Plowman Craven Measures Up Hillingdon
Stuart Benstead 2nd January 200

A team from Plowman Craven turned up at the Hillingdon cycle circuit recently to the surprise of a group of veterans on their regular Tuesday morning exercise ride. They were not, however, replacements for the normal Plowman Craven professional cycle racing team, which competes regularly at the popular west London circuit, led by local star Tony Gibb.

This team was the Plowman Craven professional team of surveyors measuring the topography of the site
(see picture), at the request of the circuits users group, which is composed of the nine organisations regularly running events there. The survey is needed to proceed with applications for planning permission for three objectives of the users group and follows up the completion of a previous environmental survey commissioned by the group. That showed nothing was present that might totally block planning permission so the green light was given to Plowman Craven to proceed with the topographic survey.

In the fullness of time, it is hoped to get planning permission for a club hut, short link roads to create two smaller circuits for coaching different youth age groups, and a banked 250 metre training track to act as a 'feeder' for the London Olympic Velodrome.

GibbChairman of the users group, Stuart Benstead, says of the work being undertaken "These aspirations are, at the moment, just aspirations and the users group is realistic that this is a Green Belt site and even more realistic about the difficulties in raising the necessary funds."

"We are fortunate, however, at this starting point in having the very professional support of a leading architect, Christopher Richards RIBA, as our project manager, and importantly also a user through the London Nordic Ski Club. Now we can call on the Plowman Craven organisation to measure the site up at the highest standards, considering the worldwide status of the firm."

One of the Plowman Craven professional cycling team riders, Tony Gibb, says of the circuit "Hillingdon is a fantastic facility". Gibb, who has won many races there throughout his career added "London is in desperate need of more circuits like it, especially with Eastway gone. Linking it to the Olympic Velodrome is just the sort of joined-up thinking cycling needs, but it is also important to have a good facility in west London to balance all the Olympic development in the east."