Out with the old? ‘Outdated’ Kingsland Shopping Centre could be bulldozed to make way for towers

An artist’s impression of an aerial view of the shopping centre site. Image: Local Dialogue

This is the first glimpse of how Dalston could look if multi-million plans to redevelop the Kingsland Shopping Centre get the go ahead.

The plans by developers Criterion Capital are in the early stages, and a consultation is being run with a public exhibition at the shopping centre.

An aerial view of how the large site diagonally opposite Dalston Junction Station could look shows the popular Dalston Eastern Curve Garden replaced with a planted thoroughfare.

Bill Parry-Davies from campaign group Open Dalston said he feared for the future of the garden, which is sited on land owned partly by Criterion and partly by Hackney Council and is one of the only green spaces in the area.

How the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden site could look. Image: Local Dialogue

Mr Parry-Davies said: “The thing about the garden is, for its sustainability, it needs to receive income. Obviously for most people it is free to use, but it needs to be able to charge for its use or raise funds from people using the facility for events. In order to do that you can’t really have an undifferentiated thoroughfare.”

A spokesman for Criterion said they are in negotiations about “reprovisioning” the garden elsewhere, possibly on land owned by Hackney Council or another developer.

Hackney Council said no planning application had yet been submitted and they had no comment to make at this time.

Marie Murray from the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden said negotiations were ongoing and it was too early to comment.

How the Kingsland Shopping Centre looks currently. Photograph: Josh Loeb

Any redevelopment would be likely to involve bulldozing the existing shopping centre to make way for 14-storey apartment blocks as well as new retail space, and it is unclear how overshadowing from tall buildings might affect Ridley Road Market.

Criterion says the current shopping centre is “outdated,” and its head of development Michael Hughes promised “exceptional permanent green and open spaces” as well as new shops “suitable for high street names and local independent shops alike.”

He added: “We want this regeneration to be distinctly Dalston.”

Open Dalston, which has campaigned against “overdevelopment”, has criticised the increasing number of tall buildings in the area.

Earlier this month the council gave the green light to a scheme by Transport for London and Taylor Wimpey to build high rise apartment blocks on the Dalston Western Curve – former railway land next to Dalston Junction Station.

The exhibition being held as part of the shopping centre consultation plans will take place on Friday 19 July from 2pm until 7pm and Saturday 20 July from 11am until 2pm at the Kingsland High Street entrance to the shopping centre.