The market, where you can famously pick up "TV's, deep freeze and David Bowie LPs", along with some of the finest falafel in town, is the unwitting victim of a "council plot", says Slaughter. Hammersmith and Fulham council strongly deny the accusation. Yet in an ominous statement, cabinet member for strategy, Mark Loveday, revealed: "We recognise that Shepherd's Bush Market is diverse and vibrant and we're keen to retain, improve and potentially expand it."
"Improving" what is already a self-sufficient market apparently includes a project by Octavia Housing, on a 0.6-acre patch right next to the site. Octavia are planning a 40-unit housing block, but the council want Octavia to consider redeveloping the market site as a whole to offer "wider regenerative benefits".
The opening of Westfield last year was the biggest indication that Shepherd's Bush is changing rapidly. Yet the developers insisted in JFK's mantra that a "rising tide lifts all ships", and the crowds thronging to the shopping mall would also patronise the nearby market. That the site is already under discussion bodes ill for the future.
Still, if the unthinkable does happen, it might give us another chance to rename the local Tube station.
