Since 2000, for elections to theLondon Assembly, the borough forms part of theEaling and Hillingdon constituency. TheConservative candidateRichard Barnes won the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections, and since the 2012 election theLabour candidateOnkar Sahota has served as the Ealing and Hillingdon London Assembly member. At the same election in 2012 Conservative candidateBoris Johnson won the largest share of Hillingdon's votes, becoming electedMayor of London for a second term.
From 2001 to 2011 the borough's population grew by 11.5% (4.4% above the England and Wales mean of 7.1%). By comparisonMerton andBromley grew by 4.5% andTower Hamlets grew by 26.4%.[5] The number of households increased from 2001 to 2011 by 3.3%, and the average number of people per household was 2.7.[6]
37.1% of the borough's population identified themselves as White British in the 2021 census.[7] In the south-east of the borough, in particularHayes, there is a large population of South Asian residents.
The wards where Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Residents comprise the largest racial groups are:
Barnhill (partly covering eastern Hayes, south ofYeading),
Pinkwell (mostly the area around therailway station in southern Hayes),
Townfield (Part of eastern Hayes and west ofSouthall),
Yeading (Eastern Hayes)
Whites as a whole form 48.2% of the borough, Asian residents 33.3%, and Black residents 7.8%. In addition, the most common main language, English (77.9%), is followed byPunjabi (4.7%),Polish (1.7%),Tamil (1.6%) andUrdu (1.1%).[8][better source needed]
Council leader Raymond Puddifoot had given a promise that green-belt land in Hillingdon would be safe on his watch: 'I can give a categoric assurance that under this administration we will never see a threat to the green belt.'[16] In August 2012, however, Mr Puddifoot announced plans to build on green-belt (and longtimecommon land) siteLake Farm in the south of the borough.[17] Dismissing the discontent of residents in the south of the borough, theConservative majority of the council's planning committee peremptorily rubber-stamped the plans in March 2013.[18]
Harmondsworth Moor, a park owned by the borough, is administered byBritish Airways on behalf of the borough.[19] After British Airways planned to create a new headquarters in 1992, the airline agreed to convert a formerlandfill site into Harmondsworth Moor.[20]
The borough also operates children's centres, recreational areas for children of under five years of age and their families. The centres include: Barra Hall, Belmore, Cherry Lane, Colham Manor, Cornerstone, Cowley St. Laurence, Harefield, Hillside, McMillan Early Childhood Centre, Nestles Avenue, Oak Farm, and Uxbridge College (Hayes Campus).[21]
The borough owns fourtheatres: theBeck Theatre in Hayes (which is operated on behalf of the borough by Trafalgar Entertainment[22]), theCompass Theatre in Ickenham, the Winston Churchill Theatre and Hall (part of theManor Farm site) and the Open Air Theatre in Barra Hall Park in Hayes.
The borough is also home to Hillingdon Outdoor Activity Centre (HOAC), a water sports and activity centre.[23] The centre is home to a number of independently run sports clubs:
The south's former strong connection with industry has diminished since the 1980s to be replaced by a preponderantly residential suburban population; the north has remained a consistently residential suburban area, although with significant swathes of rural land. The borough's residential areas expanded with the extension of theMetropolitan Railway fromHarrow on the Hill to Uxbridge in the early 20th century and the gradual establishment of stops along the line, becoming known as "Metro-land".
Hillingdon has a large economy by national standards, ranked 14th out of 408 local area districts in Britain, and ranked fifth out of the London boroughs.[15]
British Airways is headquartered inWaterside,Harmondsworth, in Hillingdon.[28] The building officially opened in 1998.[29] Prior to the opening of Waterside, the airline's head office was the Speedbird House atLondon Heathrow Airport.[30] An office ofAmerican Airlines is located at the Orient House (HAA3) within Waterside.[31]
In 2007Cadbury Schweppes announced it would be moving toUxbridge fromMayfair to cut costs.[32] The company later split andCadbury plc moved to its new head office in Cadbury House in the Uxbridge Business Park in June 2008.[33]
A 2017 study byTrust for London andNew Policy Institute found that there is a 22% poverty rate in Hillingdon, slightly below the London-wide figure of 27%. It also found that 24% of Hillingdon's local employees are low-paid, narrowly above the London average of 21%.[43]
The borough maintains 17 libraries: Charville, Eastcote, Harefield, Harlington, Hayes End, Hayes, Ickenham, Manor Farm, Northwood Hills, Northwood, Oak Farm, Ruislip Manor, South Ruislip, Uxbridge, West Drayton, Yeading, and Yiewsley.[46]
Hillingdon has undertaken the largest school expansion programme in London, ensuring that all children within the borough can go to a school close to where they live.
In May 2011, Hillingdon Council received the Library Innovation of the Year award at the 2011 Bookseller Industry Awards.[47]
Uxbridge tube stationLondon Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger numbers and the second busiest in the world in terms of international passenger numbers.
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: driving a car or van, 34.5% of all residents aged 16–74; Underground, metro, light rail, tram, 7.9%; bus, minibus or coach, 7.9%; on foot, 4.6%; train, 2.8%; work mainly at or from home, 2.6%; passenger in a car or van, 2.0%.[48]
TheRoyal Air Force stationRAF Northolt is situated in South Ruislip near theA40 and the tube station. Most early RAF airfields were named after the nearest railway station; in this case Northolt Junction, the original name of South Ruislip station. The station has been redeveloped in recent years to house a number of additional military capabilities besides the RAF operations, and is popular with business people and politicians for private flights.[49]
The borough has beentwinned with the French town ofMantes-la-Jolie and the German town ofSchleswig since the Hayes & Harlington Urban District created the link in 1958.[50] The twinning programme was reviewed in 2011 and it was suggested that the link with Schleswig be ended owing to a lack of contact between the towns.[51] In December 2011, the borough decided instead to end the link with a second German town,Emden, citing administrative problems.[52]
^"Impressum" (Archive). American Airlines China. Retrieved 24 April 2014. "American Airlines, Inc. Orient House (HAA3), Po Box 365, Waterside, Harmondsworth, UB7 0GB United Kingdom"
^"Corporate Office."Thistle Hotels. Retrieved 28 December 2011. "The corporate office is based at Thistle London Heathrow and is situated across opposite the main reception adjacent to the Conference Centre"
_AN1572653.jpg)
