Clapton Common synagogue revamp approved by Hackney planning chiefs

In the works: an artist impression of the new synagogue in Clapton Common. Picture: Hackney Council

Proposals for a new three-storey synagogue opposite Clapton Common have passed a hurdle after planning chiefs gave their consent with some conditions.

Fifty orthodox Jewish men attended the meeting of Hackney Council’s planning sub-committee on 4 April to hear whether the synagogue would be approved.

The plans would knock down the existing synagogue building at 73 Clapton Common and replace it with a new limestone one with a metal mesh over its lights and expanded facilities.

Hopeful: Orthodox Jewish men await the verdict at the planning meeting. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

The scheme has faced opposition, with residents voicing concerns at the meeting about the building’s impact on the local landscape, lighting, and its opening hours of 7am to midnight.

But the committee, led by chair Cllr Vincent Stops, granted planning permission with a few small changes.

The synagogue serves the Bobof-45 community, named after Bobowa in today’s Poland, where its founders originally came from, and 45th Street in Brooklyn, New York, the site of their main synagogue.