A final verdict on the fate of Clapton Tram Depot was expected yesterday, but now Hackney Council has said the decision could still be months away.
The tram sheds house Clapton’s only two art galleries and it is thought up to 100 jobs could be lost if a planning application to demolish the depot goes through.
The property development firm behind the proposal, Sean Meadows, had suggested at a public meeting in January that a decision would be made by March 10.
The company has already seen two previous applications to redevelop the site rejected, and the Council has not given a reason for this latest delay.
The new plans include office and retail space, 92 flats and a car-park, but at the expense of the current array of small businesses, workshops and studios.
The depot, which was built in 1873 to house horse-drawn trams, is not a listed building. But many residents say the redevelopment would drastically change the area’s atmosphere.
David White, secretary of the neighbouring Beecholme Estate Tenants and Residents Association, has been campaigning against the proposal. He said: “If our little manufacturing place goes it will just be suburbia with offices and probably something like a Tesco.”
Adam Burton of art gallery Vulpes Vulpes said: “We’ve got a relationship with the local community here. We run workshops and kids from the local estates come by. We want to stay here for as long as possible. There’s a community village feel in Clapton.”
All three Leabridge councillors are opposed to the development. One of them, Ian Rathbone, said: ‘Whichever way you look at this proposal, it is a dismal failure and an insult to the people of Clapton by yet another money-grabbing developer who does not give a fig about the area or what local people feel about his plans.”
More than 1,000 people have signed a petition to object to the planning application.
Liz Rigg of the Hackney Society, a local conservation group also opposed to the application, said: “The proposals are not respectful of the local area.”
What is wrong with hackney Council, why can't they do anything at any speed at all. No wonder everything remains rundown in parts of the place, it takes a lifetime for them to make a decision and get anything done at all!
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