Art Giveaway by White Noise

Soon-to-be-demolished BBC East Tower

White Noise, a website about creativity in White City and West London, is running an art giveaway for local people.

The pieces being given away are twelve sculptures created using textures and wood taken from the soon-to-be-demolished former BBC East Tower.

The East Tower will be demolished sometime this year as part of the White City TV Centre development.

Hammersmith Bridge To Close From Saturday 11 February Until Monday 20 February

Hammersmith Bridge

Hammersmith Bridge will be closed to traffic from Saturday 11 February until the early hours of Monday 20 February, while essential repair works take place.

The latest closure will once again create traffic chaos, forcing drivers over Chiswick Bridge or Putney Bridge instead. 

Hammersmith Bridge currently operates under severe weight restrictions, with only one bus in each direction permitted on the bridge at any one time.

24 Hour Tube Strike Starts at 9pm Tonight

Central Line will be affected

London Underground station staff are to go on strike tonight from 9pm, continuing for 24 hours.

The Waterloo & City line will grind to a halt. The Central Line is also affected, with fewer trains, and no trains east of Leytonstone.

New Year's Resolutions for Shepherd's Bush

A tree is not a place to dump your old junk

We all need a few New Year's Resolutions, and Shepherd's Bush is no exception. Whether or not we stick to them, resolutions are a way of occasionally taking a good look at ourselves and seeing how we might improve things, just a little bit.  So here is our list of New Year's resolutions for Shepherd's Bush.

Resolution No 1 - Stop fly-tipping
The streets of Shepherd's Bush are not a dumping ground for your bin bags, fridges, and old mattresses. Find some place else to get rid of your old junk.

Campaign Against Heathrow's Third Runway Gathers Momentum

Theresa May: for or against?

Heathrow's new runway was given the green light by the Government last year, despite strong opposition in West London.

The new runway's flight path will likely lie directly above Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith - bad news for pretty much everyone in our neighbourhood.

A new organisation, handfnothirdrunway.org, has been set up to fight the new runway. Prominently displayed on their poster is a quote from one Theresa May MP, who said back in 2010: "Like many local residents, I strongly welcome the cancellation of the third runway at Heathrow".

LBHF Freezes Council Tax - But Your Bill Will Go Up Anyway

Hammersmith Town Hall. Council Tax frozen again this year

Shepherd's Bush residents will surely be grateful that our local council, The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, have frozen Council Tax again this year.

With pressure on government finances at all levels, this is clearly welcome news for taxpayers.

But, despite LBHF freezing their bill, your local Council Tax will go up.  Why?

Pergola on the Roof Seeks Planning Permission for 2017

Pergola on the Roof

Pergola on the Roof, the rooftop restaurant that has brought outdoor dining to the top of the old soon-to-be-demolished BBC carpark on Wood Lane, has applied for planning permission to re-open in the summer of 2017.

Good news then for outdoor diners and assorted hipsters, but perhaps less welcome for the residents of Macfarlane Road who haven't necessarily been thrilled by the noise and general disturbance. 

What's Happening in Shepherd's Bush in 2017?

Westfield 2.0

2017 will be a busy year for Shepherd's Bush, especially in the White City Regeneration Area, where multiple developments will permanently alter the skyline.

Sometime in the latter part of 2017, probably October, we should see the opening of the newly-expanded Westfield's John Lewis Department store, which lots of residents will be pleased about.

Tube Strike Starts at 6pm Tonight

On strike from 6pm tonight

London Underground station staff are on strike from 6pm tonight, continuing for 24 hours. Most of the London Underground system will grind to a halt.

Time to plan for the worst - and remember that the roads will be even busier than usual. If you can, work from home. If not, according to the BBC, your best bet is to walk or cycle.

What's The Point of Phone Booths?

A pointless phone booth on Shepherd's Bush Green

What's The Point of Phone Booths? Once upon time we needed them - because no-one had a mobile phone.

But now, since almost everyone has a phone, they are dinosaurs, their vandalised skeletons decaying in our busy streets.

Mostly nowadays they seem to be used as public urinals, or even a place to have a good vomit after a big night out.

"Skinniest House in Britain" on Goldhawk Road

skinniest house in Britain?

Despite a few notable buildings, Shepherd's Bush isn't really known for its fine architecture.

But we can at least boast the "skinniest house in Britain", a house just 66 inchs wide that was last sold in 2009 for something in the region of £500,000.

Needless to say Faron Sutaria, the estate agents who sold it, said that its small size "adds to its charm".

The house on the Goldhawk Road apparently used to be a hatshop, and there is a nod to this ancestry in the form of the hat still hanging in what used to be the shop window.