OPEN Dalston’s anger at plan to demolish historic Georgian terrace
Rare survivor: one of the Georgian era homes set to be demolished under the council’s plan. Photograph: Josh Loeb
Hackney Council’s planned demolition of a row of historic houses that are rare survivors from the Georgian era would breach planning controls, according to the founder of a heritage campaign group.
The council is poised to knock down 16 houses in Dalston Lane thought to date from 1807 to replace them with new buildings in ‘heritage likeness’ and 44 new flats with no affordable housing.
The demolition would run contrary to what councillors on the planning subcommittee voted for in August last year, according to solicitor and OPEN Dalston founder Bill Parry-Davies.
In a letter to the council this month Mr Parry-Davies said: “Members did not vote for complete demolition…but a conservation led refurbishment of the facades and shop fronts and re-development of the rear parts of
the houses.
“Their entire demolition may therefore be considered to be a breach of planning control, contrary to the planning brief for the site, contrary to the Dalston Area Action Plan proposals and contrary the council’s adopted policies for the historic environment.”
Mr Parry-Davies has documented the saga of the terrace’s deterioration over the past decade, as well as wider changes in Dalston Lane, on OPEN Dalston’s blog.
The council sold the buildings at auction to an off-shore company in 2002.
The terrace subsequently suffered severe structural damage, including fire damage, and the owner lodged an application to demolish the buildings and erect retail units and 28 flats – an application that was turned down by the council partly because it contained no affordable housing.
In 2010 the council re-purchased the terrace for £3.8million – double what it had originally sold them for. Mr Parry-Davies said 14 businesses have deserted the terrace from when the council acquired it from the Greater London Council in 1984. He said: “They have presided over the destruction of our local economy and now our heritage assets… These fragile houses are not capable of withstanding the development pressures which the council has placed on them.”
A less intensive development scheme might have saved the buildings, he added.
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “Due to structural instability, it will not be possible to keep the entire façade, though where possible shopfronts and brickwork will be re-used.”
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Hackney council need to explain why under their care nothing was done to protect the buildings from becoming unstable. It was Hackney council that failed to do anything with them for years, allowing the dereliction to become so bad that demolition became inevitable. Just a few months ago there was talk of renovation but strangely this has been dropped for a pastiche rebuilding in partnership with a private company who will presumably make loads of money from the rather unpleasant faux rebuilding scheme.
For being so damn disingenuous LBH should be forced to reject this proposal and made to renovate.
peaches geldof used to score there when it was a crack house
its been left for dead from as long as i can remember , no way you could rescue that building …too far gone – its a bleeding sham !
also i had three bikes nicked from dalston lane and they probably ended up with those skag heads in barclays bikes ! pair o wankers in there fitted my mate up with wrong sized wheele and charged her 30 quid
no way would i move back to that area its full of complete knobs now that would think nothing of paying 600 a month for less than a shoe box – shame it used to be great – it still is great but only the upper middles can afford it now …
So, in the end, arson, which is a serious crime, pays…
LBH fails to understand that, as with Mare Street’s narrow way, it’s not by bringing new businesses, shops especially, that jobs appear in Hackney.
Hackney residents are poor, they don’t have more money to spend.
Just look at the luxury outlets off Morning Lane. They do not care one bit about Hackney. And they are truly offensive to the poor living nearby.
If the buildings are no longer viable then they should be demolished and a new planning application made for something contemporary that addresses today’s housing shortage. But what we’ll get is Disney-esque pastiche i.e. bad conservation and bad housing provision.
Some of these houses can still be saved but the Council wants a total rebuild so they can cram in extra flats and retail.
It’s terrible what they’ve done to Dalston’s heritage.
Seeing as they is quite a housing crisis in London and considering that these terraces have structural issues, on the balance of things it might as well go ahead.
There are plentiful examples of Georgian Terraces around London.
I think it’s more sad when existing Victoria or Georgian terrace, decent for a family get converted into flats, and often very poorly done so. Why does no one do anything about that?