Campaign To "Fix Uxbridge Road"

Campaign to "Fix Uxbridge Road"

In 2025 a campaign was launched by a number of Shepherd's Bush residents to clean up the Uxbridge Road, hoping to persuade our council the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to take action to improve the street scene in our neighbourhood.  

We invited campaign organiser Noor to share her thoughts on what the "Fix Uxbridge Rd" campaign is all about, and what it hopes to achieve.

 

Uxbridge Road - Hammersmith & City Line Bridge

What is “Fix Uxbridge Road”?
Fix Uxbridge Rd (W12) is a resident-led campaign (and a formal petition) calling on Hammersmith & Fulham Council to take radical and urgent action to improve the Shepherd’s Bush stretch of Uxbridge Road (roughly nos. 54–500) focused on making it smarter, safer, greener and cleaner. 

It started with one individual (Noor) who moved to the area full of eager anticipation, only to experience disappointment when she discovered the issues on her doorstep - derelict shops; drug-dealing in broad daylight and a dark, dire streetscape.  This seemed particularly shocking when understanding that Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the third wealthiest Council in London.

Uxbridge Rd Shop Front

The Fix Uxbridge Rd campaign was started in April 2025 and asks the council for a clear 3/6/12-month improvement plan plus a “visual uplift” programme for buildings and shopfronts.  The Council has spent tens of millions in other parts of the borough and disproportionately (far) less on Uxbridge Road. 

Whilst the Council has opened a dialogue with us, no material improvements have been seen yet despite the petition being one of the highest signed petitions the borough has ever seen.

What is it About the Uxbridge Rd That Needs Fixing?

Shops on Uxbridge Rd 

In our view, the Council has allowed Uxbridge Road to deteriorate into a lawless area of the borough. This has led to key problems such as:

• Run-down shopfronts and signage (broken shops, solid shutters on the road, exposed wiring, temporary/handwritten signage, shabby frontages, dirty awnings).

• Poor condition of flats above shops (peeling paint, visible disrepair, graffiti).

• Pavement obstruction / clutter: e.g., goods spilling out, trolleys on pavements, “cluttered street furniture,” uneven surfaces - making access harder for wheelchair users and people with mobility/vision impairments.  The Royal National Institute for Blind People have publicly backed the fix Uxbridge Road campaign calling it “at best the street feels like an obstacle course…at worse, it’s impassable”

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Phone booth on Uxbridge Rd 

Irresponsible overclustering retail mix: clusters of fast food (over 13 fried chicken shops on one road alone) and 40% of the borough's betting/gambling shops all on one road - not to mention that these are near schools and places of worship.

• Suspicious overclustering retail mix: 23 money exchange shops, 11 mobile phone repair shops and plenty of broken up shops with several odd-combination businesses operating under one roof e.g. a minicab business which also sells food. 

• Plenty of empty units sitting vacant, some sites sitting empty for 12 plus years

• Specific local “magnets” for ASB residents discuss, including phone boxes (with the council noting agreements in progress to remove multiple boxes but as yet we have only seen 2 removed)

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Bridge Graffiti

Parking issues - illegal parking all over the road

• Air quality issues - clean air levels likely to be breached for years because of the high number of cars and motorcycles on Uxbridge Road

•  Waste problems: litter, fly-tipping, and waste management issues (including rubbish sacks linked to retailers)

• Crime and antisocial behaviour, worsened by neglect. For example, public drinking, open drug dealing or taking and reports to LET do not seem to deter individuals.


What are some possible solutions to the current problems?

These are solutions that are already implied or explicitly requested in campaign materials and council discussions:

Uxbridge Rd - too many chicken shops?

A) A funded “visual uplift” + enforceable standards

• A shopfront/upper-floor improvement scheme (grants or incentives tied to improvements), modelled on examples like Leyton and Deptford, plus clear standards and enforcement.  Other Councils commissioned and executed improvements to their streetscape within a year.  

Phone Booth on Uxbridge Rd

Expert architects, Jan Kattein, were engaged to analyse shopfronts and options/interventions in 2024. It is now 2026 with no deployment of the Jan Kattein proposal (who agree with much of the campaign's findings).  We hope the Council can move beyond highlighting Jan Kattein's presentation to residents to actually engaging Jan Kattein to commence and complete improvements in 2026.

B) Stronger planning/licensing enforcement (and using council powers)

• Residents asked for better enforcement of planning and licensing rules and more discretion over change-of-use decisions to improve the mix and reduce harmful clustering.

• Reviewing existing licences for chicken shops and gambling premises and taking actions against them

C) Cleanliness, waste, and improving the state of the public realm

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Uxbridge Rd Shop Front

 Decluttering and fixing accessibility pain points (street furniture, pavement condition, obstructions). The Council has not removed enough street furniture and, unlike other Councils, has not banned or enforced its A-board Policy effectively. Given RNIB explicit calls for better accessibility, this is disappointing.

• Removing all unsightly cycle bollards and solid shutters, brightening up the road and helping people feel psychologically safe walking down the road.


D) Targeted safety measures with accountability


• Residents repeatedly ask for outcomes, not slogans: measurable reductions in ASB, visible enforcement, and clearer patrol impact. Sites are painted with graffiti showing up days later.  Trees are planted then broken by delinquents days later.

E) Broader stewardship of the high street

• A Business Improvement District (BID) conversation in Shepherd’s Bush, is a way to coordinate uplift/cleanliness/standards. This is something other areas of the borough, like Hammersmith, have and we have been waiting for this to be deployed for nearly a year.


Are There Any Small Things That Could be Done Easily and Quickly?

Vape Shop

Yes - there are “quick wins” that show visible change fast (many are directly mentioned in the petition/council discussion):

• Remove/secure broken phone boxes (council noted BT had agreed to remove seven and discussions were ongoing about more).

• Rapid-response cleaning & maintenance: consistent litter picking, fly-poster/sticker removal, graffiti removal, clearing dumped sacks.

• Enforce pavement obstructions immediately (trolleys, goods spilling out, clutter that blocks pedestrians). Remove all A-boards

• “Paint and patch” repairs on the worst shopfronts/doors/shutters as a starter phase while a full uplift scheme is funded. Clean awnings. Remove shutters

• Micro-greening (planters/trees where feasible): locals explicitly raised that Uxbridge Road is “very grey” and wanted more trees/rain-gardens.  Five trees were planted - but destroyed within days.

• Remove all cycle bollards and replace with shorter, smarter solution


5) What Can Local People Do to Help Improve Uxbridge Road?

Uxbridge Rd following a jewellery robbery in January

Concrete actions residents are already taking (and that usually help campaigns like this):

• Follow our Instagram “FixUxbridgeRdW12” and help play your part for the community in any requests

• Email/call ward councillors and the council asking for (a) a published 3/6/12-month plan with milestones, and (b) a funded visual-uplift programme with standards and enforcement. 

Instagram: “FixUxbridgeRoadW12"

• Report issues consistently (fly-tipping, aggressive ASB, obstruction, licensing concerns). Patterns and repeat logs strengthen enforcement prioritisation and policy cases.

• Ask questions at Full Council meetings to keep Uxbridge Road on the map.

• Take part in consultations that shape what’s allowed on the high street (planning policy / local plan / licensing). The campaign has been urging residents to keep speaking up to the council and councillors.

May Elections

Don't forget we have local elections in May.  Let your councillors know that you are concerned about your local nighbourhood. 

The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog(at)gmail.com