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Location
Hounslow, London
Type
Advisory
Status
Completed
Key Team
LB Hounslow
Category
Masterplan, Town Centre, Mixed-use
Feltham Town Centre, Hounslow
Working with LB Hounslow to produce an aspirational, commercially-grounded delivery plan for the community assets within the town centre, supported by extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation. The delivery plan will enable decisions to be made on town centre development.
History
Feltham’s history is perhaps best summarised as one of distinguished industry and production.
Market gardening was the main economic activity of the town in the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the most successful market gardeners of all time, A. W. Smith, (also known as ‘the Cabbage King’) lived in Feltham 1860s-1920s. He owned a ‘glass city’ of greenhouses along Feltham’s high street for growing fruit and vegetables for market sale. A popular variety of pea known as the Feltham First is so named for being first grown in the town.
Following the opening of the Waterloo to Reading Railway line in 1848, the market gardens were largely replaced with light industry, gravel and aggregate extraction, and new housing.
Aircraft manufacture also became an important industry, particularly in the war years. In 1915 Whitehead Aircraft built a large factory for the production of fighter aircraft to the east of High Street, with its own rail access.
For most of the twentieth century, Feltham had a traditional-looking High Street, with small scale shops and majority Tudor shop fronts, and a large medieval manor house. In the 1960s the majority of the historic high street was demolished (including the medieval manor house which was replaced by a petrol station), to make room for road widening and the building of a modern shopping centre.
Stories role
Stories was appointed to develop an Asset Delivery strategy to provide a framework for optimising the use of the Council's assets. The primary aim of the Strategy is to support community wealth-building in Feltham, aligned to the LBH Community Wealth Building Commitment (2022).
The strategy had two main components:
A detailed evidence base, which considered the history and present socio-economic position, the drivers of change and the long term Council objectives.
An options analysis, which identified the key opportunity assets within Feltham town centre and how these properties could be developed through an aspirational but commercially grounded approach to deliver against the Council objectives. Options were assessed using the HM Treasury Five Case Model approach.