Central Uxbridge

This neighbourhood area is located in Uxbridge, a town in the West London Borough of Hillingdon. This area is to the East of Slough, to the South of Watford and to the North of Twickenham. Residents of this neighbourhood are surrounded by large open green spaces, as it is close to the London green belt. Unlike many areas in London, this neighbourhood is within a 1-mile radius of a University, Brunel University. Residents are well served by driving transport options as this area is close to the M25, however, this area lacks many train stations with the closest being Uxbridge tube station which is almost 2 miles away.

Uxbridge is a historically suburban area with lots of British history. During the English Civil War in 1642, the Parliamentary Army established their headquarters there in June 1647. In 1645, King Charles I met with Parliamentary representatives in Uxbridge to seek an end to the war, however negotiations were unsuccessful.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of the 19th century’s greatest engineers, built the Grand Junction Canal which linked Uxbridge to Birmingham and opened in 1794. Another of Brunel’s inventions was the Great Western Railway in 1838, it would go on to connect London to West Drayton, however, a stop at Uxbridge was only created in 1904 which stifled urban development. Uxbridge has long been a popular market town and was known for producing flour and corn.

Brunel University was renamed after aforementioned Isambard Brunel in 1957 and currently has approximately 13,000 students.

Uxbridge Craft Market is open every Wednesday at The Pavilions Shopping Centre offering a diverse range of Arts and Crafts.

Uxbridge does not have much access to transportation compared to neighbouring areas. As this area closely borders the M25, air and noise pollution can be rife as well as general car congestion.

The Hillingdon local plan has said that Heathrow airport will provide 9,000 new jobs and seeks to accommodate the most economic growth in the Uxbridge and Heathrow Opportunity Area. That said, the Heathrow expansion initiative has been a controversial and unpredictably changing project: new emissions targets make the expansion difficult to achieve, the 2020-2021 pandemic has led to new projections that push the need for expansion 5 years to the future, and the government’s recent revolving door of Prime Ministers and ministerial heads has create a political rollercoaster with regard to whether the expansion has political support or not. The 2021 London Plan has set an annual target for Hillingdon to produce 1083 new homes per year, and of these, the Borough seeks to provide 35% affordable housing (50% of development on pulic land).