City Matters Edition 014 Christmas 2016

Page 16 | Christmas 2016
In Profile
Alastair’s
CITYMATTERS.LONDON
proud of his achievement:
Alderman Alastair King
crowning
moment
THE ‘KING’ UNVEILS PROPOSALS
FOR HIS BELOVED QUEENHITHE
OF the 25 wards in the City of London,
Queenhithe – a small collection of hills
and laneways sandwiched between St Paul’s
Churchyard and the Thames – has fewer
accolades than most.
It is not the largest ward; that honour
goes to Farringdon Without. It could be the
smallest, though Portsoken and Lime Street
wards say otherwise. It doesn’t boast any
historic landmarks like St Paul’s Cathedral
(Cordwainers) or municipal buildings like
Mansion House (Walbrook). In fact, over 75%
of Queenhithe was flattened during The Blitz,
leaving just two listed buildings standing.
Underestimating
But it is home to the newest member of the
City of London’s Aldermanic Council, Alastair
King, who says we are vastly underestimating
this tiny patch of the Square Mile.
“Queenhithe is actually home to several
remarkable institutions,” he counters.
“Millennium Bridge, the international
headquarters of the Salvation Army, the City
of London Boys’ School, and of course Painters’
Hall and its art collection – so it manages
to pack a fair bit into one of the smallest
areas.”
The investment banker should know, after all
he has lived in Queenhithe’s residential pocket
bone of contention:
Upper Thames Street
for over a decade, works nearby off Cannon
Street, and served as deputy for recently retired
Alderman Gordon Haines for 10 years. Such
strong links made Alastair the obvious choice
for voters in the ward election last month, where
he beat out Common Councilman Patrick
Streeter by a landslide 122 votes to three.
On the subject of Queenhithe’s bragging
rights there is also the small matter of the
world’s last remaining
Anglo Saxon dock in
Queenhithe Dock,
but it’s the recent art
installation lining
its walls that makes
Alastair particularly
proud.
The 30-metre
Queenhithe Mosaic
documents key events
and personalities that
make up the history
of the area and its
dock, which originally
facilitated the importation of corn into London,
and remained in use by the fur and tanning
trades well into the 20th century.
Unveiled in 2014, the mosaic is the work of
more than 300 volunteers and community
groups who researched the site’s history,
sourced materials from the river mud and cut
and laid the tiles into the dock walls.
Alastair calls it a “remarkable example of
community art”,
one that he would
like to continue as
one of his major
initiatives as
Queenhithe’s new
alderman.
“The ward was
badly bombed, and
some of the newer
buildings here now
need a little bit of
help – there are a
lot of bare walls, or
‘empty canvases’,”
he explains. “Mosaics are quite a magical
community art concept because you don’t have
to be an artist to get involved in the creation
of one – they’re so accessible. Long-term, I can
see a similar project linking the Tate Modern
across Millennium Bridge to the new Museum
of London site in Smithfields.”
But blank walls aren’t Alastair’s only target
for his tenure. In an interview with City
Matters in the lead-up to the elections, he raised
congestion on Upper Thames Street (inset) as
one of the key challenges facing the ward.
“This has been a real issue since the
commencement of the construction of the
Cycle Super Highway, when the eastbound
carriageway was reduced to one lane,” he says.
“The queues of traffic are very troubling,
particularly for pollution in the area which is
often above EU safety levels.
“I see my role as a bridge between Transport
for London and the City of London Corporation,
and keep on both their cases to ensure the
interests of residents and businesses are being
met.”
There’s also the issue of Queensbridge
House, the long-delayed hotel development at
Queenhithe Dock, which has langished on the
banks of the Thames for the better part of 20
years.
“There are several difficulties with the site,
not least the water frontage and the fact that it is
accessible via a bridge over a busy road [Upper
Thames Street] that you can’t close off,” Alastair
admits.
Communication
“But we need to get things moving and I
believe the way to do that is with regular open
communication between the Corporation and
the developer.
“I have already made it my role to facilitate
that through regular meetings where we can
hold people to account.”
Completion of the project means that the
stretch of river walkway that currently diverts
inland (a ward “embarrassment” says Alastair)
can finally be rerouted along the Thames.
Ironically, it was concern over the
Queensbridge House, among other issues, that
compelled Alastair’s move into local politics 17
years ago.
“If an area needs to be upgraded, or you want
to see change, somebody needs to champion it,”
he says. “I am of the belief that if you’re going to
complain about something, you have a duty to
do what you can to find a solution.”
If that resolution is anything to go by,
Queenhithe looks set to have a fair bit more to
brag about in the future.