Last-ditch bid by residents to stop historic Canning Town library becoming a Nando's

Listed building: Canning Town Library
Rachel Burford

A last-gasp bid has been launched to stop a library which was once the centre of London’s trade union movement from being turned into a branch of Nando’s.

The chicken restaurant chain wants to transform the ground floor of Canning Town Library into a restaurant, with a dining area outside and illuminated sign at the front. But the GMB wants to turn the Grade II-listed building into its offices with a teaching space because of its links to the union.

The library and neighbouring public hall were completed in 1894 and after a speech there in 1889, trade unionist Will Thorne formed the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers — now the GMB.

Labour-led Newham council had identified Nando’s as the “preferred occupier” and the chain had hoped to get permission this week for the restaurant. But on Monday, following protests from union members and residents, its development committee deferred the plans until a later date to “seek community opinion”. Resident Josephine Phillips told the council it would be “selling off the family silver” if it gave up the library. But planning officers argued that library facilities had been moved over the road and the building was costing “£2,000 per week to maintain”.

Sam Harper, speaking on behalf of Nando’s, said: “Nando’s intend to spend £1.3 million restoring and fitting out the restaurant. In other restaurants there has been artist or music studios and this is something [the company] would consider for the second floor.”

Warren Kenny, GMB regional secretary, said the plan showed “an utter disregard for east London’s proud history”. He added: “We had been in talks with Newham about turning the library in to a learning space — which GMB would have had offices in. Instead they’ve chosen to feather their own nest and allow GMB’s birthplace to become yet another chicken shop.”

The library and its neighbouring public hall were used as meeting places by well-known trade unionists, politicians and suffragettes. Keir Hardie, Sylvia Pankhurst and Bertrand Russell all spoke at the building, according to Historic England. The library closed last year and services were moved to the “community neighbourhood centre” in Rathbone Market.

The council received enquiries from several bar and restaurant firms, according to a planning report. Council officers had recommended that the development committee approved Nando’s plan at Monday’s meeting.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in