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Chinatown traders beside the threatened Pagoda in Lisle Street |
Pagoda plan sparks row in Chinatown
Chinatown traders outraged by bid to move historic landmark to shopping centre
TO the untrained eye, it is a pretty piece of street furniture – a meeting point for lost tourists taking in the sights and sounds of the West End.
But to under-fire Chinese traders fighting the latest proposals for the area, the Chinatown’s Feng Shui pagoda in Lisle Street represents the fate of Chinatown itself.
Rosewheel – the property developer that evicted 17 traders in 2005 to open a 21st century shopping mall in Great Newport Place – intends to fence off the pagoda from the public make it the centre piece of its 21st century mall.
The pagoda was built by the London Chinese Community Association in the early 1970s to bring prosperity to traders and positioned using the ancient planning art Feng Shui.
The plan to move it has ignited a furious debate in Chinatown from traders who fear the public streets are being privatised and that the spiritual prosperity of Chinatown is under threat.
Jabez Lam, the founder of the Save Chinatown Campaign, said: “The Pagoda was financed and built by Chinese businesses in Chinatown.
“Members of the community believe that removing the pagoda will affect the Feng Shui of Chinatown and protection it gives to the community. Having a pagoda inside the building will bring bad luck to the community and remove a key landmark.”
Mr Lam led the Chinatown traders’ campaign against Rosewheel in 2003.
The council claimed the development was in the best interests of the area, working to “arrest the decline of Chinatown” by showcasing “the economic power of China”.
But many of the authentic shopkeepers were evicted and replaced with shops and stalls selling mainly Western clothes and tourist knickknacks.
It was a cultural betrayal that has created a deep rift between the council and the London Chinese Community Association.
Rosewheel spokesmen were unavailable for comment, but Prince Charles waded into the debate this week when his charity recommended the ancient art of Feng Shui be used in all planning decisions for Chinatown.
The report, which will be published in September, also recommends opening Leicester Square tube station’s closed entry point on the corner of Little Newport Street and Charing Cross Road for the first time since 1978 allowing Chinatown to have its own tube entrance. |
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