‘Darkness to descend’ on Eastern Curve Garden as nine-storey tower threat looms

Gloomy prospect: the already under-threat Eastern Curve Garden risks being overshadowed.

The popular Eastern Curve Garden in Dalston risks being plunged into darkness if a new nine-storey tower block is given the go-ahead, an environmental campaign group has warned.

Bill Parry-Davies, who runs Open Dalston, said “darkness will descend” across the garden if planning permission is granted for the proposed Thames House development, which would “add to the overshadowed gloom of the Eastern Curve”.

He said: “The nine-storey building will extend like a cliff along most of the Curve Garden’s east and southern boundary and is predicted to obstruct most of its existing morning and afternoon sunlight.”

If the Town Hall approves the plans, 78 per cent of the garden’s area would receive at least two hours of sunlight per day, meaning it would meet minimum guidelines for open spaces. Parry-Davies said this would leave “the garden’s sunny aspect permanently damaged”.

Since opening in 2010 on the site of a disused railway, the endangered garden has proven to be popular with locals, and it has hosted festivals and workshops. An entire episode of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time was broadcast from the garden in 2015.

Parry-Davies went on to say that 47 per cent of bedrooms and 25 per cent of living rooms in one of the Thames House blocks would fail to meet daylight guidelines. He also blasted the plans for “exceeding the Dalston Area Action Plan’s maximum height”. The council’s regeneration scheme set a “predominant scale of four-six storeys” when it was adopted in 2013.

The Thames House proposals have been in the pipeline since 2012, during which time the site’s developers have held two public consultations in the garden. The current plans include 15 offices and 39 flats. Ten per cent of the office space and 12 of the 39 flats will be for affordable rent, while eight flats are earmarked as affordable for private purchase.

Parry-Davies added: “The developer has acknowledged that in earlier consultation events, whilst welcoming the affordable housing, the key public concerns were the negative impact on the Eastern Curve Garden, the height and density of the scheme and the poor natural light to many flats. These concerns have not been mitigated by any significant changes to the design of the Thames House development.”

Hackney Council said it cannot comment on ongoing planning applications.

The developer is yet to respond to a request for comment.