Council not flying the flag everywhere

Open letter to Cllr Ray Puddifoot, Leader of LB Hillingdon Council I’VE just read the September 7 2016 issue of the Uxbridge Gazette. The article on page three regarding Hillingdon receiving ‘the highest number of Green Flag awards’ is of particular interest to me.

I live on the South Ruislip Estate at the southern end of Victoria Road. Our leased properties are blocks of flats in their own grounds.

These grounds are maintained by your Hillingdon gardeners, residents here are either council tenants or Hillingdon leaseholders. We leaseholders pay a monthly service charge which partly goes towards grounds maintenance.

Over the past few years, our estate and that of Brackenhill (including Bracken bridge House Care Home) have systematically had our flower beds dug up and grassed over.

This spring (2016) the gardeners started to dig the rosebed up at the front of our 36 properties, so I asked them what was happening.

They said their boss had told them to grass it over. I spoke to my councillor Alan Kauffman and said what a pity it was that the rosebed had been grassed over, asking if we could have something else put in or daffodil bulbs, which would at least look nice in the spring.

Mr Kauffman said nothing could be done, except that I could plant some bulbs if I wanted to. Being well into my 70s that’s a daunting task.

Not many years ago there were three beds on our frontage. Now there are none. I am happy to show you where all the grassed over beds are on our two estates.

Mr Puddifoot, as you know, South Ruislip is an up and coming area with the development of the Arla site and, hopefully, as soon as planning permission has been granted, the new Lidl store where the old Imperial House/Rover workshop used to be.

There will be attractive landscaping on the Lidl site across the road from us.

How will that leave us? Looking really run down with all our flower beds being demolished.

It would be in keeping with the new Arla & Lidl developments here in South Ruislip to do something about our grounds being made more attractive, not less as is happening at the moment.

Don’t talk to me about Green Flag Awards! Seeing your cheerful picture with my other two councillors, Mrs Kelly and Mr Duducu, holding up the Green Flag banner was like a red rag to a bull.

Our area should become number 43 on your Green Flag Award list.

RACHAEL FELSTEAD Victoria Road South Ruislip