Save York Hall

Dear Councillor

I am writing to you to add my voice to those of many others from Tower Hamlets and elsewhere, in objecting to the Councils reported plans to demolish York Hall and redevelop the site.

York Hall is an important building in the borough, a significant feature of local heritage in trust to the community, handed down into your care as Councillor. The Council is responsible for ensuring that important social and cultural assets are kept for future generations, and for encouraging their use by local people now destroying these assets would be a betrayal of trust.

York Hall has provided a focus for many disparate groups for generations, and continues to do so - it has huge social and cultural importance in many peoples lives as well as housing unique sports and leisure facilities. Its role in the boxing community is acknowledged worldwide; its an important and irreplaceable venue for important cultural events in the lives of the local Asian community; its large Turkish and Russian baths are a rare example of traditional health facilities, well-used and loved by many; the pool is one of the few remaining traditional 33ft pools left in London, supporting important swimming teams and Olympic swimmers. Many of these facilities, and others in the Hall and associated buildings, have been allowed to fall into disrepair by the council and successive managements. They need modernisation to improve efficiency and usage, NOT removal, or replacement with a sports centre with reduced facilities.

Rather than destroy a much-loved building at the heart of the borough and replace a suite of unique leisure and social facilities, the Council should work to improve and extend access to facilities that bring disparate cultures together. An important feature of York Hall is the cultural mix that the facilities support. Plans to replace the pool, gym and sauna with similar but diminished elements misses the point. Losing this significant social asset would contribute to harming community relationships and remove a crucial tool for fostering and supporting diverse relationships in Bethnal Green and across the whole borough.

Thank you.