West Ken: Council cry victory, residents defiant

Much crowing was in evidence at Hammersmith Town Hall last week as the Council bucked the trend of repeated court defeats with a victory over the residents of West Ken & Gibbs Green, who had applied for a judicial review.

West Kensington Estate resident Harold Greatwood, applied to court to launch a judicial review of Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council's decision to enter into a Conditional Land Sale Agreement with EC Properties to include the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in the wider regeneration of Earls Court. He challenged the decision on four grounds.

But on Monday, January 21 The Honourable Mr Justice John Mitting sitting in the Administrative Court refused permission for the application for a Judicial Review, ruling against Mr Greatwood on all four grounds.Finding that the challenge to the Council's consultation was “not reasonably arguable”, Mr Justice Mitting said:

“The analysis of the consultation responses put to cabinet on 23 April 2012 and 3 September 2012 was balanced and fair. The suggestion that the results of the consultation were hidden is unwarranted". 

He went on to say that

"The time for the consultation - nine weeks - was adequate"

and that

"The suggestion that because the defendant did not address the consultation documents to tenants by name or to the ‘tenant’, the process was flawed, is absurd.”

Cllr Nicholas Botterill, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said:

“The redevelopment of Earls Court is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the local residents to benefit from a multi-billion pound investment in their own neighbourhood.”

But Mr Greatwood had this to say:

"Having had regard for the Judge’s reasons for refusing permission, I feel obliged to renew my application for permission because there is real and significant evidence that the decisions to sign the CLSA were unlawful. The consultation process was flawed and Defendant has not addressed the full facts. The involvement of the Metropolitan Police and the serious complaint that was referred to the IPCC by the Greater London Authority suggest that political impropriety is a substantial and material issue, which, if true taints all the bases for the decisions.”

Community Organiser, Jonathan Rosenberg, said:

“The more the Council and developer prosecute their scheme, the more they harden residents’ resolve to defend their community and save their neighbourhood."

Keith Drew, Chair of West Ken & Gibbs Green Community Homes and fellow resident on the West Kensington estate, added:

“Harold Greatwood’s heroic action held back the signing of the sell-off agreement (an 800 page document) with the developer for five weeks. We are so proud of what he has achieved on behalf of his 2,000 neighbours. He is undaunted, and so are we. We wish him God speed and we pray that the Court should hear our case and deliver us from this unlawful oppression.”

Bus, taxi services hit by Bush road closure

Get set for jams

Chaos is set to descend on W12 as half of the Green is closed off to allow major gas works to take place. The entire westbound stretch between Holland Park Roundabout and Rockley Road will be closed, with traffic being diverted down the A40 and up the Old Oak Road, then onto Uxbridge Road at the Askew Road/Uxbridge Road junction.

A few things to bear in mind.

First of all if gas works need to be carried out, then they need to be carried out. There is never going to be a good time to do it. 

However secondly I was told recently by a reader that a black cab trade magazine has already advised cabs not to bother going into Shepherd's Bush for the duration of the works. This is because they will be diverted onto the A40 and then sit in traffic jams instead of picking up new fares. So don't plan on getting a cab back home if it's late. Fancy a bus instead? Well...

Bus services will be severely disrupted. Transport for London have announced today that passengers wishing to travel on route 94 towards Acton Green, route 207 towards Hayes, route 237 towards Hounslow Heath, route 260 towards Golders Green, route 295 towards Clapham Junction, route 607 towards Uxbridge and route N207 towards Uxbridge will all need to use a temporary stop T1 located on Shepherd's Bush Green. 

Route 148 towards White City will use stop HD located on Holland Park westbound. 

While passengers who wish to travel in the opposite direction on these routes will continue to use their normal stop.

But I've saved the best till last: sharp eyed readers will note that the traffic, which will be substantial, is being funneled cleverly into one of the most dangerous junctions in the local area, the Askew/Uxbridge Road, which even in the last couple of days has seen two car crashes as people try to navigate the complex lane system which our Council introduced a couple of years ago. It sees numerous pedestrian near misses as cars jump across because the lights only let a few at a time if they are turning right or left, and sadly some people end up getting hit. 

As frustrations build on that junction, at which you can routinely see even bus drivers losing their rag and driving on the wrong side of the road to navigate, people will start to use the side roads off both sides of Old Oak Road instead, turning them into even bigger speeding rat runs than they already are. 

Let's just hope nobody gets hurt. 

St Elmo's fish bar defaced

Some of you will have noticed that one of Askew Road's finest thickos thought they'd daub a red knob on to the side of the St Elmo fish bar recently. I presume it was a self portrait of some kind. The action followed the painting of a fantastic mural on the side of the shop, which the owners tell me has stood their for nearly a century, themselves having occupied it for the past 9 years.

A reader who lives in the area saw it and called the council, asking whether they could remove it. Sure, said our Council, but we'll have to paint over the entire wall, obviously. Yes, er, thanks for that. We'll call you. 

To the rescue comes the original artist, Will Impey, from an outfit called Any Surface Creative who is planning on restoring the side of the fish bar to its former underwater glory. Speaking at the time he created the mural, which singlehandedly did a lot to brighten up a dull corner of the Bush, he said this: 

” The mural was painted to add some character to the shop, using just shades of blue to assist creating a feeling of tranquility. I wanted to create a mural that would not impose on the area and can be appreciated by people of all ages."

It was, and is. And I think we can all be grateful he's prepared to come back and take care of it despite the best efforts of one of our neanderthal neighbours.

West Ken: Residents locked out by Council

Bully boy tactics appear to be the order of the day as our Council's campaign against the majority of residents living on the West Kensington & Gibbs Green Estate continues unabated, even in the face of a criminal investigation into similarly dubious tactics alleged to have been used only months ago. Deputy Mayor for Policing and former H&F Leader Stephen Greenhalgh's job now hangs by a thread as the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigate his conduct.

The latest move was to unilaterally lock residents out of a community hall they were planning to use for a training meeting. This session was due to be on on Valuation, and is part of the process to develop the capacity of the Board of the residents association to take on Community Ownership of the estates. You can see why the Council might not much like that.

One of them turned up and was unable to get in. When first rung, a Council officer explained that the locks had been changed and that it had been done for "security reasons". But their story soon changed with a voicemail being left by an officer from the Council's Housing Office on another residents association phone claiming that a resident who had been in charge of the keys for years now had to "fill in a new form" before she would be given a new set.

Speaking later Diana Belshaw, a member of the residents association, explained:

"The council sent letters demanding we hand in the keys and produce insurance papers as we managed Gibbs Green @West Kensington halls. We wrote a letter explaining that we did not manage the halls and that the council did so I suppose this is just another way H&F council are having a go at the TRA."

Difficult to see any other explanation. And depressingly similar to the behaviour exhibited by this Council towards these people over the last couple of years, about which the High Court has taken a dim view.

Meanwhile, the Council's motto remains "putting residents first".

H&F Hospitals: Vigils, Marches & Meetings

As the execution date draws nigh the Save our Hospitals campaign is stepping up a gear or two, and will be holding a public meeting on Wednesday 30th January at the Rivercourt Methodist Church next to the Town Hall in Hammersmith, itself a venue that has seen several packed and feisty meetings on the future of our borough.

Following this there will be a protest march from noon on Saturday 16th February, heading off from Lyric Square. That of course will be a prelude to the final pronouncement of death for Hammersmith & Charing Cross Hospitals, which has been an inevitability ever since the sham consultation was announced.

Meanwhile there are candle lit vigils taking place every Sunday between 5 and 6 pm outside both hospitals, which in the present conditions will be chilly affairs!

Be there or be somewhere else - but be angry nonetheless.

New Blog, New Team!

Last Friday evening a group of Bushers met at the Bush Theatre café (where else) to talk about the future of this blog. It got off to a predictably amusing start as none of us knew what each other looked like so we were all sat in different corners of the room. Then, like characters in a daytime US sitcom we somehow stumbled across each other and got down to business!

A while ago now I sounded a warning that, for various reasons, my updating of the blog was going to slow down. Ironically enough this week it’s been updated almost daily because lots of stuff has been going on, but the fact is I am being increasingly drawn away.

One reader suggested that instead of letting the site wither that others could write for it too, and that was what we were there to talk about. I am really delighted that four new authors are joining the team and will, henceforth, be authors on this site. They’re all committed Bushers and are interested in different things. Allow me to introduce you:

Bart Govaert: Bart was born and raised in Belgium, but he has been living in W12 since last century. He has 2 kids, and works as a software program manager. His interests in W12 include news, food, schools and human interest stories.

Simon Grange: Born-and-bred Londoner Simon describes himself as a freelance international management consultant with a hyper-critical eye who is always looking to find ways of making or doing things better. He moved to Shepherd's Bush in 2006.

Nathalie Bristow: Nathalie is a project manager for events, fundraising and business start-ups with www.ministryofprojects.co.uk. As the owner of Cupboard Cafe and now Events Manager at www.bushtheatre.co.uk she is passionate about telling the world about W12s creative powress and the people who make it happen.

Peter MacLeod: Peter is a professional writer with almost 25 years' experience across consumer and, latterly, business-to-business (B2B) publishing. He currently edits a leading trade publication for the logistics industry, and has lived just off Shepherd's Bush Green with his family for three years.

I’m really looking forward to reading what comes and I hope you do too. It’s a big change for this blog, to go from being my own soapbox, that I’ve tried to use to capture the good, the weird, the bad and the inspiring of the Bush with, to being a more open community site. Will it work? Time will tell, but the readers are still coming and that’s got to be a good sign.

If you’d like to join the team email me at shepherdsbushblog@yahoo.co.uk

In the meantime, enjoy the read!

Chris

West Ken: criminal investigation starts

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, the IPCC, is set to investigate the former leader of H&F Council's actions in relation to the West Ken development, reports Dave Hill of the Guardian. Following the dossier that was submitted to the police last year our Council attempted to investigate itself via the accountants Deloittes but this now appears to have become null and void as the IPCC probe overtakes it.

And it follows a ruling in the High Court that the legality of our Council's approach to this development is open to question.

Although the IPCC is looking into the actions specifically of Stephen Greenhalgh, he did not act alone. And I would imagine one or two others are feeling just a little more anxious, this morning.

1330 UPDATE: ITV London news has reported on this growing row today with our MP Andy Slaughter calling on the Mayor to suspend Mr Greenhalgh in view of the announcement by the IPCC.Mr Slaughter argued that since the allegations amount to serious criminal misconduct in public office it was no longer appropriate for Mr Greenhalgh to have responsibility for policing.  Watch the piece here.

Coming so soon after his half-apology over allegations of sexual molestation of staff, the odds must be shortening on the first Deputy Mayor to walk the plank of Boris' new term. I suspect more than a few police officers may be enjoying the episode.

1530 UPDATE: The Conservatives have hit back as hard as they can this afternoon, with an impassioned piece on the Tory blog ConservativeHome. No author name is given for this article but it is likely to be penned by H&F Councillor Harry Phibbs, who partly edits the local government section of the site. And who has come to Mr Greenhalgh's aid before.

Mr Greenhalgh himself has issued the following comment:

"I am immensely proud of my record as Hammersmith & Fulham Council Leader. These baseless allegations are politically motivated. I refuse to be distracted from my important role as Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime."

Who is the Poo Man of the Bush?

After blog readers played a role in nabbing the wee man of the Bush, someone else has stepped forward to claim the "filthiest person in W12" award, a much coveted trophy among the gutter dwelling fraternity. Our Council are asking for your help in identifying him.

The time is 2.40am on Sunday, January 6 and this filthy yob can clearly be seen with his pants around his ankles, taking a dump next to the brand new children’s play area on Shepherds Bush Green. The CCTV footage, which was captured using the latest Predator night vision cameras, shows the man loitering on the green and drinking from a can before picking up what appears to be a used tissue from a picnic table and walking around to the children’s play area.

At the critical moment, the man is given the shock of his life when the council's CCTV camera shines a spotlight on him.

After using the already soiled tissue to wipe up after himself he walks away from the scene, directly into the beam of the night vision camera. He can clearly be seen muttering under his breath before skid-daddling.

The man is approximately 45 years old, of medium build with a shiny bald head. He was wearing blue denim jeans and a grey hooded top with a white logo and Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council is appealing for anyone who knows the man to get in touch. Have a look at him in action below:



My old friend Cllr Greg Smith, H&F Council Deputy Leader, said:

“I have rarely seen such bare-faced cheek. This was not a medical emergency, it was a premeditated act next to a new play area which is used by families and children every day. But our CCTV cameras mean this individual has really dumped himself in it. We are calling on all decent residents to help us find this revolting yob by viewing the YouTube clip before he strikes again.”

Frankly let's hope the police get to him before Cllr Smith does, for his own safety. 

The incident was captured by brand new CCTV cameras which were installed by the council as part of a £2million makeover of the green. Footage from cameras is beamed into a new CCTV control hub at Hammersmith Town Hall - which streams images from around 800 cameras and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and utilises the latest high definition, infra-red and LED technology.

If you know who this man is, please email asbu@lbhf.gov.uk or call 020 8753 2693

19th Feb: Hammer to fall on Hammersmith Hospital

An execution date has been set for our local NHS, with the NW London NHS Primary Care Trusts group, authors of a North Korean style "consultation", described as "fatally flawed" by a former NHS Chief, holding a meeting to agree the final cuts. Appropriately enough they will be meeting at Methodist Central Hall, which is a grand Victorian building, so the pronouncement of death will take place in a suitably sombre environment.

The end result will be all Accident & Emergency services in Hammersmith & Fulham being closed, with emergency cases having to be ferried greater distances to central Middlesex or Chelsea & Westminster hospitals instead. And as we know there is never much traffic on the way to either of those destinations.

This is of course a process which was designed in a way to pit local hospitals against each other, and despite the very welcome cross party nature of opposition to that, involving a Labour MP and a Tory Council, some hospitals pretty shamefully actively campaigned for the closure of their fellow hospitals, using tax payers money to do so. Chelsea & Fulham MP Greg Hands, who represents Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, sadly seemed happy to turn a blind eye to that sort of behaviour by his hospital, which weakened the local coalition.

NHS NW London has still refused to answer questions about the financial interests many involved with the group have with the proposed new arrangements. Specifically the Guardian reported recently that parts of the NHS estate will be sold of to property developers who will in turn make vast profits. And guess which companies some of those involved in making these decisions, particularly local GPs, have shares in 

The Save our Hospitals campaign has had some difficulty in persuading local GPs to sign up to the campaign, although many have now done so, giving the lie to NHS NW London's claim to have universal support from them.

Campaigners tell me there will be a local demonstration on 16th Feb and people from across London will be attending a mass demo outside Methodist Central Hall on the 19th. I'm sure they'd love to see you there, email campaign@saveourhospitals.net for further details.

Finally, let's remind ourselves of the sort of people running this sham - here's possibly one of the most disastrous television appearances I have ever seen from Dr Mark Spencer, leader of the bureaucrats wanting to wield the axe. Appearing on the BBC Politics Show he was both untruthful and disingenuous, and frankly arrogant, arguing that non clinical people should just accept that people like him knew best. That led his fellow studio guests, including a former Health Minister, to suggest that he represented a lack of "credible leadership", and that people like him should "get down from their high horse". Ouch.

He's since retreated back into the shadows, so not much chance of that. But people wishing to send a similar message to the great man may wish to pencil Feb 19th into their diaries.