Shepherd's Bush Sparkles in the Snow

Shepherd's Bush looked magical and sparkly this morning as our neighbourhood woke up to a beautiful snowy landscape. Watch out though for icy pavements - one of which swiftly despatched me to the Urgent Care Centre at Hammersmith Hospital last night, with a sprained wrist. On the plus side, Urgent Care was a surprisingly positive and efficient experience. I turned up expecting long lines of angry sick people, muttering dark threats about what they'd like to do to Jeremy Hunt, but instead the place was virtually empty - it seems that everyone goes to A&E at St Mary's Paddington instead.

Visitor Parking Permits To Change on 1 May

Visitor parking permits in Shepherd's Bush (in fact, parking permits all across our Borough) are changing. LBHF are switching to a new visitor permit system which the Council say will "make renewing and applying for a permit easier and more convenient".

The new system will be hosted by RingGo, and LBHF say that using the RingGo app (presumably on your phone) means you can "book visitor parking sessions on the go, wherever you are", and "means you’ll no longer need to put an activated card in your visitor’s vehicle." All of which sounds good, if of course it actually works.

Shepherd's Bush Next Door is Here

Shepherd's Bush Next Door is a new-ish web platform for local communities that is starting to gain traction in Shepherd's Bush. A tech startup from the US that was launched in 2011, the site has since gobbled up Streetlife and looks to become a useful social media service for local neighbourhoods, including ours. So, what is NextDoor, and why bother anyway?

Lidl Swamped on Opening Day

Lidl is here at last

Lidl is here at last - the budget German retailer opened today, and to see the queues of shoppers trying to get in, you'd think this is the biggest news in the Bush since Westfield.

Westfield to Open 20 March

John Lewis

At long last - we have a date for the long-awaited opening of Westfield London's massive new development.

The north extension of Westfield, which will make the shopping mall the largest in the UK, is scheduled to open on Tuesday, 20 March, anchored by a huge £33 million John Lewis store.

Lidl to Open February 22

Lidl is coming - the budget pile-'em-high-and-sell-'em-cheap German retailer will open in the West 12 Centre in Shepherd's Bush on Thursday 22 February.

40 new jobs have been created (but compare that with the 170 jobs that were lost when Morrissons closed). If you're looking for a job, the good news is that there are still some positions available  - see the official Lidl website to find out more.