Community asset bid for Shepherd's Bush Market

The market could look like this once redevelopment work has been done

A bid to list Shepherd's Bush Market as an asset of community value has been submitted by campaigners concerned about its future.

Friends of Shepherd's Bush Market filed the application to "protect" the site a year after redevelopment plans were approved, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The group believes owner Yoo Capital wants to sell the west London site once work is complete and that an asset of community value (ACV) status would be a step towards community ownership and would safeguard the market's future.

But Yoo Capital said the site was not for sale and the scheme offered the market and traders "the best chance of future success".

Yoo Capital's plans for the market, which runs between Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road, include new stalls, 40 council homes on adjoining Old Laundry Yard, and a nine-storey commercial building.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council's planning committee approved the proposal in December 2023.

Critics raised concerns over support being promised to traders, leases they would be offered and increasing gentrification.

Last summer City Hall announced it would not call in the application and it was granted conditional final approval in August.

'Heart of our community'

Group spokesman Jake Simms dubbed the market the "heart of our community".

He said: "Yoo Capital's plans would destroy the market's social value - displacing traders, pricing out locals, and eroding the market's diversity - all for the sake of lining their investors pockets.

"The market needs investment, but this must be led by the community."

If Hammersmith and Fulham Council grant the ACV, the community would be given priority for five years if the site is put up for sale.

Shepherd's Bush Market Tenants' Association said it supported Yoo Capital's plans

Shepherd's Bush Market Tenants' Association said its members were "fully supportive of the development by Yoo Capital".

It said Friends of Shepherd's Bush Market was trying frustrate the process of moving forward.

The market, it added, would cost millions of pounds to buy.

"Where would the Friends get that money?" a spokesperson said.

Yoo Capital's managing director Andrew Thorpe said: "Our plans offer the market and its traders the best chance of future success and we look forward to starting works early next year."