The view looking west along Goodge Street to Mortimer Street. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

Goodge Street and Mortimer Street and surrounding streets in Fitzrovia are closed to traffic for part of today for the start of a march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Protesters along Great Titchfield Street joining the march. Photo: Ann Goodburn.

The PSC march is gathering on Mortimer Street from 12noon and will then set off to follow a route through Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket, Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square before ending in Whitehall.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/05/18/goodge-street-and-mortimer-street-closed-for-start-of-psc-march/

#GoodgeStreet #MortimerStreet

The empty office building at 16 Mortimer Street. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

An unlicensed venue in Fitzrovia where loud music could be heard from 3am to midday has been shut down by Westminster Council and the Metropolitan Police.

Two residents, who live around the corner, said they heard loud music from the abandoned office block at 16 Mortimer Street, near the corner of Nassau Street, at least three times.

“At first, I didn’t know what it was I was hearing. I thought it was a new club that opened but when residents told me what had been happening, I put two and two together,” said one of the residents.

They said they could hear a heavy thud and a distinctive drum and bass sound whenever an event kicked off, which they said was always on a weekend.

“It’s weird hours. It starts at 3am and so I’m already asleep. It’s when you wake up [in the morning] that you realise it’s going on. It’s disorientating.”

Residents on nearby Nassau Street said those living in top-floor flats experienced the most sound disturbance, while others said they barely noticed it. Some said the busy nature of Mortimer Street means they’ve learnt to block out most of the noise.

Westminster Council and the Met Police said they became aware of issues with what they described as “squatters” in the vacant commercial property following complaints from residents about “illegal raves”, which they said sometimes lasted over 14 hours and featured music so loud “nearby walls shook”.

According to the council, the premises’ landlord sought a court order to evict the squatters but a delay in it being issued meant the police and the council had to intervene because of ongoing reports of “thumping music, crowds of partygoers under the influence of drugs and alcohol” spilling out into the street and antisocial behaviour such as “littering and public urination”.

The Met Police issued a Closure Notice, which prohibited access to the property for 48 hours, while Westminster Council served a Section 80 notice, allowing officers to seize sound equipment. The authorities were able to access the property with the landlord and moved on three squatters and secured the premises. A 24/7 security team now remain on site.

Closure Order notice at 16 Mortimer Street. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

On 22 February, the court issued a Closure Order, which legally prohibits access to the premises for everyone bar those specified in the order for a three-month period. The move couldn’t have come earlier for one unnamed resident.

“Only when the ‘venue’ was closed and life returned to normal, I fully realised the impact it had on our lives, and how nice it is to be able to have uninterrupted sleep on weekends and be able to rest after a work week.

“No loud music all night and well into the morning, no noise, no rubbish left by people attending the raves. It feels safe now,” they said.

Another resident said: “Since the closure order was granted, everything else simply just improved. A home should be your place of peace, not a place where it becomes a prison.”

Deputy council leader and cabinet member for public protection, Aicha Less, said: “These illegal raves have caused huge disruption for these residents, turning their lives upside down. I am grateful for the council’s hard work alongside the police to make sure this is resolved as soon as possible, and this sort of antisocial behaviour will not be returning.

“If people see this sort of selfish and disrespectful behaviour happening, they should report it to the police as soon as possible or use the council’s report it service,” she said.

The council said that after a spike of unauthorised music events during the first lockdown of 2020, events like this are on the decline.

The premises was recently the subject of a planning application granted by Westminster Council to partly demolish and redevelop the site.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/03/27/council-and-police-shut-unlicensed-music-venue-in-mortimer-street-after-noise-complaints/

#MetropolitanPolice #MortimerStreet #noiseNuisance #WestminsterCityCouncil

Evans Cycles’ West End store at Mortimer Street is closing down. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

Evans Cycles is closing down its West End store on Mortimer Street in May, leaving just one cycle store and workshop in Fitzrovia.

Earlier this month, Frasers Group — which owns Evans — bought online discount cycle retailer Wiggle CRC.

The closure of the Mortimer Street store comes only months after independent cycle shop Velorution also called time nearby at Great Portland Street along with the shutting down of all its other shops.

In 2019 there were five cycle shops operating in the neighbourhood.

After the closure of Evans, Cycle Fit at Store Street will be the only shop in Fitzrovia offering sales and repairs of cycles.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/03/10/evans-cycles-is-closing-its-mortimer-street-shop/

#cycling #EvansCycles #MortimerStreet #shops #transport

Work has started to change Mortimer Street to two-way traffic. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

Westminster Council is to unveil more detailed designs for Oxford Street as work gets underway on Mortimer Street between Regent Street and Great Titchfield Street.

Construction started on 4 March to create two-way traffic movement along Mortimer Street, and will shortly commence to reverse one-way traffic on Great Titchfield Street between Mortimer and Margaret Street to northbound only.

This will be followed by work on Wigmore Street in Marylebone on 11 March.

Drivers are being warned not to overtake cyclists on narrow sections of road and pedestrians can expect footway diversions.

Construction on this part of the programme is expected to be completed in early 2025.

A project progress update for the whole Oxford Street Programme (OSP) will be given at an event on Monday 11 March where residents will have an opportunity to see a presentation on the latest designs and to put questions to the project team.

“All are welcome to join us any time between 11am and 8pm to learn about updates to the Oxford Street design and chat with our team,” states the invitation in the OSP newsletter.

All Oxford Street drawings will be updated on the Programme website starting 11 March.

Oxford Street Programme, Stage 2 Design: Full Day Open House, Monday 11 March 2024, from 11am to 8pm at The Salvation Army (Regent Hall), 275 Oxford St, London W1C 2DJ.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/03/09/stage-2-designs-on-oxford-street-and-a-progress-update-to-be-revealed-as-mortimer-street-works-get-underway/

#CityOfWestminster #GreatTitchfieldStreet #MortimerStreet #OxfordStreet #OxfordStreetProgramme #WestminsterCityCouncil

The “enabling highway schemes” will “enhance traffic movement and capacity”. Image: Westminster Council.

Westminster Council has admitted for the first time that its Oxford Street Programme will displace motor traffic into Fitzrovia and Marylebone.

Buried in a report providing a progress update on the Oxford Street Programme (OSP) to councillors on the Housing and Regeneration Policy and Scrutiny Committee there is a candidness all too rare in local government.

“The enabling highway schemes are essential highway improvements/changes that seek to enhance traffic movement and capacity in the wider Oxford Street area and support the delivery of the Oxford Street project,” states the report of Cllr Geoff Baraclough, the cabinet member for planning and economic development.

“These include Marylebone / Fitzrovia, Eastcastle and Oxford Street West schemes and were consulted upon in the OSP consultation in Summer 2023,” states the report.

However, the public consultation only mentioned “more direct vehicle routes” for motor traffic, not additional “capacity”.

The work on Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street was originally planned for this month but will now start in March.

“Enabling highway scheme construction is planned to commence in the Marylebone/Fitzrovia project area on Wigmore Street and Mortimer Street in March 2024,” states the report.

“Designs are being progressed for the remaining Marylebone/Fitzrovia schemes including Eastcastle Street, Margaret Street and Henrietta Place, and for projects in the Oxford Street West area.”

Again the report mentions the provision for increasing “traffic capacity”.

“The intention is to proactively construct the enabling highways schemes in advance of the works starting on Oxford Street, where possible, to provide for greater traffic capacity in the area.”

The result of this is that traffic will not only be diverted through the side streets for a temporary period during the public realm works on Oxford Street but also that Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street are being designed with extra motor vehicle capacity in mind.

It’s a better scheme than the previous Conservative council’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street and divert buses and taxis through the neighbourhood.

But the new restrictions on private vehicles along Oxford Street mean there will be an increase in motor vehicle traffic in Fitzrovia and Marylebone — something that local residents knew all along.

Westminster City Council: Housing and Regeneration Policy and Scrutiny Committee – Monday 4 March 2024.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/02/28/plans-enhance-traffic-movement-and-capacity-around-oxford-street/

#MortimerStreet #OxfordStreet #transport #WestminsterCityCouncil #WigmoreStreet

The Oxford Street Programme area. Image Westminster Council.

Westminster Council is to start construction work on its Oxford Street Programme after claiming a majority of residents are in support of the plans which were put out for public consultation last year.

However, results from the consultation show there remain concerns from people living in the surrounding neighbourhoods about motor traffic being displaced into residential streets, and a lack of provision to enable safe cycling considering the large size of the project.

“The £90mn upgrade for Oxford Street has taken a significant step forward as two thirds of respondents to a consultation of local people, businesses, and visitors gave the scheme their approval,” says Westminster Council.

A consultation had asked people to comment on the proposals to the changes of footways, traffic movements, motor vehicle access, cycling infrastructure, and signage.

“It’s heartening to see local people and businesses have given their support for our plans to improve Oxford Street and its surrounding areas,” said Geoff Barraclough, Westminster’s cabinet member for planning and economic development.

Changes at Oxford Circus, Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Oxford Street west, and Eastcastle Street were also included in the consultation.

“These schemes focus on providing more direct [motor] vehicle routes through the areas as well as improvements for pedestrians and the public realm. All five schemes received support from over half of the respondents to an online questionnaire and were approved to go ahead by the Council’s cabinet on Monday 11 December,” says Westminster.

However, these “more direct” motor vehicle routes are a concern for residents in Fitzrovia and Marylebone as they create a parallel through-access for drivers along Wigmore, Mortimer, and Goodge Streets who would not be able to travel along parts of Oxford Street due to the new restrictions proposed.

Westminster Council will implement two way motor traffic along the whole length of Mortimer Street despite fears it will provide a direct parallel route for drivers as an alternative to Oxford Street. Image: Westminster Council.

The lengthy consultation report produced by WSP for Westminster Council reveals these concerns.

The Marylebone Association commented that the changes to Mortimer Street will make traffic routes more organised but will also serve as an alternative route for non-bus traffic from Oxford Street.

The Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum and the Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association both questioned Westminster Council’s claim that traffic levels would not increase in Fitzrovia.

They too raised a concern about the proposed new axis along Wigmore, Mortimer, and Goodge Streets with the increased traffic and air pollution this would cause.

Both the Fitzrovia groups opposed the proposals to make Great Titchfield Street into a thoroughfare road, and highlighted a problem of reduced cycling space in Fitzrovia due to traffic flow changes.

For the Fitzrovia and Marylebone traffic scheme concerns about “traffic congestion/displacement remains the top theme for residents”, according to the analysis of responses by WSP.

However, The Fitzrovia Partnership, which represents the largest businesses in Fitzrovia, supports the conversion of Mortimer Street to two-way traffic.

But like the residents’ groups The Fitzrovia Partnership also raised concerns about the changes proposed for the southern part of Great Titchfield Street.

The London Borough of Camden also raised concerns about motor traffic displacement into streets north and east of Rathbone Place, including Stephen Street, Gresse Street, Charlotte Street, and Percy Street and highlighted the potential risks of increased rat-running by drivers, according to the report.

Both the London Cycling Campaign and its local group the Westminster Cycling Campaign said they were disappointed with the lack of ambition in the programme to reduce motor traffic in neighbourhoods adjoining Oxford Street and the near absence of any new cycling infrastructure to make riders safer.

A key concern was that the council, like the previous administration, still seems to view cycling as a nuisance rather than something that should be enabled by good infrastructure and encouraged.

Westminster Council says it will “continue to work with local partners and people living in Westminster to refine designs for the street, with construction to begin on Oxford Street in autumn 2024”.

Work on Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street is due to start this winter.

“To enhance traffic capacity and provide appropriate diversion routes during construction, it is proposed that two-way streets on Wigmore Street and Mortimer Street are created in advance of works commencing on Oxford Street. Consequently, works on Wigmore Street and Mortimer Street are planned to commence in February 2024,” states a report on the decision by Councillor Barraclough.

Westminster Council: Oxford Street plans given go ahead by two-third of residents, visitors and businesses; Oxford Street Programme public consultation reports; Oxford Street Programme – Wigmore Street and Mortimer Street Schemes.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2024/01/11/westminster-council-to-start-work-on-oxford-street-programme/

#MortimerStreet #OxfordStreet #OxfordStreetProgramme #WestminsterCityCouncil #WigmoreStreet

Firefighters tackled a blaze in a basement on Mortimer Street. Photo: London Fire Brigade.

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters tackled a fire at a commercial building on Mortimer Street near the junction with Nassau Street during the early evening of Monday 13 November.

“Part of a room at basement-level was damaged by fire. There were no reports of any injuries,” said a spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade.

The fire caused dense smoke to accumulate in the building, so firefighters used ventilation fans to clear the air to maintain access.

“The Brigade was called at 4.46pm and the fire was under control by 6.33pm. Fire crews from Soho, Islington, Shoreditch, Lambeth and Euston fire stations attended the scene.

“The cause of the fire is believed to have been electrical,” said the LFB.

This was the second fire at a commercial premises in Fitzrovia on Monday. In the morning, fire crews tackled a blaze on a flat roof behind a building in Warren Street.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2023/11/14/fire-damages-basement-at-commercial-building-on-mortimer-street/

#LondonFireBrigade #MortimerStreet

The proposed traffic arrangement along the western section of Mortimer Street. Image: Westminster Council.

Westminster Council has published the Traffic Management Order (TMO) proposing to change the flow of traffic from one-way to two-way working along Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street, as part of its Oxford Street Programme.

The proposed traffic arrangement on Mortimer Street at the junction with Great Titchfield Street. Image: Westminster Council.

The TMO would introduce two way working for all traffic on Wigmore Street (between Wimpole Street and Harley Street); Cavendish Square (the northern arm); Cavendish Place; and Mortimer Street (between Regent Street/Langham Place and Great Titchfield Street).

The order would in effect provide drivers with a direct east-west route parallel to Oxford Street through Fitzrovia and Marylebone. The TMO would operate together with a proposal to restrict motor traffic travelling east and west along Oxford Street.

There is concern in Fitzrovia about the Oxford Street Programme displacing traffic into the neighbourhood as there is no area-wide motor traffic restriction being proposed.

According the drawings submitted with the TMO, the carriageway on Mortimer Street is not wide enough for loading. Instead the drawings show loading bays taking up footway space — that is, parking on the pavement.

A 24.5m long loading bay on the north side between Regent Street and Great Portland Street, (outside Nos 74 to 78); and a 33.5m bay on the south side (outside Nos. 69 to 83).

The loading bays would operate overnight between 9pm and 7am and during the day between 10am and midday, with a maximum stay of 40 minutes (provided that continuous loading is taking place) with no return within 2 hours.

The southside bay is across the road from where residents from Westminster Council’s housing list are housed, and are unlikely to welcome the overnight loading.

The order would also reverse the existing one-way working for traffic in Great Titchfield Street (between Mortimer Street and Margaret Street) — from south to north (currently north to south). Before the TMO was published, the Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum and Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association expressed concern that this would increase motor traffic on Great Titchfield Street north of Mortimer Street.

Cyclists are being provided with advanced stop lines at light-controlled junctions along Mortimer Street but no other protective infrastructure.

Any objections or other representations about the proposals should be sent to Westminster Council TMO agents by email to [email protected] quoting reference PCL/TMO/9333/AJ by 4 October 2023. All objections must specify the grounds on which they are made, states the TMO.

9333-Wigmore-Street-Mortimer-Street-NoP-and-SoR-combinedDownload

#GreatTitchfieldStreet #MortimerStreet #OxfordStreetProgramme #traffic #WestminsterCityCouncil

https://fitzrovianews.com/2023/09/15/mortimer-and-wigmore-streets-tmo-published-by-westminster-council/

An application to sell alcohol for consumption on and off the premises, on the corner of Great Titchfield Street and Mortimer Street. Photo: Fitzrovia News.

1905 Assets Limited has applied to Westminster Council for a new premises licence at 1905 Cellar, 42 Mortimer Street, on the corner with Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia West.

They are applying for permission to sell alcohol for consumption both on and off the premises on the ground floor and basement from 9am to 11pm, Monday to Thursday; 9am to midnight (off-sales to 11.30pm) Friday and Saturday; Sunday, 9am to 10pm; and on a Sunday before a public holiday, midnight for on-sales and 11.30pm for off-sales.

Permission is also being asked to serve late night refreshment until midnight on Friday, Saturday and on a Sunday before a public holiday.

The business is described as a wine shop, wine bar and café, specialising in natural wines. It is a sister site to 1905 at 40 Mortimer Street, states the application.

A number of conditions have been offered in support of the application.

To view the details of the application and to make a comment, see the application on Westminster Council’s website.

23/04264/LIPN, 42 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7RH.

The last date for making a comment is 21 July 2023.

Residents in the City of Westminster can make use of free advice from the Licensing Advice Project at Citizens Advice Westminster, and should also contact the Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association with any comments they wish to make.

Update, 7 December 2023. This application will be heard at the following licensing committee: Licensing Sub-Committee (2) – Thursday 14 December, 2023 10.00 am.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2023/06/30/licensing-application-1905-cellar-42-mortimer-street/

#GreatTitchfieldStreet #licensing #MortimerStreet #publicConsultations #WestminsterCityCouncil