HILLINGDON CONSERVATION COUNCIL Meeting held at Manor Farm House on Tuesday 16th June 1998 at 7.30pm Councillor Graham Horn (Chairman) Present : Michael Hirst Canal Locks Panel Audrey Wormold Hillingdon Village Panel Sheila Liberty Eastcote Village Panel Clive Pigram Ruislip Panel Kenneth Wintle Ruislip Panel David Horne Councillor Elma Hutton Ruislip Panel Eileen Bowlt Ruislip Panel Robert Bedford Ruislip Panel Robert Whytehead Archaeologist, English Heritage (West London) Colin Boult West Middlesex Archaeological Field Group Harvey Sheldon Consultant Archaeologist, London Borough Of Hillingdon 1. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN Councillor Graham Horn was appointed as Chairman for the forthcoming year. 2. MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 3rd February and 31st March were agreed as correct records. 3. MATTERS ARISING Conservation Area Reviews - Jon Finney informed the meeting that the next step in the process would be consultation on the review. This was agreed. It was noted that the Ruislip,Northwood and Eastcote Conservation Area reviews had been reported to the May meeting of the Ruislip/Northwood Planning Sub- Committee. The next review to be reported will be the Harefield Village to the July meeting. 4. NOTIFICATION OF ANY OTHER BUSINESS ITEMS Two items were notified. Further information about these is included in minutes and below. 5. MUSEUM PIECES Hillingdon Conservation Council minutes 16th June 1998 Page 1 Jon Finney introduced this item, which would form the theme for meetings to be held in the coming year. A series of slides showed the settlement patterns in the West Middlesex area and a number of ancient monuments. There are 5 ancient monuments in Hillingdon Borough as follows:- · Motte & Bailey at Ruislip · Pynchester Moat · Brackenbury Moat · Ickenham Manor Moat · Harmondsworth Great Barn, which was also Listed Grade 1. It was noted that a useful introductory book on this subject was ‘Archaeology in West Middlesex by Cotton, Mills & Clegg. Jon informed the meeting that Ancient Monument legislation took precedence over that for Listed Buildings. Earthworks at Ruislip Colin Boult introduced this part of the presentation and showed a series of slides. This included one of St Martin’s Church which was surrounded by a wall which had an earth bank inside it. The earth bank was in fact spoil from the construction of the Church hall, thus showing that not all earthworks are ancient! At Sipson the land had been farmed for 2,000 to 3,000 years so almost no earthworks structures remain. One find was an early iron age pot, dating from around 5,000 B.C., but this type of thing was rare. The earliest map of Ruislip was 1633 and showed an embankment, that still exists today. This was thought to be a relic of the old Park boundary and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Eastcote Road was the southern edge of the Park. Attempts were being made to have the embankment scheduled as an Ancient Monument. Mad Bess Woods had been gradually enclosed and the bank had been eroded and features lost. Other features in the woods were still being eroded, including banks which were crossed by a bridlepath and by maintenance vehicle tracks. Other features in the woods included early gravel diggings. Archaeology:Recent Works Rob Wytehead then spoke about the principles of archaeology which were part of Planning Policy Guidance Note 16. There were 4 sites in the Borough that had been excavated during the previous 5 years. This included gravel extraction at Cranford Lane, Prospect Park, Sipson Lane and Perry Oaks Sludge Works. BAA was financing the excavations at Perry Oaks and a number of features had been found that revealed how people lived in the area in the Bronze Age. These features included parallel ditches that were a Hillingdon Conservation Council minutes 16th June 1998 Page 2 ceremonial avenue or cursus, a rectangle that was probably a mortuary enclosure. Other remains had been found from the Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and Mediaeval times. Archaeology in West Middlesex Harvey Sheldon introduced this part of the discussion and described the need to study town and landscape together to identify earlier settlements. There were only a small number of sites left and it was therefore more important that archaeological investigations are carried out on these. He described several discoveries that had been made at sites in the Borough. Thanks were recorded to all of the speakers. 6. CONSERVATION AREA REVIEW Eastcote Village & Morford Way Ruislip Village & Manor Way, Ruislip The changes to these areas that had been discussed at a previous meeting of the Conservation Council were to be reported to the Ruislip/Northwood Planning Sub-Committee. A brief description of the changes was reported to the meeting. The next stage following the Sub-Committee approval would be consultation with residents and appropriate organisations, prior to the Environment Committee being asked to make a final decision. It was noted that the Areas of Special Character would be dealt with at a later stage. There was discussion about the Eastcote Park Area of Special Character because it appeared that the estate Committee had not yet considered the matter. The objective of the review of this Area was to produce design guidelines. Some members expressed the view that there were a number of difficulties on this Estate and that a large number of planning applications were being received by the Council for inappropriate extensions to houses on the Estate. Jon Finney reported that Councillors were supportive of the need for design guidelines for the Estate. Concern was expressed that the Ruislip Village Conservation Area Advisory Panel had not been informed of the review of the Ruislip Village Conservation Area. Jon Finney informed members that he had written to the Chairman of the Panel a year ago asking for comments, as well as reporting on the matter at several Conservation Council meetings. 7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Hillingdon Conservation Council minutes 16th June 1998 Page 3 Advisory Membership of Planning Sub-Committees Councillor David Horne reported that the Council was soon to make a decision about advisory membership of the Planning Sub-Committees and sought support for a continuation of the previous arrangement for each Conservation Area to be represented. This view was supported by Councillor Graham Horn. Street Trees Concern was expressed about decisions taken by the Council in March about street trees. A budget of £50k had been approved and a policy agreed that meant that street trees would not be replaced. A letter had been sent by Sheila Liberty to the Council about this and a reply was awaited. Concern was expressed that the policy was purely budget led and the amenity value of street trees was being ignored. Jane Hamilton Jon Finney introduced Jane Hamilton to the meeting. Jane had been appointed as the Council’s Assistant Conservation Officer. Retirement of Mike Kilburn Jon Finney referred to the impending retirement of Mike Kilburn of English Heritage and it was agreed that the Chairman would discuss an appropriate gift for him. 8. NEXT MEETING The next meetings were scheduled as follows:- 14th July – Agricultural Collection : Harefield 8th September – Industry/Transport : Canal Trip 27th October - Industry/Transport : Thorn EMI 8th December - Museum of Suburbia : David Varley 2nd February - Borough Museum : Uxbridge 23rd March - Countryside/Woodcraft : Bayhurst The meeting closed at 10.15pm. Hillingdon Conservation Council minutes 16th June 1998 Page 4.