Soho House bid to open fast food outlets on Wilmer Place rejected by Hackney Council

Premises on High Street side of Wilmer Place whose tenants were forced out over two years ago

In the latest twist in the seemingly never ending saga involving Wilmer Place, a bid by Soho House to open up branches of its upmarket fast food restaurants Dirty Burger, Chicken Shop and Pizza East on the site in Stoke Newington has been given the brush off by the Town Hall.

Hackney Council’s licensing team have rejected a change of use application for the site, with council officers stating that the proposed development “would result in the unjustified loss of retail accommodation” and citing a potential “adverse effect on the vitality and viability” of the locality.

They said the scheme would harm the character and appearance of the surrounding conservation area and streetscape.

Premises on the Stoke Newington High Street side of Wilmer Place remain empty and the future of the site is mired in doubt more than two years after small business owners who rented units there were forced out to make way for a new Sainsbury’s which never arrived after the supermarket giant pulled out of the project for unknown reasons.

Since then there have been rumblings another big name grocer could move in, but this has not materialised, and sensitivities remain high locally following a string of protests several years ago amid fears neighbouring Abney Park could be harmed.

Plans put forward by agents Dalton Warner Davis earlier this year referred to “a restaurant to be potentially occupied by Dirty Burger, Chicken Shop and Pizza East” on the site.

They said the development would provide 80 jobs and would “assimilate with the dynamic and vibrant character of this part of Stoke Newington”. The Hackney Citizen understands the scheme would have been a complex containing three restaurants.

A change of use application also declares: “Dirty Burger, Chicken Shop and Pizza East restaurants would be commensurate with the character of Stoke Newington District Centre and would reflect the ‘individuality’ of the High Street.”

The Wilmer Place site was previously owned by Newmark Properties, which sold it to Reichmann Properties, reportedly for a hefty profit.

Founded in London in 1995, Soho House now owns private members clubs around the world as well as cinemas and a growing empire of cafés, restaurants and bars.