Hot topic: Westfield London

Hot topic: Westfield London

What do you think of London's newest mega-mall?

80 per cent of shoppers going to the new Westfield mega-mall travel by public transport latest figures reveal.

Westfield London caused gridlock on the roads around Shepherds Bush when it opened on October 30, 2008. Roads and residential parking spaces were hit – prompting the council to take urgent action to protect local drivers. But now the two new rail stations, new bus garage and new bus routes seem to be doing their job and figures show just 20 per cent of customers travelling by car.

The £1.7 billion shopping centre, in Shepherds Bush, is the size of 30 football pitches and boasts 265 shops, 50 food outlets, an undulating glass roof that could cover Wembley Stadium and the first new Underground station to be built on an existing line in 70 years.

The development has brought many benefits to Shepherds Bush (see below) and the council is vowing to use centre as a catalyst to regenerate the wider area and improve the lives of local people further.

Latest news:
» Bus station opens
» Traders feel Westfield boost
» First look at library
» £1m childcare for local employees

Benefits for H&F residents:
» A £200 million boost to public transport in the area
» £4 million for Britain’s first 24/7 beat policing squads
» A £3 million re-vamp for Shepherds Bush Green
» A brand new 21st Century Shepherds Bush Library
» 78 new affordable homes

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After living in this borough for quite a while now, I have been looking forward to the opening of the Westfield Shopping Centre. Anyone who lives here knows that there was nothing in Shepherds Bush and not much more in Hammersmith in the way of shops, so I was very enthusiastic about this new shopping centre. After visiting the Westfield, I have to say I am very disappointed - how many people who live in Shepherds Bush can afford to shop or eat in there,? All these people who have had to contend with the disruption for the past few years have not been catered for at all, it is very unfair. There are many people in this borough with small children who are excluded from shopping in the new centre because we are not the target market - the target customers do not live in this borough, but they didn’t have to contend with all the noise and mess while the site was constructed and nor will they have to deal with the increased traffic congestion. Most of them have probably never visited Shepherds Bush in their lifetime, and haven’t contributed to this borough in any way, yet they are the ones that this shopping centre seems to cater for. How long will it last? We need more shops for people on a lower budget, wouldn’t that be fairer?
From Sharon Riaz on 05/02/09

I can’t agree more with the comments of J. Healey. It is scandalous that the tube was closed for so long and the necessary upgrading has not been completed. Not only is there no lift, but there are still 20+ steps from the platform and they could not even be bothered to fit an escalator. How could the council have let this happen? Were they not aware of the plans, to completely omit the requirement for step-free access, by TFL and Westfield? Cllr Nicholas Botterill comments about requesting installation of step-free access, as part of future improvements – are too little too late. Honestly, what future improvements will they do before 2030 or later?!! All involved should be ashamed of themselves.
From G. Campbell on 27/01/09

There appears to be a late time recognition of the traffic issues brought to the borough by Westfield. I want to ask: a) why this was not foreseen and addressed well in advance - it seems odd to be only looking at these issues now; b) more particularly, I very much want to know on what basis LBHF gave planning approval to Westfield on the basis that it had only 4,500 pay-for parking places for some 265 shops, where east London's major shopping centre Bluewater has 13,000 parking places for 330 stores. Did LBHF really make a realistic decision?
From Michael Quine on 10/12/08

I am absolutely staggered at the reasoning behind having six sets of traffic lights on the north stretch of Shepherds Bush Green. Yesterday, the new lights for the bus station were installed and it caused gridlock - the phasing was completely out, only allowing 2 or 3 cars at a time to make it to the main roundabout. It took 30mins to get round the Green from Goldhawk Road to the main roundabout. Not only is this immensely irritating for the general motorists, but also, what is the point of all the money spent on the new bus station if the buses struggle to get to it. Absolute madness.
From Natasha Cross on 02/12/08

I would like to take issue with the council's statements about acting quickly on the local parking issue. If the council had really acted quickly it would have seen this coming months ago and sorted it out before Westfield opened. Surely the council knew that Westfield would be charging for parking before it opened? Lame, frankly. H & F Council has consistently put the interests of Westfield ahead of the residents, including the apparent disabling of the Environmental Health department in its ability to do anything about the noise and disturbance to residents.
From Daniel Stevens on 24/11/08

I was very excited to see the opening of Westfield London and with a young child was very much looking forward to a decent shopping mall on my doorstep. As a resident of H&F, I am very disappointed at the "improvements to local transport". I live in North Fulham and it will take me over 45 min to get to Westfield via public transport (according to TFL website), when I could drive there in less than 15 min.....It appears transport improvements are targeted at fast links into Central London and not at providing access to West Londoners who will have to put up with further increases to local road congestion.
From Catrina Brooks on 04/11/08

I am absolutely shocked that the new station has opened without lift access to the platforms. The fact that there are still around 20 steps to the platform at the end of the escalator, is quite simply scandalous. If I were upgrading a large building today which 20,000 people entered and exited each day, not incorporating a lift would be illegal. What TfL has simply (and cheaply) done, is provided a new lick of paint to the station and forced people to exit nearer the new shops. This was not what we were told when it closed for six long months. How has TfL got away with not providing lifts and what is my local government going to do about forcing them to rectify this immediately? Many thousands of local residents (and visitors to Westfield) will continue to be woefully disadvantaged by the prejudicial attitudes of TfL and Westfield, and my government should be standing up to them.
From J. Healey on 15/10/08