Will The Truman Brewery Become Homes Or Offices?
Messrs Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co’s Brewery, published by J. Moore 1842
Next week on 31st July, Tower Hamlets Council decides upon the future of the Truman Brewery and therefore on the future identity of Spitalfields itself.
The Truman Brewery was once the largest in the world. Reputedly founded in 1666, it expanded through the eighteenth and nineteenth century centuries, swallowing up the surrounding streets of houses to occupy an enormous site straddling Brick Lane. Even within living memory, there were eighteenth century houses lining the northern end of Wilkes St that were demolished for brewery expansion and the granite sets of this lost thoroughfare may still be seen traversing part of the former brewery site now known as Ely’s Yard.
After the Truman Brewery closed for good in 1989 and the site was unwanted, the Zeloof family bought it at an advantageous price and received public subsidy from the Council to refit the buildings as multiple work spaces. And it was this availability of cheap flexible spaces that provided the birthplace for the tech boom in London.
Today, the next generation of the Zeloof family want to monetise their inheritance by building new office blocks across the entire site and turning it into a corporate plaza, like Broadgate, Norton Folgate or Bishop’s Square. Yet this appalling proposal comes in the midst of London’s worst housing crisis and at a time when there is a surplus of office space in the capital.
There are more than 23,000 people on the Tower Hamlets housing list and a Community Masterplan commissioned by the Council estimates that the former brewery site could supply 345 homes for local people. In response, the Zeloofs are offering 6 social housing units in their development. The 7,500 letters of objection to the first Truman Brewery proposal were a clear indicator of public opinion on this issue.
For centuries, Brick Lane has served as the ‘Ellis Island’ of the United Kingdom where successive waves of migrants have arrived, enriching our culture and commerce by their presence. This is what has created the life of Spitalfields, characterised by its markets and independent small businesses. For descendants, it is a crucial location as the heartland of their cultural diaspora and, in this sense, the story of the place is the story of the creation of modern Britain. This is why people love Spitalfields.
We are at a watershed moment in our history now, in which the decision over the future of the Truman Brewery will define the nature of Brick Lane in perpetuity. The choice is clear. If the Zeloof family gets its way, their gated corporate plaza will push up property values and rents, driving out small businesses and offering homes only to the rich. But if the community’s wishes are respected, restoring streets of housing, offering small workspaces at affordable rents and opening up the closed thoroughfares, then this can ensure the survival of Spitalfields as a place to live and thrive.
Click here to sign the SAVE BRICK LANE petition
Click here to donate to the SAVE BRICK LANE fighting fund
Attend the Tower Hamlets Council Planning Committee meeting at the Town Hall in Whitechapel next Thursday 31st July at 6pm, either in person or online HERE
Office blocks will overshadow Allen Gardens
Luxury flats where Banglatown cash and carry stands today in Hanbury St
It is so sad that it’s always and everywhere just about MONEY. ‘Promises’ that social housing will be taken care of are always empty promises.
But the fact that existing war gaps also have their charm and can be preserved is shown in Kassel by the ‘Backstube Biergarten’, which is a cosy place that no architect in the world could have created!
You don’t have to fill EVERYTHING with concrete — a city must be able to breathe!
Love & Peace
ACHIM
I have signed the petition. Good luck with your campaign.
This is a hideous development primarily of offices that are certainly not needed in today’s London. But I fear that Spitalfields has already become a place where you have to be wealthy in order to purchase a residential property. If you wanted to purchase a home in Fournier Street or any other street in the area, you would need very deep pockets indeed, running to millions of pounds. And sadly the era of social housing has passed, mainly because of misguided political dogma.
Why does it always have to be luxury flats? What about some provision for hard working locals on low incomes who need an affordable roof over their heads?