Village Postcards -
1000 years of local history..more
Village
Postcards - 1000 years of local history..more
Alan
first moved to Hounslow in 1963, living in Bedfont - see
working life |
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Constituency
Personal
Working Life
Heathrow Airport
Parliamentary Interests
Personal Interests
CMS Select Committee
The Feltham and Heston constituency is the western half of the London Borough of Hounslow. Heathrow Airport is the boundary at the western edge and the area has a long history of air transport.
The existence of Heathrow has contributed to the growth of communities from all over the world but particularly from the Punjab. Strong signs of the old communities of Bedfont, Feltham, Hanworth, Cranford and Heston still remain although the inevitable spread of suburbia has welded the area together.
Hounslow is a magnet for Global and National business interests and hosts many international Headquarters as well as the main service industries to the world's busiest international airport.
The constituency is the main portal from the west into central London serviced by the M4/A4, a mainline rail interchange at Feltham with London Underground connections via the Piccadilly Line directly into the heart of the nations capital, London.
The area has a great history and dates back many hundreds of years. I am glad to include on my site a new section by local historian Eddie Menday - Village Postcards . This section looks at over 1000 years of local history.
EARLY DAYS
Alan Keen was born in Lewisham
in 1937 but was brought up in the shadow of the steelworks in Grangetown
close to Middlesbrough in Cleveland.
Alan left Teesside at the age of
22 to join the army and almost all his 3 years military service was
spent
within
half
a mile of the Houses of Parliament in Whitehall and Wellington Barracks.
“A nostalgic return to Whitehall nearly 30 years later”, he referred
to in his maiden speech after being elected for Feltham & Heston on
9th April 1992. “I must have been more important then, I
was given an office on the first day! My career has obviously slipped
downhill
since
then but
people tell me that it cannot sink any further - unless I cross the floor
of the House!”
Alan places tremendous value
on his years of experience 
gained before entering parliament and knows
that this has been a great advantage in dealing with the wide range of
problems encountered by his constituents. All of his working life has
been in the private sector in a variety of management positions.
He worked as a systems analyst and manager in the very early days of the introduction of mainframe computers into industry and commerce. He decided to stay in the London area for a couple of years at the end of his army service.
The “couple of years” have now become 40! Alan worked on the Great West Road in Brentford in 1963 and lived in Bedfont. He lives in Brentford now with his wife Ann and divides his work responsibilities between the constituency and Westminster. He has two sons and one daughter.
Alan has lived and worked within a few miles of Heathrow for all of that time and understands the impact of the air transport industry on his constituency better than most. He lives under the flight path at Brentford but spent thirteen years working only half mile from the touchdown point and immediately under the flight path of the southern runway and really knows the effect of aircraft noise on peoples’ lives.
He says, “West London receives great economic benefit from Heathrow but the residents deserve better support in the way of environmental protection and direct monetary compensation for their contribution to what is one of the nations most successful industries”.
Alan is currently Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Aviation Group. The purpose of the Group is: To arrange meetings and briefings on aviation issues with airlines, airports, Civil Aviation Authority, trade unions and other relevant organisations and individuals on airport and aviation issues.
A member of parliament has to understand and be involved in a wide range of policy issues that affect their own constituents. Health, Law and Order, Industry and Commerce, Social Services including pensions and other benefits, Immigration and Asylum policy and Local Government Affairs are important in the lives of residents of the London Borough of Hounslow.
Alan is also particularly interested
in Overseas Development and Foreign policy.
“It is a small world nowadays and Britain cannot be isolated from what goes on outside Europe. It is essential that we work to bring about a more equal society, not just in the UK, but throughout the world”, Alan is frequently heard to insist.
As a member of the Culture,
Media and Sport Select Committee, Alan uses his specialist knowledge
to concentrate on this area of policy.
He is Chair of the All Party
Football Group and Vice Chair of the All Party Sports Group and has been heavily involved
in the debate as to whether the bid should be made to host the 2012 Olympics
in London. He is also Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary
Aviation Group.
Vice-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group against Financial Exploitation
My office staff, David, Tim, Christie and Joanna are available to assist on policy areas and individual cases. Contact me
Alan worked for 18 years on a part-time basis as tactical scout for Middlesbrough FC assessing future opponents’ tactics under a number of high profile managers including Jack Charlton, Malcolm Allison and Bruce Rioch and still supports and maintains a close connection with the club. He regularly attends Brentford FC games and also keeps close links with the club on community related issues regarding Hounslow.
He is an enthusiastic participant in sport and still plays football, cricket and also completes the Great North Run half marathon each year. “Probably my greatest dream would to be a professional musician but anyone who has heard me trying to play piano, guitar or drums would say there would be no dream wild enough to ever include that as an ambition - even as a busker! Starvation in one week would be the result - but I will keep on practising”.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies.
Over the past two years, the committee has compiled reports on: National Lottery, Communications White Paper, International Sporting Events, Tourism), National Stadium, Swimming, Arts Development, Communications, Commonwealth Games, Wembley National Stadium, Gambling, National Museums, London Olympic Bid for 2012.
Read more about the committee's work and reports see committee website.
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