Canalside market sunk

IT IS not often that our committee meetings are accompanied by a bottle of Champagne, but at last week's meeting of the Regents Canal Conservation Area Committee in Camden Town, glasses of bubbly were raised to celebrate the refusal of the planning application for the Hawley Wharf Market development beside the Regents Canal, reports Del Brenner.

The market has spread along the canal from Camden High Street, and the crowds of visitors and tourists spill on to the towpath which becomes impassable at times, and a no-go area for families with push chairs and the disabled.

The strong objection to the market project was the replacement of the ground level market with four floors of stalls and food outlets.

The recent photo (above) at Hawley Locks shows the extent of the takeover of the towpath even at this time of year, and it can be imagined what it will be like when the summer tourist season kicks in. Four times that pressure of intrusion in the future with a multi-storey market on this section of the Regents Canal would be unacceptable.

Serious over development

The artist impression shows the scale of the four storeys market opening out on to the canal towpath and the locks, and dominating the main historic feature of the centre of Camden Town, which is the Regents Canal, of course.

It also shows that the developer perhaps wanted to disguise the take-over of the Regents Canal, and made sure the artist represented the market at about 8 o'clock in the morning before the crowds arrived. However, it does not conceal the fact that the Regents Canal has been sucked into the greedy development by the developer attempting to increase the size of his market site.

Serious opposition

The developer should not get away with this grab of our canal, and fortunately his nefarious plot did not succeed. There was some serious opposition from a sizeable group of local residents who crowded into Camden Town Hall for the crucial planning meeting with over 100 people unable to squeeze in and left on the pavement outside.

As well as criticism that the proposals did not respect the heritage and history of the canalside site and did not maintain Camden Town's unique character, there were innumerable other flaws in the application such as the gross bulk and oversize of the buildings, the lack of affordable housing and absence of facilities for the locals, and so on.

This ensured that the application sank, it is hoped, without a trace, and if another attempt is made for a development then it will be more responsive to the needs and sensitivities to the area, including the canal, and to the requirements of its residents.

People power

Camden Town locals and residents associations formed a ‘working group' chaired by local councillors to give advice to the developers over the years (yes, it went on for years) as their plans evolved, and the developers should have known better than to ignore the locals.

In the end the working group unveiled its own alternative plans when they realised that they were not being listened to, and many eyes were opened when is was made plain that a much better quality scheme could be built. As far as the Regents Canal was concerned, there were great advantages suggested in the people's plans including that the towpath should be separated off from the market, and with access points so that visitors could drop in on the canal, and enjoy the calm and pleasure of the canal environment.

Safer visits by boat

Boaters would also have a better and safer passage through Camden Town with the separation of the canal from the hassle of the crowds, especially later in the day when many of the visitors are more inebriated and cause no end of trouble jumping into the water, throwing cans and bottles, and even leaping on to the boats as they negotiate the three locks flight.

The day-trippers still take over the lock gates from time to time even though there is a clue in the fence that surrounds the lock that they are not welcome, as the photo shows with a boater attempting to operate the lock paddles.

No loss to the visitors

There are acres and acres of stalls and markets in the Camden Town area, and the local residents made it perfectly clear that they did not want even more market, some of which is very tacky, right in the heart of their community. The loss of the expansion of the markets at Hawley Wharf would not deprive visitors and tourists of anything, and in fact it could be an opportunity to provide a wider range of attractions and facilities for the visitors, as well as a much improved canal experience for them.

It should be noted that authorities such as the Mayor's Greater London Authority, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment CABE, English Heritage and others would not back the plans.

British Waterways 'no objection'

However, Camden Council, the ones who shoehorned the Kings Cross development through, supported the Hawley Wharf market development had recommended consent. So did the main authority whose responsibility is the well-being and good order, and the secure long-term future of the canals, British Waterways, that had ‘no objection' to the planning application. In fact British Waterways said that the scheme would celebrate and enliven the canal, and that this would improve safety on the towpath! What a lot of nonsense we have to put up with.

The British Waterways support for the Hawley Wharf market application is unfortunate, and flies in the face of years of difficulties for boaters with disorder at the locks at Camden Town, and the recognition that Camden Town is the busiest honeypot site on the canal network, by a long way. The photo  from back in June 2010 leaves no doubt about that, and it has become busier still over the years.

It was not for the lack of trying that British Waterways' disinterest in Camden Town persists, as many letters and complaints have been made to British Waterways for years about the standard of maintenance, lack of security and safety for boaters in the area. Letters to the Chief Executive seem to have had little effect, even though British Waterways is so often obsessed with Health and Safety. It does not even appear to have prompted visits from British Waterways management to Camden Town on busy weekends to see the problems for themselves.

Not a good omen?

The attitude of British Waterways is a worry when a serious situation is dealt with by the community who recognise the problems, yet British Waterways does not back them up, or as in this case of the Hawley Wharf market, goes against them.

Is this a portent for the future of our waterways when more and more is left to the community, that British Waterways is just not there to assist and provide guidance, as well as work alongside the community. Is this a clue that the waterways will continue to be dealt with just as before by the navigation authority, ineffectually and without much responsibility and leadership?

Illegal market stalls

The present Hawley Wharf market with its ‘beach hut' stalls was constructed in the conservation area without planning consent after the Camden Town Fire in February 2008. Also the fence that separated the market from the canal was removed illegally, with the go-ahead being given specifically by the British Waterways London manager, even though it is illegal to carry out any demolition in a conservation area without planning consent.

There is a strong movement by the locals calling for enforcement action to be taken by Camden Council to smarten up the ‘temporary' market which will not now be rebuilt for a number of years, and for some form of dividing fence to be replaced to protect the canal from intrusion of the commercial pressures of the market.

We hope to see calm restored to the Regents Canal, and then Jenny and Alex (pictured at Hawley Locks) with their delightful London Canal Cruises on Helix will once more be able to say to their guests ‘welcome to Camden Town'.