| Topic: | Re:Re:What are we conserving in a Conservation area? | |
| Posted by: | Michael Brandt | |
| Date/Time: | 31/01/12 21:45:00 |
| I'm currently looking into the history of the two sites and did spend a fair bit of monday in the library archive. Both sites were bomb damaged sites but were not all dwellings, one was a stables or yard. A V1 fell on several houses in Lateward road and incenaries in Brook road, Grosvenor road and Lateward road and Albany road. In the 1950's Brentford and Chiswick decided on building council houses on several sites and designated others for amenity use. Thus in 1962 the flats were built in Lateward road and the garages made available to local residents primarily self employed tradesmen. Interesting fact emerged that in 1965 at the instigation of Hounslow Borough Brentford has already over 50% tenants paying rent to councils and almost all the remainder to multiple landlords and corporation tenancys like the Metropolitan Water Board, North Thames Gas, the dock companies and a few others including the Church of England. Consequently well over 50% of Brentford is still social housing either Hounslow or housing associations and a very large proportion of private new builds are leased on buy to lets and subsequently rented to ...London Boroughs - not just Hounslow. So there is already a serious imbalance which cannot balance the books for LBH or council taxpayers . There are several sites dotted around Brentford that are designated for amenity use which could be gardens, garages or workshops.Most seem to be garages as they generate an income. In Brook road the site is also over the real Brook and is an access point for the Metropolitan water board to access the ducting should the brook become more active. Maybe someone knows the precise location of the brook which was routed into a man made duct in 1894 Cannot understand why on earth anyone elected locally would not want to protect an amenity site which is designated for the benefit of local residents. It's use can be improved, secure bicycle lockers, a space for a car share, a lot could be done with the loss of just one garage. But the justification for social housing really does seem rather perverse in the face of the social facts of this town and I think we all know that these homes will be sold within a very short time. |