Calling all budding young artists! We’d like to see your drawings of some of your favourite places in Hampton Hill. It could be the playground, the deer in Bushy Park, your favourite shop or even your house! Use colour pens, pencils or crayons – the choice is yours. Send in your mini masterpieces  (no bigger than A4 please) to HHA Magazine Competition, c/o Flowertweet, 3 The Parade, Hampton Hill, TW12 1JW  before the 30^th June 2012. Please include your name, age, address and telephone number on the back of the picture.

 All entrants must be under 12.  Entries will form a special display on the wall of the Flowertweet shop with a separate category for the under fives.  Flowertweet has generously offered a prize of art materials for the winning picture in each category.  The best pictures, judged by Neal Glendenning of Flowertweet and HHA Chairwoman Gloria Reynolds, will be printed in the next issue of this magazine.

T&Cs Only one entry per person and entries cannot be returned. The winners will be notified by telephone within one month of the closing date. Parental consent will be sought before publishing winning drawings. The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.

As most of you will be aware, there has been ongoing building work at the Longford in the high street for a number of years. While the flats above have been completed, work on the building below seems to have come to a standstill. The original plans that were on the council’s site, showed that there was approval for a bar/restaurant. Out of curiosity, I contacted the head office of the Faucet Inn Co. that had acquired the premises, only to be informed that they are no longer going to use the building for its original purpose. When I asked what they would be using it for, they were very vague and didn’t seem to know what was going on. When I pressed them on the matter, I was informed that it was no longer going to become a pub.

Today I contacted Richmond Council’s planning department and they could find no record of future plans for The Longford and the original plans are no longer on their website. After the Jenny Lind debacle, should we be worried about these latest developments?

The Cavan Bakery in Hampton Hill has been threatened with closure after Richmond Council served them with a noise abatement notice.The bakery, which has been trading for more than 80 years, was told that they must reduce the noise between the hours of 9pm-7am, following a complaint from a single neighbour who has since moved. If they don’t comply they will be fined £20,000 and risk having to close altogether. You can read more about this story by clicking on the link below.

Since the last bid by KFC to acquire the former Jenny Lind public house, things have  gone quiet-at least according to the council’s website. However, according to recent rumours, the news  is not good. It would seem that despite the efforts of local residents, traders, councillors and even a letter from Vincent Cable,  the opening of a KFC will go ahead.

Apparently no matter how people feel or what steps they take, the chains that have became an ever expanding blot on our landscape, have once again steamrollered over the feelings of those whose lives they infringe upon.

What do you think? Should we just shrug our shoulders and accept it, or should we boycott this unwanted pest? Please tell us your feelings.

Hampton Court Palace will be host to the Olympic Cycling Time Trial on 1 August 2012. The trials will take place on the 5th day of the Olympics and is one of two Road Cycling events that will be contested individually against the clock. The races cover a distance of 44km for men and 29km for women. Riders set off at 90-second intervals and the rider with the quickest time of the day is the winner.