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The latest Westminster news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.

Top story Orrery Is Back in the Michelin Guide, With Five More Westminster Newcomers Six Westminster restaurants, from Orrery in Marylebone to Whiteley's Kitchen in Bayswater, joined the Michelin Guide in October. Updated November 2026. · 4 min read

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Council Westminster Fees 2027: Bulky Waste to £41, Parking Up 3.5% A Westminster bulky waste collection goes from £36 to £41 in April 2027, and parking rises 3.5% from March. Cabinet approved the new fees on 2 November. · 5 min read Council Westminster Council to Debate 'Zionism Is Not Racism' Motion Full Council debates a cross-party motion on 11 November rejecting the Green Party's anti-Zionist vote. A Labour motion on community hubs follows it. · 4 min read Markets Westminster Market Fees: Up to 91% Rise From January A Saturday hot food pitch on Berwick Street would go from £22 to £42 under the 2027 fees. What every council market would charge, and what traders said. · 6 min read Weddings Win a Wedding at Old Marylebone Town Hall: Enter by 15 Nov The council will give one couple a free ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall on 13 April 2027, filmed for a promotional film. Entries close 15 November. · 3 min read Housing Westminster Housing Consultation: Offers Outside London Homeless households could be offered a private rented home, possibly outside London, and lose their place on the housing register. Have your say by 9 December. · 6 min read Westminster Lord Mayor Raises King's Award Flag at LEYF Marsham Street Westminster's Lord Mayor raised LEYF's King's Award flag at its Marsham Street nursery on 28 October, as LEYF launched a 2026 to 2030 sustainability plan. · 2 min read House prices Westminster House Prices Down 14.3% to £887,206 in August The average Westminster home fell 14.3% in a year to £887,206 in August, London's second-steepest fall. July has been revised up by £15,373. · 5 min read Planning Victoria Tower Gardens Holocaust Memorial: Views by 13 Nov Ministers want views on the Victoria Tower Gardens Holocaust Memorial by 13 November, then decide whether to reopen the inquiry. What changed and how to comment. · 5 min read Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey Roman Sarcophagus: Bones Likely an Abbot Carbon dating puts the bones at 987 to 1052 AD. The Abbey's archaeologist names Abbot Aelfwig, who died around 1020, as the likely occupant. The coffin is on show. · 4 min read Westminster City Council Westminster £100m Grant Cut: Four Asks Going to Ministers Westminster has signed off its formal bid asking ministers to rethink a £100m, 46% grant cut. 89.8% of consultation answers backed it; Government need not agree. · 6 min read Westminster City Council Westminster Council Job Cuts: 520 Roles Go, £29m Saved Westminster City Council is cutting 520 of its 3,720 posts, mostly managers, to save £29m. Those affected leave between April and December 2027. · 4 min read Crime Maida Hill Arson Appeal: Police Release Bus CCTV Image Detectives want to identify a man seen on bus CCTV after a fire at a home in Lydford Road, Maida Hill, on 18 July. The man inside was not hurt. · 3 min read Planning 10-20 Victoria Street: £600m Office Scheme Approved Westminster councillors backed a 13-storey office block at 10-20 Victoria Street by three votes to two on 13 October. It replaces two post-war blocks near the Abbey. · 7 min read Trains Paddington Closure: No GWR Trains 27 Dec to 3 Jan Great Western trains cannot use Paddington from 27 December to 3 January, or on 28 and 29 November. Heathrow trains stop too. What still runs, day by day. · 5 min read Ebury Bridge Ebury Bridge Phase Two Cleared by Safety Regulator: 334 Homes The Building Safety Regulator has approved all five Phase Two blocks at Ebury Bridge, clearing the way for 334 homes, 228 for social rent, due summer 2029. · 4 min read Dockless bikes Westminster Seizes 1,000 Dockless Bikes, Bills Firms £450k Westminster has seized more than 1,000 dockless hire bikes since May and fined operators 5,300 times. In August the count was 235. How to report one. · 4 min read Green plaques Charles Amherst Villiers Green Plaque Unveiled in Mayfair A green plaque now marks 22 Farm Street, Mayfair, home in the 1930s of Charles Amherst Villiers, who supercharged the Blower Bentley and helped inspire Bond. · 3 min read Council Tax Westminster Council Tax Support Cut Plan: Up to £314 a Year Westminster may end 100% Council Tax Support for 9,437 working-age claimants from April 2027, costing band D homes up to £314 a year. Respond by 12 November. · 5 min read Health St Mary's Hospital Rebuild: 30-Storey, 800-Bed Tower Plans A 185m, 800-bed tower would replace St Mary's 40 buildings in Paddington, opening 2031 to 2035 if funded. The survey closed 31 October; the Praed Street hub stays open in November. · 5 min read Libraries Westminster Libraries Survey: Closes 16 Nov, 13 Forums Westminster's first libraries and archives survey closes 16 November, with free forums at 13 venues. The council cites financial pressures. Dates and times. · 3 min read Housing Westminster Homeless Service: 58 Beds, New Charity Provider Changing Lives now runs Westminster's Next Steps service: 58 beds for homeless single adults in six Marylebone and Maida Vale properties, three staffed 24/7. · 4 min read Transport Oxford Street Now Traffic Free: The Bus Routes That Changed Oxford Street has been traffic free since 26 October: the 7 and 94 end at Marble Arch, and the 98, 139 and 390 use new stops nearby. Every change listed. · 7 min read Transport Route 6 Will Be the First Bus Run by TfL's Own Company Route 6, Willesden to Victoria via Maida Vale, Marble Arch and Park Lane, will be the first run by Buses for London, the new TfL-owned company, from late 2027. · 4 min read Covent Garden Blue Note London Opens on St Martin's Lane After a Two-Hearing Licence Fight Blue Note London is open at 42-49 St Martin's Lane, licensed to 1am and bound to stay a jazz venue. Its first licence was cut to earlier hours; a second bid won the later close. · 4 min read North Paddington Lydford Community Hall Reopens in North Paddington After Refit Lydford Community Hall on Fernhead Road has reopened after a refit budgeted at £602,889. It holds 80 people and can be booked from £20 an hour, three working days ahead. · 3 min read Westminster Abbey Tolkien Memorial Coming to Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner A 2.5-metre memorial to J.R.R. Tolkien will be inlaid into a pillar in the Abbey's south transept from spring 2027, built partly from his favourite Oxford pine. · 7 min read Soho Angelica Kauffman Green Plaque Approved for 16 Golden Square Westminster approved a green plaque for Angelica Kauffman at 16 Golden Square on 28 September. Seven sponsors pay the £3,500 fee, not the council. · 6 min read Food hygiene Westminster's Overdue Food Inspections Rose from 117 to 646 Overdue food hygiene inspections in Westminster rose more than fivefold in a year, to 646, after staff vacancies. Seventeen venues currently hold a zero rating. · 5 min read House prices Westminster House Prices Fall 20.7%, Steepest in London July's first figures put Westminster's average home at £876,788, down 20.7%, the steepest fall in London. Since revised; August is down 14.3% to £887,206. · 10 min read Paddington Paddington Shopfront Scheme Scrapped After £408,000 Spent Westminster has cancelled the second phase of its Paddington and Bayswater shopfront scheme after the contractor collapsed. Thirteen shops are dropped. · 8 min read Crime Westminster phone snatching crackdown: 187 arrests A Met operation against e-bike and moped thieves in Westminster made 187 arrests from February to July. Theft from the person here fell 46% in those months. · 5 min read Theatre Tartuffe Remixed at Marylebone Theatre: £20 front row seats Four £20 front row seats are drawn by lottery each Wednesday, and 2,250 seats across the run are £30 or less. Mark Rylance plays Park Road to 24 October. · 6 min read Planning Westminster planning: objections won't force a committee From 31 October, objection numbers and ward councillor requests can no longer send a Westminster planning application to committee. Councillors vote Wednesday. · 7 min read Transport Westminster e-scooters: 216 bays, trial runs to May 2028 Westminster's legal authority to take part in the London e-scooter trial has lapsed. A cabinet member signed up again to May 2028 on 21 September, with no public consultation. · 6 min read Licensing Westminster licensing policy: West End zone to shrink The West End cumulative impact zone loses parts of Covent Garden and streets north of Oxford Street. Councillors vote on 16 September, policy starts 1 October. · 7 min read Parking Westminster parking fines: 3 bailiff firms from 1 Nov Westminster issued 650,100 parking tickets last year and about 11% reach a bailiff. From 1 November three firms replace Marston alone. The fees that get added. · 5 min read Oxford Street Oxford Street: government rejects council's EIA demand Westminster says ministers ignored its concerns and cleared Oxford Street without a full environmental assessment. Its lawyers said a challenge would fail. · 9 min read Trading Standards Fake squishy toys: 200 seized from a Victoria candy store Westminster trading standards took nearly 200 fakes off one Victoria shop after a mother reported a chemical smell. What to check before you buy a squishy toy. · 7 min read Transport Oxford Street pedestrianisation misses its summer deadline The Mayor's target was traffic-free by the end of summer. On 1 September buses 94, 139 and 390 still stop at Selfridges, and the council wants a full EIA. · 7 min read Westminster City Council Westminster waste depot in Southwark needs £7.97m more Westminster approved £7.97m extra on 26 August, taking its Mandela Way depot to £13.5m. Ground conditions drove the rise, and the site is in Southwark. · 7 min read Licensing Mistress of Mayfair licence suspended: decision by 10 Sept Westminster suspended the St James's Street venue's licence on 17 August after a police expedited review. It must decide by 10 September whether to revoke it. · 5 min read Housing Westminster loses 16 Marylebone affordable flats on appeal Sixteen Marylebone flats, ten at social rent, are no longer tied to affordable housing. A clause written to reassure lenders freed them, and Westminster pays. · 5 min read Schools Westminster GCSE results 2026: 78% beats London 75.5% Westminster reports 78% of GCSE entries at grade 4 or above, clearing England's 67% and London's tougher 16-year-old rate of 75.5%. One claim cannot be checked. · 7 min read Schools Westminster free school meals: 600 pupils lose lunch Westminster has scrapped its free lunch for Years 7 to 9 from September. Of 967 pupils, about 367 are covered by the new national rules. The other 600 are not. · 7 min read Queen's Park Queen's Park Family Hub: £3.7m rebuild, open in 2027 Westminster has awarded a £3.69m contract to rebuild 17-23 Third Avenue as the Queen's Park Family Hub, £916,000 under estimate. It opens in autumn 2027. · 5 min read Schools Westminster A level results 2026: 86% at A*-C, above England Westminster's 86% at A to C beat the 78.1% England figure. Harris Westminster hit 92%, Westminster City School held its record, and re-marks close on 20 August. · 6 min read Council Tax Westminster Council Tax: £160m gap, survey shuts 30 Sept Government cuts leave Westminster a £160m gap, and a Band D bill of £1,048 could rise by £537 a year. What the survey asks, and the 30 September deadline. · 6 min read Licensing Westminster pub standing ban: what the council proposes The council calls a pub standing ban '100 percent untrue'. What its closed licensing consultation proposes, and why the Mayor of London is now involved. · 5 min read Transport Dockless bikes in Westminster: operators agree clean-up Lime, Voi, Forest and Bolt will share live data and clear badly parked bikes after a council summit. Fines are up nearly 200 per cent since May. · 3 min read