Hackney's plastics legacy

Hackney's Lea valley industries were innovative. They discovered and manufactured plastics.The exploitation of this scientific legacy has had a global reach.


"Midway" - a film by Chris Jordan

Just recently a sperm whale died on a Spanish beach with 17kg of plastic in its stomach.

Photo of the River Lea - by the  2012 Olympic Site

"I remember that a wise friend of mine did usually say, 'That which is everybody's business is nobody's business.' "  Izaak Walton, Piscator, who fished the Lea in the 17th Century.  

In other words, it's everyones' problem but noone's responsibility.

UPDATE

JLT comments below that you can find out about solutions here:

Council grant development approval. Dalston playground land to be sold.

Last night Hackney's Planning Committee granted approval for a massive residential-led scheme on Martel Place/Dalston Lane - the last undeveloped site on Dalston's Eastern Curve - despite the Council having promised, following public consultation on its Dalston Area Action Plan (DAAP), that there would be a kids' public playground as a priority. A skateboard park had been flagged up.

Kids and parents attended the Town Hall in numbers to protest at the sell off of Council open green land on the site to the private developer but were only allowed five minutes to voice their many objections to the multi-million pound scheme. SAVE Britains Heritage also wrote in to object.

After the hearing one of the kids, Dex, said "It's disgusting. They said the playground must now wait to see if they'll build tower blocks on the shopping centre site. Still, we've now found a great new place for  skateboarding - on The Slab above Dalston junction station."

The Slab, which Hackney helped subsidise, was built by TfL for its buses at a cost of £63million but only one bus, the 488, uses it and there are only five of those an hour. "We can easily dodge the 488, so The Slab is fairly safe" said Dex "We just have to watch out for the police. They chuck us off when we skateboard there, and on the shopping centre car park, but there's nowhere else to go."

Council officers informed the Planning Committee that the playgound was always planned to go on a re-developed Kingsland Shopping Centre site however the site policies in the DAAP makes no mention of it there but expressly refers to the playground going on the Eastern Curve site. Martel Place is part of the 'Eastern Curve Character Area' in the DAAP.

The planning permission departs radically from the planning guidance for the site in terms of height, density, affordable housing and employment space. The value of the land Hackney is selling to the Martel Place developer will increase substantially if the planning permission is eventually upheld. Hackney's Mayor Pipe and the private developer will both be delighted by this windfall.

Because of the size of the scheme Hackney's planning permission will require approval by Boris' GLA. Objectors are entitled to make representations to the GLA

You can sign the dissenter's petition here

Hackney deny children's playground provision.

Hackney has denied that it ever intended to build the promised children's playground as part of the Martel Place development. Hackney owns open green space there which is to be sold to the major private developer which is seeking planning permission for the site.

The 5 -10 storey blocks proposed for Martel Place development at the junction with Dalston Lane leading to the Kingsland Shopping Centre's rear car park.

Following public consultation , the promised "active youth facility" ( for 12 year olds and above) was included in the Council's Dalston Area Action Plan (DAAP) which underwent government inspection last summer. A skateboard park was talked of. It's location would  be at the " far eastern end of the Eastern Curve", which would be renamed as Ritson Place, and it would be developed  as part of the Eastern Curve ( Sites CA5 which includes Martel Place).

All the other development sites on the Eastern Curve have since been built on with blocks of 8-14 storeys. Martel Place, on which Hackney owns the green open land,  is the only remaining undeveloped site on the Eastern Curve. 

Kingsland Shopping Centre car park which has since been lined with the blocks of 8 -14 storeys of Point One Appartments and Kinetica Tower

Although Hackney recognises the severe deficiency of kids play areas in Dalston, it has now informed us that it's "vision" is not to provide the playground as part of the redevelopment of the Eastern Curve sites at all. It says the playground will be provided as part of the redevelopment of the Kingsland Shopping Centre - but that could be years away in the future, if at all. By that time our "12 year old and above" kids will have grown up after more years of playing on the streets!

The redeveloped Martel Place site will comprise massive blocks containing 121 flats but only 15 (12%) will be for affordable rent and those, in a seperate block, appear to have no direct access to the "semi-private" open space within the development. Hackney's policy is to aim for 50% affordable housing in new developments, of which 60% would be for rent ie 36 affordable rental flats in this case..

Council  planners have taken "independent" advice from Hackney's Property Service Department which, in turn, is seeking to maximise the receipt from its land sale. That Department has advised that 15 affordable rental flats are the most that can be achieved to make the deal "financially viable" ie so the developer makes a 20% profit on investment. 

Although the plans depart radically from the Council's own DAAP guidelines for the site in terms of building height, housing density, priority employment uses and affordable housing, the Planning Department will be recommending approval of the scheme to the Planning Committee which will consider granting planning permission on Wednesday 6th March.  A very large number of objections from the community have been made to the scheme.

You can comment on the official plan here
You can sign the dissenter's petition here

(PS  Play Space is so lacking in Dalston that the authorities 'big idea' now is "Play Streets." Ed)

Hackney to sell off Dalston playground.

Public green land owned by the Council is to be sold as part of a major private development in Dalston. 120 flats, in 5 to 10 storey blocks, are to be built on land which had been earmarked as a priority by the Council for a public children's playground.

Artist's impression of the scheme from the Matalan/Sainsbury's car park which has since been lined with 8 - 14 storey towers

The recently approved Dalston Area Action Plan (DAAP) specified that the public playground would be specially landscaped and designed as an "active youth space" for kids of twelve years and over. But there's no sign of that in the development scheme proposed. The GLA London Planners have even suggested that a designated 'semi-private courtyard' should be entirely privatised to give residents in the flats "a sense of ownership". The development will be 87% privately owned. 

Artist's impression from Dalston Lane railway bridge with blocks rising from five to ten stories.

We are told that the Council's Planning Department has already decided  to recommend the scheme although it departs radically from its own DAAP guidelines for the site in terms of building height, housing density, priority employment uses and affordable housing.

The development land's value will increase very significantly if it all goes according to the landowner's plan. The Council will be quids in too if it grants planning permission because it also owns part of the land ! In that case, sadly, Dalston kids would lose out. ( Not to mention the 60 odd artist's who will lose their affordable studios. Ed)

You can comment on the official plan here
You can sign the dissenter's petition here

(PS  Play Space is so lacking in Dalston that the authorities 'big idea' now is "Play Streets." Ed)

Linking Dalston's green spaces

On 11 February OPEN Dalston attended a meeting with the GLA's  Deputy Mayor for Transport and senior commercial  development officers of Transport for London. At the meeting we presented some alternative proposals to the Western Curve gated community for which TfL had applied to Hackney for planning permission (and which it has since withdrawn). You can read a summary of one of our proposals, "Linking Dalston's green spaces".

TfL, and its development partners Taylor Wimpey, had come to Dalston with a "pre-formed" plan and it responded to public consultation with cosmetic changes only. Our objections to TfL's plan are not confined to the lack of green spaces and improvements to 'public realm'. We also consider that the scheme's exclusive 'gated community', the lack of adequate affordable and family housing, and the damage to local heritage and character require changes.

This drawing illustrates the potential for a green route through Dalston town centre with little impact on TfLs current development proposals

In our "Linking Dalston's green spaces" presentation you will find an analysis of Dalston's development context, a detailed evidence base, our objections to TfLs scheme and some innovative ideas for greening over TfL's Overground railway tunnels.





TfL have agreed to consider and evaluate our proposals and a further meeting with them is being arranged.

We invite you to comment on "Linking Dalston's green spaces" on this blog or by sending an email to info@opendalston.net

67A-76 Dalston Lane - amended developmennt application to be decided

These are the images for the renewed planning application to re-develop 67A - 76 Dalston Lane - the site on the corner of Dalston Lane and Martel Place E8 by the mini-roundabout which leads to the Kingsland Shopping Centre/Matalan's rear car park. This is a major strategic development which requires the Greater London Authority's, as well as Hackney Council's, approval. Unusually the developer has itself, for some reason, undertaken no public consultation and few people locally seem to know about it.


Artist's impression seen from the bridge over the North London Overground line on Dalston Lane

The Dalston Area Action Plan (DAAP) identifies the site as suitable for 4-6 storeys but Council planners now apparently consider that the DAAP is "open to interpretation" and are rumoured to be recommending approval of a frontage bloc of 5 storeys rising to 7 and 10 storeys further back.

The developer proposes 121 flats of which 70% will be one and two bedrooms. The total 'affordable' flats in the amended scheme has been reduced from 44 to 24 flats - that is 18% by habitable rooms, although Council and GLA policies targets seek to achieve 50% 'affordable' flats in new developments. 

It is expected that the majority of flats will be bought by investors and that, as elsewhere, many will simply be left empty to await house price rises.

 
Artist's impression seen from the shopping centre car park 

The site is part of Dalston's "designated Priority Employment Area (PEA), where employment generating floorspace (B1) will be the preferred uses.” The developer claims that the 50 desk spaces proposed will result in a net employment gain but overlooks the total loss of all affordable studios used by some 60 or more artists who will be displaced  from the site and an overall reduction of at least 25% of the existing employment area.



Artists impression of the view from the listed German Hospital and Lutheran Church in Ritson Road, within the Graham Road and Mapledene Conservation Area on the east side of Dalston Lane.

The development will dominate the residential buildings of the Conservation Area opposite the site and, with other tall buildings, will contribute to the "cliff" effect lining the Eastern Curve pedestrian route overlooking the Kingsland Shopping Centre car park.

You can view the planning application documents on-line here. It is not too late to send your comments by email here

You can also sign an on-line petition here opposing the development which local residents will present to the Council in due course

TfL withdraw plans for private gated community in Dalston

TfL has withdrawn its plannning application to build a private gated community in Dalston town centre. TfL's plans would have resulted in the almost entire enclosure of public railway land, above the East London line extension from Dalston Junction to Highbury and Islington, know as the Western Curve sites. 90% of the residential development would have comprised flats for private sale and all available green and amenity space would have been within the development from which the public would have been excluded.

TfLs proposed 8-storey block on 3-4 storey Kingsland High street on the northern part of the Western Curve site

OPEN Dalston has been in discussion with TfL's development partners, Taylor Wimpey, since April 2012 urging them to make provision for public green spaces as part of the scheme but TfL responded  that there was no room on its sites for any small public green spaces.

OPEN Dalston has been invited to discuss the scheme with London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, on 11 February when TfL's Head of Property is expected to be present. Our proposals will be published here in advance of that meeting and will include plans for new pedestrian routes and green "stepping stones" through the town centre and using modern technology to capture wasted heat from the railway tunnels to warm greenhouses above them.

TfL's controversial scheme has attracted considerable publicity included articles in the Evening Standard, Hackney Citizen and this from our local Hackney Gazette  

Hackney Council is required to resolve planning applications within particular timescales set by central government. We requested that TfL agree to defer its application until after it's boss, London's Mayor Boris Johnson, had considered OPEN Dalston's proposals. Hackney is understood to also have serious concerns about the design of TfL's scheme. This week TfL has written to Hackney to request that its application be withrawn and this has now been formally recorded on Hackney website.