Important new views of the scale of the Goodsyard development
Join the Great Goodsyard Debate in Shoreditch on 16th November
Local resident, David Donoghue explains the issues with the updated Bishopsgate Goodsyard proposals and urges residents and businesses of the Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Brick Lane areas to sign the petition against the existing plans.
The Spitalfields Society has responded to the Tower Hamlets council final consultation on the revised planning application for the Bishopsgate Goodsyard with a series of devastating criticisms.
The Society’s latest objections cover the excessive height of the buildings, overshadowing and loss of light, the poor quality of accommodation, lack of affordable housing, poor connectivity, addition of even more offices creating gross over-development and lack of public access to a site owned by the public.
“If it were to be approved in its current form I believe our councils - officers, members and Mayors - would become a national laughing stock," says Rupert Wheeler, a leading member of the Society’s Executive Committee and himself an architect.
An earlier objection letter concluded that “this was the most poorly conceived and damaging development that this Society has ever been asked to review.”
The latest amendments, says Wheeler, have not addressed any of those objections and as a consequence “We therefore repeat our request to the Council that this application be refused outright. We also repeat our request that this highly significant site be the subject of a properly consulted masterplan by the two authorities working in partnership that might guide a far more sensitive, detailed and sustainable form of development of which all of London can be proud.
The Spitalfields Society have urged all Londoners to sign the More Light More Power petition calling for the plans to be rejected.
READ THE FULL UPDATED OBJECTION LETTER HERE
You can also read the original objection letter by the Spitalfields Society here.
Disappointing updated proposals for the Bishopsgate Goodsyard were unveiled today opposite Shoreditch High Street station by Joint Venture Hammerson & Ballymore.
The updates to the original proposals fail to deal with the critical issues that the local community has raised over the years of consultation.
Whilst four residential towers have been reduced in height, this reduction is minimal and totally inadequate in the context of the overall development. On top of this, the two office buildings sat alongside Bethnal Green Road, opposite the Tea Building, have actually been INCREASED in height, and a whole new office block has been added to the scheme. The tallest tower for luxury residential accomodation still stands at 46 storeys high, yet there remains to be inadequate provision for affordable housing.
We encourage all those who live or work locally to visit the exhibition Saturday 20th June or Monday 22nd June (11am - 3pm) to see for themselves the shocking high-rise development that is proposed for the Shoreditch, Spitalfields and Brick Lane area.
Dear Sirs,
The Bishopsgate Goodsyard
PA/14/02011, PA/14/02096 (Tower Hamlets) and 2014/2425, 2014/2427 (Hackney)
I strongly object to this planning application for the following reasons:
HEIGHT AND MASSING: At 46 and 38 storeys for the two main towers and 30, 26, 24 and 17 storeys for others, the height of the development is dramatically out of scale with the surrounding area. It will harm the setting of the surrounding five conservation areas and their many listed buildings. The massing is overwhelming and has no relationship to the adjacent, mainly small, plot sizes and low buildings.
DESIGN: The generic tower blocks will appear out of place and do not respond at all to the local character of the surrounding areas. The developers say it will be “a new place with its own distinct scale, identity and character” which is contrary to the planning guidance for the site issued by Hackney and Tower Hamlets.
DEMOLITION: A large amount of 19th-century historic fabric that survives on the site will be demolished, including many of the brick arches and the notable Victorian wall that runs along Commercial Street.
IMPACT ON LIGHT: 43% of the existing surrounding buildings surveyed by the developer’s consultants will suffer major loss of sunlight. Most of the residential area to the north, including the Boundary Estate, will be cast into shadow by the towers for many months. Obviously, this is completely unacceptable.
The proposed green space will be in shadow during the afternoon and evening throughout the summer, making it much less attractive than promised.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING: The small amount of affordable housing - 10% suggested - is unacceptable and nowhere near the Council’s requirements.
EMPLOYMENT SPACE: The development will not meet the need for affordable workspace and threatens to push out the small-scale independent businesses.
ADD YOUR OWN WORDS
SIGNED
The Mayor of Hackney has waded into the row surrounding the monstrous Goodsyard propoals by launching his own petition against the scheme
Mayor Jules Pipe believes the high-rise development ‘will cast a shadow over the whole of Tech City’. Pipe is also concerned the City-fringe scheme could threaten the unique character of Shoreditch.
The petition is on change.org HERE and we urge everyone to sign it as soon as possible.
According to Mayor Pipe: ‘These towers would stand almost as tall as One Canada Place at Canary Wharf; that might be OK for the City, but it is completely out of scale for Shoreditch. These luxury flats, which are well beyond the reach of ordinary Londoners, will cast a shadow over the whole of Tech City, and threaten to damage the local, creative economy.
And if you want to take action against the towers, begin by clicking here.
Read all about Mayor Pipe's position HERE.
Read the press reports about the petition:
Hackney Citizen: "Mayor of Hackney slams 'out-of-scale' plans for Bishopsgate Goodsyard"
Hackney Gazette: "Mayor of Hackney launches 'Save Shoreditch' campaign"
The campaign to stop the monstrous Goodsyard proposals has seen significant press in recent days, particularly following the launch of Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe’s “Save Shoreditch” campaign.
Recent coverage includes:
“Mayor of Hackney launches ‘Save Shoreditch’ campaign”, Hackney Gazette, 24 Feb 2015
“Hackney Mayor launches petition against Bishopsgate plans”, Architects Journal, 23 Feb 2015 (registration required)
“Heritage body warns Bishopsgate developer to be serious about rethink”, BDOnline, 23 Feb 2015
If you want to take action against the towers, begin by clicking here.
The campaign to stop the monstrous Goodsyard proposals has seen significant press in recent days, particularly following the launch of Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe’s “Save Shoreditch” campaign.
Recent coverage includes:
“Revealed: Hackney's rival Bishopsgate Goodsyard plan”, Property Week, 27 Feb 2015
"Shoreditch skyscrapers: Home of the hipsters is under threat from development plans", The Independent, 25 Feb 2015
“Shoreditch under threat from second wave of gentrification”, Dazed, 26 Feb 2015
“Bishopsgate Goodsyard: document used to justify lack of affordable housing revealed”, Hackney Citizen, 24 Feb 2015
“Save Tech City from being plunged into darkness, Hackney mayor urges Boris”, Evening Standard, 24 Feb 2015
“Hackney’s mayor has launched a campaign to ‘Save Shoreditch’”, The Dalstonist, 26 Feb 2015
“London's galloping high-rise developments face a backlash from protest movement”, The Independent, 26 Feb 2015
“The city that privatised itself to death: 'London is now a set of improbable sex toys poking gormlessly into the air'”, The Guardian, 24 Feb 2015
And if you want to take action against the towers, begin by clicking HERE.
Below are links to recent articles about the opposition to the monstrous Goodsyard proposals, and other general musings about the impact of tall towers in our neighbourhoods.
Architects Journal, “High-rise construction in London shoots up 56%”, 16 March 2015
St John Street News, “Opinion: Why the Bishopsgate Goodsyard scheme needs changing”, 5 March 2015
RIBA Journal of Architecture & Inspiration, “An under-designed, oversized development could be lurking behind that shrubbery”, 13 March 2015
The Guardian, “Britain’s housing crisis is a human disaster. Here are 10 ways to solve it”, 14 March 2015
City AM, “The answer to London's housing crisis? 263 new towers could transform city's skyline”, 16 March 2015
The Wharf, “Councillors defer 42-storey Isle of Dogs scheme”, 16 March 2015
And if you want to take action against the towers, begin by clicking HERE.
As developers put forth a scheme, one of the key considerations is financial viability. Developers submit to the local council a study of the costs and projected returns from the proposed project.
This is often the most important document as part of the entire approval process, as developers will argue that unless their scheme is approved as-proposed it will not be financially viable. They will argue that any changes render the scheme unprofitable.
So, obviously a public study of financial viability of any project - like the Goodsyard - should clearly be a part of any public consultation. For how can the public make an educated decision without all the key information.
And that's where the process goes wrong. Developers, and indeed councils, often claim that the financial viability study contains commercially confidential information. Ie we as the public will just have to trust that the numbers are right. Even Wall Street doesn't get away with this approach.
Many folks aligned with our campaign have been pushing for release of the Goodsyard financial viability study. After months of being thwarted, a limited document was recently released.
The vast majority of this document consists of blank, black pages. To get a sense of the preposterous document, check out this video HERE of page after page of nothingness.
Ultimately it's all just "trust us". It's like looking for numbers in a black hole.