Will The Truman Brewery Become Homes Or Offices?
Next week, on 31st July, Tower Hamlets Council decides upon the future of the Truman Brewery and therefore on the future identity of Spitalfields itself.
The Truman Brewery was once the largest in the world. Reputedly founded in 1666, it expanded through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, swallowing up the surrounding streets of houses to occupy an enormous site straddling Brick Lane. Even within living memory, there were eighteenth century houses lining the northern end of Wilkes St that were demolished for brewery expansion and the granite sets of this lost thoroughfare may still be seen traversing part of the former brewery site now known as Ely’s Yard.
After the Truman Brewery closed for good in 1989 and the site was unwanted, the Zeloof family bought it at an advantageous price and received public subsidy from the Council to refit the buildings as multiple work spaces. And it was this availability of cheap, flexible spaces that provided the birthplace for the tech boom in London.
Today, the next generation of the Zeloof family want to monetise their inheritance by building new office blocks across the entire site and turning it into a corporate plaza, like Broadgate, Norton Folgate or Bishop’s Square. Yet this appalling proposal comes in the midst of London’s worst housing crisis and at a time when there is a surplus of office space in the capital.
There are more than 23,000 people on the Tower Hamlets housing list, and a Community Masterplan commissioned by the Council estimates that the former brewery site could supply 645 homes for local people. In response, the Zeloofs are offering 6 social housing units in their development. The 7,500 letters of objection to the first Truman Brewery proposal were a clear indicator of public opinion on this issue.
For centuries, Brick Lane has served as the ‘Ellis Island’ of the United Kingdom, where successive waves of migrants have arrived, enriching our culture and commerce by their presence. This is what has created the life of Spitalfields, characterised by its markets and independent small businesses. For descendants, it is a crucial location as the heartland of their cultural diaspora and, in this sense, the story of the place is the story of the creation of modern Britain. This is why people love Spitalfields.
We are at a watershed moment in our history now, in which the decision over the future of the Truman Brewery will define the nature of Brick Lane in perpetuity. The choice is clear. If the Zeloof family get its way, their gated corporate plaza will push up property values and rents, driving out small businesses and offering homes only to the rich. But if the community’s wishes are respected, restoring streets of housing, offering small workspaces at affordable rents and opening up the closed thoroughfares, then this can ensure the survival of Spitalfields as a place to live and thrive.
Click here to sign the SAVE BRICK LANE petition
Click here to donate to the SAVE BRICK LANE fighting fund
Attend the Tower Hamlets Council Planning Committee meeting at the Town Hall in Whitechapel next Thursday 31st July at 6pm, either in person or online HERE
If you liked this read Truman Brewery v Save Brick Lane: What you need to know about the campaign to save the East End as we know it