The Green administration at Hackney Council has cancelled Labour’s plans to sell off derelict public toilets on Brooksby’s Walk, giving a local campaign group the opportunity to prove their community-led vision for the 1930s-era building is credible.
Campaigners celebrate reversal of sale decision
On Monday, July 20, the newly elected Green leadership officially scrapped the previous Labour council’s decision to dispose of the vacant site overlooking Chatsworth Road, which has not functioned as public toilets for two decades. The Clapton Improvement Society (CIS), a community group focused on revitalising empty properties, had argued that the boarded-up building could be restored for public use.
Speaking at a protest outside Hackney Town Hall, CIS spokesperson Jon Aldenton called the sale “complete madness.” He said, “It's crazy economics because if you sell off assets to meet a revenue budget, you never get them back.” Opponents noted that the eastern part of the borough has only 11 public toilets, disproportionately affecting wheelchair users and those with mobility problems.
Community group claims watertight plan
CIS claims to have “a watertight plan to create an environmentally-friendly, community-led initiative to generate income for the public and the council at zero cost to the community,” though specific details have not been disclosed. The building has a history of redevelopment proposals, including a planned sickle cell clinic for nearby Homerton Hospital that never materialised.
In recent years, the site hosted a community café called ‘Nana’ until 2015, then a rooftop restaurant, Brooksby’s Walk, which closed by 2018. In December 2025, the Labour-run council approved the sale, citing high restoration costs and the need to generate revenue. After Labour’s defeat in the May elections, CIS revived its campaign.
Council cites strength of feeling and manifesto pledge
At a cabinet meeting on Monday evening, senior councillors accepted the campaigners’ demands, referencing both the “strength of feeling” and the Green Party’s election manifesto commitment to bring more council-owned buildings into public use. Cllr Rachel Nkiessu-Guifo, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Skills, High Streets and Markets, confirmed the council would initiate a “fair and time-limited” process to consider “credible” community-led alternatives. “Any solution must respond to the very real financial pressures the council faces,” she added.
The decision comes as the borough faces a “real financial crisis.” Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Florence Schechter, reported the council’s current forecasted overspend at £5.4 million at Monday’s meeting.
