EASTeight

A journey through the ruins

Bill Parry-Davies — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:26:59 +0000

On 23rd March 2009 a former local resident, Patrick Wright, came back to Dalston. He staggered into Cafe Oto, in the Reeves Printhouse on Ashwin Street, looking pale and shell-shocked. The quirky thriving Georgian terraces of Dalston Lane, which he’d written about in 1991, had been partially demolished. The remainder lay in ruins. Barratt’s towers had risen where Dalston’s old circus buildings, and its music clubs, once stood.
I had invited Patrick, and the writer Iain Sinclair, to talk about their new books at an OPEN event that evening. We were celebrating the publication of Iain’s documentary fiction ‘Hackney, that Red Rose Empire’; and the re-publication of Patrick’s book. Iain had been banned from speaking on Council premises but he had dodged the thought police that evening and slipped quietly into the cafe. “What on earth has happened to Dalston?” Patrick asked him in despair. It was a long story. “Even the title of your book was prophetic”, Iain replied, “A journey though the ruins”.
By the mid-1980s Margaret Thatcher had really hit her stride. In an irrational political fit she had commanded the dissolution of the Greater London Council, thinking she could be rid of Ken Livingstone and socialism forever. And so the GLC’s Hackney property portfolio, its monumental estates of social housing and forgotten historic terraces, landed in a disorganised heap in the Council’s lap. Hackney had little idea of what it had inherited. Let alone its value.
The Dalston Lane terrace was amongst the pile. An ‘unrestored’ group of late Georgian houses, with Victorian shop fronts built over their front gardens after the railway arrived in 1865. But the Council was preoccupied with its estates, and demolishing tower blocks, and so amidst vague talk of a new road though Dalston, it gratefully let the historic houses slip off the agenda. Those which fell vacant were boarded up. Roofs were not repaired. Leases were not renewed. “Time itself lay in broken fragments on Dalston Lane” Patrick had written of the 1980s. The 1990s was an age of neglect and forgotten prosperity.
But in 2002 a £70million Council budget deficit, bailiffs at the door and a letter from the government threatening to intervene changed everything. On 2nd April 2002 Hackney sold its 16 houses in the Dalston terrace to a faceless off-shore corporation, at auction, as one lot, for £1.8million. The controversial auction was one of many. A fire sale of Hackney’s family silver. Its historic houses flooded a market in which fortunes were won by some and livelihoods lost by many.
Then things got worse. The houses, and the few surviving traders in the Dalston terrace, now came under threat from the new owner’s demolition plans. To its credit the Council rejected the “bland and undistinguished” redevelopment proposals. But the landlord appealed. I asked English Heritage to report and a government Planning Inspector agreed, when rejecting the appeal, that the houses were “remarkable survivors of Georgian architecture” which “lent great character to the area” The Dalston Lane (West) Conservation area was born.
Rejection of the planning appeal came too late for those Dalston Lane shopkeepers already evicted for ‘redevelopment’. Others were forced to abandon their tenancies. The interiors of four 1807 houses were destroyed by arson and, with no structural support, three of them were later demolished by the Council. Our architectural heritage and local economy was being destroyed. OPEN members signed petitions, sent deputations and badgered the Council. We received its assurances in return.
As Iain and Patrick reminisced, the evening sun passed behind the Barratt’s new towerblock and a shadow spread across the charming old houses of Ashwin Street. They frame the view from Dalston Lane to the listed Reeves Printhouse building and the Shiloh Church. Despite the best efforts of decades of squatters, the houses had fallen into severe neglect.
On 31 July 2008, a squatter had thrown himself from an upper floor as 8 Ashwin Street was engulfed by flames. The fire came as no suprise. It was the ninth ‘development opportunity’ site to have burnt down in Dalston in recent years. The Council initally denied it had anything to do with it. But it later acknowledged that it did own the whole terrace. The old houses had slipped onto Hackney’s books in 1987 and had remained there barely remembered ever since.
The fire came at a time when the Council was also buying up other sites in Ashwin Street and ominously reporting to its Mayor about “a natural progession of the ongoing development to the south with Dalston Square and the new Dalston Junction station”. Although it has no published plans of its intentions for Ashwin Street it nevertheless intends to demolish the houses without further formality.
But for Dalston Lane there remains a ray of hope. In March this year the Council told OPEN that it had bought back the surviving Dalston Lane houses and the three, now empty, demolition sites. They are, it says, now at the heart of the Conservation Area and will be rebuilt and restored with materials and designs faithful to their antiquity.
The Council has spent more than double, on the demolitions and re-purchases, than what it got for the houses in 2002. Can it now afford to sell on to the tenants who were deprived of their right to bid for their properties in the 2002 auction? Or will it seek to evict them and recoup its investment from converting the upper floors into private flats? Will it seek to purchase the other, privately owned, houses in the terrace to implement a grand municipal regeneration scheme for the whole terrace? As our economy teeters, from a period of recession into the age of austerity, will there be new traders to afford the higher rents? The future of Dalston Lane terrace remains fraught with difficulty and risk.

Hundreds deprived of their right to vote.

Andrew Boff — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:46:26 +0000

At least 150 people were prevented from voting at the Ann Tayler Centre on Thursday due to lack of staff and the time taken to issue ballot papers. The queue to vote stretched into Westgate Street, with some residents waiting up to an hour and a half in order to cast their vote. At 10pm the ballot boxes were sealed, disenfranchising at least the 150 people who remained in the queue. Many voters had attempted to vote but left when they realised that the queue was not going to clear in time.

If you were registered to vote at the Ann Tayler Centre and were disenfranchised then sign the petition here.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/e8righttovote/

Celebrate Victory!

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:57:51 +0000

Throw away the ration book, dust down the de-mob suit and come on down to Broadway Market on the 8th May as it celebrates VE Day. The bunting will be out as you get transported back in time with the help of local craft & design shop Fabrications and Good Old Days hairdressers – to get your barnet back to the 40s. Dance along with the Lindy Hop dancers and join the festivities.

Vote!

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:56:55 +0000

Less than half the voters turned out to choose how they want Hackney run at the last local election.
On 6th May you have a chance to make sure that your views are heard for the next four years. You will be asked to vote for who you want to be Mayor of Hackney (there are two columns on the ballot paper – one for the first choice and one for the second choice) and to choose three local Councillors (three crosses against the name of your choices), who will hold the Mayor to account and speak up for your ward.
t: 020 8356 3000
E8Link: easteight.com/343

Walk the East End

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:56:20 +0000

Enjoy some exercise, have a fun day out with family or friends and learn more about the East End’s past, and, at the same time, raise some money for St Joseph’s Hospice. Their Great East End sponsored walk on Sunday 9th May is about 10 miles, starting at 10am at St Joseph’s on Mare Street and ending at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club at 5pm. It will take in many East End landmarks and places of historic interest including those made famous by kings and knights, and infamous by Lord Mayors and executioners. The walk will take you past the Old Bailey, St Paul’s, the grizzly end of the Peasants’ Revolt and the start of the Great Fire. You are welcome to do the walk at your own pace and to stop and have lunch or a drink along the way – a great way to enjoy your day and support St. Joseph’s.

Registration fee is £10. Please contact Ranall Leckie for further details.*e: r.leckie@stjh.org.uk*t: 0208 525 6033

E8Link: easteight.com/802

Rio lights up

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:55:32 +0000

Two striking new illuminated signs have been installed outside the Rio Cinema, greatly enhancing its visibility. The signs were originally part of the plans for the Rio’s National Lottery-funded 1999 refurbishment, but had to be dropped due to budgetary considerations.
They suddenly became possible again when ‘Making Space in Dalston’, a £1m programme funded by the London Development Agency to improve Dalston, decided that they fitted well within their brief.

Get involved with Parks for Life!

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:54:57 +0000

Parks for Life launches in London Fields on 22nd May. From 12 noon until 6pm the work of London Fields User Group will be showcased along with planned Summer activities. There will be a programmed stage displaying the best of home-grown talent that will complement a Health Village (health MOT), complimentary therapies, physical activities and a fully functional kitchen with local personalities and chefs presenting healthy recipes and cooking demonstrations.
Chair of the London Fields User group, Mike Martin, said, “It’s great to see so many people enjoying the park.”
To book a stall – E8Link: easteight.com/214

New Farmers’ Market opens

Andrew Boff — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:54:22 +0000

A new Farmers’ Market opens at London Fields Primary School on 16th May, running every Sunday between 10am and 2pm.
Cheryl Cohen, from London Farmers’ Markets, said, “We’re delighted to be welcomed to Hackney, and to be supported by London Fields Primary School in this venture. There will be a range of produce from plants to freshly-pressed juice, from asparagus to early strawberries – if we’re lucky. Delicious organic & outdoor reared meat, game in season, dairy, plants & flowers, hand-made preserves, soft fruit & top fruit, herbs, wet fish and shellfish, free-range eggs, and the freshest vegetables and salads.”
The school’s headteacher, Caroline Brittain, added, “We see this as a valuable opportunity for our children to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of how ethical, good food is produced, to support local small businesses, and to open up our facilities to the community.”
Broadway’s Saturday Market will also be expanding onto the playing ground site at the school in June with stalls dedicated to designers and local community groups. Along with the support already offered to local groups, the Broadway Market Traders’ and Residents’ Association will be topping up school funds with proceeds from the expansion.

Monkey Stomp Blues

Andrew Boff — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:03:17 +0000

Boris cash for Kingsland

Andrew Boff — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:52:52 +0000

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced £1.3m to make Kingsland High Street a much improved environment with better conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and other users, together with more trees and improved lighting.
It is part of TfL’s Local Implementation Plan (LIP) Major Schemes programme.
The Mayor said: “When the world comes here during the 2012 Games we want the place to look its best and for people to have enjoyable journeys through the area. These great projects will help enhance the Capital as a whole, giving local communities and visitors improved public space, and providing a legacy for London that lasts for many years to come.”
Under the plans for Dalston, access will be improved with new crossing points between Ridley Road and the station, and footpaths will be de-cluttered. Other works include relocating bus stops and cycle stands, and street trees will be re-introduced to improve the public realm. All works are expected to be completed by early 2012.