Consultation on "new vision" for SB Market

Bushers are being asked by the council to give their views on plans to regenerate the market. I first gave the heads-up on this in January, and broadly welcomed the council's plans to expand and update the market but this was then greeted less than happily by the traders themselves who fear being priced out of the market altogether. They allege, and the council don't deny, that the excercise will result in higher rents leading to a boutique-ing of the market from its rough and ready state at the moment.

H&F Council's Cabinet will now meet, on Thursday, October 14, to discuss whether to give developer Orion an option to buy the council's land on Pennard Road, which is known as the former laundry site. The option could only be taken up if the developer is able to assemble the rest of the land needed to come-up with a viable scheme - based on the final planning brief - that ultimately gets planning consent.
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, H&F Council Leader, said: "Shepherds Bush Market deserves to be the standard-bearer for all London's markets. The Market has been in existence for nearly 100 years and is now in desperate need of new life if it is to maximise its undoubted potential.
"It is encouraging that a developer has finally come forward but there is a long way to go until the market evolves into the exciting and vibrant venue that we all want to see."
Apparently 75 per cent of respondents to the council's initial consultation said the draft planning brief represents a positive step for the market. For more than a decade, traders and customers have been complaining that the market has been allowed to decline because of a lack of investment.
The council consulted with traders, residents and shoppers over six weeks from December 2009 and the vast majority agreed with the council that any redevelopment must complement local architecture. There was also a very favourable response regarding the mix of shops proposed, new leisure and public arts facilities and embracing the former Shepherds Bush Library as a cultural facility.