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Dog track to be turned into cheap homes for families
Ruth Bloomfield22.07.09
Walthamstow Stadium, one of London's last greyhound racing tracks, is to be redeveloped as a “familyfriendly” housing estate.
A report on the site, which closed last summer after 70 years, recommends that its 1932 art deco entrance arch with its image of a running greyhound be preserved.
It suggests the listed kennels should be used for parking bicycles or “car pool” vehicles, while the central track area should become a park.
The report, commissioned by Waltham Forest council, will provide the blueprint for the site, which is owned by London & Quadrant.
The social housing developer intends to lodge a planning application in the autumn.
“It would be desirable in any scheme to keep the early surviving parts of the complex, believed to be the tote board area and the kennels — and retain the existing ambience.
“This will ensure that future visitors (and residents) will have a clear appreciation of the operation of this oncecherished sport.”
Responding to a lack of larger properties being built in the capital, the report stresses the need for family-sized units with outside space
rather than small apartments for single people and couples. By using the track area as open space, it envisages turning the site into a huge garden square.
“One of the defining characteristics of Walthamstow Stadium is the significant body of space at its heart, dictated by the size of the track,” says the report.
“This sense of space, and the role that it plays in providing a meaningful setting for the listed elements of the building, should be regarded as fundamental to the nature of the site.”
The report recommends the Grade II-listed entrance building be used as shops, offices or leisure space.
The closure of “The Stow” horrified greyhound racing fans, who fought to save it. David Beckham, who worked at the stadium as a teenager, said: “It's a real shame to see it go as it means so much to the area. I have great memories of Walthamstow and I know many people will miss it, including me.”
Built by William Chandler in 1933, the venue was sold by the family for a rumoured £22 million after losses over three years. There are now only two dog tracks in London, at Romford and
Wimbledon.
Reader views (36)
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- Mr Grimshaw, East Ham
This is only a proposal document and in no way mirrors what could actually happen. Personally speaking, I remain optimistic about the return of greyhound racing to the Stow but I suspect it will take the newly formed British Greyhound Racing Board to make things happen.
Quite honestly, those who run Greyhound Racing committed the biggest cardinal error of all in allowing this to happen in the first place. I am sure deep down they bitterly regret allowing the flagship of the sport to merely fade away. Now is the opportunity for them to step in and give Ricky Holloway and others the real backing and ultimately get Walthamstow racing again.
- John Mcsharry, Preston England
Where will all the dogs in Walthamstow go on a Saturday night now?
- Bob, Cheam
Great! ...The stadium is to go to make room for "social housing" (Translation: "immigrants and the underclass").
London doesn't NEED more housing: it needs fewer people. Just get rid of all the illegals and phoney asylum chancers, and the problem's solved.
- Croyboy, Croydon
The Chandlers are a disgrace by not even offering the stadium to the industry and instead trying to run it in the ground.
Save Our Stow
- Sidney, Tottenham
Who cares what happens in the over-priced rot hole that is London.
- Will Hicks, Not London
No mention in the report that a change of use of the site has to be agreed. It is land for employment & leisure please all go to www.saveourstow.com to stop L&Q.
The report also fails to mention the flood plain risk.
L&Q bought the site with tax payers money 18m - they have already lost 6million for the tax payer, taken away employment and the night time economy for residents.Saveourstow will object to any planning application and demand L&Q sell to return racing to the iconic stow
- Rick Holloway, east london
Affordable homes for immigrants with large families. Maybe Trevor Phillips should do a count on how many there will be there when complete and release the report.
- Mike, London
Alan E17.
A sad day when the track closed
We had dogs running there as well, now have to run at Harlow!!!
So Walthamstow Dog Track is to be being turned into a housing estate filled with cheap homes for families.
I would suspect single mums, asylum seekers, and illegals who have blagged there way in to stay here, and all will be poncing off the taxpayer, ie us!
- Peter Gibson, Romford, England
This document is only the Council's Planning Brief for the site, it is in no way what L&Q may decide to apply for Planning Permission to build. Most likely the end result will be another badly designed and badly built sink estate inadequately managed by an RSL.
- Matt, London, UK
All down to Harlow then for a jolly up - shame on the chandlers
- Sean, chingford
i agree with all comments on this its a disgace being an owner of grehounds that graced the track had many fun nits with the family and friends now as we all drive past we will have fun watchng the police rading it very sad day
- Alan, e17
The neighbourhood is "going to the dogs" in more ways than one!
- Peter, London
My Grandfather Hall will turn in his grave. But Grandmother Hall will be delighted.
- Albert Hall, hove england
Same as they said about Catford Stadium a few years ago knocked it down and absolutly nothing has happenned to the land just a building site full of crap!
- Stuart Wing, Sydenham
WOW how innovative and forward thinking Waltham Forest council's proposed plans seem,if this is the best Waltham Forest planners can come up with, it leads me to think are they fit for purpose. The people who reside either side of this proposed monstrosity can kiss goodbye to any privacy they may have.As for the people on Empress Avenue it looks like a new bit of road is going in.
- Leonard Lillywhites, N.London
"family friendly..." in Walthamstow? Been there, worked there for two years, had the tee shirt nicked - the place perfectly mirrors dumpUK.
- Ted, London
an other nail in the coffin for brown mind you the amout of forigen people he has let in they could be the majorety vote
- Terry C, London
“This will ensure that future visitors (and residents) will have a clear appreciation of the operation of this once cherished sport.”
Mmmm, yeah, I can well believe all the 3rd world scum that'll be given flats in there will appreciate such things, in between their trips to the benefits office and maternity ward as they pop out their 15th sprog. (THIS IS HEAVY SARCASM, IF YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT!)
- George Roberts, Leyton, London, England's Once Green and Pleasant Land
I go past the deserted Catford dog track everyday on the train, been left to ruin for years and nothing done with the space where the track once was, who wants to live in a new build anyway they are vile.
- Claire, London
Absolutely agree with Lin, Andy, Steve, Teddy: is this what our fathers and grandfathers fought for, England was once a green and pleasant land, now it is the dumpster for the world's undesirables.
- Tinkerbelle, London
Reading between the lines,homes for immigrants.Nothing against them personally you understand,I'm just fed up with bailing them out when you get nothing in return.
- Pete, London
Throwing in a few meaningless gestures as a sop to the pretence that they could care less about the effects of their decison making, the report says the 1932 art deco entrance arch should be retained and the listed kennels be used for parking bicycles. In order to pack in as many people as possible and pretend they will have enough space the report also says that the track area should become a park. I fear, the architects which have their faces in this project, want not so much a park as a killing ground.
The report was compiled by an outfit called Urban Practitioners with advice from Alan Baxter & Associates and Allies & Morrison. One look at the concrete abominations proudly displayed on the website of Allies and Morrison, let alone the appalling bland conformity of their own work-place should have been enough to put anyone on notice of just how bad this project will be capable of turning out. Not WF council apparently.
The recommendations pretend they want to protect the original features of the site. This is guff. The original feature of the site was that it was a dog track.
Now the dogs are gone, people look like they are going to be packed into rabbit hutches by a gang of unaccountable social engineers and politically connected fixers and concrete mixers. It is going to be awful.
- T2, Walthamstow
I am surprised that the Labour spin machine hasn't used this to highlight the fact that Britain isn't going to the dogs!
- Mark, South-East London
The Council did not lift a finger to stop the closure of one of the Borough's very few defining landmarks. The reason is that they have agreed with central government, in return for a pitiful amount of extra infrastructure funding, to allow for an extra 20,000 population in the next five years. This at at time when they admit having no idea what the real, as opposed to official, population is at the moment.The place is bursting with unlawful HMO's and overseas workers hoping for Olympic building jobs. We have been warned to expect an explosion in prostitution, which happens whenever the Olympics comes to town. Whenever a place of employment closes in this Borough it is replaced by the maximum amount of cheap housing. We already have one of the highest percentages of population who have to commute outside their home borough to go to work. This forces traffic on to a congested Victorian road system which nobody is planning to improve, while the Council pursues anti-car policies under a bogus'green'facade.
It seems clear that Labour (helped here by their Lib Dem groupies in the local Council coalition), have decided that their new constituency lies with a grateful client pool of new immigrants to replace the traditional working class they have abandoned. So the borough turns into a low-wage Soweto for London.
Everyone can see this happening, but nobody has any power to stop it in between elections - and with party coalitions those mean precious little either
- Mdj E10, london uk
Worry not,the nostalgia will still be there.Visit this place once built and you'll experience a few close run ins.
The residents won't appreciate its past though I suppose the kennels can be used to house the pit bulls.
- Eddie, Hammersmith
I live nearby & agree with all the other comments. Waltham Forest is stuffed full of new builds, blocks of flats that don't sell & lie empty, low cost housing tenanted by people from out of the area when young adults born & brought up in the area are still at home cos they cannot afford to buy and don't qualify for social housing, why are we surprised at the high rates of teenage pregancy! Beautiful old houses coverted into tiny flats for a quick buck by slum landlords, no development of the infrastructure to support this increase of residents, doctors, parking, hospital beds (esp. maternity) schools. I have lived in WF most of my life and it is now unrecognisable. With no sense of community or belonging is it any surprise that no-one cares about the local environment (dirty streets, flytipping) let alone Global Warming. Government & Local Planners need to come & live here. Shame on you! Thank heavens my Mum & Gran aren't around to see it.
- Enraged Of E4, Chingford, London
It is very sad that Waltham Forest council appeared not to want to save this iconic venue as a greyhound stadium.
- Mike Constable, Islington, London
I remember the club under the dogtrack "Charlie Chans"many a eventful night in there in my younger days.
As been said on here another sink estate-another example of how Britain is becoming cheap&nasty.
- Russell, London
London needs more green spaces not another estate for the underclass.
- Madmax, London, UK
I have just google earthed walthamstow dog track and i find it totally inconceivable how London & Quadrant can say they can build 3,000 homes on this piece of land,unless they intend to concrete over the adjacent park as well,which would not surprise me. Totally agree with the posts by Lin,Andy,Steve & Teddy.
- Leonard Lillywhites, N.London
It's a disgrace to have let this icon of the area go. It is missed terribly by locals and visitors to the area. I don't know how the infrastruacture of this locale can support another 3,000 homes, the schools certainly can't.
- Sandra, Chingford
Another estate that will be filled with druggies, dropouts, illegals immigrants.
- Lin, London England
Another great english past time destroyed to make way for more immigrant accomodation,I have to agree with steve,london.Our country is being turned into a third world s..t h..e by this government and something needs to be done about it.
- Andy, london
Family Friendly?You're having a laugh.I work in Walthamstow and all the housing estates are rife with drop outs and drugs,most of the inhabitants are foreign to boot.
You'd have to be an asylum seeker to live here as the locals know better.
- Steve, London
Absolutely disgusting.....
- Teddy, Islington, London
