Bow Arts Trust wants to turn Erith Town Hall into a new haven for artists and creatives
Plans to convert a vacant South East London town hall into a “sustainable creative and community hub” have been lodged with Bexley Council.
Bow Arts Trust has applied to transform Erith Town Hall into several studios that will deliver “long-term social, cultural and economic value through affordable workspace for artists”.
The trust has not submitted a full planning application for the proposal as it believes the hall’s new use would fall under the hall’s current Class E categorisation of commercial, business, and service.
Bow Arts Trust has instead lodged an application for a Lawful Development Certificate for a Proposed Use or Development which outlines its basic plans for Erith Town Hall.
As well as the studios, the trust wants to build two flats on the ground floor of the hall that will be occupied by two residential property guardians who would be responsible for overseeing the upkeep of the town hall in its new use.
The guardians—who would also be artists and have their own studio spaces—would share toilet and kitchen facilities that already exist.
The guardians’ occupation would only be for a temporary period of up to five years “serving principally as a security and management measure to protect the building from vandalism, trespass, and deterioration during periods of vacancy and transition, and supporting the operation of the artist studios onsite”.
Bow Arts Trust operates several similar locations across London, with workspaces nearby including the Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead, Catford Dek and at Royal Albert Wharf in Beckton.
The trust has “extensive experience” operating guardian schemes like the one proposed in Erith, including managing one of the largest local guardian programmes through its partnership with housing association Peabody in Thamesmead.
When compared to these other sites, Bow Arts Trust predicts Erith will have a much slower occupancy trajectory because of its less central location.
The trust said: “We would expect Erith Town Hall to fill gradually over a period of at least two years, followed by a comparatively higher occupier turnover rate during the first five years while the site establishes itself, giving us an occupancy target by the end of year two of around 80%.
“This would be consistent with Bow Arts’ experience of projects in the aforementioned locations, where higher levels of reletting, vetting, inductions, and occupier support were required during these extended early operational phases.”
The trust has also acknowledged the three-storey hall will attract more activity due to its size.
Documents state: “The scale of Erith Town Hall—and the ambition to accommodate a substantial community of artists, designers, and makers—will generate a considerably greater volume of viewings, inductions, lettings activity, operational oversight, and community coordination than a typical Bow Arts building.”
The Lawful Development Certificate application can be viewed on Bexley Council’s planning portal at reference 26/01549/LDCP.
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