King Street redevelopment to get green light

Two tower blocks of luxury flats will be approved this evening by councillors on the infamous planning committee, against the massed ranks of residents implacably opposed to the idea.

The Council knows it. The residents know it.

This will result in the large scale destruction of Furnival Gardens with a bridge linking the luxury flats to the park to provide "river access". This is the same park the Council boasted it was defending against evil Thames Water back in 2009.

It will also result in the Cineworld being pulled down, a supermarket being installed and housing for blind people being demolished - so that the Council can have a new building, financed on the back of the luxury flats.

So despite the piece of theatre that will be this evening's planning committee meeting - being hosted in a school hall because of the number of objectors that will turn up, all eyes are now on two things - the Mayor of London and the Courts, as this piece by yesterday's Evening Standard makes clear.

The Save our Skyline campaign are not a bunch to be taken lightly by our Council if they wish to retain their councillors in and around Hammersmith come election time. They will, I confidently predict, lose their seats on May 1st 2014. The only question is whether they can rely on the rest of their majority to retain the Council.

This railroading over the heads of local people is everything that is wrong about Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

UPDATE Thursday - And lo, it came to pass ... eventually. The meeting, which was packed to capacity and left a number of objectors standing outside, eventually ground its long winded way towards the conclusion that everyone knew was not in doubt - the scheme was approved at around 23.30 last night.

Since the result was never in doubt - the Council were going to do what they wanted come what may - I didn't bother going. But a number of you did and several have sent in their accounts of what went on. Here's one of them which I think captures both the bizarre and depressingly familiar-sounding scenes from another night at H&F Council's Planning Committee:

Sadly, Spartacus was not in attendance

"I was stood at the back of this meeting and had to regularly nip out... so I saw quite a lot of what was going on other than what was simply being said at the front. I have extraordinary tales of inaudible presentations (despite opposition questions being adequately clear), people being blocked from entering, the attempted eviction of a member of the public (resulting in ripples of "I'm Spartacus!" throughout the room) and lots more".

"People were shouting. They were a fairly angry lot! The reason people were being held at the gates was because there wasn't enough room (fire capacity wise). People gradually left the meeting in disgust, either because they couldn't hear or they were too angry/upset by what was being said (such gems as the loss of historic buildings being justified because of the merits of the proposals). There was also an ammendment made which said that blind residents would only be moved 1.5km, as opposed the the 3km they could have been moved under the plans. As one Cllr put it, the new building has a significant number of "disabled-friendly" flats built-in. Why is the council discriminating between people of different disabilities, and why aren't the blind residents being offered accommodation in these blocks"? 

"I was there with a little one. They finished presenting at 20:30(ish) and moved onto questions, so when the other half rang me at about 21:15 I assured her that I thought they were close to a vote. By 22:00 I'd decided that I really did need to leave. I'm amazed that the final decision wasn't made until about 23:30! What a marathon"

Save our Skyline have been in touch, with John Jones, their Chairman issuing this statement on last night's procedings:

"While we are tremendously frustrated and disappointed by the decision of the Planning Applications Committee, we are hardly surprised. It only serves to demonstrate the arrogance of this Council and the inherent conflict of interest in the Council having power to grant itself planning permission for such a controversial scheme. We will continue to ask the Secretary of State or the GLA to use their power to block this flawed scheme and stop the very real damage that it will wreak on Hammersmith and the historic riverside. We call on residents to maintain the pressure by writing to the GLA and the Secretary of State to make their views known.

"In short, this is a disgraceful deal, which shames Hammersmith and is particularly galling as all the Councillors that approved it live in Fulham!"

8th December UPDATE - well the H&F Council Press Officers have been busy on this issue! First we saw Council Leader Stephen Greenhalgh post what they called a "blog" on the council website here. They called it a blog but nobody is allowed to comment - unlike the 50 plus people who have done so on this article from both a pro and anti perspective - why so shy?

Then, just yesterday, they released the video below which uses the "blog post" as a script for the film, which quotes people in favour of the scheme. Such as a local, er, estate agent. Yes, an estate agent. Good luck with the spin, chaps.




Well the Save our Skyline campaign have hit back with this frankly devastating film of their own. In it a series of local residents, including a blind man set to be made homeless and a small business holder, ask why the Council is obsessed with installing luxury flats at the expense of the local area. The answer comes at the end - because we have a Council, their spokesman says, who cares little for what local people think and prioritises its relationships with greedy developers. Says it all really.

Shepherd's Bush Green in January facelift

The long awaited changes for the Green are finally on their way after a dispute between the Council and residents was settled by independent arbitration by the Planning Inspectorate. Longer term readers of this blog will know that the signs which first went up around the Green announcing the changes were there so long they eventually decayed and fell down, thus contributing to the problem the facelift was intended to tackle.

But having found a middle way between a Council that wanted to fell more trees and install a cafe, and residents who most certainly didn't want that fearing among other things a boost in our rampant local rat population, the works can now go ahead and the local Conservatives are rightly trumpeting what will surely be a radical improvement to a space which has long looked like nobody really gave a monkeys about it, frankly. 

Here's Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Residents Services:

"It has been a long time coming but we are absolutely thrilled that work will finally start soon to improve this flagship open space. The scheme will undoubtedly benefit everyone who lives near, visits or works in and around Shepherds Bush, as well as rejuvenating a park that really needs a boost. There have been several years of frustration but I am sure that the improvements will be well worth waiting for.”

And, speaking to the local Tory blog, local resident John Ryan, of Tunis Road, has this to add:

"As a local resident living in Shepherds Bush for 22 years, I walk across Shepherds Bush Green on an almost daily basis. The Green has had it's fair share of problems over the years, including antisocial behaviour, street drinkers and irresponsible dog owners fouling the area. 

“There is finally hope on the horizon, as the council gears up to complete the work which we have been promised over the years. When this work, together with the other improvements being carried out in Shepherds Bush, is complete we shall have an area to be proud of, not an ‘end of the line’ image as was once put to me.

Not sure what 'end of the line' means but it's always been a shame that the Green has looked so drab - when it can be filled with some fantastic events for the community as we saw this summer during the Bush Festival.

H&F moves forces families to front of housing queue

Our Council wants to be the first in the UK to move the families of Territorial Army, as well as regular forces, to the front of local authority housing lists. In a move that few can criticise, even in this very politicised borough, the Council wants to enact this move as part of its revamp of how it prioritises families waiting to be housed.

Alongside the families of forces will be those who work and others who carry out voluntary sector duties in and around the borough. Councillor Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member for Housing, has this to say on the Conservative Party's blog:

“We are eternally grateful for the courage and bravery of our armed forces serving in dangerous places across the world. However, all too often, when they return home from duty they struggle to find appropriate housing. We do not believe that years of loyal service to this country should become an obstacle to finding a home. There can be no people more deserving of a council house or access to home ownership that those who give voluntary service in the name of Queen and Country.”

It's difficult to disagree with any of this - and frankly surely a scandal that it hasn't been done before. Marine Sam Alexander, 28, was from Hammersmith and to many embodied the ethos of self-sacrifice that characterises the job that our forces carry out on our behalf. Having the confidence that their families are well-housed at home shouldn't really be too much to ask - and our Council deserve great credit for leading the way on this. 

Michael Barrymore in car crash, drunk, in the Bush

The BBC has reported that the former celebrity Michael Barrymore has been arrested after colliding with a kerb just outside of W12 on the junction between Dordrecht Rd and the Vale. That's opposite Bromyard Avenue, just round the corner from the Askew Pub and on the way to the Tesco express.

Mr Barrymore was arrested with another man and charged with possession of cocaine and for being drunk & disorderly. He will appear at Ealing Magistrates Court on December 7th.

UPDATE 7th December - Michael Barrymore has today pleaded guilty at Ealing Magistrates Court to being in possession of cocaine, which he apparently tried to hide in his mouth when stopped by the Police after having crashed into a pavement just outside the Bush. He was convicted and fined £780. In other words, you can drive your car around high as a kite, to the point where you are a lethal danger to other people, crash it - and then get a slap on the wrist. What is the point?

Second man charged over Dewhurst Rd W14 murder

William Saunderson-Smith

The investigation into the murder of William Saunderson-Smith, 58, who was found dead at home in Dewhurst Road W14, has resulted in a second man being charged according to the BBC. 

Ireneusz Mydlarz, 36, of Broomgrove Gardens, Edgware, north London, was arrested and charged earlier. Now Slawomir Bugajewski, 38, has also been charged. Both are likely to face trial at the Old Bailey.

H&F Council spend £7,184 on retirement party

Geoff Alltimes: because he's worth it

...for one of the most well-paid Local Authority Chief Executives in the United Kingdom. That's quite a bill for a shin-dig which took place recently for councillors and council staff eager to say a golden goodbye to Geoff Alltimes, according to figures unearthed by the Labour Opposition and sent to me.

I reported in April that Mr Alltimes was the 17th highest-paid CEO in the land, according to figures released by Conservative pressure group the Tax Payers Alliance. This was at least in part why I welcomed our Council's decision to merge Chief Executives with next-door Kensington & Chelsea which would, in their words, save a "pot full" of cash. It must have been a pretty big pot because Mr Alltimes' very high remuneration package was hiked by 10.8% from £185,000 to £205,000 from 2008 to 2009.

10.8 per cent. I thought that was worth repeating. That's ten point eight per cent, for the avoidance of doubt.

So what on earth are our Council doing splashing out over £7,000 on a party for someone who has been paid so handsomely already? Stephen Cowan, the Leader of the Opposition on H&F Council spoke to me this morning and had this to say:

"It's hard to understand why Conservative councillors sanctioned over £7,000 of tax payers' money to be wasted on a boozy knees-up while simultaneously cutting many local Sure Start nurseries annual budgets to just £19,000. Most residents will think that is the wrong priority to spend their hard-earned money on. These are difficult times. Given that the retiring official was the highest paid council bureaucrat in the UK and his pension is estimated to be £104,000 a year plus a lump sum, tax free 'golden goodbye' of £270,000, I am astonished that all this money wasn't paid out of private donations. Maybe Mr. Alltimes would like to donate this money back to one of the Borough's Sure Start nurseries who have suffered 90% cuts to their budgets this year?"

It's hard not to think he has a point. We're all in this together, aren't we?


UPDATE TUESDAY - Well, four days later, the Chronicle eventually reported this story here. Meanwhile last night a Council spokesperson contacted me with the following statement:

“This civic event was organised to mark the departure of an outstanding public servant who dedicated 35 years of his life to serving the residents of Hammersmith & Fulham. Guests from partner organisations and councillors from across the political spectrum attended and not one penny of taxpayers' cash was spent on alcohol. This council is leading the way in slashing millions of pounds worth of waste and bureaucracy. We are the only council to be consistently improving services while cutting our historic debt burden and cutting council tax."

He tells me that the real figure was £6,000 - which directly contradicts what the Council's own officials have said. They are clear it was £7,184 and in any case that would be 6,000 pounds too many!

Stephen Cowan, the Leader of the Labour Opposition that first sent me the figures which kicked the story off last week deserves the final word I think - so here it is:

"Just for the record, I want residents and senior officers of Hammersmith and Fulham Council to know that should Labour win control of the Council on 1st May 2014, I will stop all tax payers’ money being spent on parties, socials, leaving functions and other such frivolous waste. I’m more than happy for people to have leaving get-togethers which are paid for privately with their own money and happen after work hours. But that’s it".

Bush Police in series of raids, Boris held back

White City Estate drugs raid

Police in Shepherd's Bush raided a number of suspected drug dealers houses today in Operation Hawk, in operations such as this one I witnessed on a W12 crystal meth factory here. Meanwhile Boris Johnson suffered a PR disaster as the first house he attended, this being a London-wide operation, turned out to have nothing in it while the second one had what the fair haired one called "a scantily clad woman" in it. Police Officers refused to allow Mr Johnson anywhere near her by all accounts. Very wise.

Officers in Hammersmith & Fulham are responding directly to community intelligence to target drug dealers, perpetrators of anti-social behaviour and other criminals who impact on communities.

Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Lucy D'Orsi said: 

“The communities in all wards across Hammersmith & Fulham are likely to see more operations of this kind from our Safer Neighbourhoods teams, who, through their ongoing engagement, will continue to address local crime and safety concerns to help make our local areas safer".

Chief Inspector Nigel Crane in charge of Safer Neighbourhoods and Partnership for Hammersmith & Fulham Police said: 

"Operation Hawk focuses on problem-solving activity and dealing effectively with Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) within the MPS, it forms another part of the Commissioner's Total Policing vision. I am proud to state that this approach of dealing with root-problems rather than treating just the symptoms is already an embedded "business as usual" approach by a highly motivated and innovative teams at Hammersmith & Fulham". 

"The liaison with the Local Authority Community Safety, Health & Youth Services ensures that this problem-solving is coordinated and tackled in partnership, we have recently co-located officers to work alongside council colleagues in ASB unit.The work of the licensing unit is seeing in-roads made on thefts linked to licensed premises and alcohol-related ASB in proximity to those venues, through proactive monitoring of their licensing conditions and test-purchase operations to ascertain whether under-age sales of alcohol are taking place". 

"We encourage people to drink sensibly and to know their limits. People under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs are more likely to be a victim of crime through their guard being down and their inhibitions lost. Dealing with Drugs and the blight they bring to neighbourhoods is a key focus area for the Safer Neighbourhood Teams. If people wish to peddle in the misery that drugs bring then they can expect a visit from the Metropolitan Police. We will seek to ensure that the quality of life is improved for our local communities through robust intervention where and when it is needed."