Keep Hackney ♥’d

When Jules Pipe stated that people who opposed his plans for Dalston wanted to “Keep Hackney Crap” it upset a lot of people who think that the only ‘crap’ bits in Hackney are the ones that Mayor Pipe either runs or has neglected.

People who love Hackney and want to see it improved, not replaced, felt so insulted that my good friends at the Eel magazine started to produce badges with that very slogan on it. Pipe’s assumption seems to have been embraced by planners who see little that is in need of conserving. The destruction of the Dalston Theatre to be replaced by a windswept “Dalston Square”, giving permission to demolish Tony’s Cafe of Broadway Market (still a pile of rubble after four years) and now the development on Sylvester Path all have the support of a planning department who take their lead from a Mayor who loves property developers. Isn’t it time we had a Mayor who loved Hackney?

Links:

Hackney Citizen