still time to save the Ship Aground

The Planning Service have advised that the number of objections to the Ship Aground planning application are such that the application will go to the Planning Sub Committee for determination on 7th June. 

It is not too late to object: the Planning Service are required to accept and consider all comments received up until the time the application is formally determined. The Planning Service have confirmed letters of objection received after the 21 day period mentioned in the site notices will be given exactly the same consideration as those received within that period.

Ship Aground Heritage Vandalism: enforcement notice issued

On 18 April, Hackney served a Section 215 enforcement notice on the owners of the former Ship Aground building for the unauthorised and without prior approval partial demolition of this Building of Townscape Merit within Lea Bridge Conservation Area.

The steps required to remedy the adverse effect caused by the heritage vandalism are set out below. The notice gives the owners of the building three months to rectify the damage.

However, whilst this is a step in the right direction, if the new Planning Application (which is in 2 parts:  2012/0380 and  2012/0325) is successful, the enforcement order will fall by the wayside and the building will be effectively demolished.

We will be submitting our objections to the planning application (which is so flawed we believe it should be found to be invalid) over the next couple of days which we will post here in case you draw on this if helpful in any objections you submit.  If you support the saving of this building, you need to submit your objections by 26 April 2012.

Steps required:

1. Removal of timber boarding from the ground floor windows and door opening on front elevation and ground floor windows on both side elevations of the building and repair of ground floor window and door frames on front and side elevations of the building where fabric is rotten or broken with materials to match existing in terms of pattern, detail and design.

2. Reinstatement of glazing where necessary on front and side elevations of the building with all repairs to be undertaken to match existing in terms of material and design.

3. Removal of timber boarding from rear elevation of premises and repair or reinstate rear elevation of the property using suitable materials to match those on the existing property.

4. Removal of temporary canopy type structure from roof level and repair or replace original roof materials using suitable materials to match those on the existing property.

5. Refit the drainpipe to the roof of the building on the rear elevation of the property.

6. Removal of timber hoarding from boundary of outdoor area to front of the building.

7. removal of the advertisement canopy from the central first floor window on the front elevation of the building together with the removal of associated brackets from the first floor level on the front elevation of the building.

8. Clear the area of land to the front and rear of the building of building materials/ rubbish and other items.

All work should be undertaken in materials, techniques, pointing and style of those on the property. 

If you want these steps to be taken - you will need to object to the planning application.

posts... undecided

We're not sure what we think about the new finder posts that have just appeared on lea bridge riverside. They're a bit urban for millfields, aren't they? We rather like the ones that are were (and remain) there which are fit for purpose. The main purpose seems to be to let us know we now have a Canal and River Trust (which seems to have taken over from British Waterways). The money spent on the posts would have been better used if they'd funded a local group to do some wildflower planting along the riverside towpath. The only spring colour along there has been courtesy of the guerrilla gardeners who did some winter bulb planting over several weekends.

Acquired for Development By...

Trailer for the forthcoming short story and poetry anthology about the London Borough of Hackney, 'Acquired for Development By...'

Acquired For Development By - Trailer from InfluxPress on Vimeo.

the black path: it ain't broke!

Back in September last year, we posted an item about the ill-thought through MUG committee decision to  to institute for a shared pedestrian and cycle route on the Black Path in south Millfields.

Hackney have now confirmed work on this half-baked proposal will begin tomorrow. None of the flaws in the proposal (such as not burning off the two-tone surfacing) have been addressed.


Chris Proctor from Hackney's Traffic Management Team has been clear that the scheme is nothing to do with his department and it will only be undertaking the work to remove the white lines on instruction from Hackney parks dept and MUG Committee.

The only other (as far as we know) park in Hackney with a segregated pathway is London Fields. An assessment of that pathway (London Fields Shared Use) found it worked extremely well and we are far from convinced there is a problem with Millfields' path.

We think these changes are bad for pedestrians, cyclists, people with hearing loss or mobility difficulties and for dogs.