Nothing Common about new plans

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has applied to regenerate Shepherds Bush Common with a new scheme.

The planning application for the new-look green includes a new building with a café, public toilets and baby changing facilities, a toddlers’ play area and a playground for children aged five to 12.

The project is part of the council’s ParkLife campaign to improve the borough’s numerous parks and open spaces and encourage residents to enjoy these green areas.

New facilities for the £3 million scheme also include a multi-use games court and a plaza, focused around the war memorial, which has Grade II listed building status. As well as the new buildings, the common will be landscaped to create grassy mounded areas and open spaces.

At a public consultation in the W12 Shopping Leisure Centre last summer, 73 per cent of residents agreed that overall suggestions for the scheme were good or very good.

Cabinet member for residents’ services, Councillor Paul Bristow, said: “This project will benefit the whole of the community, breathing new life into a green space that needs regenerating.”

There is also an application for conservation area consent, as the common lies within the Shepherds Bush conservation area, to demolish the existing electricity substation building and take down all the railings and fences on the green.

The plans are expected to come before the council’s planning committee in July and, if they are approved, work will begin before the year is out. The scheme is expected to take about nine months to complete and will be hopefully open to residents again by autumn next year. You can view the plans via the council website www.lbhf.gov.uk/planning.