Story Stock Comes to The Bush theatre on Tuesday 28 October

Story Stock

The Bush Theatre is our newest temple of culture in The Bush, presently occupying the old library on the Uxbridge Road, a venerable Victorian structure founded by enterpreneur and philanthropist Passmore Edwards in the late 19th century.  Next week StoryStock comes to the Bush Theatre, bringing art and culture to children of all ages.

Farmer's Market Comes to Shepherd's Bush

Brook Green farmer's Market

Here in the Bush we have a lot of choice about where to buy our groceries. We get to choose not just between the big national chains - Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco's, and Morrisons - but we enjoy a host of Middle Eastern and Polish specialist stores lining the Uxbridge and Goldhawk Roads.  Now, we have a new farmer's market - it takes place every saturday morning from 10am until 3pm in Addison Primary School on Bolingbroke Road in Brook Green.

Should Heathrow Expand? Public Consultation on Heathrow for Residents of Hammersmith and Fulham on November 4th

Terminal 6. Image: Wikipedia

Bush Residents who are worried about the worsening noise from planes taking off and landing at Heathrow airport are being urged by the Council to stand up and make their voices heard. Hammersmith & Fulham Council opposes proposals to add a third runway, and are asking residents to share their opinions on the future of Heathrow at a public meeting on Tuesday, November 4.

Parking Spaces and Local Democracy - The System At Work

More parking for residents, less room for lorries

Our corner of Shepherd's Bush recently got a brand-new residents' parking bay. A small victory, and a modest benefit for us locals. Actually, it isn't that small. Not only does it mean that more of us can park in the street we live in, but it means that other people can't. In particular, the big lorries that used to park up and run their engines while they ate their lunch can't hang out like they used to. Our neighbourhood just got a little bit less noisy, and a little bit better. So how did this minor victory come about? Thank the Council, and our local Residents' Association.

Your Terraced House in Shepherd's Bush May Soon Be a Mansion

Not just a mansion, but a mega-mansion

You might think you live in a modest terraced house with too many stairs and a tiny garden. But the way house prices are going in Shepherd's Bush, it won't be long before plenty of Bush residents live in a mansion - if the new mansion tax goes through. Just recently a house on Hartswood Road become the first residential property in W12  to sell for over £3m - £3,202,000 in fact.

St James White City Planning Application Now Taking Soundings From The Public

St James White City Redevelopment area

Developer St James has now submitted a formal planning application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham seeking planning permission for its development proposals for the M&S Warehouse Site on Wood Lane. The application reference number is 2014/04726/OUT and can be found on the Council's website here. St James will also be making the submitted planning documents available to view at the UGLI Buildings on the dates and times below. Bush residents are invited to drop in and discuss the proposals with the team.

What's Happening to Shepherd's Bush Market?

Shepherd's Bush market is being developed by Orion

The outgoing Council's plans for the redevelopment of Shepherd's Bush Market are controversial, not least because they involve the demolition of the much-loved Cooke's Pie and Mash shop on the Goldhawk Road, featured in the classic film Quadrophenia. Recently the market development just took one step closer to being realised, as minister Erick Pickles granted a compulsory purchase order, apparently acting against the recommendation of planning inspector Ava Wood.

Beautifying the Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk Road

Uxbridge Road - in need of beautification?

One of the more positive developments put into place by the outgoing Council administration in our Borough was a road beautification program for Shepherd's Bush - in particular the Uxbridge Road and the Goldhawk Road, near the point where they connect to Shepherd's Bush Green. Plans to improve the Goldhawk road are already under way, with Uxbridge Rd due to be improved in early 2015. So what can residents of The Bush expect?

Westfield Expansion - How It Will Look

How it will look. Image: Westfield, all rights reserved

Shepherd's Bush is officially a Regeneration Zone - meaning that our Council has targeted it for special incentives and opportunities for redevelopment. Part of the forthcoming big changes to the area are the northward expansion of Westfield - encompassing much of what is now a semi-industrial site running north along Wood Lane. Wood Lane will be completely transformed if the plans go ahead.

What Happened To Our Local Newspaper?

The Chronicle is no more

The Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle is dead, killed off by the broad decline of print journalism which is now so advanced that the passing of a local newspaper barely attracts any media attention. Partly, of course, that is because there is now hardly anyone left to report its passing. And this is a problem for our local community in The Bush. Who will hold the powerful to account now that the watchdogs of democracy - our free press - has been closed?

£80 Fine For Littering in The Bush - Does It Work?

Zero Tolerance. But what does that really mean?

In our neck of The Bush there are plenty of signs threatening "zero tolerance" for litter bugs - and an £80 fine for dropping litter.

In theory, this should mean clean streets, but in practice it doesn't seem to.

In fact, the lamp posts with the "zero tolerance" signs seem to be a favourite gathering place for litter, a special gift for the law enforcers who obviously aren't there.

So, does our Council actually fine anyone for street littering in The Bush?

Will Play Football Regenerate or Ruin Hammersmith Park?

Residents at White City Community Centre

On Thursday 2nd October a meeting was held at the White City Community Centre to help decide the future of Hammersmith Park. Play Football, the sports operator which last year won planning permission to lease around half of the Park and build approximately thirteen new pay-to-play football pitches, was there to hear the views of local residents. It was not a convivial evening.