Residents fear Crossrail 2 will ‘rip heart out’ of Dalston
Under threat: 61-69 Kingsland Road, on the corner of Bradbury Street, would be replaced by the ticket hall entrance. Photograph: Google Streetview
Residents have launched a petition to stop Crossrail 2 from “ripping the heart out” of Bradbury Street in Dalston.
Transport for London (TfL) has earmarked the entire southern side of Bradbury Street for a ticket hall and entrance for the future Dalston Station.
Under the proposals, the buildings surrounding the Kingsland site are at risk of being demolished and redeveloped, including the Railway Tavern – a 1930s art deco-style building – on the corner of Kingsland Road, Bradbury Mews and houses at 48-52 Boleyn Road.
Campaigners have hit out at TfL for targeting Bradbury Street, which is lined with independent businesses, and are urging transport chiefs to consider Kingsland Shopping Centre as an alternative site.
Mark Shaffer runs White Rabbit restaurant, which sits on the south side of Bradbury Street and would be forced out should TfL’s plans go ahead.
“It’s incredibly worrying and upsetting” he said. “TfL has not been transparent about what will happen. They have not sat us down and explained what might happen or whether we might lose our restaurant.
“It seems mad to be attacking Bradbury Street, one of the only streets with boutiques and restaurants that we have in Dalston.”
Transplant
TfL told the Hackney Citizen it might offer statutory compensation to those forced out by their plans. But Mr Shaffer said there are some things time and money can’t buy.
“Restaurants are fragile, you can’t just transplant them. It was blood, sweat and tears that got us this far. It was a whole year’s project to do something like that and a hell of a lot of money,” he said.
“I built that restaurant with my best friend, who I lost last year to leukaemia. There is a lot of history for us in the walls that would be hard to leave behind.”
Andrew Brookfield, a former Bradbury Street resident who started the petition, said displaced people might be priced out of the area. “People have put a lot of time and money into their homes and businesses and might not be able to buy anything similar with money being offered by TfL.”
But Michèle Dix, managing director of Crossrail 2, told the Hackney Citizen: “We want to minimise the impact of our proposals on the local area whilst still delivering this vital new link.
“We have been and will continue to work closely with the London Borough of Hackney to try and reduce the local impact as well as ensure that the proposed new station will be an asset to the community.”
No-brainer
Kingsland Shopping Centre, across Kingsland Road from Bradbury Street, is due to be redeveloped and campaigners have mooted it as an alternative site for the ticket hall.
Ro Rai and his wife Sanju Tamang run Mero Retro, a shop on the north side of Bradbury Street. Mr Rai said: “Why demolish businesses and houses and some historic buildings when there will be a redevelopment just metres away? It’s a no-brainer. They should put the ticket hall there.
“Otherwise it will leave us with half a street – less than half, it will rip the heart out of our community.”
The Hackney Citizen asked TfL which other sites it was considering for the ticket hall. Ms Dix said in response: “We have tried to find sites that minimise the local impact of our proposals whilst enabling us to build the scheme. The proposals we have recently consulted on sought to do.
“We appreciated the feedback we have received and are analysing the responses we have had from the consultation to inform further design development.”
Last year Hackney Council consulted with residents about creating a new conservation area in Dalston, which would include Bradbury Street.
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “The new Dalston conservation area will enable the council to ensure that proposed development enhances or preserves the character or appearance of the area. The council would resist the loss of any historic buildings or spaces in Dalston.”
The draft Dalston Conservation Area is due to go to Hackney Council’s Cabinet on 29 February 2016.
TfL’s latest consultation on Crossrail 2 closed on 8 January. Results are due to be published this spring.
Blood, sweat and tears? Nothing compared to getting Crossrail 2 off the ground, I’m sorry. This has been decades in the making, and it’ll be very useful for the rest of the Hackney residents
”Kingsland Shopping Centre, across Kingsland Road from Bradbury Street, is due to be redeveloped and campaigners have mooted it as an alternative site for the ticket hall.”
I also think that the dalston area needs some development
The shopping centre will be redeveloped regardless, it’s a huge project but hopefully they can avoid Bradbury as it has many fantastic indy shops, cafes and restaurants like White Rabbit and FeeFeeLaFou
If a better alternative solution is found that would great, but the priority for Hackney is getting the tube. As Crossrail 2 has taken so long, surely we should have a decent number of stops in Hackney. I personally feel the line should divide at Angel then go via Dalston then up through Stoke Newington, and the other fork go via Hackney Central then up through Clapton. Although, at first sight this may appear to be an expensive solution to Hackney’s tube problem. On second sight you will still see that it is an expensive solution, but it also actually works and does solve the tube problem. Also, it is only four tube stations compared to 17 stations allocated to our neighbour Islington. The tube must stop at Hackney Central, because it is the most central and will be even more important to with the Hackney Fashion Hub opening later this year.
Kill off Bradbury Street? Have a tube go to stokey or clapton? Why is it just focused on Dalston at all when there is the overground and highbury and is not to far away? So what about the rest of hackney such as Hackney South. I’m afraid that people who seem to have lived n Hackney for the past 5 to 10 years, care about the indy, boutique and hipster side of Hackney or have displaced those who actually lived and wanted to stay here before it got swanky don’t give two hoots about what’s good for Hackney as a whole.
Bradbury street and culture is 150 years in the making. I dont think you would say this if you had just bought a home short of half a mil due to be demolished
Of course its unfortunate for those that have just paid an over inflated price for a house near there. And trust me, I know Bradbury Street and Dalston VERY well given I’ve lived here all of my life. So i have seen the changes. And I have seen people, neighbours, family of friends turfed out due to the recent interest of those who a while ago wouldn’t live in Hackney. I hardly saw the protest then. Please don’t put the fact that they were forced out down to “150 years in the making”.
The point of my comment is that there are other parts of Hackney that would benefit from an adequate tube link. It doesnt have to be dalston, clapton and stokey / north-east hackney that gets the link up. But I guess until they’re seen as trendy, other parts won’t get a look in