Brick Lane to lose some of iconic brewery so bankers next door can get better internet

A controversial data center has been approved near one of London’s most iconic streets, despite campaigners warning it will gut the area’s character.

Angela Rayner has approved the development plans for Brick Lane which will see the Truman Brewery turned into a data center and offices, as well as the creation of a cinema, supermarket,

This would provide faster internet connections for financial traders in the City of London, which the government said ‘would be very significant indeed’.

The area has long been home to some of the capital’s busiest curry houses, so much so it is known as ‘Banglatown’ in reference to its history as a main hub for the Bangladeshi community in Britain.

Brick Lane most well-known beigel shops, which are surrounded by graffiti covering the brick walls head-to-toe.

But the new plans will develop buildings across a sprawling site which made up the Truman Brewery.

Its main site is just behind Brick Lane with a huge factory chimney, now unused, bearing the logo Truman looming over the area.

Locals have spent the last year fighting against the plans, submitted by Truman Estates and Zeloof LLP, after they warned the area will lose its cultural identity

Saif Omani, from the Save Brick Lane Coalition, told Metro the decision by the government to give the green light to the development was a ‘planning disaster’ – and the group are already planning a legal challenge. 

Saif, who is also a senior figure in the Bengali East End Heritage Association, said: ‘We will fight this and are looking at a legal challenge. We will certainly reach out to the new prime minister Andy Burnham. 

‘The area around Brick Lane is no place for a data center. It’s a planning disaster. This is commercial interests being put above the needs for housing and preserving our heritage and culture.

‘Brick Lane is vibrant and full of small businesses a data center makes no sense. Why have it in an urban environment. We feel our local voices have been ignored.’

He said the Coalition would start a new round of fundraising for donations to bankroll a legal challenge. 

He added: ‘We will fight on. This is not over.’

But the government has decided the benefits to the area’s regeneration outweigh the harms campaigners have pushed to highlight.

labor minister Matthew Pennycook, who approved the scheme on behalf of new housing secretary Angela Rayner, said they ‘acknowledge the housing needs of the local community, and the strongly held local views on the proposals’.

But he added there was ‘no detailed evidence’ that an alternative development was feasible.

Tower Hamlets Council rejected the scheme and the development was subsequently referred to the planning inspectorate.

Campaigner Deba Malique, who lives near the proposed development site, told Metro it was a threat to the heritage of the area and failed to provide the affordable housing needed as rents in London skyrocket.

She said: ‘This development is just not appropriate for the area. We don’t need pricey offices and luxury homes here. We need affordable housing for London – not this.

‘Also this office space will not be cheap and could force rents up for others as landlords raise their rents in line.’

She also said the plans fail to embrace the history of Brick Lane, which has its world-renowned curry restaurant market and the Bangladeshi community at its heart.

She said: ‘What would this development add to the community? Absolutely nothing, and Tower Hamlets Council agree with us. We have fought this all the way and hope the planning inspectorate will see sense.’

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