3.2 CASE STUDY 2: DAUBENEY GARDEN

CHAPTER 3.2

CASE STUDY 2: DAUBENEY GARDEN

Daubeney Community Garden in Clapton is a small plot of land owned by the council but was temporarily loaned to the local residents, who have spent 3 years nurturing the land into a thriving growing space for flora and fauna alike. The garden is situated in a safe, secluded area at the end of a quiet residential street blocked to traffic and nestles next to shrubland at the entrance to a local park which is an important site for nature conservation. Furthermore, the site is well connected to children’s centres, schools and the local park which bring the diverse communities together.

However, the garden will soon be relocated as the Hackney Council have approved a contentious plan to build 11 new, affordable and modern Council homes consisting of two and three-bedroom houses and a four-bedroom family house60. To

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Fig.9. Daubeney Gardens plot (image taken by author)

Fig.10. Daubeney Gardens current car park garages (image taken by author)

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accommodate the development, the 1,100m2 site consisting of Daubeney Community Garden (fig.9), 25 garage spaces (fig.10) and additional car parks will be demolished for the brick terraced houses, which also aims to tackle the issue of thousands of private renters struggling to afford a deposit for their first home61 .

To compromise for the loss of the community garden in Daubeney Road, the council has assigned a new, permanent plot of land in nearby Redwald Road. Whilst the Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville said the compromise shows the council is “building not just homes, but communities too”62. The new garden plot has contrastingly sparked community outrage as the new site is located along the main road next to a bus stop and exposed to the fumes of passing cars. It is an open site bounded by barbed wire and has no connection to the park as well as the long distance to the primary school for children to learn outdoors63. Despite local campaigners fighting hard to suppress the proposal, the council were nonetheless given the go-ahead to proceed with the planning permission and the decision was granted on 5th Nov 2018 with proposed drawings visible on the Hackney Council planning website. The local community claimed that the planning committee ignored the staggering opposition of residents to the proposals in the statutory consultation, ignored the voice of over 700 people who signed petitions calling for sustainable development whilst also failing to answer flaws in the planning report. A local resident claimed that “this application was put in by Hackney Council, supported by Hackney councillors and decided upon by Hackney councillors64 .

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Upon visiting the site at the start of March 2020, the site has still been untouched and work has not yet gone ahead despite the website stating work on the new homes have begun now and finish later in 2020.

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