Shepherd's Bush bathed in snow

Some gratuitous pics of the Bush in snow this morning

Shepherd's Bush bathed in golden dawn

The Bush bathed in dawn gold is an amazing sight. Ahead of a fitness test in January my 6am trips to Fitness First Shepherd's Bush these days are assuming epic proportions, braving the elements. But it's made a lot more bearable by seeing these sights every morning. And the best thing is they're a well kept secret from most people who live here, who never get the chance to see them!

Fulham Chronicle: do you get it?

Shepherd's Bush isn't the only Chronicle-free-zone it would seem - the Brackenbury Residents Association led by the indomitable local campaigner Rosemary Petit have noticed that it has ceased to be delivered to their neck of the woods south of Goldhawk Road too, and are organising what their newsletter calls a "non-deliveries list" to send to the paper.

Do you get it?

Bush tweet-up: report

The Goldhawk Pub witnessed a momentus occasion last night as the hard core of Shepherd’s Bush social media types met up for the first time. What several of us were honest enough to own up to having feared might be a nerd fest turned into actually what was a fantastic evening with decent and interesting people.

Twitterman @stewbirch, who got the ball rolling and led to the evening actually happening, was at the bar when I arrived and thankfully our two people grew to double figures before too long. Contrary to the doom mongers, who warned darkly of thumping music and standing-room-only when I presumptuously decided on a venue and date in a dictatorial sort of way, we had the run of comfy sofas and no queues at the bar.

In fact there are clearly some people in our midst who would do well as stand up comedians if they took the plunge because I found myself laughing most of the time as we regaled the ridiculous and often bizarre aspects of everyday life in the Bush. Special rage was reserved for the numptys who run Morrisons in the W12 Centre while the perils of dodging the special people who stop passers by at random with a variety of requests when you’re trying to get to work in the morning also featured large.

In fact Bushers it was so good we’re going to do it again – I know many of you couldn’t make it and wanted to know if there was going to be another one and on the strength of last night it was a no-brainer – so put Thursday the 27th January 8pm in your diary – same venue.

I leave you with pics of two things that for me summed up both the night and the quirks of life in Shepherd’s Bush that brought us together for the evening. Generous @stewbirch provided a couple of platters for the evening – they were huge, as the image above proves. Generous people at the Goldhawk it seems.

And then, on my way home jogging through the frozen streets to keep warm, what do you think I come across? Well obviously a cooker on the pavement of course, complete with a paper note informing passers-by about its condition.

Just another night in W12.

Middle East peace author talks to kids at Shepherd's Bush Theatre

Following the new release of Michael Morpurgo’s recent book, ‘The Kites are Flying’ about children’s lives in Israel and Gaza, Michael gave a talk about his book, and told stories from his recent trip to the Middle East with Save the Children last week at the newly openned Bush Theatre in the old library building.
A recently appointed Literary Ambassador for Save the Children, Michael Morpurgo, will be going to fly kites with children in Israel and in Gaza, taking the time to meet those children’s family, friends, visit their schools and hear about their daily lives. Michael Morpurgo’s new book explains that the calamity of the ongoing unrest and the permanent border sitting between Israel and Gaza is a longstanding issue that doesn’t always make sense to children. Children’s hopes and dreams for peace can fly higher than any wall dividing communities and religions.
For a one-evening special at the Bush, Michael spoke to children and their families about his first ever visit to Gaza, talking about the tragedy of the lives of some children and families in the area, but also of the hope ringed with joy that children’s tales can bring.

Working in peacebuilding myself this is a subject very close to my heart, and it's a very nice change to see the Middle East conflict reflected in a balanced way from both perspectives rather than a biased view from either side. It's only through that approach that there can be any hope for a long lasting solution. And much credit to the Bush Theatre for hosting this innovative event.
Julie Etchingham, ITV News reader, chaired Michael’s talk.

"Tweet a leak" to Thames Water

Thames Water wants you to ‘tweet a leak’ to its Twitter profile @thameswater – giving location details and if  possible a picture - in a bid to help it tackle leakage this winter. 

The company is dealing with more than double the amount of bursts on its ageing 20,000-mile network of pipes due to the current freezing weather. At this time of year the company expects to receive 75 new reports of burst of leaking pipes a day but it is currently getting 185. 

Jerry White, Thames Water’s Head of Operational Control, said: “Our customers are our eyes and ears and we really need their help in the fight  against leakage this winter. 

“We have been communicating with customers via Twitter for some time now and recognise that it’s becoming a preferred route to contact us. 

“So when you tweeters are out and about and spot a leak or burst, please tweet it - pull out your smart phone and tell us what’s happening and where  so we can get on and fix it. 

"Meanwhile we urge our non-tweeting customers to continue calling our free 24-hour leakline on 0800 714614 to report leaks and bursts." 

More than double the number of leaks and bursts have more than doubled Thames Water engineers' workload. 

Jerry added: “We were prepared for this, having significantly increased the number of leakage crews working across our London and Thames Valley supply  region at the end of October - before it got cold rather than when. 

“Although this forward-planning has helped, we still really need our customers' help in the fight against leakage this winter - so please help  us by calling our leakline or tweeting a leak." 

Water pipes, especially the old cast iron ones, burst more when water in our reservoirs cools below 5 degrees C. When the cold water is pumped through our pipes, it makes them contract and where there are hairline weakness, they can break. 

Thames Water report that they cut leakage by 27 per cent between 2005 and 2010, but as we know Hammersmith and the parts of the Bush closes to the river have the highest concentration of basement flats in the capital and are also susceptible to flooding when it rains hard. So make a note of the new way of reporting and do use it if you can.

The company's witter profile address is www.twitter.com/ thameswater.

Shepherd’s Bush: police action on bus NOT stabbing

Yesterdays incident on a bus on Old Oak Road, witnessed it would seem by several readers, was not as some were reporting a stabbing or knife related. I have been on to the local police and in fact it was what sounds like a fairly mundane issue of a drunk and rowdy male passenger who was escorted off the bus by police after the driver called for help.

The incident was recorded at just after 5pm yesterday which accords with the time some of you say you saw the bus surrounded by police vehicles. So I hope, on this occasion at least, this puts minds at rest. We haven’t had another serious incident - but after the murder of Jaabe Roberts on Askew Road this summer it's perfectly understandable that this was what minds started to think about.

£220 million contract for revamping H&C & Central Line awarded

London Underground has awarded a £220 million five year contract, to carry out track renewal work, to Balfour Beatty.

The works will include the replacement of ballasted track, points and crossings including all ancillary signalling and drainage works on two thirds of the Tube network – Bakerloo, Circle, Central, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

David Waboso, Capitals Programme Director, said: “It is vital that these works are carried out not only to maintain the continued safe operation of the Tube but also to modernise it. With the introduction of a new fleet of 191 air-conditioned trains and a new signalling system on the Metropolitan, District and H&C lines the track has to be ready for an increase in usage of up to 40 per cent.
“Combining both track renewal and drainage works will mean that the work will be carried out more efficiently. Balfour Beatty tendered detailed proposals for reducing costs and we will work closely with them to achieve efficiencies and drive down costs.”
Works are expected to start in spring 2011. So stand by for more line closures as they frantically try and complete before the Olympics.

Shepherd's Bush Police: drugs busts,"sting" bikes & dispersal zones

Reporting to residents the Safer Neighbourhoods Team for Shepherd's Bush Green reported last week on a series of high tempo initiatives that have put our local criminals firmly on the back foot, but acknowledged that the underlying causes for the increased levels of crime now affecting the Bush are not going to go away any time soon. So it was a mix of justified credit for a job well done tempered by caution about the likely levels of crime we're going to continue seeing in our neighbourhood.

On the drugs problem the police have been very busy executing a high number of drugs warrants and making what they regard as "quality arrests" in the street for supply of crack cocaine. This problem is not likely to be solved in the near future, however, for obvious reasons.

Robbery has risen slightly from a low base. High visibitility patrolling by mounted officers has helped keep it in check but it remains a concern. The police didn't say this but I have to wonder how long they'll be able to keep up mounted police patrols as the budget cuts start to bite, we now know H&F is set to take the biggest austerity cuts from the Government in our part of London.

On the bicycle crime wave we have experienced recently Officers locked a ‘sting’ bike near to Westfield and within 2 hours caught a prolific bike thief in the act of stealing it. Since then cycle crime has dipped significantly near Westfield. More such operations are planned in run up to Xmas with cycle crime becoming a priority on several wards and across the borough.

Two plainclothes operations were conducted inside Westfield to catch professional bag thieves but had no result.

The controversial Dispersal Zone has been very successful and ends 22nd Dec. A much reduced zone is already planned around the William Church Estate.

And so the battle against our evil-doers continues. At the risk of sounding like a stuck record on this I think I can speak for the vast majority of people when I say we're very grateful indeed for the efforts of the police in our neck of the woods. They come across the worst of the worst on a daily basis and do it with a great deal of professionalism. And credit also to our Council who on this issue at least are really very good. Councillor Greg Smith has been keen as Cabinet Member for Residents Services to back the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams with rhetoric but also resources - and some of the above is the result. Here's a Council vid from 2009 on crime in Shepherd's Bush: