Town Hall lays out plans for Dalston with promises to protect Curve Garden and Ridley Road

Hackney Council has published its plan for the future of Dalston, which includes pledges to protect the Eastern Curve Garden and support Ridley Road Market.

The Dalston Plan also takes up community calls for a building height strategy for the area, as well as outlining a number of opportunities for development.

Other policy suggestions from a long community consultation are noted, including a “clear vision beyond policing” for Gillett Square and warnings over “rent increases, new development and transient residents”.

Planning chief Cllr Guy Nicholson said: “The regeneration of Dalston Town Centre is vital to ensure the future success of the area as we build a fair recovery from the Covid pandemic.

“The Dalston Plan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) delivers on the Mayor’s Manifesto commitment to prepare a new plan for Dalston Town Centre to shape its future. 

“It does so by seeking to protect the Eastern Curve Garden, to support a thriving Ridley Road Market and seeks to shape the plans for the future of the Kingsland Shopping Centre. These will be achieved through the provision of detailed area-specific planning policy guidance.”

The plan vows to protect the Curve Garden as “an open, enclosed green space”, with all new developments adjacent to it obliged to ensure it retains both sufficient privacy and sunlight.

Documents to be voted on by councillors next week also set out a number of objectives for the protection of Ridley Road Market, including extensive support for existing traders and a promise to make sure any new developments have ground floors “that add to the offer, character and vibrancy” of the street.

The plan also lays out a list of development opportunities, with Kingsland Shopping Centre being the largest.

The documents add: “Other private and council-owned sites, if coordinated, could also provide a range of uses and architectural styles, with refurbishment considered for buildings that hold heritage value.

“With thoughtful and sensitive design, new development can contribute to the Conservation Areas as well as housing growth and additions to the commercial and retail offer.”

In what could be one of the more significant elements within the plan to shape Dalston in the coming years, its building heights strategy identifies locations suitable for taller buildings, defined for the area as anything above six storeys.

You can read the full draft plan here