Waltham Forest Council green-lit a developer’s bid to replace the century-old stable with seven flats and two semi-detached houses, reports Josh Mellor, Local Democracy Reporter
A historic former riding school stable in Chingford is facing demolition after councillors green-lit plans to replace it with new-build homes.
The former Queen Elizabeth Riding School, next to the Queen Elizabeth pub on Forest Side, is a century-old stable building that has been left unused for a decade.
Waltham Forest Council’s planning committee granted developer Keir Goldstein, of VFund, permission on 7th November to replace the stables with seven flats and two semi-detached houses.
The committee’s four Labour members voted to approve the scheme, while Conservative John Moss voted to reject it, after which a resident shouted that the decision was “an absolute disgrace”.
Local residents arguing for its preservation said the “well-known and loved” building is one of Chingford’s few traditional Essex weatherboarded coach houses.
The stables reportedly contain features such as a forge, traditional paving, hay lofts and stables.
Many residents feel the building has sentimental value both as a riding school with easy access to Epping Forest and as a local cultural landmark.
Addressing the planning committee, neighbour Louise Street argued the former riding school should be restored and repurposed into a museum, but council planning officer Neil Hoddesworth said this was “unlikely to be viable”.
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Neither concerned residents nor the council appeared to have drawn up detailed proposals for the museum idea.
The building ceased being used as a riding school about a decade ago when the pub chain landlord The Orchid Group, reportedly raised the rent from £10,000 to £18,000 per year.
At the time, business owner Kevin Raby told the Local Guardian the rent had “crippled” him.
After the riding school closed, the pub chain – now owned by Mitchells & Butlers Retail – appears to have let the building fall into disrepair.
Part of the roof has now collapsed and boards used to block the open doors have fallen off, exposing the buildings to the elements.
A report by heritage consultant Laurie Handcock, commissioned by the developer, suggests that any possible renovation would result in a “Trigger’s Broom” building lacking most of its original fabric.
In his advice to the committee, which recommended granting permission, Hoddesworth said the building’s heritage value is “at the lower end of the scale” and provoked laughter from residents after suggesting “a memorial of some description”.
The planning officer found that although demolition of the building – which he described as a “non-designated heritage asset” – would harm the recently-approved North Chingford Station Road Conservation Area, the design of the new buildings would be “an improvement to the localised setting”.
Plans for the new homes suggest they will be brick and tile-faced with a low-pitched gabled roof that would “successfully reinterpret the architectural form of the existing stable building”.
Hoddesworth added that the area has a range of privately owned stables and that Chingford residents can also access the Lee Valley Riding Centre by public transport.
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