I can’t, however, see that this particular development is a huge loss. If you look at other property that has been converted on the same street, it is inevitable that money is going to take over, at least until it gets down to the Graham Rd crossroads. You can’t park in front of these shops and the whole run has been in serious decline for years.

“As a resident in nearby **** Road, I oppose the demolition of the buildings on this site. The proposed development should include affordable housing as a necessity. It should not be pricing locals out of the market: those people who can no longer be with their extended families as a result of the inequality in housing value. In terms of the aesthetic value of the proposed design of this site – there is none. This is, I understand, an emotive subject and one that does not always allow room for an expression of feeling towards the built environment in such cases. However, it is an important consideration when thinking about the relationship the community have with Hackney’s rich heritage. Where possible, elements of the Georgian buildings should be retained. Of course everyone’s idea of what is aesthetically pleasing differs, and I am far from suggesting that the site should remain the way it is. But the proposal for the site does not have a sense of longevity about it. In the fight for this development many will argue nostalgically and perhaps even romanticise the past. Please look kindly on such arguments as there is heritage-value in this site. Character is important to the people of Hackney and far too many buildings have gone that should have been saved. Don’t make the same mistake again. In order to move forward, sometimes we must look back. In this case, a connection with elements of the past in the midst of a society that is being dwarfed by high-rise development would help to ground and revive a sense of community on Dalston Lane. I want to love the Lane again and be proud to live in a Borough that takes its conservation commitments seriously. I urge you to bring back the character and soul to this area.”

There is a very long history of the council’s failure of care for this terrace. I don’t blame any single council officer, but over the years a mixture of incompetence, neglect and some very dodgey deals with private landowners has brought this terrace to its knees. The structure is not sound because of the council’s pathetic inability to fulfil its duties.

I suggest you and look at Mile End Road between the Whitechapel Gallery and Brick Lane to see what a council can do with a street scape if it has a will or any residue of talent.

Bruce