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Mall traders make their point on the steps of the town hall on Monday |
Traders win battle to secure Mall’s future
Plans to overhaul historic building are thrown out
A CONTROVERSIAL application to rip out the “soul” of historic Camden Passage – The Mall – was thrown out as developers failed to convince councillors of their plans.
To rapturous applause, protesters persuaded councillors to reject developer London and Associated Properties Plc’s plans to decimate the building’s interior to create one open space.
The Mall, the “jewel in the crown” of the Passage, won the reprieve on Monday after more than 150 antiques traders crammed into Islington Town Hall to oppose the application.
But council leader Councillor James Kempton has warned the developers may appeal.
He said: “I expect the developers will appeal over our heads to the government to grant them permission. But if they do, the council will vigorously defend this decision and fight for the future of the antiques trade at Camden Passage.”
This week’s south area planning committee meeting was moved to the town hall because it was the only place big enough to house the colourful array of antiques dealers who turned out to object to the plans.
After hearing a long list of protests, backed by Councillor Martin Klute, the committee rejected the application for listed building consent to remove the walls that make up individual shops as well as paving slabs on the ground floor.
Developers argued that removing shop walls would restore the building to its original state, when it used to be a power station.
Mike Weedon, of the Camden Passage Association, said: “The Mall has been there for 30 years. It’s where people start off small individual shops. I’m not fighting for myself, I’m fighting for the next generation.”
Jan van den Bosch, representing traders, told the meeting: “The slow replacement of individual shops with clone shops means Camden Passage is losing its soul.”
Clive Jordan, who is on Camden Passage Association board, said: “The people whose shops are under threat are not just business people. Their shops are a reflection of their personalities. If it goes, a chapter in Islington’s history will go with it.”
But Phillip Allard, representing London and Associated Properties Plc, said: “The 1970s partitions have no intrinsic value in their own right. Removing the internal partitions would mean they would return to something like their original layout. No change of use is proposed. The antiques traders could be replaced by others like a sweet shop or a pharmacy. The proposed changes do not have any impact on the character or the specialist nature of the buildings.”
Committee chairman Councillor George Allan said: “Buildings accumulate history and changes to them are almost part of their history.
“It’s part of the story that it used to be a power station and became an arcade. Clearly we don’t have control over what is sold in the arcade but we do have control over alterations to the building,” he added. |
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