page_title: RAF West Drayton
section_title: Closure and redevelopment
hierarchical_section_title: RAF West Drayton / History / Closure and redevelopment
caption_attribution_description: English: Bus passes RAF West Drayton. Junction of North Road and Porters Way looking north east.
context_page_description: RAF West Drayton was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in West Drayton, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, which served as the main centre for military air traffic control in the United Kingdom. It was co-located with the civilian London Air Traffic Control Centre to provide a vital link between civil and military flying and airspace requirements. Following the departure of the remaining civil and military air traffic control systems by 2008, the site was closed and demolished for a new residential development.
context_section_description: The Royal Air Force withdrew in 1994, at which point the English Electric Lightning acting as a gate guardian was scrapped; only the nose section was retained and sent to the Malta Aviation Museum. Air traffic control services remained, although the section responsible for airspace outside London moved to Swanwick in Hampshire in 2002. The remaining operation was named the London Terminal Control Centre. RAF personnel remained on the site, as military air traffic control functions for the eastern side of England remained. In November 2007, the remaining civil air traffic control services moved to Swanwick, and in January 2008 the military operation also left the site. National Air Traffic Services vacated the site in 2008. The MT section of the Queen's Colour Squadron relocated to RAF Northolt.
  Plans for 773 homes, a nursing home, shops and offices were approved by the London Borough of Hillingdon in July 2010. Inland Homes named the new development "Drayton Garden Village", aiming to create a 1930s style village. Demolition work was carried out between 2010 and 2011. Following demolition work, the additional part of the site is undergoing development under the name "Parkwest".
  The Drayton Garden Village development opened officially on 21 October 2011, with a ceremony led by the Mayor of Hillingdon.
caption: A London bus passes the RAF West Drayton complex in 2005
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