New architects practice Fletcher Crane have revealed plans and artists impressions for the new £450,000 community hall which will be funded through a combination of insurance money and donations.

The timber-framed design was developed with input from consultations with the Church’s congregation and local community and will meet the various requirements that include optimising natural light, security and maintenance.

The plans are now online and are attracting some comments that highlight that the striking modern design might not be in keeping with character of the surrounding area and “more like a modern office than a church hall“. If given the go-ahead, work will start on the project in June 2012.

Another artists impression has been created, this time for the replacement clubhouse for Teddington Rugby Club & Teddington Town Cricket Club – designed with the rugby club’s recent success in mind as a replacement for a much-loved but ageing building.

The fund-raising for this project is ongoing but at the last published update was well over £100,000 from various events and private donations. The club hope to achieve the remaining £150,000 through funding, grants and corporate donations.

This event follows on from the successful public meeting held in November 2011 at the church, where 350 people attended to discuss the possible future of the hospital.

At the February meeting, a presentation on the work and progress by The League of Friends, including the exploration of developing a Social Enterprise Model of ownership for the hospital. The meeting will also provide an opportunity for the community to put forward their views about the future of the hospital.

An online petition has also been sent up by The League of Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital providing another way for the community to show their support.

A fantastic range of local and national companies will be exhibiting at the wedding fair, including cake designers, florists, caterers, photographers, bridal, men’s wear and wedding planners.

The ever-popular event provides a perfect opportunity for brides to be and the bridal party, to meet companies who can provide all the elements needed for a wedding day, all under one roof. Local businesses exhibiting will include Teddington names: Jo Butler Flowers, Jo McLaren Formal Wear, Mela Mela, Mitzi B and The Park Hotel.

The House of Colour, Twickenham will be supporting the fair for the second time by donating a personal styling package for the ‘mother of the bride or groom’, worth nearly £400. Visitors will have a chance to enter the draw to win the special prize which will include colour analysis, personal styling and make up lesson from Julia van den Berg, Colour Analyst and Personal Style Consultant, House of Colour.

Tony Nieper, Chairman of the Landmark Trading Company: “The popularity of the Landmark Wedding Fair is demonstrated by the fact that it has been running for ten years and is now recognised as one of the leading wedding shows in the area. The fair is one event ‘not to miss’ if you are planning your wedding for 2012 or 2013. The event also features stunning fashion shows at 12pm and 2pm, showcasing the latest bridal gown designs and men’s formal wear.”.

Doors open at 10:30am for the fair and close at 4:00pm, with admission £4 (under 16s free), which includes a free glass of fizz, provided by Majestic Wine.

“Craig House” on Park Road is a development by Richmond Housing Partnership of affordable houses and is still on track to be completed on time despite the theft of lead from the building site. Neighbours are encouraged to report any suspicious activities on the site after 5pm week days or any time at the weekend to the police.

Craig House on Park Road

Bulldozers last week moved in to start the demolition of the Somerset House site – this is a large development that campaigners fought against on the grounds of overcrowding in an already highly populated town vs parking spaces and other amenities.

Somerset House demolition. Photo: Avery Architect

The plans for Kingston Road Shell Station housing development are now online – a slightly amended number of dwellings, now seven three-bedroom houses and one two-bedroom flat. Residents are still finding it difficult to head to petrol stations further afield to fuel-up.

View Larger Map
Red: permission still pending or denied
Grey: permission granted & work underway or complete

Some developments never see the light of day – they are rejected or withdrawn such as this plan to add an additional floor to Causeway House for residences. It’s great to see that developments are no longer languishing whilst they awaiting funding but it cannot be denied that the population of Teddington is definitely growing!

As part of the hospice’s volunteers campaign, the Business Secretary aimed to show visitors to the shop that even in these hard times of austerity, giving your time can be just as rewarding and invaluable for local charities.

Vince, Patron of Shooting Star CHASE said of his day at the shop: “It is a very successful, well organised and well laid out shop. I have helped on the till, steamed donated clothes and helped with some cleaning. The staff have made me feel so welcome, they have a great spirit… I would encourage anyone to come and volunteer for Shooting Star CHASE. Volunteers are vital and make a big difference to the charity.”

Val Hall, Shooting Star CHASE Senior Retail Co-ordinator added: “It was fantastic to have the Business Secretary volunteer with us. He really proves that donating your time is vital to charities. Shooting Star CHASE’s volunteers are so important in keeping our shops going, and although we have many dedicated volunteers, we still need more.

“We hope that Dr Cable’s example will spur local residents to follow suit and donate their time to make a real difference to over 500 local families that rely on our support.”

For those able to help out, Shooting Star CHASE are currently looking for new volunteers for their shops in Teddington, Twickenham, Hampton Hill, Shepperton, Whitton and Ashford. For more information on volunteering, click here.

In order to carry out planned work on behalf of Thames Water, some roads have been reduced to one lane in places temporary traffic lights have been put in place. Tales of woe have been passed around telling tales of taking 20 minutes to move 20 metres – central Teddington has been choked with slow traffic due to this work.

Although the work on Broad Street has now completed, road users will also experience similar delays this week when further work will be carried on High Street from the 16th-20th January.

Nearby roads have also been affected by long-term road works which started last week on the A308 (Upper Sunbury Road) – these will continue until April. Bushy Park has also been particularly busy at weekends and traffic build-up has been noticeable along Chestnut Avenue too.

Some concerned residents have noticed that this work also starts very early in the morning – particularly this Sunday where the sound of drills started at 8am.

This work is not to be confused with at least one emergency water main repairs – one in particular spectacular leak in Elfin Grove occurred near Cafe Nero which is currently being completely refurbished along with a re-designed garden and patio area.

One possible future for the hospital involves a Social Enterprise ownership model where the development of services would be decided locally via partnerships with the community and the health and social care services – helping to secure its future as a local GP and community hospital. You can find out about how the investigation into this and other plans are progressing at several up-and-coming dates.

There are two January ‘Drop-In’ dates – informal meetings at Teddington Baptist Church Hall on Monday 16th January. This will be split into two sessions – parents with young families 11am-2pm to discuss services for children at the hospital (any suggestions will be welcome). Then 7:30-9pm for any member of the community to talk about any additional services, clinics etc. If you are short on time you can drop in for a brief spell as these will be informal in nature.

Following on from these sessions a public meeting will be held on February 2nd at the same venue 7-9pm where a presentation on work and progress so far will be made. Opportunities for feedback will also be available – TMH is the community’s hospital and the League of Friends want your involvement.

Although strong assurances have been recently made by NHS bosses that its future more secure than it has ever been (particularly with governments plans to move more patients to hospitals in their communities), the main concern still remains that the proposed creation of a Foundation Trust which may be at risk of a future merger. If you cannot attend any of the meetings you can show your support by adding your name to the online petition.

Recently a group of artists lent their work to the hospital for an exhibition so that patients and staff could enjoy them on site. Richmond Arts Service transported 30 paintings, graphic designs and old photographs (most of local scenes) to the hospital for this special exhibition.

Studies have shown that showing works of art in hospitals can reduce anxiety, stress and depression for patients, as well as staff and visitors! The hospital has run similar schemes involving voluntary visitors to chat to patients and well-behaved bed-side pet visits.

The League of Friends of Teddington Memorial Hospital have a proud record of voluntary service to the hospital and have raised several million pounds since its inception to help improve facilities and equipment.

“Blue Matrix” by Sunshine Soon – a shot of Park House after the recent blue paint-job.

The happiness-sapping weather finally broke on Wednesday and early risers were treated to a glorious orange and pink sunrise. Photo: Chris Meara.

A tree at the Hampton Wick gate to Bushy Park bows under the ever-growing weight of discarded trainers. Photo: Adrian Nabarro.

A member of forum talkphotography.co.uk got up extra early to bag this bright and colourful sunrise over a pond in Bushy Park. Photo: Martin Patten.

A curious deer stood still for long enough to grab a shot of its reflection in a stream in the park.

Another stunning set of colours from a sunrise over Bushy Park, this time at Diana Fountain. Photo: dodderyicedry.

Last Saturday Sally Willis was the 1,000 runner across the line at Bushy parkrun – a combination of mild weather, increasing popularity and the kicking off of many New Year’s resolutions saw the largest numbers at Bushy parkrun by a long margin. Exactly 1,000 runners joined the run and Sally was fittingly handed her finishing token by Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the parkrun founder. By chance there were only actually 1,000 finishing tokens available! Photo: Peter G Smith.

Restaurant sites are being snapped up by companies including Brasserie Blanc. It is believed however that talks have been underway with Carluccios to take on this premises – more news once this is confirmed.

On Kingston Road, the ever-increasing threat of online movie streaming and rental by post has almost certainly been the cause of Moonlight Movies closing down – a sale is currently helping owners sell any remaining stock of movies and fireworks. On Stanley Road a lawnmower seller has taken residence in the ex-tattoo shop so head over there if you are looking to get the lawn in order for spring.

The latest estimates from Travelodge for the opening date of their new hotel is May 2012 – recently the building changed hands £9.4 million on the basis of Travelodge’s 25 year lease and income from roof-mounted phone masts.

Fielding Gould has now closed to pave the way for Hamptons International to move in. In pub news, the leasehold for The Hogarth is currently up for sale by owners Fullers. Coffee-lovers with kids will be happy to learn that Teeney Weenies ‘kids play cafe’ will be opening on the 23rd January at Teddington Baptist Church.

The January Sales are well upon us – every other shop seems to have a sale sign in the window and big discounts are available. This comes amidst news of supermarkets biggest ever store opening plans in history (could be 50% more trading space created) will only increase the threat to our high streets in the UK.

Richmond has however been named one of the most likely borough’s to bounce back from the recession due to support for local businesses.

Councillor Fleming (cabinet member for community, business and culture) has praised recent initiatives including the creation of the business and retail champion post, Christmas lights investing and help with parking from the RichmondCard and removal of yellow lines in town centres. Although Richmond is in a better position than some, we should all keep supporting our local businesses to help them in these difficult economic times.

Local retail specialist Philip Downer has posted his thoughts on Mary Portas’s high street report here with his take on the recommendations.

She will be taking part in her first ever Marathon this year as one of the charities ‘gold band’ runners and a personal fund-raising target of £2,150.

Despite being a single mother, Natalie is finding time to train to move up from previously completed 5km charity runs to the marathon distance – no mean feat!

Natalie and a friend will also be hosting a fundraising quiz night (venue TBC) on the 3rd of March with prizes from local businesses – please get in touch (email npbartlett@yahoo.co.uk) if you might be able to help by kindly donating any prizes.

As if this isn’t enough, she has also organised the creation of a saucy fun charity calendar with friends and family for the same cause.

Local businesses have rallied round to help with the production – with photo-shoots, design and printing all given free of charge from generous business owners.

The ‘Lil Miss’ risqué calender was shot locally in premises including the Red Lion pub and AG Millers Butchers and features shots of Natalie & friends in themed costumes including mechanic, butcher, builder, firefighter, chef and plumber!

Each calendar is £10 and the target is to raise £900 – they are available from the red lion pub, Stanley Road, Teddington or via Natalie by email.