Killing jobs and preparing the way for Tescos
Notting Hill Housing Trust have submitted a plan for a six storey building to be erected at the Westgate Centre. That site has been designated as a Priority Employment Area by Hackney Council. To get round this, the developers (Notting Hill Housing Trust) have proposed that the ground floor of the development should be offices.
Office space that has been built in the immediate area has been extremely difficult to let.
After being empty for a period the Council has been allowing offices to be converted into other uses, including retail. Recently, the Council allowed a change of use to the offices at 24/47 Mare Street, without consulting Broadway market traders, which will permit a Sainsbury’s to open there this year. The office space on Westgate Street at the Triangle, opposite the Westgate Centre, has remained empty of businesses since it was built.
Tescos would love to get a unit at Westgate which could kill the businesses on Broadway Market who have made the area the success it is.
The Westgate Centre has provided a home to many small and start-up businesses all providing much needed employment and has co-existed in harmony with the residents of the area for many years.
Small businesses at the Westgate Centre, many of which directly serve the local community (e.g: Rebel Rebel, Doorstep Laundry, Dog Villas etc..), will find it extremely hard, if not impossible, to find local accommodation as work units with parking spaces are in extremely short supply in Hackney.
Let your voice be heard and say NO to the Westgate redevelopment.
Comments by 12/01/2012 to Russell.Smith@hackney.gov.uk or to comment and view the application go to http://easteight.com/163642
There is absolutely no reason why existing tenants and small individual retail shops should be prevented from being able to renew their existing tenancies.
WE MUST ALL SAY NO TO TESCO OR ANY MULTIPLE CHAIN THAT BLOCKS ENTREPRENEURS.
Stephen Selby
No , no,TESCO.
Tesco could mean no lavieboutique
This is another example of corporate big business steamrollering over small independent business and communities. Every time your common folk make a success of a community and the area becomes popular the corporates and business men roll in and sterilize the area with there boring, soulless chains, designed to relieve you of you cash as quickly and efficiently as possible while your left with your ears ring to the multiple bleeps of the bar code readers. Soon you want even talk to a check out operative, because your just have to serve your self, if you can get the machine to work, that’s good quality service. How many Tesco’s and there rivals are there already? i can think of three local of the top of my head do we need another, NO. No one consulted about the stealthy arrival of the Salisbury’s just 100yds round the corner and there’s another two of them i can think of not so far away, and that’s without the other smaller chains. Given half a chance they would have one one every street corner. And it would appear the same goes with betting offices, the largest proportion in Hackney than any other borough? why. Is this really in the interest of the local community, many of us know our local independent shop keeper and small business owner and value our community’s, the butcher the baker and the candle stick maker. Hackney has always been a very creative and free thinking place which we should all be proud of. Communities aren’t made of the back of business men, planners and deal breakers, they take generations to develop. Unfortunately this can be destroyed very quickly in the name of profit. I note notting hill housing trust is a social housing group? busy buying up land many with empty houses on, and sitting on them for years till the times right to slap a large development on , or a Tesco as the case may be. hows that benefiting the people of notting hill? or at least socially minded? I’m sure the good people of notting hill deserve one of there social landlords to reinvesting there money back into notting hill, rather than meddling and developing there portfolios in other peoples communities. I would suggest notting hill housing trust know or care very little about Hackney or its community. I also notice that the proposed build on the west gate site is another boring soulless modern box similar to hundreds that already litter London historic streets.maximize the floor plan by as much as you can and build up as much as you can for as little as you can. I would urge all Hackney residents to be aware of all changes proposed in there communities and to stand together. NO to Notting Hill housing trust, NO to Tesco, NO to the development of the west gate centre.
Hello
When filling in the objection form here http://easteight.com/163642 do we select “REJECT” or “ONLINE OBJECTION” in the dropdown?
Cheers
Ann
Online objection