Subject: Another aggressive development.
Dear Friends,
We had some very encouraging news earlier this month when a High Court judge overturned Hackney Council's bizarre decision to destroy Holborn Studios (see links below) but sadly this news has been overshadowed by an Islington Council recommendation to canyonise the canal near Battlebridge Basin.
This bad news relates to the Regent's Wharf planning application, which we have opposed several times this year. The council has recognised the strength of resistance, particularly from residents of Ice Wharf and Treaty Street, whose homes will be plunged into the shade, yet it concludes that the perceived benefits of the development will outweigh any collective suffering on the part of the immediate neighbourhood.
However, this is not a done deal, as the planning committee still has an opportunity to reject the application on Tuesday evening.
If you would like to show support for the canal, its heritage and its neighbours (human as well as wildlife) then please come to the public meeting at Islington Town Hall at 7:30pm on Tuesday 5th December. Following the council meeting (at around 8:30pm to 9pm) there will be an opportunity for a social catch-up at the nearby Tap Room (163 Upper Street, N1 1US).
I apologise for being the purveyor of negative news like this but sometimes it really does seem like the Regent's Canal's days as a green open space are becoming numbered and if we lose the will to contest plans like this then the canal will be absorbed into the metal and concrete jungle that is suffocating the rest of London.
Here are some relevant links
I hope to see you on Tuesday evening.
Best wishes,
Ian Shacklock
Chair, Friends of Regent's Canal
30th November 2017
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