Launched originally to stop the Truman Brewery building an UGLY SHOPPING MALL, the Save Brick Lane campaign achieved great success, but now the Brewery wants a MASSIVE CORPORATE PLAZA OF OFFICE BLOCKS as well - we need to challenge this too. We need to raise money to fund exhibitions and events, to produce handbills and films, to spread the word and mobilise the community against this exploitative development.
In 2020, we mobilised over 7000 letters of objection against the shopping mall. We have been fighting relentlessly in the High Court to challenge the legitimacy of the council’s decision to approve the shopping mall and our case arrives at the Supreme Court imminently. Meanwhile, we have supported the council to produce a Master Plan for the site that reflects community interests.
We want the needs of the local community for genuinely affordable homes and workspaces to be prioritised in the redevelopment of the Truman Brewery. We reject this soulless corporate style development that will push up rents on Brick Lane, driving out the small independents and undermining the long-established Bangladeshi community.
Learn more more about the Truman Brewery's development proposal and Tower Hamlets Council's Master Plan by visiting our website www.battleforbricklane.com
The proposed line of blocks overshadowing Allen Gardens public park
BACKGROUND
The Save Brick Lane campaign is a coalition of diverse community and heritage groups who have come together in opposition to the Truman Brewery’s plans to build a large corporate development in the heart of Brick Lane. The coalition includes Bangladeshi East End Heritage Society, East End Preservation Society, East End Trades Guild, House of Annetta, Nijjor Manush, Spitalfields Life and Spitalfields Trust.
The shopping mall planning application received 7,487 letters of objection (a phenomenal number), a letter of opposition signed by 140 Brick Lane traders and a letter of objection signed by 556 local residents. Despite this overwhelming public rejection, 2 Councillors approved the application at a planning committee of only 3 people.
If the Truman Brewery gets its way, Brick Lane as a place of diversity and character, and a home for the Bangladeshi community will disappear. Spitalfields is rich in history and its physical character should be protected by the planning system against large, insensitive development.
Visit our website www.battleforbricklane.com
Follow @nijjormanush on Instagram and X
Protest photograph at top by Sarah Ainslie