Forum Topic

Population increase

I have just seen that the population is likely to rise 40% in TW8 in the coming years. It is bad enough now with parking, getting doctor and dentist appointments and wonder what the future will hold for them all

Barbara Dudley ● 1077d21 Comments

Don't bother asking the council.

Keith Iddon ● 1077d

Has much to do with the policies of the Mayor of London and courting property developers by local councils who cowtow to the Mayor .No real consideration has been made for any infrastructure from Water, Sewerage and Energy to accommodate any sizeable increase only the already existing sizeable increases and what is being done is 30 years overdue.

Raymond Havelock ● 1076d

The population figure for Brentford in years to come could hit 100,000if things carry on in the present way."You don't need two Carville Hall Parks"and as for Waterman's Park..."we'll have to build flats on the lot"Underused Gunnersbury Park could come under scrutiny and as for Syon Park..The  Duke doesn't all that land for his mere London Estate.That space under the M4 looks wasted!Build more ...bring it on. Is that  Hounslow Council's plan ...to welcome all?

Jim Lawes ● 1071d

We have never built on any green areas in Brentford and suggesting we are going to is just putting around nonsense, which will only create anxiety. We have invested heavily in improving parks — plenty in Boston Manor, Gunnersbury, St Paul's Rec and Watermans and the last two have been awarded Green Flags for the first time this year. All the development in Brentford has all been on either derelict sites or sites likely to become derelict very soon. The biggest problem IMO are the buildings that are derelict and for which there seems no prospect to attract new occupiers — or getting the economics to work  (eg police station, Morrisons, Max Factor)  I'll be delighted when we have new citizens living on those derelict sites.

Guy Lambert ● 1071d

Problems with access to GPs probably has more to do with the underfunding of the service and the number of doctors retiring rather than population growth. Most people moving into new flats are younger and rarely visit a GP and new surgeries in the area have been funded with development gain money so the overall effect has probably been neutral.Similarly on parking, most of these new flats come without a parking space so a large proportion of new residents won't be car owners. I know there are lots of dodges people use to get round this but hopefully improvements in public transport will offset some of the pressures on our road.Blaming Hounslow Council for this is missing the larger picture. Despite the existing high population density the government is putting the burden of new housing starts on local authorities in London because it wants to protect the Green Belt areas that vote for it. That's why we are getting more and more tall towers because there is nowhere to build other than up.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1071d

You have made several assumtions there,Jeremy.I have met several of the owners of the ne flats,all middle aged although I am sure there are also some younger ones.I don't know how long you have lived in Brentford,I have lived here 23 years and getting a GP appointment is harder to achieve than it was,and nowhere near all the new flats are occupied and there are many more flats proposed to be built.Are we to wait until there are another 3 or 4 thousand people in the queue before we highlight it? We may as well talk to ourselves anyway,the good that it does.

Keith Iddon ● 1071d

I haven't made any assumptions. It is a fact that the younger you are the less likely you are to visit a GP and that the average buyer of a flat in an area is below the existing average age. Add to that the additional fact that new development has funded extra primary health care provision in the Brentford area, your difficulty in getting a GP cannot be assumed to be down to the increase in housing locally. The lack of GPs is a national problem, particularly acute in London but not necessarily more so in areas where there has been lots of development. The answer is more doctors not fewer people.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 1071d

You assume that the majority of the owners of the new flats will be young nd ith little or no need for a gp.The albeit limited contact I have had with some of these people suggest that may well not be the case.Have you lived in Brentford long?

Keith Iddon ● 1071d

Regarding the sad refugees coming out of the Middle East ... where can they go. Farage reminds us that Saudi Arabia will take NIL, Egypt NIL, Hounslow Council wants to kindly help everyone,The Outer Hebrides are not overly keen to welcome incomers ...but Hounslow kindly does. The property investors in The UK and Overseas have a great future!

Jim Lawes ● 1071d

You're right Jim, thank goodness for Hounslow and other likeminded compassionate councils.

Paul Scullion ● 1070d

What is being completely overlooked is Younger people grow old. Younger people have children. Younger people require open spaces for more active recreation.So all these flats that are being built do not provide for organic growth of a family,Just look at all the balconies, so small that two chairs and a tiny cafe table require climbing over to sit on.  Most Crammed with children's outdoor toys with no-where to actually play with them. The problems are going to manifest just like the last social experiments of pigeonholing people and the disastrous social fallout from boredom and isolation for far too many, Young and Old.

Raymond Havelock ● 1070d

What is being completely overlooked is Younger people grow old. Younger people have children. Younger people require open spaces for more active recreation.So all these flats that are being built do not provide for organic growth of a family,Just look at all the balconies, so small that two chairs and a tiny cafe table require climbing over to sit on.  Most Crammed with children's outdoor toys with no-where to actually play with them. The problems are going to manifest just like the last social experiments of pigeonholing people and the disastrous social fallout from boredom and isolation for far too many, Young and Old.

Raymond Havelock ● 1070d

So who is in charge of Brentford?Anyone we know?

Jim Lawes ● 1070d

The Treaty Centre in Hounslow Town Centre is only some 80 foot high.What a waste of air space above.So news that the Treaty Centre is to be demolished  and the site redeveloped to build more flats ... with perhaps retail units on the ground floor (and basement?) is not wholly unexpected. We need to squeeze in more high rise flats if we can.

Jim Lawes ● 1070d

As highlighted we are facing disaster(and death etc) in terms of local healthcare. Local Labour Councils are obsessed with building more flats etc whilst destroying high streets and businesses and making no provision for healthcare for local people. I am quite old now and face the future with trepidation. 'Luckily' I have hardly any real teeth left so don't need a dentist. But this is not about me. Everyone is going to suffer from this crazy experiment in social engineering. To say nothing about the massive immigration flows. The future is truly bleak for local people. I am old enough to remember the good times...

Mike Lambshire ● 1069d

What Jim says is so true and a lesson for those who say we should take more from Middle East in this country. Some may not like him but Nigel Farage is worth listening to, to hear what govt will not tell us. ps saw him three days ago in the middle of Australia!

Mike Lambshire ● 1069d

Every week I meet someone new who is either already homeless or is at imminent risk of becoming homeless. We often cannot offer them homes in Brentford because there aren't any homes free. That is why we need new homes, including ones that people can actually afford to rent or buy. That's why I'm 'obsessed' by building new homes, whether they be flats or houses. By the way, the three most recent have always lived in Brentford for years, 2 of them since they were babies. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/19/landlords-double-income-ignoring-hmo-licence-overcrowding We are not destroying High Streets. Quite the opposite, thou not everybody wants new shops and other facilities. Most people welcome them. We are not making provision for healthcare. We have provided facilities for Healthcare business (like GP practices) but there are no takers. Why? because the number of GPs is going down. Boris Johnson promised there would be more but in fact there are less.

Guy Lambert ● 1068d

It's because all the new developments promise wonderful things like 'Community space" and small workspaces and shops.So Planning committees go whoppee and vote it all through.But then theres one key thing overlooked time after time.Are they affordable and and even near to what existed before in terms of viable cost?You know the answer. Only if you are some sort of Trustafarian looking at something to do but not to make a proper living.And then theres the 'get the permissions' and delay and then amend or drop all the promised jewels due to market forces.Losing all manner of jobs with longevity and a strange definition of affordable does not help homelessness. But deliberately encouraging overdensification is far from helpful either and again walks all over those least resourceful.

Raymond Havelock ● 1068d

No it isn't. Providing space for GPs is refunded to the practices.https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/gp-practices/gp-premises/rent-reimbursement-for-gp-practicesSorry to disappoint you

Guy Lambert ● 1067d

....except the practices like so much in the NHS get fleeced.  They may get the money back but at the end of the day the money has to come from somewhere.Namely the taxpayers.That means that money for actual services provided has to be reduced.

Raymond Havelock ● 1066d

Nigel farage is someone worth listening to.. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Angelo R Santagata ● 1065d