We are pleased to report a significant safety improvement at the pedestrian crossing on Ickenham Road / High Road, near the Gulf petrol station in West Ruislip.
After more than a year of persistent work by Phil Taylor of Ruislip Residents’ Association and Cllr Philip Corthorne, a dangerously obscured sightline for pedestrians has finally been cleared.
The Problem
This issue was first raised by a local resident to Cllr. Corthorne. For anyone trying to cross the road from east to west, the view of oncoming traffic was severely blocked by a large sign and overgrown vegetation.
Given that vehicles often travel quickly along this road and navigate a bend, this lack of a clear view posed a serious risk to resident safety.
The original dangerous view for pedestrians (Oct 2024).
A Real Team Effort
Achieving this result required a multi-step approach and coordination with several different organisations:
Working with Local Business: We first liaised with the team at Gulf, who were extremely helpful. They agreed to replace their sign (which went through the LBH planning process), allowing the gap beneath it to be raised to 2 metres. This made an immediate improvement.
The new sign with a 2m gap underneath (Oct 2025).
Tracking Down Land Ownership: While the new sign helped, the sightline was still partially blocked by overgrown vegetation. Gulf was happy for it to be removed, but the vegetation was not on their land. LBH also investigated and confirmed it was not on ground they controlled.
Solving the Mystery: After much investigation by Cllr. Corthorne and the RRA, the land was identified as being managed on behalf of the RAF / MoD.
We contacted the company that manages the estate for the RAF. They were very responsive and, last week, sent a team to clear all the offending vegetation. They have also kindly agreed to add this area to their regular maintenance programme to ensure it stays clear in the future.
The final, clear sightline after all vegetation was removed (Nov 2025).
A Great Result for Ruislip
This has been a long haul, but it shows what our community can achieve when we work together.
Phil Taylor and the RRA would like to extend a huge thank you to Gulf for their positive cooperation, London Borough of Hillingdon for their assistance, and the RAF/MoD’s estate managers for taking action.
Finally, a special thanks must go to Cllr. Corthorne for championing this issue from the very start and working closely with us to achieve this successful outcome for residents.
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