Hounslow Plans £2million Spend on ‘Pavement Pledge’

Hounslow Council has confirmed plans to deliver on its administration’s “Pavement Pledge” by investing £2 million into footway resurfacing across the borough, with each ward, including those in Chiswick and Brentford, set to benefit from the programme. The initiative, part of the council’s “Cleaner Hounslow” corporate plan objective, aims to ensure at least one road per ward receives a full pavement renewal by March 2026.

The pledge, which originated as a manifesto commitment before the 2022 local elections, will see streets selected by local councillors undergo complete resurfacing rather than patch repairs, to maximise both the visual and practical impact. In the case of conservation areas, such as some parts of Chiswick, modular paving will be used instead of asphalt to maintain heritage character. This commitment was shaped through an engagement process between January and July 2024, during which all 62 ward councillors were invited to nominate priority roads. These nominations were then costed by Hounslow Highways, the council’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI) service provider, to develop a borough-wide delivery plan.

The programme will begin soon, with the majority of works scheduled for summer and autumn of this year. Final works will take place in early 2026, bringing the pledge to completion by the end of the current corporate plan cycle. All wards will have nominated roads and will see resurfacing works completed within this timeframe. The full list of selected streets will be communicated to residents, and those living on affected roads will be notified three to four weeks ahead of any construction activity.

Residents in these areas will also be given the opportunity to apply for discounted vehicle crossovers, aligning with the council’s existing policy, with the crossover works carried out simultaneously with the pavement upgrades to minimise disruption.

Financially, the plan is funded entirely through the council’s general fund capital programme, after a previous commitment to use parking reserves was revised in light of broader budgetary pressures. The use of PFI-negotiated discounted rates ensures value for money, and the council expects the improvements to reduce future maintenance costs, especially as the upgraded pavements will remain within the PFI network until 2037.

The council emphasises that the investment is a one-off, with no increase to ongoing charges or operational budgets, and that all resurfaced roads will continue to be maintained as part of the borough’s adopted highway network.

Cllr Peter Thompson, Leader of the Conservative Group, said, “This is not a serious highways strategy, it’s a last-minute PR exercise dressed up as a promise. After years of neglect, Labour wants a photo opportunity on one street per ward while broken paving, trip hazards, and blocked drains are ignored across the borough.”

He adds that in his own Chiswick Riverside ward, for example, just one street, Burnaby Gardens, has been selected for resurfacing, with works to take place between Florence Gardens and Wolseley Gardens. This follows the submission of eight priority streets for the ward, including heavily worn pavements on Strand-on-the-Green, Park Road, and Thames Road, all of which are not scheduled for any work.

Cllr Thompson continued, “We’re pleased to see Burnaby Gardens finally receive long-overdue attention, but this also shows just how inadequate Labour’s pledge is. This is one street in one ward in one corner of the borough. Residents in neighbouring roads will rightly be asking: why not us?

“Once again, Labour is working to a political timetable, not a public need. “The Pavement Pledge was announced in 2022, but by the time residents see any results, it’ll be 2025 or even 2026. Chiswick deserves a proper, needs-based programme, not a headline-grabbing promise that takes four years to deliver.

“We welcome any investment that makes our streets safer, but residents can see through this piecemeal patch-up job. Hounslow deserves better than a pledge made for political convenience and delivered on a photo-op schedule.”

His party is calling for a borough-wide footway condition audit to identify and prioritise the worst pavements first as well as a transparent selection criteria based on safety, accessibility, and resident need. It also wants to see sustainable, year-round funding for pavement maintenance, ‘independent of election cycles’.

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