After years of campaigning to get the Park Keeper’s cottage on London Fields back into use, Hackney Council has finally responded to campaigners about their plans. They’re going to knock it down.
Unoccupied for more than 20 years, the London Fields User Group had approached the Council to use the cottage as a base for park rangers and as an ecology centre. The Council’s excuse for many years has been that it was holding back on any plans for London Fields while it considered the future of all of the park keeper’s cottages in all the parks in Hackney.
The Council says: “The building is no longer required for the management of the park and the Council believes that it should take action before the building falls into further disrepair. You will be aware that the building has recently been re-secured after being occupied by squatters. It continues to be an eyesore to the park and represents a risk to local community safety. Demolition of the existing building would not preclude the Council from considering a proposal funded from the community or a local business but this would also need common land approval.”
Hackney recently spent £9 million on renovating Clissold House in Clissold Park.