Hillingdon is one of the greenest boroughs in London, with more than 200 green spaces covering approximately 1,800 acres. The borough has received the most Green Flag awards in the UK for seven years in a row and was awarded 55 for 2019 (54 of which are maintained by Hillingdon Council).
So, it was a proud moment for our team when the Mayor of Hillingdon, Councillor David Yarrow, attended a ceremony at Hale Field Park, Yiewsley, to officially open the final public amenity space regenerated by Prologis for local people to enjoy.
We recently completed the regeneration of local amenity space as part of the development of Prologis Park West London; on a site which had been vacant for over 15 years. As part of our commitment to the local area, we agreed to undertake extensive rehabilitation work both on and off-site. Now complete, the ownership of Hale Field Park and the associated land parcels has been transferred to Hillingdon Council, with an ongoing contribution to its upkeep, to be enjoyed by the community.
Councillor David Yarrow, Mayor of Hillingdon, said: “Our parks and green spaces are a big part of what makes Hillingdon so special and I was delighted to officially open this park for local residents to enjoy. The amount of open space gained for the residents of Hillingdon is four times greater than the greenfield land taken up by the development and just goes to shows what can be achieved when the council works in partnership with a developer to deliver real value for local people.”
The £2 million regeneration project, which took over a year to complete and includes the work undertaken at Hale Field Park, involved the restoration of the canal towpath and footpaths around Prologis Park West London, linking to Horton Road. It also included the creation of new mooring facilities. Water features on Iron Bridge Road were improved and 40 acres of derelict land within the borough was rehabilitated to increase the amount of amenity space available for local residents.
Extensive remediation of the land at Hale Field Park was undertaken to deal with historical contamination issues on the site and this also involved preserving and enhancing existing wildlife habitats and re-building an historic boundary brick wall. Throughout the duration of the project, over 250 trees were planted, 1km of new footpaths were created, improving access across the park and linking to the wider pedestrian network. 30,000 m2 of grassland paddocks were also created, to accommodate horses and ponies from nearby Gould’s Green riding school and over 25 bird and bat boxes and hibernacula have been positioned across the site.
Being an active part of the local community is integral to our business philosophy. For almost 20 years now, we have been investing in the Hillingdon area and our work here is not complete. Creating high quality developments which are seamlessly integrated within the local community is top of the agenda and Hale Field Park is a shining example of this. The land we acquired almost five years ago was heavily contaminated and a hazard to the public. After full remediation, remodelling and renewal, the once-unloved and unusable land is now a green space for people to enjoy.”