Ship Aground Heritage Vandalism Update

In February, we did a posting (heritage-vandalism update) advising that Hackney had received a planning application for the Ship Aground on Lea Bridge Road which was deemed invalid. The applicants have updated the application and Hackney have deemed it valid and it is now on the planning portal. It's in two parts: the first is 2012/0380 which is for the partial demolition of the building. The second part: 2012/0325
is for the erection of a part single storey and part two storey rear extensions and roof extension in connection with the use of the building as a place of worship and community centre. The closing date for comments on the application is 26 April 2012. 

Council officers have confirmed (irrespective of the new planning application), the owners of the building will be served a Section 215 enforcement notice for the unauthorised and without prior approval partial demolition of this Building of Townscape Merit within Lea Bridge Conservation Area. We will publish a copy of the notice once it has been served. The notice seems as if if will be extensive and will set a time limit for the owners of the building to rectify the damage. However, if the new planning application is successful, it will fall by the wayside.

We will be submitting our objections to the planning application that, by proposing to more than double the size of the building, is disproportionate and is neither sensitive to the building itself or its historical setting.

Below are some of the images from of the proposal from the planning application which show how little of the building will be left if this planning application goes through: just three side walls.