Neighbourhood news, features, and comment
Branches of field maple (Acer campestre) trees reach across Goodge Street to touch each other. They were planted by Camden Council when the pavements in Goodge Street were widened earlier this century. The Council had not intended to plant any trees as part of the Street improvements. Their existence is due to our then Cllr Penny …
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There was somewhat muted excitement for shoppers this morning as German supermarket chain Lidl opened its first central London store on Tottenham Court Road, during a pandemic. Normally I'd be thrilled about the opening of a new food store close to home but shopping has lost much of its pleasure and become one of the …
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The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre will close its doors in June for the last time after five decades of delivering a housing and welfare advice service and numerous community projects from the Tottenham Street building. Camden Council, which owns the site and needs to carry out repairs and plans to redevelop the listed Georgian building, has …
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Better Oxford Street, the campaign formed by the amenity societies in Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho (and backed by Fitzrovia News) is asking residents and local business to say “no” in the current consultation on plans for the "transformation" of Oxford Street. The mayor of London and Westminster Council want to push ahead with pedestrianising …
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A Fitzrovia charity has called on the Mayor of London to take tougher action to combat air pollution in central London by restricting motor vehicles on high pollution days. The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, which campaigns on behalf of the 8,000 residents in the central London district, says "the Mayor must restrict motor traffic movement in …
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The inaugural music festival to celebrate the many musicians and composers who have had a connection with Fitzrovia will kick off this Wednesday with the first of a series of concerts and other events. Local resident Dan Bates, a classically-trained oboist, is leading the programme under the banner of “FitzFest: Fitzrovia’s annual community music festival”. The musical …
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An excavation between Rathbone Place and Newman Street in Fitzrovia has uncovered a number of interesting and unique finds according to an archaeology fieldwork report. The investigation carried out between November 2014 and March 2015 found a series of post-medieval walls, drains and brick-lined pits, constructed on the site in the late 18th century, as well as 19th century …
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Community groups have condemned plans by Camden Council which would mean new social housing gained from property development in central London would not be built, but instead be replaced by cash payments and spent elsewhere. The new proposals are contained in a report drawn up by Frances Wheat the assistant director for regeneration and planning and submitted to Councillor Phil Jones, cabinet member for …
Continue reading "Planning guidance revision threatens new social housing in south Camden"
Christmas has come early for the property owners, developers and estate agents in Fitzrovia as The Sunday Times in its annual trawl of the best places to live in London named the neighbourhood as its first choice. Attractions according to its lifestyle editors include a number of sylish bars and cafes, and Exemplar's pile on the …
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We write as members of a Residents' Association, facing the challenges of the proposed Housing Bill, which will affect all who live in properties owned by borough councils in central London. We are concerned that the effects of the Housing Bill are not widely known, and that, if passed in its present form, the Bill …
The Housing and Planning Bill 2015-2016 and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) will be the topics of discussion at tonight's Bloomsbury Area Action Group. Camden's Bloomsbury ward councillors -- Sabrina Francis, Adam Harrison and Rishi Madlani -- have invited Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia residents to the public meeting. Camden council officer Finneguela O'Brien will outline the proposed changes …
Camden Council's Bloomsbury ward Councillors are hosting a meeting to discuss air quality in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia, and Camden’s Licensing Policy this Monday. Councillors Sabrina Francis, Adam Harrison, and Rishi Madlani invite Bloomsbury ward residents to views on the air quality problem, and how licensing policy could better address local concerns about the social impact of sales of alcohol. …
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Westminster City Council is to hold an exhibition of plans to create an east-west cycling quietway through Fitzrovia and Marylebone. The section of this route being consulted on within the City of Westminster is approximately 2km in length. The streets affected by these proposals are Harrowby Street, Seymour Place, Crawford Street, Paddington Street, Nottingham Place, …
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Open House London 2015 takes place over the weekend of 19 and 20 September and is the capital's largest annual festival of architecture and design. Below we list the venues in and around Fitzrovia that will be taking part. Birkbeck School of Arts, 39 Gordon Square, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm. Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, Sunday …
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Having lived in Fitzrovia for the past fifteen years, twelve of them on Charlotte Street, the past few years have felt at times as though the ten minutes to Leicester Square is getting shorter each day -- and not in a good way. This is an area which is in a period of rapid change, …
Three weeks of free summer holiday activities for children under 11-years-old begins this week at Fitzrovia Community Centre in Foley Street. Organised arts, music and drama activities will be available in the mornings, then after lunch there will be a special afternoon out to visit exhibitions suitable for children at local museums and art centres. The events run from …
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A guided walk to visit and learn about the history of some of Fitzrovia's famous pubs will take place tonight (Tuesday 23 June 2015) as part of Fitzrovia Festival 2015. Mike Pentelow, editor and features editor of Fitzrovia News, co-author of A Pub Crawl Through History: The Ultimate Boozers’ Who’s Who, and Freedom Pass London: Make the …
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Just to the west of the lower end of Tottenham Court Road only a few buildings in Stephen Street and Gresse Street survived the huge redevelopment of the Gort Estate in the mid-1970s. In the foreground on the left hand side of the picture below are the Stephen Buildings, and in the mid-ground on the left is …
Continue reading "Gresse Street and Stephen Street before redevelopment in the 1970s"
The southern part of Tottenham Court Road is again undergoing large scale change with redevelopment of the Central Cross building on the west side and on the east side the former Time Out building has now been completely demolished. Another chapter in the story of the road that originally led to Tottenhall Manor House. This was what …
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Westminster City Council has now made a decision on where the boundary of Fitzrovia and Marylebone will be for the purpose of neighbourhood planning under the Localism Act. In an announcement this week Councillor Robert Davis, Cabinet Member for the Built Environment, agreed the recommendations in a report following a period of public consultation on five neighbourhood …
