Director of Designation
English Heritage
1
Waterhouse Square
138-142
Holborn
London
EC1N 2ST
21 December 2012
Dear Mr Bowdler
Planning (Listed
Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
Section 69(3),
Schedule 4, Paragraph 7
Concerning the proposed
Dalston Kingsland Conservation Area, extension of Dalston Lane (West)
Conservation Area and the listing of certain buildings nationally and locally
We are instructed on behalf of
the persons and organisations named at the foot of this letter with regard to
the recommendations made to Design for London by Heritage Adviser, Edmund Bird,
which are contained in a draft report dated September 2012 entitled “Draft Heritage Scoping Study for the Local
Development Framework Dalston Area Action Plan” (“the Report”).
You will see the Report concludes
that “Historic Kingsland High Street and
the western end of Dalston Lane have wholly inadequate heritage protection at present
… it is important that the historic environment of Dalston is protected and
enhanced as part of the process of planning and management of change and
development of Dalston”. The report
makes various recommendations which include:
- - the
designation of the new Dalston Kingsland Conservation Area
- - the
extension of the Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area to include certain
notable buildings
- - the
addition of certain notable buildings to the National Heritage List for England and
- - the
addition of certain notable buildings to the LPA’s (Hackney’s) Local Heritage
List local list.
Act 1990 to designate the
proposed Dalston Kingsland Conservation Area and an extension to the Dalston
Lane (West) Conservation Area and furthermore to add to the English statutory
list, and to recommend that the LPA add to its local list, those buildings
identified in the Report.
The circumstance in which the
Report has been produced is one of great urgency. The LPA is presently engaged in
pre-application discussions, and also in the consideration of planning
applications already made, for several major development schemes which will
have a very significant impact upon the local heritage assets and buildings of
townscape merit identified in the Report. The development proposals of which
our clients are presently aware include:
1. An application by
development partners Transport for London and Taylor Wimpey under LPA reference
2012/3404 to develop the two Kingsland High Street sites known as the Western
Curve. These developments will directly, and in our clients’ opinions adversely,
affect the settings including the views and sun lighting to the Grade II
Shanghai Restaurant building at 41 Kingsland High Street and the adjoining
Kingsland Public House at 37-39 Kingsland High Street (which English Heritage
has recently recommended for local listing) and, in Ashwin Street, the 1871
Shiloh Pentecostal Chapel (which the Report recommends for local listing) and
the locally listed Reeves and Sons Printhouse and Colourworks Building (which the
Report recommends for statutory listing). The scale of these proposed
developments are such that the settings of many other listed and locally listed
buildings on or near the High Street will also be affected. We note that TfL
have already demolished a locally listed building, the former Kings Arms at 18
Dalston Lane, as part of its works. We understand that the LPA has written to
English Heritage as a consultee for its views regarding the Western Curve proposal.
2. The forthcoming amended
application (formerly the refused application 2011/3439) for redevelopment of 51-57 Kingsland High
Street (Peacocks Store) for which a 19- storey rotunda tower is to be proposed
which will directly impact upon the High Street buildings mentioned at 1. above
and, in addition, on the Grade II Rio Cinema at Kingsland High Street, the
Grade II listed Colvestone Primary School, the locally listed NatWest Bank
building at 74-76 Kingsland High Street, the Grade II* Listed St Marks church
and other notable buildings on Kingsland High Street and locally.
3. The forthcoming
application for redevelopment of the Thames House, Eastern Curve, site with a
block or blocks of 9 storeys behind 25 Dalston Lane. This site adjoins
Springfield House (which the Report recommends for statutory listing) and Grampul
House on Tyssen Street, and the Report recommends the inclusion of both of
those buildings within an extended Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area.
4. The forthcoming
application for redevelopment of the Dalston Cross Shopping Centre with towers
above exceeding 10 storeys which will impact on numerous of the local heritage
assets mentioned above and in the Report.
Since recently coming into
possession of the Report we have written to the LPA’s Manager of Design and Conservation,
Rodney Keg, to enquire whether the LPA has plans to implement any of the
recommendations made in the report and, if so, what the particular timescales
for that would be. We enclose a copy of
our message and his reply for your information. It does not appear that the LPA
has conducted any scoping report of its own or so far developed any particular
plans since obtaining the report in November notwithstanding the urgency we
have referred to above.
Our clients’ immediate
concern is with regard to the TfL/Taylor Wimpey’s planning application for
redevelopment of the Western Curve which is presently before the LPA and is
likely to be determined by its Planning Committee on 6 February 2013.
We are particularly concerned
because it is quite clear that Hackney has invested significant sums with TfL
to facilitate the redevelopment of the northern and/or southern sites of the
Western Curve. We enclose for your attention copies of Minutes of a meeting of
Hackney’s Cabinet held on 26.10.09. You will see, at Item 9.4, that the council
invested £1,325K in 2009/10 towards the strengthening of TfL’s railway tunnels
to facilitate their redevelopment. It may be that additional investments have
been made. We have written to Hackney’s information officer to seek clarification
as to its investment and partnership interest with TfL in that development but
we are presently without a substantive reply.
In these circumstances we
consider that the council has financial conflict of interest in considering the
development and that there is an urgent need for English Heritage to
independently and dispassionately consider the recommendations in the Report
and to consider the exercise of its reserve statutory powers under the Act as a
matter of urgency.
Finally we would add that from
our clients’ experience of dealing with this LPA, they have little confidence
in its willingness to consider and take the necessary appropriate and urgent action
to discharge its duties under section 69 of the 1990 Act to designate and to
review its conservation areas. It is notable that it has been Design for London
rather than Hackney which has commissioned the Report. Our clients’ further
note that when designating the Dalston Lane (West) Conservation Area the LPA
omitted certain buildings of obvious merit, for example Springfield House, – an omission which the Report’s author notes
as “extraordinary”. We also note that Hackney has recently been
in a partnership agreement with TfL in relation to the Dalston Square
development and that this resulted in the demolition of locally listed Georgian
houses, the oldest circus entrance in the country at 12 Dalston Lane and the
Dalston Theatre/Gaumont Cinema and damage to the setting of buildings in the
adjoining conservation areas.
Having regard to the most unusual
circumstances that have arisen here, and the timescales involved, we ask that
you to give our clients’ request your most urgent consideration.
We look forward to hearing from
you.
Yours faithfully
Bill Parry-Davies
Dowse & Co
On behalf
of:
Anna Minton Author (Ground
Control)
Chris Dyson Architects LLP
Colvestone Primary School Family
Association
Dalston Conservation Area
Advisory Committee
De Beauvoir Association
Iain Sinclair, Filmmaker and
Author (Hackney that red rose empire)
Kingsland Conservation Area
Advisory Committee
Lord Low of Dalston and Lady Low
Michael Rosen, Author and
Broadcaster
OPEN Dalston
Patrick Wright, Historian and
Author (A Journey Though Ruins)
Ridley Road Market Traders
Association
Sustainable Hackney
Vortex Downstairs
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave comments that will add to the debate! We will not publish comments which are abusive or repetitive.
If we do not publish your comment and you are unhappy, please email info@opendalston.net with your contact details.