The Anonymous Widower

Good Riddance To Earls Court Exhibition Centre

Earls Court is an exhibition centre, whose sell-by date was decades ago. I can remember going to events there like The Motor Show  in the 1960s and it wasn’t the best then. I can also remember being at the NEC in Birmingham about 1980, talking to one of the top people in Hewlett-Packard, where he reckoned at that time the NEC was one of the best places they exhibited.

So what has Earls Court done in those intervening years?  Absolutely nothing! Read about the NEC and it is a story of continuous development and updating.

If ever a building was saying “Please knock me down!” it’s Earls Court.

So I’m now pleased to see that this is going to happen. It’s reported here on the BBC. But as ever there are those, who want to turn the clock back. Two housing estates will be incorporated into the scheme and the report says this.

But tenants and leaseholders on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green housing estates who will have to be re-housed have called for a judicial review on the grounds that the plan is contrary to Hammersmith and Fulham’s local planning policy.

As ever, selfish people seem determined to not co-operate for the good of the many. So be prepared for a long and expensive fight which will only delay the inevitable.

On a personal note, I’ve only visited Earls Court once in recent years.  I try to avoid the place, as it is one of those places where I can’t find anything to eat.

Now we have the problem of what to do with Olympia. After all with Excel and the O2 Dome we have made a start on providing alternative venues.

November 21, 2012 - Posted by AnonW | News | Birmingham, Development, Exhibition, London