Essex Wharf tower blocks decision looms large

A controversial development that would see four residential tower blocks built at Essex Wharf, across the canal from Hackney’s Millfields Park, has met with strident opposition from both sides of the River Lea.

Residents, environmental groups, Hackney Council and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority all opposed the development, which would build 124 flats in four seven-storey blocks on the Waltham Forest side of the Lee Navigation canal.

The application was approved at a meeting of Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee on 4 January but Lee Valley Regional Park Authority has now written to the council to request that the decision be referred to Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles. The council is obliged to make the referral.

Kriss Lee, who lives near Millfields Park, said he was concerned that the high density development would put pressure on Hackney’s services, with residents of the new flats coming to Hackney for doctors, schools and transport.

He described the “vociferous” dispute at the council planning meeting and his shock that the committee approved the development.

A spokesperson for Lee Valley Park said the authority has consistently opposed the development, which would be entirely surrounded by park land and is very close to the Walthamstow Marshes and the Middlesex Filter Beds nature reserves.

“We think it will have major adverse impact on a large area of the park. Residential development does not fit within the remit of the park,” the spokesperson said.

While the Hackney side of the River Lea has seen rapid development in recent years, the Waltham Forest side is mostly open park land.

The Essex Wharf development is expected to be a hot topic at the upcoming annual general meeting of the Millfields Park User Group on 10 February.