rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/save-our-space-e2-save-the-canal-club?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-save-our-space-e2-save-the-canal-club' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Save Our Space E2 https://actionnetwork.org/users/save-our-space-e2/profile https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/748/857/normal/PHOTO-2026-03-17-20-23-33.jpg We call on the Mayor and Councillors of Tower Hamlets Council to remove The Canal Club Community Centre, the community garden, our ball cage and playground from the Mayor’s Accelerated Housing Scheme and halt any plans for demolition. The Canal Club at Waterloo Gardens was built for residents of the Wellington Estate. The site was previously identified for demolition and redevelopment by the former Labour council administration, but those plans were withdrawn. Since then, the centre has been reopened and run by the Wellington Estate TRA and Volunteers. It now delivers a comprehensive, full and diverse programme of community-led activities 7 days a week, including: Toddler Storytelling; Wiggles and Giggles baby dance classes; Tai Chi; knitting and sewing sessions; community gardening and natural history; outdoor pizza making; breakdancing for young people; line dancing and karaoke social evenings; Sculpt Pilates; a science homework club; traditional Bangladeshi singing; Refugee Summer Activities; fortnightly Pop Up Pantry (food bank); arts and crafts for all ages; Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings; and events throughout the year. Alongside this, the award-winning community garden, run by the E2 Collective, brings residents together, supports biodiversity and provides a shared green space opening onto the Regent’s Canal. The ballpark and children’s playground are well used and valued by local people. If Tower Hamlets is serious about being child-friendly, established youth spaces must be a priority. The Canal Club site is exactly the kind of resident-led infrastructure that builds inclusion in practice, not just policy, and makes safe and healthy neighbourhoods. The building was designed, alongside Wellington Estate residents, by renowned, award winning architect, Julian Sofaer at the beginning of the 1980s and is a well loved building. This is not an empty site. It should never have been identified as a site for demolition. We understand that it was included in the Pipeline Housing Programme under former Labour Mayor John Biggs, despite disagreement from council officers about the apparent misrepresentation of bringing the site forward or proposing it as a site for development. We believe this decision must now be reconsidered. If included in the scheme, these essential and vital community assets risks being lost potentially to private housing. With the loss of public benefits delivered by these vital community assets. Once this public space has gone, it cannot be replaced. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-our-space-e2-save-the-canal-club