Save the Rochelle Canteen!
Everyone has one of those ‘great little places’ they either heard about from someone else, came across by accident or found after hours of wandering through the backstreets with only a vague sense of direction and an A to Z. But it’s places like these, hidden in the labyrinthine streets of East London, known only to those in the know, that help uphold this area’s reputation as London’s creative hub.
If you find yourself on Arnold Circus, look behind a metal door into the old Rochelle School now A Foundation, and you’ll find precisely one of these places- the Rochelle Canteen. While the technicalities of having a café in an old bicycle shed are intriguing enough, the Canteen, situated in the school’s overgrown playground, has become a long standing and long loved addition to East London’s artistic community.
Every weekday, Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson serve up delicious homecooked lunches, priding themselves on only using the freshest, seasonal produce- a welcome change from the usual fare to be found in our lunchboxes. The Canteen has not only been providing needed nutrition to the inhabitants of the surrounding A Foundation studios but has also become a popular meeting place for local creatives. It’s this communal atmosphere, a place where people can refuel their bodies and minds, that reflects the same sense of community that exists within the artist’s studios- the same community spirit that has permeated through East London’s artistic neighbours since the 13th century!
This fact alone explains why the proposed closure of the Rochelle Canteen by Tower Hamlets Council has caused such an outcry amongst this tight knit community. Originally, the canteen was merely a provision for the A Foundation studio artists but now word has spread of these infamous weekday lunches bringing visitors from further afield. The alleged ‘problem’ is that this was not the original purpose of the canteen and combined with the fact that the canteen makes most of its money from off-site catering, the Council has threatened to close them down. The Canteen simply want to carry on as they are now- no opening hour extensions, no alcohol license, just the permission to keep catering external events, a vital source of A Foundation’s income.
However, in the shadow of the now imminent closure, the ongoing battle with the Tower Hamlets planning office has been joined by neighbouring creative residents in the hopes of combining forces to raise awareness of the canteen’s plight. Rallied together by Anthony Bennett of A Foundation, along with Idea Generation and The Chance Collective, East London’s artistic residents are determined not to let the Rochelle Canteen go down without a fight and, as you’d expect from these East London types, it is going to be a loud one.
To help increase this volume, we’re asking people to make a stand by contacting the planning office directly, either with the template letter or your own message, to help us prove that the Canteen’s current and proposed working will not ‘impede quality of life’, as the council suggests, but in fact- will do exactly the opposite! Letters need to go to Nasser Farooq either by email: nasser.farooq@towerhamlets.gov.uk or by post: Development and Renewal, Mulberry Place (AH) PO Box 55739, 5 Clover Crescent, London, E14 1BY.
Remember to quote reference Application PA/10/00037 in your letter and, if by email, copy Anthony Bennett into any communication then he can keep track of all the support: anthonyb@afoundation.org.uk.
You can also view the full application online here using the same reference number.
We cannot let the Canteen be closed down. We need to work together to make sure the council understands the power of a community and the effect closing the Rochelle Canteen will undoubtedly have on our creative community.
