Back WLRC's Pole Hill lease | Respond by 30 November

What's happened

On 28 October, Hillingdon Council published a formal notice on page 21 of the Uxbridge Gazette about a proposed lease of the track at Pole Hill to WLRC. It's the step we've been working towards for months.

What this means

The Council is asking the public for their views before it decides whether to grant WLRC a lease. Anyone can respond, for or against, until 5.30pm on Monday 30 November.

What it doesn't mean

That the lease is agreed. It isn't. The notice's wording is simply what the law requires. The Council must consider every response, and if it hears mostly objections, that could give it reason not to go ahead.

Here's the risk. Consultations like this tend to attract objections, because people with concerns write in and supporters assume someone else will. If that happens here, the Council will be weighing a pile of objections against a handful of letters of support.

So the question for the next five weeks is simple: who will the Council hear from?

Why it matters

An open site pays a price.

Right now the track is open to anyone, day and night. On the night of 9 March this year, vandals smashed a long stretch of the track's kerbing. Volunteers arrived to find the red-and-white kerbs broken into pieces, with rubble scattered across the racing surface. As they always have, club members put it right themselves, with their own time and their own money.

Smashed red-and-white kerbing and rubble across the Pole Hill track after vandalism in March 2026 — The morning after: kerbing smashed by vandals, March 2026.

Because the site isn't secure, volunteers spend hours repairing damage instead of running races or helping a newcomer get their first car round the track. Because there's no long-term lease, it's harder to plan, recruit volunteers or bring in funding. And because of that, the opportunities for local young people stay smaller than they could be.

A lease breaks that chain. Fencing protects the track. A protected track is worth investing in. Investment means more racing, and more young people getting the chance to try it.

Who it's for

Racers, families and the next generation.

Volunteers have built and run WLRC at Pole Hill since the early 1990s. Members look after the track, organise the racing and put their own time and money into keeping it going.

Through RC Vision, the track also hosts sessions for young people, including holiday sessions funded through Hillingdon's Holiday Activities and Food programme, STEM learning and provision for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

At lunchtime during one of this summer's sessions, something happened that nobody planned. The young people sat down together at one long table. No one asked them to sit down, or to sit together. No one was on their phone. They ate, and talked about their cars and the racing.

That's what the track gives them first: somewhere they belong and feel safe. Everything else builds on it.

Aliza, a local young person, first came to the track through our summer sessions. She went on to race at the King of Clubs round at West London in a club car, in front of her whole family. She led the Talent Cup final and finished second.

Young people sitting together at one long table eating lunch during a summer session at the track — Lunch at a summer session. Nobody asked them to sit together.

Aliza holding her pink race car and controller at the track, beaming — Aliza after the Talent Cup final at King of Clubs.

An announcement is not a lease. Elsewhere in Hillingdon, youth sports clubs were publicly told they would be getting long-term leases, with major funding lined up to improve their facilities. Years later, those leases still haven't been completed, and the funding is still out of reach. We don't want Pole Hill to go the same way.

The notice starts a process. It doesn't guarantee the outcome. What carries it through to a signed lease is a clear, visible weight of public support. That's why your response matters.

What changes, and what doesn't

The leased area would be fenced and used by WLRC, so it would no longer be open for unrestricted public access. The rest of Pole Hill Recreation Ground stays open to everyone. We think that's a fair balance.

Five minutes, before 5.30pm on Monday 30 November 2026

What we're asking you to do.

Email [email protected] with the subject line: Notice of Proposed Letting of Land at Pole Hill Recreation Ground, Petworth Gardens, Hillingdon - in support.
Start by saying you are responding to the Council's Notice of Proposed Letting of Land at Pole Hill Recreation Ground, Petworth Gardens, Hillingdon, so it is counted as part of the consultation.
Say you support the proposal, and why, in your own words. A real reason from your own experience counts for more than anything we could write for you.
Include your name and address.
Copy in [email protected] so we know you've done it.

Start your email

The button opens a new email with the address, copy, subject line and an opening sentence that names the notice already filled in. Keep the subject and that first sentence as they are. The rest is yours.

You can also write to Property and Estates, London Borough of Hillingdon, Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW. Allow time for the post. Signing a petition or telling the club doesn't count: your response must go to the Council.

Not sure what to say?

Pick what's true for you.

What the track means to you: racing, friendships, skills, time with your family.
Why a secure, fenced site would be safer for the people who use it.
Why a long-term lease matters for investment and opportunities for local young people.
Why a fenced track, with the rest of the park still open to everyone, is a fair balance.

You don't have to use the youth sessions yourself to value them.

So, who will the Council hear from?

On 30 November the consultation closes. Then the Council will decide. That decision could rest on a pile of objections, or on local people explaining why this track matters. Please be one of them.

Respond now

Pass it on

One message to a friend or neighbour who uses the park could double our voice.

Read the proposal

The Council's notice, as published in the Uxbridge Gazette on 28 October 2026:

London Borough of Hillingdon. Local Government Act 1972, Section 123(2A). Notice of proposed letting of land at Pole Hill Recreation Ground, Petworth Gardens, Hillingdon. Notice is hereby given that the London Borough of Hillingdon intends to grant a lease of an area of land forming part of Pole Hill Recreation Ground, Petworth Gardens, Hillingdon, currently used by the West London Racing Centre as a model car racing track. The proposed letting would provide for the exclusive occupation of the identified area and enable the area to be enclosed by perimeter fencing. A plan showing the area in question is available for inspection at the reception at the Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge, UB8 1UW during normal office hours. Any objections or representations, giving reasons, regarding the proposed letting should be made in writing to: Property and Estates, London Borough of Hillingdon, Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW or by email to estatesandvaluation@hillingdon.gov.uk by no later than 5.30pm on 30th November 2026. — Uxbridge Gazette, 28 October 2026, page 21.

A plan of the area can be inspected at the Civic Centre reception, High Street, Uxbridge, during normal office hours.

Questions? Email [email protected].

The notice is out. Now the future of our track depends on you.

An open site pays a price.

Racers, families and the next generation.

What we're asking you to do.

Pick what's true for you.