OWGRA Makes Plea for Volunteers to Step Up

40-year-old residents' group at risk of suspension

OWGRA has been resisting over-development in the area since the mid-eighties

July 25, 2025

The Osterley and Wyke Green Residents’ Association (OWGRA) has warned that it could cease to exist if a number of vacant committee positions cannot be filled.

In its most recent newsletter, it is stated that there are five key positions on the OWGRA Committee have been not taken up for some time. These are Vice-Chairman, Planning Officer, Secretary, Communications Officer and Street Rep Co-ordinator.

The group’s newsletter states that unless at least three of these positions are filled by the end of November 2025 by’ capable, proactive, reliable OWGRA members’, then procedures would be set in motion to suspend OWGRA activities from early 2026 for the foreseeable future.

This would mean there would be no more regular e-newsletters and annual printed newsletter delivered to all 5,000 households in the OWGRA area. Also there would be a stop to social get-togethers, dealing with enquiries and the OWGRA e-mail account, responding to planning applications in the area and leading local campaigns. OWGRA membership fees would no longer be collected if the suspension proceeded.

The newsletter states, “We have struggled for some years with only a few Committee members, but this is no longer viable, so please do step forward to help OWGRA continue the good work that it has been doing for the last 40 years.”

The group has been an active campaigner on local matters for four decades. In the mid‑1980s, OWGRA helped form the Osterley Park Action Group (OPAG) to oppose a major housing development proposed by Wates that would have drastically reduced open land and changed the character of Osterley. Their campaign contributed to the developer withdrawing the application. This cleared the way for the National Trust to take over Osterley Park in 1991, and for the Greater London Authority and Hounslow Council to designate the park and surrounding land as Metropolitan Open Land, preserving it from future development

Since then OWGRA it has responded to hundreds of planning applications on behalf of residents. The association has met with developers, councillors, and the council’s planning committee to shape proposals—for example lobbying to reduce building heights, preserve green spaces, and oppose the conversion of family homes into multiple low‑quality flats. OWGRA successfully influenced outcomes for projects such as the Osterley Park Hotel shisha lounge, the Brentford FC training ground redevelopment, and the Access Storage site on Syon Lane

Since its founding, OWGRA has held regular public meetings on issues like planning and crime, and maintains strong links with local councillors, the police, and other residents’ groups. OWGRA has actively addressed traffic and transport issues, working closely with Hounslow Council and TfL to introduce Controlled Parking Zones, Red Route parking controls near Nishkam School, and traffic-calming measures. It has also campaigned with residents for street cleaning, graffiti removal, pavement upkeep, and better recycling infrastructure. In partnership with local schools and Hounslow Highways, OWGRA facilitates weekly community litter‑picking, gathering litter across Osterley and enhancing the area's cleanliness and appearance

Commercial redevelopment proposals—such as the Tesco / Homebase site at Gillette Corner—have drawn sustained OWGRA opposition. The group commissioned a professional-scale 3D model of the proposed 17-storey development and organised public exhibitions and protests attended by hundreds, successfully raising awareness among residents, councillors, and local MPs. Their activism has helped expose the mismatch between these proposals and local planning guidelines, and maintain pressure for more appropriate scaled developments.