This is a the last newsletter of 2022. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to Fitzrovia News over the past year.
Please keep yourself, friends and family safe over the festive holiday. Check on your neighbours if they are living alone. Covid infections are again rising in London. Follow NHS advice to avoid catching and spreading coronavirus. How to get vaccinated is on Camden Council’s coronavirus web page and Westminster Council’s coronavirus web page.
It was lovely to see Jack Fawdry-Tatham of Pollock’s Toy Museum featured in Miriam Margolyes’ Dickensian Christmas on Channel 4 recently. You can watch it here.
Next year will be 50 years since a free community newspaper was first produced in Fitzrovia. We’ll have more news about our newspaper archive in the new year.
It’s always lovely to hear from people who have found some of our archive material of interest and write to us asking our readers for more information about the neighbourhood. See our story below about H Wald and Co. If you have any information please let our reader know and please also let us know.
If you want to get in touch with us to tell us what you think of our reporting, have a question, or would like to contribute to Fitzrovia News please email us at news@fitzrovianews.com
Merry Christmas and have safe and healthy New Year
— Linus Rees, editor
The latest news on our website
Camden Council ‘extremely disappointed’ by appeal decision on hospital site homes
A hospital charity can reduce the number of social rented homes on the site of the former Middlesex Hospital Annex in Fitzrovia, a planning inspector has ruled, writes Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/06/camden-council-extremely-disappointed-by-appeal-decision-on-hospital-site-homes/
The resolution of housing on the workhouse site is haunted by the ghost of Charles Dickens
The recent appeal decision on the Middlesex Hospital Annex, formerly the Strand Union Workhouse, at 44 Cleveland Street finally put an end to any hopes that Fitzrovia would gain an extra 40 affordable homes for families on the housing waiting list. What would the young Charles Dickens have thought as he began another nighttime ramble from his rooms in 22 Cleveland Street? writes Nick Bailey. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/13/the-resolution-of-housing-on-the-workhouse-site-is-haunted-by-the-ghost-of-charles-dickens/
Fitzrovia resident tells councillors that dealing with Clarion Housing ‘fills me with dread’
A Fitzrovia resident has highlighted a catalogue of concerns about unanswered calls, poor repairs, and fears of asking a housing association to do any more work at their home, writes Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/09/fitzrovia-resident-tells-councillors-that-dealing-with-clarion-housing-fills-me-with-dread/
Camden approves late night licence in Goodge Street despite opposition from local residents
A Camden Council licensing panel has approved a late night licence for a fast food restaurant and takeaway in Goodge Street in the face of opposition from local residents who argued that the premises would cause a noise nuisance, writes Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter, and Linus Rees. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/22/camden-approves-late-night-licence-in-goodge-street-despite-opposition-from-local-residents/
Seeking the secrets of the handbag factory at Hanway Place and Tottenham Court Road
When a certain restaurant opened its doors in 2001 in Hanway Place, the critic AA Gill noted in his Sunday Times review that it had about it, “the air of an old textile factory”. He was almost right. Prior to Hakkasan serving its first dish, it had been the site of handbag company, H Wald & Co, which arrived at 17 Tottenham Court Road and 7-11 Hanway Place, in the mid-1930s. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/16/seeking-the-secrets-of-the-handbag-factory-at-hanway-place-and-tottenham-court-road/
Public consultations
Licensing application: Gallo, 16 Bloomsbury Street https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/12/licensing-application-gallo-16-bloomsbury-street/
Licensing application: Basement, Portland House, 4 Great Portland Street https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/23/licensing-application-basement-portland-house-4-great-portland-street-2/
Planning applications in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia East, December 2022: Among the list so far this month are: alterations at 18-30 Tottenham Court Road and 1-2 Stephen Street; air conditioning units at 67 Charlotte Street; alterations at 4 Charlotte Mews; amendment to increase the number of underground hotel rooms and changes to elevations at 112a Great Russell Street; tables and chairs outside 93 Tottenham Court Road, 37 Store Street, and the Lore of the Land pub, 4 Conway Street. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/09/planning-applications-in-bloomsbury-and-fitzrovia-east-december-2022/
Planning applications in Fitzrovia West, December 2022: Included in the monthly list so far this month are: partial demolition, redevelopment, and part change of use to drinking establishment at 16-18 Berners Street; internal and external alterations to listed building at 50 Berners Street; installation of ventilation pipes at 1 Berners Mews; kitchen extract at 31 Rathbone Place; alterations to the rear of 5 Hanson Street. https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/12/09/planning-applications-in-fitzrovia-west-december-2022/
Westminster Council wants to make sure its residents have and opportunity to participate in council matters as part of its pledge to create a Fairer Westminster. By participating in our first ever Community Charter, you can help us shape this involvement. The consultation period comes to a close at the end of December. https://www.westminster.gov.uk/charter-community-participation-consultation
Camden Council is developing a strategy for the evening and night time economy (ENTE) and wants to hear from residents in a new public consultation it is running (updated to included details of Citizen’s Assembly). https://fitzrovianews.com/2022/10/26/camden-wants-residents-views-on-the-evening-and-night-time-economy/
Camden is consulting on its Local Plan review. https://consultations.wearecamden.org/supporting-communities/camden-local-plan-review/
Fitzrovia News in print
Our latest printed newspaper — all two pages of it — is available from outside Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street. March 2023 will be 50 years since the first edition of Tower — the forerunner to Fitzrovia News — was published. We hope to complete our online archive of Fitzrovia community newspapers by then. https://archive.fitzrovianews.com/
News from elsewhere
Winter homeless offered hotel rooms https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/winter-homeless-offered-hotel-rooms
Stay at home if you’re unwell, say experts, as flu and Covid cases rise in England https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/22/stay-at-home-if-youre-unwell-say-experts-as-flu-and-covid-cases-rise-in-england
Tech giants ditch office space: Meta, which owns Facebook, signed a lease on a 310,000-square foot office in Fitzrovia in central London last year but is now trying to sublet the block without ever having moved in, reports the FT. However, the office is actually across the Euston Road at 1 Triton Square. https://www.ft.com/content/3ef0d06e-3bf2-4dd1-9b0f-39b31aad74e7