Who are we?

We are Hanwell Future, an umbrella organisation for many local community groups and residents’ associations in Hanwell. These are: Hanwell Village Green CARA, Hanwell Community Forum, Olde Hanwell RA, Grove Ave RA, Brent River and Canal Society, Hanwell Library Users Group and Hanwell Nature.

What do we do?

We aim to give local people of Hanwell a voice to be heard by key decision-makers on issues that matter to Hanwell, in order to

• protect Hanwell’s heritage, keep Hanwell’s low-rise village feel and influence the Council’s planning decisions for the future

• protect green spaces and wildlife

• promote an inclusive community environment and access to facilities for all, such as housing (including sheltered and co-operative projects), learning for life ( libraries and schools), safety, health, leisure and sports

• Protect existing facilities for the future and to highlight what else is needed for the local community

• Promote a sustainable way of life in areas such as energy, transport and waste

Why does this matter now?

Our environment is changing more rapidly now than ever before and there is more inequality and more divisiveness in our society. We have a housing problem which the Council is proposing to fix with development that is too dense and much too high and without proper consultation. The planning system is broken and the voices of those who object are ignored.

• Overdevelopment overloads our infrastructure: not enough schools or doctors, and a transport system that has increased pollution in our area.

• Our green spaces are being threatened when we need them more than ever for health and mental well-being. They are important too for wildlife and pollinators, which are in decline due to a loss of wild and indigenous plants.

Ealing Council’s Neighbourhoods Research

In June 2019, Ealing Council published The Neighbourhoods Report which was to look for a resident-led perspective on the local areas of Hanwell and Northolt. The first thing that researchers discovered was that Hanwell’s residents did not feel that the Council listened to their views and that the local ward forums did not work effectively. The research therefore recommended that the Council ‘co-design new approaches for decision-making with residents’ and that the Council engage in ‘insight-gathering by going to places where residents meet.’ If you wish to find out more about the research, please click the report and appendix below.