Night Tube To Begin On 19 August

The Night Tube, the 24 hour Underground service that was scheduled to start last September, is now due to start on 19 August, with the Central Line leading the way.

This means that trains from Shepherd's Bush to central London will run 24 hours a day, making London (like New York City) "The City That Never Sleeps".

A good thing then for late-night clubbers, and night-shift workers, but less welcome perhaps for anyone in Shepherd's Bush who wants a quiet life.

London Mayoral Election - Not a Close Race?

By now voters in Shepherd's Bush will have received their polling cards for the London Mayoral Election on 5th May - now just five weeks away. If you haven't received a polling card, you're probably not on the Register.

You may even have seen a few posters springing up for one of the candidates in your neighbours' window, and friendly canvassers knocking on your door urging you to vote for their man. However, for those who like an exciting election, this one does not look to be a close race.  According to a recent piece in the Evening Standard, Labour's Sadiq Khan is a clear eight points ahead of Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith.

What's Going On At Imperial College White City?

Imperial College White City - as proposed at their website

Drive up Wood Lane past the A40 and you can hardly miss the massive new towers thrusting upwards, part of the new Imperial College White City Campus.  Imperial College is expanding its empire, and White City is a big part of the vision.  The style is unabashedly modernist, with concrete, steel and glass being the chief ingredients.  It's all part of the White City Opportunity Area, a redevelopment project set in motion a few years ago by our Council, The Mayor of London, and central government.  Imperial College's goal is to create "create a culture of research and innovation, electric with ideas".

What is The White City Opportunity Area?

White City Opportunity Area. LBH&F

The White City Opportunity Area is the bit of Shepherd's Bush and White City that is currently the focus of a number of huge regeneration plans, encompassing new developments up and down Wood Lane, and West from Shepherd's Bush Green into Uxbridge Road.

Taken together, these developments will change the face of Shepherd's Bush completely over the next decade.

According to the Council's official site, the Opportunity Area "covers 110 hectares, including Shepherd’s Bush Town Centre, the BBC and Queens Park Rangers Football Club".

But what do the words "Opportunity Area" really mean in practice?

Free Cycle Marking Today at Shepherd's Bush Green

Free Cycle Marking today!

Today at Shepherd's Bush Green our local police are marking bicycles for free, binding a non-removable marker to your bike and adding it to a national register so that, if stolen, your bike can be returned to you. They are also offering a free tune-up from "Dr Bicycle", and an opportunity to sit in the cab of a heavy goods vehicle to see just how hard it is for them to see you.

Mercy Umeh of Shepherd's Bush is Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham

Mercy Umeh - Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham

Many of our local residents don't know that the mayor of The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a Shepherd's Bush local - our very own Mercy Umeh, for many years a Councillor for Shepherd's Bush Ward.  Mercy can often be seen in our streets - though generally not wearing the fancy gear you can see above.  According to the official LBHF website, she has "chosen Lupus UK and Maggie's Cancer Care Centre as her chosen charity to support during her mayoral year".  So next time you are walking down the Uxbridge road, keep an eye out, you might well see our mayor. Make sure to say hello.