Improved proposals adopted and planning permission granted

There was very welcome news in July 2013 when the Council announced that it was withdrawing its plans for the Town Hall redevelopment. The new leader, Cllr Nick Botterill, said the Council would be going back to the drawing board, that new proposals for the site would go no higher than the Town Hall extension and it would listen to residents and amenity groups in order to find a more acceptable solution. The footbridge over the A4 will no longer be part of the scheme. That, and the reduced height, will be a tremendous relief to local residents.

Meanwhile we and Save Our Skyline will be pressing for an early meeting with the Council to seek to ensure a good design solution to this vexed site and to incorporate retention of the cinema in a reinvigorated form to give real regenerative boost to the area. Many congratulations are due to Save Our Skyline for their highly effective campaign without which this turnaround would not have happened, and to all the thousands of residents who wrote and emailed the Council, the Mayor of London and the Government.

Reminder from Rosemary’s last newsletter : There is a suggestion from the Council that registering the building as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) would provide an additional level of protection. Rosemary Pettit is currently assembling this application.

If you can support this campaign, please contact her at

In Hammersmith we tend to forget that Fulham Palace is one of our greatest assets.

The former Palace of the Bishops of London is Grade 1 Listed and although we think of it as Tudor which much of it is – and even older than Hampton Court – it actually dates back to the 1100s. There is much going on there and just to walk through the grounds – especially the walled garden – is a great pleasure.

The Palace has just passed the first hurdle in its latest bid for a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will enable it to tie up and complete the main programme of projects which has been on going for the last 15 years or so. A Local Advisory Group is to be set up with effect from the Autumn of this year. If you are interested in being involved please contact me.

For general information visit : www.fulhampalace.org

Counters Creek Storm Relief Sewer

It seems that Thames Water are causing quite a storm of their own with their high handed approach to selecting sites for these works. No-one denies the need for this project designed to reduce the risk of properties being flooded by sewage.

My office has been flooded twice and I know from personal experience how awful it is. It must be much worse if it is your home. See what Andy Slaughter has been saying on the subject in his current blog.

Please tell us how you think the Hammersmith Society can assist with this problem.

OPDC visualisation

As most of you know, the Mayor of London successfully persuaded the Government that he should manage the development and planning controls around Old Oak Common and Park Royal (also includes Wormwood Scrubs) in the same manner as the Mayor was responsible for the Olympics site. The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) became official from 1 April 2015. The Acting Chief Executive is Victoria Hills and the Chief Planning Officer is William McKee (formerly of this parish – Remember him?). Things are due to move fairly quickly and are all linked in with Crossrail and HS2 which will meet if all goes well to provide a station as large as Waterloo on the site. The Hammersmith Society have asked to be a major consultee and we are due to have a meeting with OPDC in the next two weeks.

The Council are currently consulting upon introducing a universal 20mph throughout all roads in the Borough

Have your say at :

www.lbhf.gov.uk/20mph   or e-mail

Closing date for comments 31 July 2015.

If you missed the exhibition in King’s Mall in the week of 8th June and at the Lyric Theatre, together with the Question Time on 18th June in the Studio Theatre hosted by John Humphrys, you can read about it and the many reviews on the West London Link Website :

www.westlondonlink.com

The exhibition is due to move to a venue near the Town Hall in the coming weeks.

At the recent Question Time event based upon the ‘Flyunder’, which formed part of this year’s London Festival of Architecture events arranged by West London Link and Hammersmith BID, Cllr Stephen Cowan announced the setting up of a Residents’ Panel to act as a consultative group for the various projects affecting Hammersmith Town Centre. These include (Principal Organisation in brackets) :

• Town Centre SPD Planning Document as part of the development of the Local Plan (LBHF Planning)
• The Flyunder Options (TfL Roads Task Force)
• Re-organisation of the Hammersmith Gyratory (TfL Better Junctions)
• Potential Replacement Bus Station and Re-development of the Broadway Site (TfL Properties/London Buses)
• Cycle SuperHighway East-West route through Hammersmith (TfL)

The application form can be found here
Closing date 5pm Friday 3rd July.