North End Road Festive Market Inspires Hope That We Can Regenerate This Great Fulham Land Mark

Shoppers packing North End Road yesterday morning

Yesterday’s North End Road Festive Market was a huge success. Over 10,000 shoppers visited. It was encouraging to see lines form at cash points and money being spent supporting local shops, regular stall holders and many, in some cases newly aspiring, local entrepreneurs. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Small Business Saturday but more importantly showed how Fulham’s North End Road could be great once again with just a little imagination and some smartly applied council support.

The plan had originated just weeks ago out of one of the Borough’s new Policy and Accountability Committees (PAC). On 17th September over a hundred local residents, shop keepers and market traders attended the Economic Regeneration, Housing and the Arts PAC to consider how to regenerate North End Road. Under the excellent stewardship of Cllr. Ben Coleman (Lab) they agreed to establish an action group comprising of businesses, stallholders and residents. I am extremely impressed that Ben Coleman and the rest of the action team were able to get yesterday’s event up and running so smoothly and within such a short space of time. They and the H&F Council officers (who went well beyond the extra mile to deliver it) have my thanks and respect for pulling this off.


North End Road yesterday evening

My colleagues and I promised in our manifesto - The Change We Need - that we would try to improve our shopping streets and have long called for support for small independent retailers.

This time last year and before they were elected Fulham Broadway's Councillors Ben Coleman, Alan De'Ath and Sharon Holder were actively encouraging a "buy local" campaign to support more of Hammersmith and Fulham's independent shops.

Here’s the text of what we argued needed to change from our manifesto published prior to last May's local elections:

"Improving our high streets
Our high streets are significant employers, particularly of young people. They should be vibrant places to shop and eat. Sadly, the [Conservative run] council is overseeing the decline of some of our most important high streets and parades. In a 500-metre stretch of North End Road alone, there are 20 empty shops and 17 betting and loan shops."

We now hope to build on yesterday’s success. Ben Coleman has arranged a public meeting to review how it went and what needs to happen next. If you’d like to attend that meeting it will take place at 7.00pm this Wednesday 10th December at St John's Church, North End Road, Fulham, London SW6 1PB. Alternatively you can email Ben Coleman here and let him know what you think.