Century-old weightlifting club told to leave home

7 hours ago

Nick ClarkLocal Democracy Reporting Service

The club has been at its current site since 1948

Charlotte Macaulay Inside of weightlifting gym: shows weights, people using it and black floor. A table is on the left — The club has been at its current site since 1948

A 100-year-old weightlifting club in east London has been asked to leave its historic home to make way for a new council housing project.

Tower Hamlets Council wants to build a library and 44 homes, including 24 for social rent, at the Professional Development Centre site on Bethnal Green Road and Turin Street.

The development would mean the eviction of Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club, which has been based there for 78 years.

Planning application documents say the council and the club have "identified and agreed" a potential new site "in principle". But the club said although it would relocate if it had to, the claim that it had agreed to a new location in principle was "completely false".

Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club was founded in 1926 and says it has been at its Turin Street site since 1948.

A render shows what the council's proposed new housing development would look like

Tower Hamlets Council CHI image shows people walking in a garden along white stone floor with red brick flats and Idea Store to the left — A render shows what the council's proposed new housing development would look like

The council, which owns the site, told the club in 2024 that its lease would end in January 2025, later extended to October 2026. The club says the notice did not say what the council planned to do with the site.

However, in July 2025 the council included it in a list of sites to be redeveloped under its "Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme" and has now applied for planning permission to redevelop the site.

The council's planning agent says the authority has engaged the club "from the outset to identify suitable alternative accommodation within the council's portfolio".

The statement says the club is "supportive of the principle of potential relocation options offered". It also says that after discussions between the two "a potential relocation site has been identified and agreed".

The club says it has not agreed to a new site

Charlotte Macaulay Two dozen people pose for a picture taken in the gym with a large weight above them — The club says it has not agreed to a new site

However, the club says that although it is prepared to relocate in order to keep running, it has not agreed to any new site.

A club spokesperson said: "We support the council's exploration of potential relocation options for the club, which is specifically what we told them.

"Following this, they invited us to view a derelict railway arch (used as a car park/dump) near Bethnal Green Overground [station].

"Our discussions ended with the council promising to conduct a survey, to work out if the arch was safe to inhabit. To our understanding, this was not carried out."

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