The Hayes Experiment

At the Place West London Conference, one session explored Hayes Town Centre, and suggested some ideas for improvement.

A panel of speakers were asked to do some thinking about the Town Centre, and present their ideas to the audience at the Conference in a session led by Peter Holden, formerly of Hines, and now an independent development consultant with considerable experience and knowledge of Hayes.

The panel were:
Sam Richards - Head of Urban Integration - Crossrail
Sandra Roebuck - Principal, Planning - AECOM
Stuart Piercy - Partner - Piercy Conner Architects
Tom Holbrook - Partner - 5th Studio

Click on the links below to download a copy of the presentations:

Peter Holden	Presentation
Sam Richards	Presentation
Sandra Roebuck	Presentation
Stuart Piercy	Presentation
Tom Holbrook	Presentation	Notes

If you would like an mp3 audio file (a podcast) of the session, please e-mail ross@placewestondon.com

Well connected
The Hayes economy has historically been closely linked to the UK’s national and international transport system.  The selection of Hayes & Harlington Station as a station on the new Crossrail service ensures that this is set to continue.

- Heathrow Airport is only 2.5 miles away from Hayes Town Centre and just six minutes by rail from Hayes & Harlington.
- Hayes and Harlington station offers frequent local services to London Paddington in about 15-20 minutes, and services to Oxford, Reading, Slough, and Heathrow Airport. 
- Hayes is minutes from junctions 3 and 4 of the M4 Motorway and is well connected by bus and night bus routes.
- The Grand Union Canal runs through the centre of Hayes and boats can moor in the town.

The Hayes by-pass, built twenty years ago, and useful for residents in travelling North or South, has taken the burden of heavy traffic away from the town centre, but may have cut the retail centre off from important passing traffic.

A business location
Hayes and the surrounding area have taken advantage of this strong national and international infrastructure and used it to attract and support global, often bluechip, brand names in hi-tech, wholesale and service industries, including Apple, BP, Nestle and DHL.

Inward investment
Some of the UK’s leading commercial and residential property companies have identified Hayes as a growth area and invested considerably into the town, including Ballymore, Hermes Real Estate, Hines, Blackstone Group, JER Partners and Resolution Property.

The Council is building a new sports and leisure centre which will provide Hayes with valuable new amenity, and free up the site of the existing centre for redevelopment.

Hayes still faces hurdles
The economic downturn has cast a shadow with the loss of local jobs and has held back the letting of the refurbished commercial premises. A survey of local residents and workers showed that while people valued the day to day amenities in the town and the good transport connections, there was overwhelming support for a safer and cleaner Hayes with improved public spaces.

• 95% said their highest priority for improving Hayes was to reduce crime and improve safety.
• 90% of those surveyed wanted litter reduced and 79% graffiti tackled.
• 61% expressed their support for a revamp of the station. 
• 64% wanted to see the opening up of the canal to turn it into a positive amenity for Hayes.

Many challenges still remain before the Town Centre can realise its potential: community safety remains a significant issue, particularly at night; the retail offer needs improving; old and unsightly buildings need replacing and public spaces need upgrading.

A resurgent Town Partnership
Alongside the external investment into the town, the local community has begun to work together to raise Hayes in the eyes of the local council and the GLA as well as those of potential investors, businesses and residents.

The Hayes Town Partnership (HTP), an organisation made up of Council Leaders, the MP for Hayes and Harlington, the Police Borough Commander representatives from key developers and local interest groups, and the Hillingdon Chamber of Trade and the Youth Partnership, was relaunched a year ago, and has been working to tackle social issues in Hayes.