Cork Street, the iconic international art street, is in danger of being demolished and turned into luxury apartments, offices and retail spaces. The objective of this petition is to oppose the developer’s planning application, and to preserve Cork Street as an area of artistic and cultural importance. We’ve reached the number required for our first meeting with Westminster City Council. However the more signatures we acheive for this petition, the easier it will be to prove we that have the public’s support.
For almost 90 years, Cork Street in Mayfair has been one of the most famous streets for art galleries in London, and possibly the world. Cork Street is known and loved not only in Britain but internationally, and provides a major draw to London and the UK throughout the course of a year. The history and atmosphere of this street, as well as its close proximity to the Royal Academy of Art, make this a unique place to visit for collectors, art enthusiasts, students and tourists alike.
The careers of many prominent British artists – Barbara Hepworth, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, and Lynn Chadwick, to name a few – have been closely related to Cork Street.
A large part of Cork Street, the internationally renowned art district, is in danger of being demolished and turned into luxury apartments and non-art retail spaces. 21 independent art dealers operate out of Cork Street and the recent proposed property developments, by The Pollen Estate and Native Land, threaten to force out over half of these historic local art businesses.
In August 2012 seven galleries on Cork Street (Adam Gallery, Alpha Gallery, Beaux Arts, Mayor Gallery, Stoppenbach & Delestre, Waterhouse & Dodd and Gallery 27), were given notice to leave their premises in June 2013. Their landlord, the British insurance firm Standard Life Investments, is currently in the process of finalising a £90m deal with property developer Native Land. This could result in the demolition of 22 to 27 Cork Street – part of a 7,700sq m (83,000sq ft) redevelopment of a site that stretches right through to Old Burlington Street. Their planning application is expected within the next three months according to a trusted and reliable source. In the same month, The Pollen Estate announced a proposed redevelopment of numbers 5-9, on the opposite side of Cork Street, home to another four of Cork Street’s long standing art galleries (Hay Hill, Bernard Jacobson, Messum’s and Petleys), which if approved would start in 2015.
These two separate and consecutive developments would seriously damage the livelihoods of not only the galleries forced to relocate from Cork Street but also those remaining during the four years of major construction on and around Cork Street. This would inevitably result in this most British of institutions being lost forever.
The effect of this closure will be far reaching, not only for the galleries but also their stakeholders and indeed the artists. Businesses such as shippers, framers, catalogue producers and other local service providers will be severely damaged as well. Mayfair’s rising rents and astronomical premium rates, guarantee that there will never be such a prominent and focussed street dedicated to the promotion of artistic and creative talent of all periods in this area again. Please object to this potential threat by signing the “Save Cork Street” petition and help save part of London’s cultural heritage!
Twitter: @savecorkstreet
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Cork-Street/
