One of our biggest unions – the General Municipal and Boilermakers (GMB) – has persuaded Nando’s not to take over a Grade II listed library in Canning Town. So we went down to the Barking Road to see what the locals thought.
Richard has lived in Canning Town all his life, and although he’s only 26, doesn’t like too much change. “That library, the McDonald’s and a few shops are the only thing that’s stayed the same. The Co-op was a Sainsbury’s, and before that it was a QuickSave. The market is gone now. It’s been replaced by apartments. Of course I’m happy that Nando’s isn’t coming.”
Tina has also lived here all her life, though she is currently homeless. “The building has been there for so long, so many years. If that building went, the whole of Canning Town would be gone”.
Nando’s would not have been the only Portuguese-style restaurant in the street. There are only about ten shops in this stretch, but two doors down from the old library is the brand new Franjo’s chicken shop. And nearby is a Portuguese restaurant called Torto. Thanks to this week’s decision they will only have to compete with each other.
Mohammed, the co-owner of Franjo’s, thought the council were “unfair” to grant Nando’s planning permission. “We wanted to use a part of the back of the library,” he said, “and the council rejected us, saying that we would damage the building with smoke. Yet they said yes to Nando’s!”
Torto was the first Portuguese place to eat on Barking Road and is owned by Jon, who jokingly exclaimed, “Kick them out! They’re not allowed here!” When I asked him whether there was room for another Portuguese-style chicken restaurant he responded, “Always… but not them! They’re not authentic.”
The historic library and the hall next door to it has hosted political events addressed by the likes of Sylvia Pankhurst. But it was also the place where – in 1889 – the British trade unionist Will Thorne spoke to an audience before going away to form the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers – which became the GMB!
Nando’s already has East London branches in Liverpool Street, Shoreditch, Cambridge Heath Road, Whitechapel, Mile End and two in both Canary Wharf and Stratford.
