Hawley Wharf redevelopment – ‘Hands off our heritage’ warning
Published: 25th November, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
VITAL elements of Camden Town’s history will be lost unless a developer’s plans are redrawn, a leading conservation group has warned.
Members of Regent’s Canal Conservation Area Advisory Committee say plans by Stanley Sidings, which manages Camden Lock Market, to redevelop Hawley Wharf and surrounding land will bury key parts of the area’s history under concrete.
Committee chairman Brian Lake wants the developer to incorporate historic homes, villas and industrial landmarks into its design.
The company unveiled plans last week that would see Georgian and early Victorian homes demolished.
Now, the committee is calling for the conservation area to be extended and terraced homes listed. Mr Lake said: “It should be about the developer looking to see how they can make things fit in with what is already there. There are villas in Kentish Town Road that are listed and ones in Hawley Road should be restored and listed too.”
Camden Lock, where railway, road and canal meet, formed a crucial transport interchange at the time of the industrial revolution, Mr Lake said, adding: “It is a microcosm of London’s industrial heritage.”
A spokesman for the developer said its proposals responded to the Hawley Wharf Area Planning Framework and feedback from Camden officers and Hawley Wharf Working Group. “The houses in Hawley Road have not been identified by the council to be retained as part of the new development,” he added.