TfL closing Shepherd's Bush

The ‘community’ buzzword is all the rage these days, the government loves using that word so much that they even created a government department named after it (Communities and Local Government) but injustices against communities are still happening under the present government. I’m not surprised, after all we do live in a capitalist nation (where major economic decisions are made to benefit private profit-seeking organisations), some will deny it with ifs and buts but it cannot be refuted outright.

Consumerism, one of the tenets of capitalism, puts the needs of consumers before the local community. That is exactly what is being done in Shepherd’s Bush. Transport for London (TfL) announced plans in December 2007 to close Shepherd's Bush on the Central Line for improvement works linked to the new £1.6 billion Westfield shopping complex. The centre is apparently supposed to change the face of retail in London, when it opens in 2008, by accommodating more than 265 speciality shops, over 40 places to dine, a state-of-the-art 14-screen cinema by Cinema de Lux and John knows what else. Let’s face it, consumption is the new English pastime, forget about cricket. I’m not against the idea of developing the centre, it will generate revenue and improve the economy and give more things for people to do but it has costs to the community.

The whole issue surrounding the closure of Shepherd’s Bush underground station for 8 months is that we are seeing economic policies that place an emphasis on consumption being put into practise, thus allowing the free choice of consumers and profiteers to dictate the structure of a local community. Closure of the station for 8 months is putting the shoppers' needs before those of local residents and local businesses. How will local residents get to work? Stupid replacement bus services? Nobody likes doing that and 8 month is ridiculous. What about people who work and travel to Shepherd’s Bush, people who run shops and local services there? What kind of impact will this have on them? 'Inclusion' and 'cohesion' are two other buzzwords that the current government loves to use. Lack of travel facilities is going to cause so much discomfort for the locals, how are their needs being included into this development project? How is there any cohesion between the locals and the developers of Westfield? Well there isn’t and something needs to be done to stop TfL from closing Shepherd’s Bush underground station for 8 months.