1929: Canalside House opens, serving as the office for Kensal Gas Works.

1980s: Used by Kensington & Chelsea Social Council, local charities, and Carnival. Owned by the Kensington & Chelsea Council (RBKC). The building gradually fills up, becoming one of the main centres for North Kensington communities.

2000s: Organisations in the building secure a grant from Tudor Trust to install a lift to improve access for disabled people. The council blocks receipt of the grant. When trying to force through the sale of the building, RBKC will repeatedly invoke the lack of disabled access.

2016: Part of a policy of selling off North Kensington’s community spaces initiated by Councillor Rock Feilding-Mellen, RBKC tells Canalside residents that they will be moved to a converted industrial site on Latimer Road to make way for demolition and the building of private flats. The Latimer Road building is a hot-desking space with no privacy or storage; the council tells the organisations: ‘take it or leave it’.

2017: During and after the Grenfell Tower fire, Canalside House is a hub for humanitarian relief. Under pressure, council Leader Elizabeth Campbell agrees to “pause” the sale.

2018: Without consultation, the council revives its plans to sell, revealed in an executive decision document during a scrutiny committee meeting at the Town Hall. The section on Canalside House can be viewed from 2:01 in this Grenfell Speaks video.

Thanks to community pressure, Deputy Leader of the Council, Kim Taylor-Smith does a U-turn: “Kensington and Chelsea Council has no plans whatsoever to sell off Canalside House, the building is a key base for charities and the voluntary sector, as well as small businesses and other local enterprises, all of which create important job opportunities in the north of our borough”.

He vows to work with residents to improve the building. This does not happen.

The council publishes its 12 Principles of Good Governance which centre around engagement and consultation with local people ahead of decisions being made: “the council recognises that it (sic) essential to put these principles into practice.” They are to be held to account on this by the Executive and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee. This does not happen.

September 2018: Cllr Taylor-Smith announces that the sale is back on with the building to be demolished to “maximise the density on the Kensal Gas Works development.”

December 2018: Another U-turn. Council planning officers state that demolition of Canalside House is not necessary for the development on the Kensal Gas Works site. Canalside House is not on the site, but next to it. The council again confirms that the building will continue as a community asset.

With the council’s chaotic handling of the situation, Volunteer Centre (in early 2017) and Portobello Business Centre (in the Covid era) both leave Canalside for more secure premises. The council leaves offices empty and barely promotes the shared working space on the ground floor.

2023: We reveal that the council has done a secret deal to sell to Ballymore. The developer tells us that the council were insistent on including Canalside House as part of the broader Gas Works deal. Canalside is to be the first thing to be demolished and last to be replaced under Ballymore’s plans.

February 2023: Cllr Taylor-Smith denies the deal and says the council will keep residents informed of all developments. There is no further communication to resident organisations from the council in 2023. The building is without heat during Winter 2022/23; it is switched back on after news of the sale is made public.

2024: All tenancies expire. Weeks pass until new one-year tenancies arrive, no other information is forthcoming. Tenants request an urgent meeting. Ballymore agrees, the council does not. The building deteriorates further.

July 2024 – The New Local Plan is approved at a Full Council Meeting at which no adult members of the public can contribute. The meeting is set aside as the annual meeting at which only young people can question councillors.

The Government Inspector’s Report on the New Local Plan states that the “main modifications” the council should make are to adhere to its own 12 Principles policy and to ensure trauma-informed practice, both of which are missing from the Local Plan.

To date in 2024 the only contact made by the council with charities at Canalside House has been to threaten them with losing out when groups are offered spaces at a replacement building if they don’t stay up-to-date with their rent payments. Otherwise, there has been no face-to-face, video or telephone contact between the council and the tenants of Canalside House regarding the future of the building. 

by Tom Charles @tomhcharles @urbandandyldn