Newly Improved Green Set to Reopen in October
Including new playgrounds, pathways, lighting and CCTV
Shepherd's Bush Green is set to reopen in October after refurbishment work is finally completed.
Contractors FM Conway Ltd, were forced to down tools on several occasions due to our miserable wet summer and the discovery of contaminants in the underlying soil.
This deep soil material found on the green contained ash, ceramic, bricks and other impurities, which would have been used to level the site after the Second World War.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council had hoped that improvements to the Green, which include new paving, playgrounds, lighting, re-turfing and installing CCTV, would be complete by the end of July, in time for the Olympics.
However, circumstances made work on the green practically impossible and meant the completion date was pushed back by several months.
The only time work stopped was for two weeks during the Olympics but it started again on August 13, meaning that the common will be fully open again this autumn.
Councillor Greg Smith, deputy leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council and cabinet member for residents' services, says: " We are now back on track with our plans for the green, and the work is going well with the War Memorial and surrounding landscaping already complete.
" We have been incredibly unlucky with the terrible weather and also with finding contaminants - that has obviously hampered progress.
" Nevertheless, we are confident that once Shepherd's Bush Green is complete, we will have a wonderful space that everyone will be able to enjoy. We appreciate the patience of our residents and businesses in the area, and are sure that the wait will be all worthwhile."
The new improved green will sport two new state-of the-art playgrounds, with swings and slides, a sandpit with mechanical diggers, a six yard-high space net, climbing walls and roundabouts.
The Grade II listed war memorial has been reset onto a new granite stepped plinth and paths on the green will be resurfaced, with several being widened.
Pathways around the entire perimeter of the green are open to the public, and access across the green is available from the corner of Goldhawk Road to Uxbridge Road, and across the eastern end from Shepherd's Bush South to Uxbridge Road.
6th September 2012
