Troubadour White City Theatre To Open This Summer

Troubadour White City

There is good news for theatre lovers in White City.

A new pop-up 1,200 seat theatre will open this summer in the old BBC car park on Wood Lane.

The venue will be known as "Troubadour White City Theatre", and will be one of the largest entertainment spaces in London when completed. 

Council Tax To Rise - But Should it?

Hammersmith Town Hall

Hammersmith & Fulham Council says it will impose a 2.7% increase in our Council Tax bills from April 2019.

LBHF says the rise is needed because of "central government austerity and rising demand for services".

But is a tax rise really necessary? We think there is a better way.

St Stephen's School Consultation

St Stephen's School on the Uxbridge road, widely admired by local parents, is having a consultation on the feasibility of expanding into secondary school education, and founding a new partner school.

To this end they are having a consultation, open to parents of children at the school and the wider community.

You can find the survey here - note that it must be completed by close of business today, 23 January.

Hoxton Hotel Re-Applies for Planning Permission

The developers of the proposed Hoxton Hotel at 65 Shepherd's Bush Green have re-applied for planning permission to demolish the old buildings and build a new hotel.  If you're thinking "but didn't they already get planning permission for that?" you would be right.  Planning permission for the site was granted back in 2017, but the owner of a flat in nearby Pennard Rd successfully challenged it by way of Judicial Review, and managed to get the plans quashed.  So now the developers are going back for round two.

Humans of Shepherd's Bush: No 10

"I first walked into St Stephen’s Church in 1985 and all my family and I still attend. My position is Chair of the Church Committee, which oversees all the business of the church; but really I see my role as one of drawing people into the community that the church provides, whether it’s through being on the weekly rota for lay duties (reading, prayers, refreshments), or singing in the choir, through helping in the Sunday School, welcoming people who have moved to the area and getting to know them, or through collecting up rubbish in the churchyard and looking after the garden.

H&F Report It App for Your Phone

Our Council has launched a new app - the "H&F Report It App" for Your smartphone.

The app allows you to report problems like fly-tipping to the Council on your phone, without the need to send an email or make a phone call.

Shepherd's Bush May Lose 48 Police Officers as Khan Cuts Bite

Fewer police in Shepherd's Bush?

There are fears that there will be many fewer police officers on the streets of Shepherd's Bush as a major City Hall funding scheme faces the axe by Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The so-called "Patrol Plus" scheme was launched former mayor Boris Johnson and currently funds 339 police officers in London - of which 48 are in Hammersmith & Fulham.

DIMCO Licensing Hearing on Jan 16th

DIMCO Buildings - open until 3am?

The DIMCO Buildings, The Grade II listed former electrical station which sits at the heart of the Westfield shopping centre, is now an events venue.

They have applied for a late-night entertainment license from our council, and the hearing date is January 16th at 10 am, in the Council Chamber at Hammersmith Town Hall.

Anyone who took the trouble to comment on the application, at the official LBHF site is entitled to speak at the hearing, for or against.

Farewell Rev Bob Mayo

Rev Bob Mayo

The Reverend Bob Mayo, who has been vicar of St Stephen's and St Thomas church on the Uxbridge Rd since 2005, is to leave us in February.

On December 2nd, Bob announced that he and his wife Sylvie will be leaving St Stephen’s. Bob will be moving to Rochester in Kent to take up the post of Chaplain at Rochester Prison, a detention centre for young offenders, formerly known as Borstal Prison.

We asked Bob to talk about his experience of life in Shepherd's Bush over the past twelve years, how the neighbourhood has changed, and about the challenges of his new journey.

Former Ginglik Site to Re-Open in 2019?

Edwardian loo, later Ginglik nightclub, now derelict

There may be some good news at at last for the much-neglected East corner of Shepherd's Bush Green.

The site formerly occupied by Ginglik, the Edwardian loo-turned-nightclub that closed a few years back, may have a new tenant.

LBHF have apparently been marketing the property, ending on thursday 6 December, and "offers have been received".

The Corner House in Brook Green Closes

Corner House closed

The Corner House in Brook Green, on Shepherd's Bush Rd, is no more.  It seems to be another casualty of the general decline of the British high street, and a particular loss for our neighbourhood.

The Corner House replaced a rather quirky vintage furniture store, and represented (at least in theory) an innovative and potentially new way of using former retail space.