Consrvationists have warned that plans for the redevelopment of Victorian warehouses near King’s Cross will “destroy for ever” the historic character of the buildings.

In a joint letter to Town Hall planning chiefs, the Islington Society and Islington History and Archaeology Society said proposals for Regent’s Wharf, in All Saints Street, would be “oppressive and overbearing and not appropriate to its location”.

Under the plans, submitted to Islington Council just before Christmas, the Regent’s Wharf Unit Trust wants to demolish some non-historic buildings, and build a part-four, part-six-storey office building in its place.

It also wants to build roof extensions onto the Victorian warehouses.

The letter from the conservation groups said: “There is a common view that what is being proposed is detrimental to these historic buildings and destroys for ever their authenticity.

“The canal is rapidly becoming one long canyon of high rise homes too expensive for the vast majority of Islingtonians to afford either to rent or buy. Other old buildings along the canal are under attack from developers … and we are reaching the point where people will say: ‘We can’t allow any more ‘development’ because we are in danger of not having any examples of the original canal buildings’. They are our history and should be our children’s history.”

The Friends of Regent’s Canal have also objected to the plans. A date for a committee hearing has not yet been set.

• Keywords
  WAREHOUSES, HERITAGE, CANALS, REDEVELOPMENT SCHEMES
• Geographical keyword
  ALL SAINTS STREET
• Persons keyword
  Friends of Regent's Canal