Key meeting abandoned after opponents of west London proposals stage committee-room protest
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has been forced to delay determining AHMM’s proposals to revamp Shepherd’s Bush Market with a scheme that also includes new offices and homes.
Members of the authority’s Planning and Development Control Committee were more than an hour into a meeting at which the proposals, drawn up for developer Yoo Capital, had been recommended for approval when demonstrators struck.
Committee chair Omid Miri called for security officers and adjourned the meeting after protesters began chanting “Bush Market is not for sale” on Tuesday night. The session was not reconvened.
A council spokesperson said the proposals would be rescheduled for determination at a future date.
“We’re disappointed that the democratic process of last night’s Planning and Development Control Committee meeting was disrupted,” they said.
“Hammersmith and Fulham Council has received more than 251 consultation responses about the re-development of Shepherd’s Bush Market from all corners of the community since the application was submitted on 11 May 2023.
“We have listened and analysed all the consultation responses, and we have sought independent advice from numerous experts to evaluate the proposed scheme. Members of the public were also invited to speak at the meeting.”
AHMM’s proposals would deliver new and replacement stalls and shops for Shepherd’s Bush Market, façade improvements to the railway arches that form its western boundary, a replacement canopy and new entrance signs at Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road.
The plans also include a stepped nine-storey commercial building with 32,380sq m of space, dubbed Goldhawk Studios. Proposed uses include office accommodation, a life-science incubator that would be operated by Imperial College London, a café, meeting rooms and space for market traders.
Additionally, a six-storey residential block on the 1.8ha site would offer 40 “affordable” homes, split between rent and shared-ownership.
The only scheme opponent who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting before the demonstration began expressed concerns that the proposals would “be the end of Shepherd’s Bush Market as an affordable and diverse market serving the local community”.
Yoo Capital became the majority owners of Shepherd’s Bush Market and the neighbouring Old Laundry Yard site, where the new homes and offices would be built, in September 2020.
It bought a 75.5% stake in the market from U&I after earlier redevelopment proposals drawn up by Robin Partington Associates foundered following a lengthy legal battle on the part of traders.
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