The Council’s Email Alerts to Planning and Licensing applications are always informative. To never miss a planning application in your area, register with the Council. You specify the area you are interested in – and it’s as easy as that. In addition to receiving prompt notice of applications you can click through to the application itself, look at the documents and, if it is a small application, click on ‘Make a public comment’ and write your comments in the box provided, then receive a receipt (and your comments) in your email Inbox. If your concern is of interest to the Hammersmith Society please forward to us. We’ll be glad to respond.

Cineworld Hammersmith

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!

The Hammersmith Society does not support the potential award for the brickwork at Ravenscourt House (site of the former police accommodation in Paddenswick Road – now student housing which we thought was a mediocre scheme) but we certainly support and applaud the Council for its tenacious efforts on Enforcement against unauthorised development, rogue advertising and the like.

Policing is another area where serious cut backs are being considered – or accurately forced on the Metropolitan Police. The H and F Safer Neighbourhood Board is chaired by David Millar, a Hammersmith Society member. They are organising two public consultation events in Hammersmith under the heading of ‘Have your say on crime, antisocial behaviour and policing where you live’ as follows :

• Tuesday 17 November : (6.30pm for 7pm start) : Newbigin Theatre, St Paul’s Centre Hammersmith Broadway W6 9SJ
• Monday 30 November : (6.30pm for 7pm start) : The Conference Room, Askew Road Church, Bassein Park Road, W12 9BH

Light refreshments will be provided : For more information contact : or call 020 8753 2816

Supported by the Mayor’s Office for Policing for London.

There is a new Council consultation on a proposal to stop weekly collections:  It’s all about saving money : What do you think?

I live in a house and have space to store rubbish – unwillingly for two weeks – but what if you live in a small flat where storage is a real problem ? Weekly bin collections are surely the least we can expect in a civilised community.

Please go to the consultation

For two if not three of the last AGMs we have given a Wooden Spoon to the Council for their lack of a policy on street tree pits – that is the area around the base of the tree in the footpath. We have shown that there is no consistency of treatment which varies from just earth, to hoggin, to black tarmac to various forms of ‘bound gravel’. This is despite the formation of a StreetSmart guide adopted by the Council about 10 years ago after much exhortation by the Hammersmith Society. Lots of Borough’s deal with this problem successfully. It is a difficult problem as trees have to receive water, their roots go all over the place and dogs do nasty things on them.

As a result of our campaign, Harry Phibbs has been particularly tenacious in trying to get answers from Council Officers : They have recently come up with a new product – another form of permeable bound gravel which is being trailed at the moment around the Brackenbury area and Kings Street/St Peter’s Square – see illustration.

What do you think? Looks smart – will it last?

Resin-Bound Tree Pit

An alternative approach – not necessarily suitable for all locations – or certainly busy ones – is the personalised planted approach. I understand this is being trailed in Fulham (I am afraid the photo is from another Borough – but the principle is the same).

What do you think? Please contact Harry Phibbs or the Highways Department with your views.

Personalised planted tree pit

Hammersmith Bridge

Despite recent emergency closures, the bridge is due to be completely closed next year for a more radical overhaul and strengthening to allow double decker buses to use it again. (They were banned when there were previous structural problems).

Our understanding is that this work is likely to take six months from next summer. The works will also involve repainting (and relighting). When it was last repainted, many lamented the loss of the more decorative treatment in pastel colours by the London County Council. The replacement in what many people refer to as Harrods green came about after studies of the original paint scheme by Sir Joseph Bazalgette in 1887 and was strongly advised by English Heritage. A new lighting scheme was also installed by the Council and which won a Hammersmith Society Environment Award in 2001, but the deck lighting has proved unreliable and difficult to maintain.

The Hammersmith Society Committee feel that there is an opportunity to revisit both the colour and the lighting and that an exciting way to explore possibilities would be for an open competition : We would be happy to organise this but obviously there would need to be agreement with both the Council and TfL who are funding the main project.

Do let us know what you think!