Sex, drugs, rock & roll. Berwick Street has it all. The heart of London’s famous Soho is populated by “models”, and dotted with sex and record shops. Coke, crack, dope and smack are all available – for a price – from its street corners. Add to this mix the famous market, there since 1830, and you get an area that Hollywood film star Kevin Spacey described earlier this month as having “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
But for the sake of the 500 residents that live in Berwick Street, and adjacent Hopkins Street and Ingestre Place, Westminster council is set to cut out the bad and the ugly. Last year, it cracked down on the sex shops. Now it is planning a major redevelopment of the area to crack down on the drugs trade.
Hopkins Street, which runs parallel to Berwick Street, is key to the whole redevelopment. “The council has two residential blocks near the street Kemp House, Berwick Street, and Ingestre Court, Ingestre Place], and these residents are marooned at night because of what has been happening on that street,” says Alistair Rudd, senior surveyor for Westminster council. He adds: “Hopkins Street is not beneficial and it is not pleasant.”
Bryan Burrough, chairman of the Soho Society’s town planning group, agrees. He describes Hopkins Street as “a urinal and a rubbish dump”.
The council plans to open up the narrow, dark streets around the area, create a direct walkway from Regent Street to Berwick Street, construct public spaces, add more offices and residential units, and attract a higher variety of retailers (see panel opposite).
It is still early days, but there is already opposition to the plan and numerous rumours about what will and will not happen to the area.
At the public consultation last May, market traders expressed concerns about how the plans would affect their livelihoods. They fear the changes would see the market being forced out by an unsympathetic council.
The council denies that it wants to close the market, and claims all will be revealed at a meeting, set up by Michael Chudzynski, divisional director at Nelson Bakewell, which is advising the council. Chudzynski says the meeting is so “EG can get the story straight.”
Prior to the meeting, a scout around the area proves one thing: despite differences of opinion about what will happen with the proposed redevelopment, there is no denying the area badly needs something to be done.
“In one way the area has died a death,” remarks Chris Phillips, partner with Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, who was part of the team that oversaw the regeneration of nearby Carnaby Street. Holding his hand over his mouth to block the smell of urine emanating from dark corners at Kemp House and Hopkins Street, Phillips points to the dead ends and blind spots that characterise the area.
He believes it needs improved amenities, restaurants and shops, with a common frontage – similar to what Shaftesbury Estates did in Carnaby Street. “It is improving with the sex shops going, and it is becoming a more acceptable residential area, so there’s a natural focus on improving the area,” he says.
Branded chain names
At the meeting with Rudd, Andrew Sell, Nelson Bakewell’s director, investment consulting, and Chudzynski point to Marylebone Lane and the improvements made by the de Walden estates as an example of what Westminster wants to do in Soho.
“We want to keep the individuality of the traders and not have branded chain names,” says Chudzynski, adding that “Marylebone is an example of how an area can move forward”. Rudd adds: “Will rents rise after redevelopment? I should hope so.” Rents on the ground floor in Berwick Street average £12,000-£14,000 pa.
But the difference between Marylebone Lane and Berwick Street lies with the type of retailers already in the street and, of course, the market. “One of the keys to Soho is the market. It is one of the elements that gives the area its point of difference,” says Phillips.
Some traders feel the council is slowly pushing them out of the area. “It hates clearing up all our rubbish, and it has made us come over to just this side of the road” says one, pointing at how the market has shrunk. Ten years ago, both sides of the street had stalls. Some believe the council is also restricting the number of temporary licenses it grants. The council was unavailable for comment.
The proposed redevelopment would see the market shifted to the end of Berwick Street, spilling on to an extended Silver Place, created by knocking through a retail unit in Kemp House. Burrough says: “We thought the intention of the scheme was to enhance the market and improve the area at the back of Hopkins Street. But the council wants to reorganise the market. However, I am frightened any scheme would kill off the market and affect local businesses.”
When asked whether the council can guarantee the market’s survival, the council’s PR representative quickly interjects, branding the question unfair. “The council can give no such guarantee,” was the answer.
“Market traders have their own legislation under which they exist,” says Rudd. “Everyone knows Berwick Street market, so why would you want to get rid of it? There are problems associated with it, but the benefits are there as well.”
But Burrough believes some problems could be cleared up now without having to wait for planning permission. “Hopkins Street is council-owned so there is nothing stopping them doing something immediately. Hopkins Street could be improved whether or not the redevelopment goes ahead. I suspect no work had been done on it because it is down to funds.” says Burrough.
Rudd, however, says there are good reasons why no work has yet been done. “If you look at Hopkins Street, the problems are generally structural. You don’t have the activity,” he says, adding that the council has tried a range of cosmetic changes, all to no avail.
Good news for both the council and the Soho Society has been the eradication of one of the major stumbling blocks to the plans. The Metropolitan Police has put the 100,000 sq ft Trenchard House building on the market. The building occupies a prominent position off Broadwick Street and Ingestre Place, and the back of it will be used to create the walkway that will lead directly to Regent Street, as well as an additional 53 housing units.
The council has to convince people in the area that its planned redevelopment will improve their lives. It wants to start work on the scheme next year for completion in 2008.
