Canal Club at Belmont Wharf

The council has submitted its own planning application to demolish the Canal Club and to encroach on the north bank of the canal.

Here are some photos of the existing site.

... and here is an illustration of how it might look in future.

These images of the north and east elevations illustrate the significant height increase of the buildings and the unacceptable proximity of the new buildings to the pontoons.

Impact on the canal and the boaters

To appreciate the severity of the proposals please see our 3-D model

Alternatively, please view these slides.

The proposed buildings are back-to-front! They are far too close to the canal and they are not stepped back. They are totally unsymapathetic to the canal and to the occupants of the moored boats.

Destruction of community garden

Over the past decade the occupants of Belmont Wharf have transformed this site from an industrial wasteland into haven for wildlife. The current proposal will destroy this habitat and replace it with a few of-the-shelf planters.

Disrespect for the canal

The design shows no consideration for the occupants of the boats moored at Belmont Wharf. In fact, the canal is not even shown on the drawings in the Daylight and Sunlight report.

Why object

From a canal supporter's perspective this proposal is unsympathetic and inappropriate. It will destroy a canalside wildlife sanctuary and will replace it with a bland overbearing man-made structure.

How to object

Please send your objections to Kitty.Eyre@towerhamlets.gov.uk and Development.Control@towerhamlets.gov.uk. Your e-mail title must contain the planning reference PA/20/00516/A1 and you must include your full name and address. Alternatively, you can object online via the council web portal.

The official deadline is 30th December 2021.

If you need help in objecting then please send an e-mail to friendsregentscanal@gmail.com

Local press coverage.

Article in Spitalfields Life dated 21st July 2019 (including responses from supporters and officials)

Petition.

On 18th September 2019 a petition was presented to the full council meeting at the Town Hall.

Sample objections

See the response from the Councillor Gabriela Salva Macallan, who is fully familiar with the community spaces that are under threat.

See the response from the CRT (Canal and River Trust), which highlights the value of the existing community garden and which complains that there has been no impact analysis on the moorings

Further reading

Planning statement: see the PDF file (5MB) or our mobile-friendly web page

Biodiversity report: see the PDF file (6.7MB)

Community involvement statement: PDF file (2.3MB)

Daylight and Sunlight report: see the PDF file (3.4MB)

Planning Addendum: see the PDF file (1MB). This describes changes made since May 2020 along with changes that the applicant has stubbornly refused to accommodate.

Find out more

If you want more information about the canal club community garden then please visit their Facebook page or their Twitter feed

See also this short article in Tower Habitats

Council website

You will find dozens of documents on the council website. Please contact us if you need any assistance.