LGBT campaigners victorious as Joiners Arms saved from demolition – for now

The Joiners Arms in Shoreditch. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons

Campaigners in Hackney have welcomed the defeat of plans to demolish a beloved LGBT nightclub and replace it with office space and luxury flats.

The Joiners Arms on Hackney Road, Shoreditch, was saved from the wrecking ball last night, when the proposed development was rejected by Tower Hamlets Council’s planning committee.

LGBT activists said the plans, which would have provided a pub space in part of the development, robbed the community of a chance to revive east London’s dwindling gay nightlife.

Amy Roberts, Co-Chair of Friends of The Joiners Arms, told the committee: “In our view this is nothing more than a Trojan Horse draped in a rainbow flag.”

She said the development would have left the pub with no off-street smoking area and no basement storage space, and would force it to close early seven days a week.

Architect Frank Davidson of the group New Joiners Arms said the proposals “just don’t stack up” and invited developers Regal House and planning officers to think again.

“The Joiner’s Arms is more than just a pub”, he told the Citizen. “It’s a community to the people who went there.”

“They’re going to have to think again.”

Read More: Legendary gay pub The Joiners Arms ‘back in business’ with events on Hackney Road