Shepherds Bush Businesses Rates Up By Nearly a Quarter

Dorsett Hotel - flagship business in Shepherd's Bush

Businesses in Hammersmith and Fulham are likely be faced with a massive increase in the local Business Rate.

A leaked breakdown of changes in business rates show Shepherds Bush businesses are in line for a whopping 22.8% increase – a huge extra burden to carry.

The changes in Business Rates are designed to reflect rising rental property prices - and our borough is one of the worst affected. 

Central Line on Strike Wednesday 22nd February

Central Line will be affected

London Underground station staff may be striking again next week. This latest strike will begin late on Tuesday 21st February and last until the morning of Thursday 22nd February.

Time to buy a bike, or work from home.

The Trouble With Basements

A basement in Shepherd's Bush

One thing most people can agree on in Shepherd's Bush is our shared dislike of our neighbours digging basements.

If your neighbours are digging a basement, it means noise, dust, and disruption. There will be jackhammers, skips and wall-shaking disturbance. And, worst of all, it all takes a long time.

Listening to voter's concerns, our Council has been consulting on the digging of basements, with proposals to limit the size and scope of basement extensions and generally to try and make it more difficult and restrictive.

Helios Returns to TV Centre

Helios is back

The gilded bronze figure of Helios, personification of the sun in Greek Mythology, has returned to cast his golden light in the courtyard of the newly rebuilt Television Centre. 

Helios underwent a long period of repair and renovation, having stood in the rotunda at Television Centre since the former BBC headquarters opened in 1960. 

Bush Theatre Shines

Bush Theatre

The Bush Theatre gleams as never before as the scaffolding comes down, revealing the beautiful honey-coloured stone of philanthropist Passmore Edwards' original building.

The Theatre itself re-opens in March, with a new season of political theatre, starting with "Black Lives, Black Words" on March 23.

The Bush Theatre's artistic agenda is now to "fight the right wing". You can see the full program here.

The Albertine is Dead...Long Live the Albertine

Albertine Wine Bar

Local chef Allegra McEvedy (co-founder of Leon) is to re-open the Albertine Wine Bar in mid-February.

The Albertine was a favourite BBC watering hole on Wood Lane - and one of the nicest boozers in our neighbourhood.

The Albertine is also a place that made history - it's where where the very first EastEnders script was written.

But for Allegra it's a very personal story, since the Albertine was founded by Allegra's Mum back in the late 1970s.  And for local residents, it will be great to see this lovely piece of Old Shepherd's Bush restored to its former glory.

Fantastic Mr Fox at The Lyric is Properly Fantastic

We are blessed with two excellent theatres in our neighbourhood: The Bush Theatre, and the Lyric in Hammersmith. Right now the Bush Theatre is closed, following a year-long restoration. But the Lyric is open and putting on some great shows.

Our reviewer Toni Sharpe recently caught Fantastic Mr Fox at The Lyric, and describes it as "properly fantastic". 

See her full review below.

Tube Strikes on Sunday through Wednesday Next Week

Central Line will be affected

London Underground station staff are striking again next week.  This latest strike begins on Sunday 5th February at 6pm and lasts until 10am on Monday.

A second strike then begins at 10am on Tuesday 7 February and lasts until 1am on Wednesday 8 February.

Assume that the service will be very bad indeed from Sunday evening until Wednesday morning.  Could be time to buy a bike, or work from home.

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.

Television Centre Meeting on Thursday 12 January 2017 on Wood Lane

Helios Building - due for completion by end of 2017

The developers of Television Centre on Wood Lane are to hold a meeting for local residents to give the community an update on the progress of this massive development. 

At the meeting will be representatives from Mace (builders) and Stanhope (developers), including Mace community liaison representative Mike Russell.