Retail pavilion at Coal Drops Yard

Camden planning ref 2024/3019/P

UPDATE (25th Sept 2024) : this planning application has been withrawn.

There is a proposal to clutter the Coal Drops Yard at King's Cross with even more retail outlets.

The yard is the only coal drops yard left in England and it forms part of the contiguous industrial heritage site at King's Cross. Dating from the railway boom in the 1850s, most buildings were designed by Lewis Cubitt, who also designed King's Cross station.

This site powered the Industrial Revolution from London to the North via the Regent's Canal at a time when the railways, canals and horse-drawn carriages were connecting people like the internet is doing today.

If this planning application is successful then this important yard will cease to exist in any recognisable form.

The story so far

Back in 2011, we were promised a vibrant environment where the original buildings would be restored

Four years later, things changed drastically and designer Thomas Heatherwick was given carte blanche to reconfigure the rooflines. Although this was an awkward distraction, the yard itself remained intact as a public open space

Fast forward to 2024 and there are now plans to abolish the open yard in favour of a new "pavilion'

News and views

Guardian article (31-Aug-2024)

Architects's Journal article (28-Aug-2024)

Camden New Journal article (30-Aug-2024)

Camden New Journal letter (05-Sep-2024)

Camden New Journal article (26-Sep-2024)

Where is this located?

Coal Drops Yard sits between St Pancras Lock and Granary Square and it is accessible from the Regent's Canal towpath.

Illustrations

Click here to see some artist's impressions and other images.

Sample objections

Here are some responses extracted from the council website

Here is an objection from the Friends of Regent's Canal

Should we object to this plan?

This plan is insensitive to a heritage asset and will result in a net loss of flexible community open space. The pavilion would encroach on an important historic yard that has been carefully restored.

If this goes ahead then it will cancel out one of the main benefits of the King's Cross redevelopment and it will defy the masterplan for the area.

How to object

The official deadline has already expired but the case officer will still accept comments from the public.

Please send an e-mail to planning@camden.gov.uk, addressed to the case officer, Edward Hodgson. You should include the planning reference (2024/3019/P) in the title and body of your e-mail.

Council website

Show summary of the application