Network Rail has agreed for the building to be rented out after nearly seven years of it sitting empty, reports Marco Marcelline
An iconic signal box in Highams Park is set to return to use after locals banded together to secure a 50 year lease with owners Network Rail.
Highams Park Community CIC, set up by members of the Highams Park Planning Group (HPPG) in 2017 with the aim of delivering projects in the area, announced they had secured the lease on their website this month.
Revealing they planned to turn the signal box into a small community hub, they said: “We are very grateful to have been given this opportunity by Network Rail and our goals for taking on the Signal Box are twofold: firstly, to preserve the building as an iconic feature of Highams Park town centre; and secondly, to provide a small affordable hub for community activities.”
Built in 1925, the signal box sits beside the level crossing next to Highams Park Station. It became redundant in 2002 when signalling was modernised and Network Rail earmarked it for demolition.
Residents however successfully campaigned to save it, but the building stood empty for many years while practical reuse was explored.
After a long period of negotiations, funding challenges and restoration work, the signal box finally reopened in 2017 as La Boîte, a small café and creperie.
But La Boîte shut two years later due to a dispute between the café and Network Rail over drainage system problems.
According to Highams Park Community CIC, owing to “operational constraints” it is not possible to return the building to use as a café but permission has been granted to hire the space out for a wide range of community uses.
These uses include offices, meeting and exhibition space, a community hub “or any reasonable ancillary use or event that promotes local engagement, creativity, wellbeing or enterprise”, the CIC says.
The group added: “The building has been unoccupied for nearly seven years now and is in poor condition both internally and externally, so it will take us a while to return it to a usable condition but we’ll let you know when it is ready for use.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We recognise the strong local interest in retaining the Highams Park signal box and welcome the agreement with the Highams Park Community CIC to find a use for this locally listed, building. While our priority remains the safe and reliable operation of the railway, it is exciting to see this historic building preserved and brought back into use for the benefit of the community.”
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or annually
More Information about donations
