Bishopsgate Goodsyard: Hackney and Tower Hamlets mayors in joint bid to halt scheme

Final proposals: following consultation and amendments, the latest designs for the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development. Photograph: Hammerson PLC

Two East London mayors will speak out against the contentious Bishopsgate Goodsyard development next Monday in a joint bid to prevent Boris Johnson from approving the plans.

The Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, and the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs, have already slammed the proposals for the site, which straddles the two boroughs.

Now the two council chiefs will publicly make their case against the planned tower blocks — one of which will tower 48 storeys high — at a debate at St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch.

Campaigners fear the vast development will overshadow the surrounding area and have accused developers of disregarding housing policy.

“This development cynically ignores housing policy and fails to provide homes that Londoners can afford,” said David Donoghue, a spokesperson for the More Light, More Power campaign group.

“Massive tower blocks will deprive local people of light and warmth every day of the year.”

Until September the two councils were considering the scheme proposed by Hammerson and Ballymore to redevelop the site around Shoreditch High Street.

But after lengthy revisions and negotiations, the Greater London Assembly ‘called-in’ the scheme, bypassing the local authorities and taking the decision into the Mayor of London’s hands.

The organisers of the debate, The Hackney Society and More Light More Power, claim they have invited the developers and Greater London Authority to share the platform and defend the scheme, but no one has yet been nominated.

The organisers are holding a rally at the earmarked site on Sunday 15 November, and are running a free exhibition, Bad Goods Yard, from 12-2pm daily from 12–30 November at St Leonard’s, Shoreditch.

Click here to register for the debate, taking place Monday 16 November at Shoreditch St Leonard’s Church, 7pm