Destination, Creation and inclusion

The Council have published this draft strategy and are seeking comments before the end of January. The report can be accessed here. The Hammersmith Society is currently assembling its response.

Riverside Studios

There were worrying reports in the Evening Standard and local news bulletins before Christmas, suggesting that there were problems with the funding of the fit out of the replacement studios which are due to re-open in 2017.

The Hammersmith Society strongly supports the return of the Studios in its new home and format. You can see the layout of the new premises at www.riversidestudios.co.uk

Unfortunately William Burdett-Coutts and Guy Hornsby are both out of the country presently so I have been unable to get their comments : A meeting is being arranged with them on their return.

In the next few weeks, you can expect to see the closing of the Cineworld Cinema in King Street. Many have used this for all our years of living in Hammersmith. This will mark the commencement of the Town Hall/King Street Regeneration Project. The revised and generally more popular mixed use scheme was approved back in November 2013. It will be a phased scheme providing replacement offices for the Council where the cinema is now, about 200 new residential units, a new public square with shops, restaurants and a new Curzon cinema. No doubt there will be publicity and more specific information on the programming of the project.  Watch this space!

Hammersmith Bridge

Work is still in preparation for the major repairs and strengthening of the bridge. The works are being sponsored by TfL but organised by engineers from our Council.

Tenders are being sought from specialist companies. The cost and time required and potential closures will depend on the responses. However, it is now likely that the works will not start before the late summer. Ian Hawthorn, the Council officer supervising the project, will keep us posted on the outcome of the tenders and the implications on programme and closures. He also confirms that the works will include the complete repainting of the bridge.

Time for a change of colour? I have mentioned this to you before but received no response . . . . !?

War Memorial in St John the Evangelist Churchyard in Glenthorne Road (Now part of Godolphin and Latymer School campus)

Rosemary Pettit reports the following good news on the dilapidated state of the War Memorial which she raised with the Council :

On 4 January, Adam O’Neill, one of the Council’s Urban Design and Conservation Officer wrote :

Last year I requested that Historic England assess the war memorial for listing, their (brief) consultation report is available using the link in the email below.

In the meantime Godolphin & Latymer School have made an application for a repairs grant to the War Memorials Trust.

Thames Water are about to announce revised plans for sites they wish to use in the construction of this project, and will be seeking further consultation. If you think your property may be affected, and you would like to comment or just find out more – visit www.thameswater.co.uk/counterscreek

Thames Water Holds New Drop-in Sessions over Storm Relief Sewer

Seeking further feedback on selection of five preferred sites

Thames Water is holding a new series of public drop-in sessions in January and February after selecting five preferred sites to construct a new storm relief sewer.

The sites are at:

• Cremorne Wharf Depot, Lots Road, Chelsea
• Land adjacent to Talgarth Road and Trevanion Road, Hammersmith
• Maclise Road car park and woodland adjacent to Kensington Olympia Station
• Holland Villas Road at its junction with Lower Addison Gardens
• The car park at Tesco Superstore, Shepherd’s Bush Road.

Thames Water says it is inviting residents in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to give their views on the updated plans to protect properties from the misery of sewer flooding.

This continues to be hot news with regular features appearing in London papers and local news bulletins. This month Rosemary Pettit’s Resident-led Commission is taking evidence.

Rosemary notes that the background and purpose of the Commission are as follows:

Hammersmith and Fulham has the eighth highest percentage of early deaths attributable to nitrogen dioxide and to particulate matter air pollution in London, according to a report by King’s College London.  The report, commissioned by the Greater London Authority and Transport for London, estimates that this contributes to the early deaths of 203 residents per year.

In response to this, Hammersmith & Fulham Council has established a resident-led Air Quality Commission to look into the problem.  The Commission will engage with external experts and local residents in examining the causes and dangers of local air pollution and propose potential solutions to help reduce it. Hammersmith resident, Rosemary Pettit, is chairing the Commission, which will run for some 6 months and report to Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

There are as far as we know no immediate threats to our Open Spaces in Hammersmith but we always have to be vigilant. For example, Wormwood Scrubs is within the OPDC area and there are anxieties as to what effects all the development may mean for this Metropolitan Open Land. Similarly Little Wormwood Scrubs (on the other side of Scrubs Lane) could be under threat from a re-arrangement of the West London Railway Line. There are of course always issues to do with Parks maintenance which have to fight for funds against other Council spending.

The Hammersmith Society is affiliated to the Open Spaces Society and they have concerns about open spaces in London generally. I would urge members to support their campaign as below:

Of course, this is only one of many campaigns and informatives issued by the London Forum of Civic and Amenity Societies. Therefore it is entirely appropriate that we can congratulate its Chairman, Peter Eversden for his MBE in the New Year’s Honours.

Derek Chandler, Secretary of the London Forum wrote : Peter says he is delighted to receive the recognition for his volunteering work over the past 35 years in the civic movement but considers the award is for the achievements of London Forum’s team and of its 150 community groups and individual members across London.

Peter is also chairman of the Bedford Park Society, a past trustee of the William Hogarth Trust and a member of the Mayor’s Outer London Commission since 2009. He joined London Forum as a trustee in 1996 and became its chairman in 2001. Peter has been involved in the development of the London Plan since the GLA was created and the London Forum’s 25th anniversary in 2013 was celebrated for all its members by Boris Johnson at City Hall in appreciation of the work done by community volunteers.