 A report had been prepared for the parish council in 1903 which noted the population in Northwood – 2 @,@ 700 by that time , with 530 houses – compared with the largely rural character of the rest of Ruislip parish . At a meeting of the Ruislip parish council on 28 October 1903 , the forthcoming extension of the Metropolitan Railway from Harrow on the Hill to Uxbridge was also discussed as it was known that a station would be opened in Ruislip on the new line . Councillors were also aware that King 's College , Cambridge , owners of much of the land in the parish and lords of the manor , were planning to sell some for development . With this in mind , a vote was cast which went in favour of becoming an urban district . The new district was designed to better reflect to increase in development , as councillors felt a parish council would work slower than an urban district . 
