 282 to Mount Vernon (and back). I remember previously it's been a building site.
Author:  Moley [ Tue Jul 08, 2014 3:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Kremmen wrote:
I'll be up there later this month on a 282 to Mount Vernon (and back). I remember previously it's been a building site.


You will probably find your 282 bus taking a long winded and very slow detour Kremmen, especially on the journey home. Good luck.
Author:  Moley [ Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
john wrote:
I live just up the road from it , it needs double the parking , for a start , and free , why the side roads have yellow lines , i dont know
For a start the station needs a big free car park , maybe multi story


When I first moved here 15 years ago the station had a dedicated car park opposite, behind Argyle House. That was later transferred to private use for the office block. The side roads in the area have yellow lines and parking restrictions specifically to prevent commuters who use Northwood Hills station from blocking them all day. I think that's a good thing to be honest.

In fairness to the council they are providing as many parking spaces as possible outside the shops given the limited amount of space, and these are free for the first 30 minutes to LBH residents if you use the Hillingdon First card. Beyond 30 minutes HF card holders pay 50% of the charge levied on non residents. This applies to council run parking across the borough. I think that's a reasonable compromise when compared with other councils.

What I can't understand though is why they think a central 'boulevard' planted with trees is a good idea. It's a pointless restriction to the road width, hence yet another bottleneck in area which is already chronically overcrowded at peak times.
Author:  Kremmen [ Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Moley wrote:
Kremmen wrote:
I'll be up there later this month on a 282 to Mount Vernon (and back). I remember previously it's been a building site.


You will probably find your 282 bus taking a long winded and very slow detour Kremmen, especially on the journey home. Good luck.


It can take as long as it likes coming home because I'm on a half day hosp appt sickie and should be working. Appt at 08:30 so I hope to miss the worst of it getting in.
Author:  Moley [ Mon Aug 18, 2014 1:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Since returning from my Sussex sojourn about 3 weeks ago I thought I would take advantage of the pleasant weather this afternoon ( Sunday ), and for the first time in ages have a look at how the works in Joel Street are progressing.

The best way I can describe it is a chaotic and uncontrolled mess. I dread to think of the impact it's having on local traders in Northwood Hills. I have already given up on trying to get to a number of traders I used to give my custom to. It's a complete and utter shambles, and the diversions are ridiculous.

Assuming you can even follow the poorly signed diversions and find your way back on to Joel Street from the south, you will eventually find that as you approach the shopping area the central 'boulevard' now being installed will severely restrict the road width once the works have been completed. This was already a severely congested pinch point and these apparent 'improvements ' will only make it worse.

I'm all in favour of planting trees and making the borough a pleasant place to live, but I don't think a tree planted 'boulevard' down the middle of an already congested road is the best way of going about it. Was it not enough that the borough already received this accolade for the 2nd year in succession ?

http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/article/27 ... he-country
Author:  Jon [ Mon Aug 18, 2014 5:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The 'gentrification' of Joel Street, Northwood Hills
Sounds like eco loon Agenda 21 stuff. High streets are high streets for goodness sake.
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