Government gives green light to Thames Tunnel

Caroline Spelman MP, the Environment Secretary of State has announced the Government's formal backing for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, otherwise known as the "super sewer stink hole" by our own Council. Their use of our money to campaign against the new sewer was found to have been dishonest when they claimed that residents themselves would risk being made homeless by the scheme.

Our own council has long been isolated in its opposition to the scheme, with other riverside councils, Mayor of London and central Government on both sides of the general election being very much in favour.

The core of London’s sewage network was designed in the late 19th Century and was designed to overflow at times of heavy rainfall to ensure that sewage did not back up into houses and streets. Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) were intended to discharge the raw sewage into the Thames in the event of extremely heavy rain.

Increasing populations and changes to land use in London have lead to this occurring around 50 times per year. With further population growth and projected climate change, this figure is expected to increase in coming decades and spills could occur when there is very little rain. In fact London was recently threatened with fines by the EU for repeatedly breaching the safe limit of raw sewage being discharged into the river.

Our Council continues to insist that the case for the sewer is not proven, but their past untruths have left them with little credibility. So it came as no surprise to see Caroline Spelman MP say yesterday:

"A tunnel continues to offer by far the most cost effective solution to the unacceptable problem of raw sewage being regularly discharged into the Thames. This is a large and complex project and I recognise that it comes at a significant cost. I will ensure that Defra and Ofwat continue to scrutinise the costs and options to ensure that Thames Water’s proposals represent proper value for money."
"Proper value for money" - now that would be a change.

Blitz London: A tour of Aldwych disused station

Today is the 70th anniversary of when Hitler decided the best way to win over Londoners to his cause was by dropping hundreds of tons of high explosives on their heads. To many people who research their family history in London, such as I, you can always see where the bombs fell by looking at the age of the houses - on one side of a street you might have obviously victorian or edwardian terraces and then on the other a modern building block - or just a patch of land. More often than not there's yer bomb crater. And in that hole lay the ruins of people's families, lives and futures among the masonry.

On 24th September to 26th the excellent London Transport Museum are conducting tours of Aldwych tube station, now disused and standing forlornly on the Strand, complete with actors in 40s garb to give Londoners a feel for what it was like for those who lived under the rain of terror. Nightly. I've just bagged a ticket for the 1930 Friday tour but there are tours every hour for the three days - book now here.

And what of us in the Bush? I'll always remember an elderly taxi driver telling me about the time when a V1 bomb landed on my part of the Bush and he and his father dragged out the injured, and sadly the dead. He'd heard it coming over Sawley Road W12, heard the engine stop, and then ... bang. The recently discovered colour footage of London during the bombing brings it all the more vividly to life, particularly the image of a red bus navigating its way through the shattered heart of the City.



It shaped the London and the Bush we live in today. And we should never, ever forget it.

Londoners vs. RMT

I was reminded of 7th July 2005 last night, as thousands of us all got earlier tubes home and in my case caught the central line back to W12 from the centre. At only 4pm people were packed into the station to get home before the strike began, and once again exhibiting the sort of coming together that Londoners always do. I saw pushchairs carried by complete strangers, a blind person being given directions and even a packed platform making way for a woman who was so pregnant she looked like she belonged in a delivery unit!

I saw exactly the same sort of thing on July 7th and here in the Bush on July 21st. This time no-one's died and it's nowhere near as serious as those attacks but the way in which Londoners come together against our common enemies is one of the reasons why I love living here.

Good luck today - and remember that the Overground is working normally. Get more tips here.

0830 UPDATE: I had a last minute change of heart and cycled to work today ... a truly stunning ride along the Thames Path on the other side of Hammersmith Bridge, complete with mist wafting off the river and shards of morning sunlight cutting through the grey. It only took 10 minutes longer than the tube and that was only because I stopped to work out the way a couple of times in Wandsworth on my way to Stockwell where I work. Highly recommended - and two fat fingers to fat cat Bob Crow!

Bush at Dawn: Red Sky Warning

You may have a sense of impending doom this morning, as the tube strike draws near and travel chaos ensues ... as if dealing with the likes of numbskull Bob Crow wasn't enough, this ominous yet strangely beautiful sky over Uxbridge Road at the crack of dawn this morning appears to confirm something else ... as the tubes shut down it will start bucketing down with rain!

Shepherd's Bush: Bikes stolen and "moronic walkers"

Bushers are regarded as "morons" by this cyclist, writing on the cycling Woollen Typist blog. Describing some less than intelligent Bushers, he says this:

"whilst cycling along the Uxbridge Road to Shepherd's Bush...I noticed many people to be randomly walking in the road/bus/cycle lanes...

What the hell? You're cycling up to them and about to knock them over and they still won't budge...they'll either stand there, right in the middle of your path, or they'll continue to walk straight towards you!
Is a bicycle any different to another moving vehicle? Can a bike magically diffuse through them or not cause any damage on impact?
Was the pavement too congested for the likes of many?
People are strange...and this was a strange 'trend' I spotted today...let's call it moronic walking for the sake of argument!"

I must say I've never noticed this to be the case, and if anything its the cyclists themselves who seem to be regarded as the menace round these 'ere parts, with even the local police deciding to get tough and issue tickets to those riding dangerously. I've always found the way that cyclists are regarded with such hostility by the locals of W12 a bit odd, but if this is the sort of attitude they have towards the rest of us it begins to make a little more sense!

On the same blog post he goes on to describe how someone came back to their bike in Shepherd's Bush only to find it had been stolen, so more power to the local police who have invented some innovative ways of catching those there bike rustlers..

RMT Tube Strike: A Bush Survival Strategy

Our favourite football hooligan Bob Crow, member of the Communist Party and spread-leg tube seat specialist, has announced another strike by his union.

Hoping to carry on a long tradition of the RMT holding everyone to ransom Mr Crow is adamant that the problems arising out of private firms being taken over by TfL will not impact on his members' pay rises. He recently called for a "decent pay increase" this year. As well he might, having trousered a 12% rise himself. Now he says that any staff reductions - yes any - will be resisted to the death. Guess who pays the price? Yes, us.

His basic pay rose from £84,923 in 2008 to £94,747 at the end of last year, according to figures published by the RMT. And his overall pay package rose from £122,167 to £133,183 last year. On top of this he claimed £9,989 in expenses and £2,376 in travel costs, taking his total income to £145,548.

So what do we do to get around? The following arise from years of experience on days like these .. feel free to add or correct in the comments section for the benefit of fellow W12 strugglers!

• Don't bank on getting any bus at all from the Green area, even if that's what TfL people are telling you to do. The crowds will be immense, and expect plenty of pushing and shoving.
• Bushers should remember that the Overground does not get affected by Tube strikes, and is a very useful way of getting to the right part of London from where you can get a bus into whichever part of central London you need to get to, north or south.
• You can also use the Thames Path - it is a beautiful if little used towpath that runs beside the river from Hammersmith Bridge (opposite side to Furnival Gdns) right into central London, via Putney and Wandsworth. It takes you past all of the bridges into the West End on the north side of the river.

During the last strike I remember reading an emotional comment from an RMT member on the excellent Going Underground blog, which said that she had not voted for strike action and had been personally very affected by the sight of people who had lost their jobs in the economic crisis carrying boxes of contents from their desks through the barriers at the tube. She apologised for the actions of Bob Crow and the other dinosaurs who led her union. Beat the strike via the Overground and help put a nail in the obnoxious clown's leadership of an otherwise fantastic workforce.

H&C Line closure: what did we gain?

Anorak's favourite railnews.com gives a breakdown today of what was achieved throughout what they amusingly term the "blockade" of the Hammersmith & Shitty Line last month. You will no doubt remember that one of our local lines was shut for weeks on end while TfL showed no sense of urgency or even very great regret about the inconvenience caused.

The closure didn't just incovenience locals it also had a severe financial impact on the numerous traders at Shepherd's Bush Market and shops nearby at a time when they could least afford it.

According to railnews.com, the main beneficiary was Paddington Station itself, Crossrail and the following H&C Line goodies:

550m of track was replaced on lines at Royal Oak whilst 4,200m of new low-loss conductor rail was installed. Platform lengthening took place at Westbourne Park, Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road to accommodate new longer S-Stock trains. These benefit from air-conditioning, walk-through carriages, wheelchair areas, wider doors and walkways, better audio and visual information systems, CCTV and energy efficient braking systems.

But even with Boris desperately backpedaling on his threat to stand down as the Tory (plus LibDem?) candidate for Mayor it's clear that actually Chancellor George Osborne's cuts might scupper the lot. In which case none of the above applies.

Shepherd's Bush road "most dug up" in London

Today's Evening Standard reports that one of our roads, Richmond Way, is the most dug up in the entire city with the chief culprit being Thames Water. The utility company, who has a hate-hate relationship with our Council, is accused of not even counting the road in its figures.

Our Council do not miss such an opportunity to put the boot in with Environment Cabinet Member Nick Botterill claiming:

“We have asked Thames Water to replace the mains pipe on numerous occasions but each time our calls were ignored.
“Our fear now is that the pipe will never be replaced and residents and businesses in Richmond Way will have to suffer recurring leaks and continual road works, especially once the cold winter weather begins.”

What's your experience?

John Simpson: I'm sick of Shepherd's Bush

The Guardian carried an article yesterday by the veteran broadcaster John Simpson, who announced he was "sick" of Shepherd's Bush, and described the BBC complex as "East German". He said he "couldn't wait" to leave but that he feared "dying" first.

Coming from the, er, heavyweight who became an international laughing stock as he pretended to "liberate" Kabul in 2001 when the Taliban fell, I think we'll not take his views of the Bush too seriously. Keep trying John. How much do we pay you, again?