Protest to Olympic Legacy body over plan to gut Fish Island of its Victorian stables

Campaigners are fighting the proposed bulldozing of an East End Victorian horse stable block on the banks of the Lea River.

They have sent a petition with hundreds of signatures to London Legacy Development Corporation to try and stop demolition of the stables at Swan Wharf opposite the Olympic Park.

A planning application currently being looked into by the corporation involves pulling down the 150-year-old structure in Dace Road, Old Ford, in the middle of the Fish Island Conservation Area.

“This commercial development will have a devastating impact on the industrial heritage of the East End’s Fish Island,” local historian Tom Ridge points out. “It would destroy what is the most attractive part of the area.”

All that would remain would be two outer walls to be used as low-level cladding for a new six-storey building, campaigners point out, with another four-storey construction in Swan Wharf yard overshadowing the original Victorian forge.

The stables are “a majestic, historic building” which campaigners say contributes to the character of Fish Island and provides low-cost workspace for the creative industry.