WALTHAMSTOW: Squatters invade former EMD cinema building (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAMSTOW: Squatters invade former EMD cinema building

9:33am Tuesday 30th December 2008 in Search By Mhairi Macfarlane

SQUATTERS have been occupying a Grade II listed building, it has been reported.

Business owners near the former EMD cinema in Hoe Street, Walthamstow, say there has been an increasing problem of people using the derelict building at all times of the day, and throwing bags filled with excrement from the rear windows.

One businesswoman, who was too worried about the repercussions to be named, said: “They come and go all the time. And I have seen people going to the toilet in plastic bags and throw them outside. The mess they make is awful and it is a health hazard.

“It has been going on for a while now. Whoever is running the place needs to keep an eye on it.”

The McGuffin Film Society, which has campaigned to keep the cinema open, said it has received a number of reports of squatters occupying it.

One eyewitness noticed that the cinema’s listed foyer has recently been vandalised and covered in graffiti.

McGuffin spokesman Bill Hodgson said: “Local residents and business owners are very concerned about what is now happening at the EMD. The cinema has been degenerating ever since UCKG secured ownership and these latest reports underline their failure to properly maintain and protect the building.

“Aside from the safety and public health issues, it is clear urgent action is now needed to protect this historic site”.

The McGuffin Film Society has written to English Heritage and the council’s conservation officer insisting the reports should be investigated.

The EMD was awarded a Grade II listing by English Heritage in 2001 in recognition of its outstanding architectural and cultural importance.

UCKG bought it in 2003 and planned to convert it into a church.

But following a massive campaign led by the McGuffin Film Society, the government held a public enquiry which ruled the building should remain as a cinema. The building has remained empty ever since.

Bill Hodgson added: “With the entire Arcade project now back on the drawing board, Walthamstow remains without a cinema but still has one of the country’s finest cinema buildings lying idle in the middle of the town centre.”

Nobody from UCKG was available to comment.

Under existing legislation squatting is not a criminal offence, but causing damage to a property is.

Police say residents worried about the behaviour of squatters should report their concerns to their local Safer Neighbourhood Team for the matter to be addressed.

Contact details are available from: met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods.