As part of the refurbishment of the Lyric, Hammersmith BID, – the Business Improvement District group of which Tom was a board member – took the opportunity to sponsor and dedicate one of the Main House boxes to Tom, and the unveiling was held on 29 October. 

Liz Ryland, with Charles Dori12n and Ghada Al-Madfai, both members of the West London Architects Society (WLAS)

The dedicatory plaque and box are shown, with Liz Ryland seated in the foreground – the box itself is a delightful feature of the theatre’s Victorian interior. It is a very fitting memorial to Tom, who greatly enjoyed the theatre and was very supportive of the Lyric.

As one of the ways in which The Hammersmith Society will be commemorating Tom, we plan to erect a bench dedicated to him at a location along the Hammersmith riverside. We know that among the members of the Society there were personal friends of Tom’s, and if you would like to make a donation to the cost of the bench, do please contact Melanie Whitlock ().

Heathrow impact (image: H&F council)

On Thursday 4th Oct all the organisations presenting a legal challenge to Heathrow expansion will be in court seeking permission to go ahead.

H&F Council have now joined 4 other Councils to challenge the Heathrow decision. Friends of the Earth are challenging it on climate change grounds, and Greenpeace on grounds of air pollution.

The judge will decide which, if any of challenges, can proceed to a full hearing. The campaign needs a big crowd inside and outside the court to show public opposition. The permission hearings will be at the Royal Courts of Justice, if you support the challenge and can attend, please be there by 9 am.

Hammersmith takes one for the TEAM

For those in any doubt as to what 3rd runway traffic might look like, this is what TEAM landing patterns already look like at 6.30 am on a Sunday morning even when the alternation schedule plans to only use the southern runway!  See this link for the current alternation schedule and an understanding of the carte-blanche that is TEAM. 

TEAM landings Sunday 30th Sept 2018, 6.30 AM. Image courtesy Flightradar24.com

London Open House offers a wonderful opportunity to explore buildings all over London – including in our Borough. The full listing of 27 buildings open to see in H&F over the weekend of 22-23 September is available here.  Why not also stroll or cycle round the nominations and winners of our own Environment Awards ?

And as the northern boundaries of the Borough become more important, on both dates there is a walk round part of the Old Oak & Park Royal Development Area led by art historian Magdalen Evans, details here

Heathrow noise – Airports Commission final report

You may well be aware that the Government published a document on 5th June which would effectively give outline planning permission for a third runway at Heathrow. Parliament will vote on this in next 2 1/2 weeks. As the Hammersmith Society has said repeatedly, a third runway would have significant negative effects on Hammersmith: increased noise (with the health impacts that brings) from more flights and a new flightpath, increased pollution from more traffic on the A4 and A40 through the Borough, and vastly increased pressure on public transport infrastructure going into and out of central London. If you share these concerns, do email or write, as soon as possible,  to your MP who for most of us is Andy Slaughter (), and the Minister for Transport

The Chair of the  H&F Resident-Led Commission on Airport Expansion, Christina Smyth, has written the following blogpost on the Council’s website: 

Members of the Committee visited this year’s nominations on Sunday 20th May and shortlisted them. They are all shown on the nominations page with just a selection here. If you would like to comment on them, or make suggestions for winners, please use the comment form on the nominations page. 

Award winners will be announced at the AGM in the Bush Theatre on 5th July. 
Members, guests, and friends will be warmly welcomed.

BT InLinkUK “Phone box”

2018 Environment Award: TV Centre redevelopment

White City Place

2018 Nancye Goulden Award: St Paul’s Girls School Pavilion

Ark Conway Primary Academy

Capability Brown wears a tiara for the Royal Wedding

Planters, Lower Mall

2018 Nancye Goulden Award: 2A Loftus Road

Westfield extension / John Lewis

LAMDA

2018 Environment Award: Helios TV centre

Guerilla Gardening – tree pits in Galloway Road

Riverside Studios – Crisp Road

2018 Environment Award: TV Centre redevelopment

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The planning application for the Town Hall development has been lodged, and is available on the council’s planning portal, with listed building consent application here.  A good starting point is the Design & Access Statement.  Summary details are also now available on the council website if you don’t have time to go through all 488 planning documents!

There are a number of design developments: the addition of a brise soleil over the substantial roof extension, and a slight modification of the King Street/cinema frontage following comments by ourselves and others.  The Committee will be studying the application carefully.  The slide show above shows the main CGI images published with the plans.

We would be pleased to hear your feedback.

Conservation Award 2017: Bush Theatre

This year’s award nominations are open – winners of awards and wooden spoons will be announced at the AGM at the Bush Theatre on 5th July.

Please do nominate your choice – see our awards page to understand the process and the various award categories, and review the list of existing nominations which are being added to the website as they come in. Nominations close on 16th May.

It would help us if you can send us a photo with your nomination.

Town Hall Redevelopment February 2018

There will be a drop-in exhibition at the Town Hall of the latest plans for the redevelopment scheme, on Friday 20 April 4-8pm and Saturday 21 April 10-2 pm, as shown in our diary. The plans will be on the Council website thereafter. The designs will form the basis of the planning application so it is not a consultation event – but there will be the opportunity to submit comments as part of the planning process.  The Council’s letter of invitation sent to the areas closest to the Town Hall is attached.

For reference, the visualisations shown here are from the February 2018 consultation – we understand that these have been updated subsequently.