Via Tower Hamlets Council
Three Victorian houses on east London’s Isle of Dogs must be rebuilt after the council ruled they were illegally demolished last summer.
Tower Hamlets council has ordered the owners of the properties at 2-6 East Ferry Road to reconstruct the houses after completing its enquiry into how the buildings – which sit within the Coldharbour Conservation Area – were destroyed without planning consent.
‘Many local people were understandably distressed by the demolition of these properties,’ said John Biggs, mayor of Tower Hamlets. ‘It is right that those who show contempt for our heritage assets and flout the law should face legal action.’
He added: ‘I am pleased our legal action will help remedy the harm the loss of these buildings has caused to the area. It was my view at the time that the owners should be made to replace these properties like for like, brick by brick.’
According to the East London Advertiser, the Grade II-listed cottages were the last Victorian-era dwellings on the street that survived the first night of the Blitz on 7 September 1940.
The owners – who’ve been told they have 18 months to reconstruct the buildings to their former likeness – are appealing the decision.
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