A RUMOUR that the prime site of St Matthias, above, at Hackney E8 1NH has been sold for £2.2 million, has been denied by the youth club’s chairman.

Young people have been worried that the Dalston Lane club will lose its premises, as have local residents. Some of them also fear a high-rise building on the land, at the corner of Cecilia Road.

The seller is owner London Youth (LY), a federation of clubs.

David Birchall, a City lawyer, told Loving Dalston: “We hope Matthias will be given new space within the site and it looks like this is the aim of the likely purchasers, who are in exclusive negotiations.

“Our intention is to stay put and I think London Youth is also aiming for that.

“Now the design and the planning permission has to be sorted out.”

He was confident that a space within a new building would be set aside for St Matthias.

Whichever firm buys the present building is likely to take the vendor’s suggestion and knock it down to build a high block of flats and shops.

On the other hand, the sale may be one of those that leads to the buyer’s selling on to a real developer, as happened with the Peacocks site near Kingsland station. This can provide an easy profit.

Jim Minton, of LY, said that LY and representatives of St Matt’s were talking to “interested parties”. He added: “We are keen to get a positive outcome for the club”, which sounds as though the issue of club space in any new premises is still being vigorously discussed. Loving Dalston hopes soon to be able to reveal the result of the negotiations.

David Altheer 260616

* Backstory: Flats future for Dalston youth club; Dalston Peacocks site sold on 

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