A New Rose Lipman for De Beauvoir?

Organised by Jonathan Hoskins

There are many possible futures for the Rose Lipman Community Building of De Beauvoir, East London, one of which is its current allocation as a new building development of mixed residential, retail and community use, with a time scale of five to ten years.*

A New Rose Lipman for De Beauvoir? is a community project hosted by Open School East and organised by De Beauvoir resident and Open School East associate Jonathan Hoskins. A New Rose Lipman for De Beauvoir? creates a space where individuals, groups and communities with an interest in the existing building can get together to discuss its possible futures. The purpose is to explore which of these futures should come to pass and what can be done to bring it into being.

The first stage of the project is a one-day event on Saturday 7 June 2014, which brings together the experience and expertise of local residents, community groups, independent housing professionals, local councillors, and everyone else who wants to come.

From 10am there will be an in-depth discussion from all perspectives.
More infos : newroselipman@gmail.com

From 2pm, everyone is invited to pop in, hear the outcomes of the morning discussion and make their own contributions. After the event, proposals will be circulated regarding the next stage of the project.

As a starting point for discussions, a RIBA part 2 architecture student has been commissioned to produce plans for one possible future for the site. This new building design incorporates aspects of local government policies and recent precedents of redevelopment nearby which are relevant to the Rose Lipman Building. These new plans will be on display throughout the day.

* Hackney Council’s Site Allocations policy document allocates the “Former Rose Lipman Library and Environs” for redevelopment in the next five to ten years: new building(s) of mixed residential, retail and community use. (1) This piece of policy has now been submitted to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government prior to formal adoption. (2)

The Council’s allocation of the Rose Lipman site does not amount to a plan to redevelop it. It is an official policy on the sort of redevelopment proposal that would be considered appropriate for the site, and the time scale for it. (3) Under the National Planning Policy Framework, all local governments are obliged to approve development proposals wherever possible by working proactively with all planning applicants in order to do so. (4)

Notes

SALP = London Borough of Hackney, Local Development Framework: Site Allocations Local Plan, July 2013.
APX1 = London Borough of Hackney, Examination of Site Allocations and Development Management Local Plans: Appendix 1 – Revised SALP Site Policy Profiles, April 2014
APX5 = London Borough of Hackney, Examination of Site Allocations and Development Management Local Plans: Appendix 5 – Commercial Delivery Paper, April 2014
All of these documents are accessible at: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/site-allocations-dpd.htm#.U4XnXa1dUlM (last accessed 30/05/14)

1 SALP p103 & p11 (Section 9.1). Cf. APX1 p18 and APX5 ‘SALP Ref. 270’.
2 London Borough of Hackney, Proposed Site Allocations Local Plan, May 2014 (webpage; see link above).
3 SALP p.6 (Section 2.3).
4 Department of Communities and Local Government, National Planning Policy Framework, March 2012. Accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework–2 (last accessed 30/05/14)