A yoga studio whose regulars include Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow has been forced out of its exclusive location after losing a three-year battle against a development firm.
Triyoga has been a favourite among the celebrities of Primrose Hill since its arrival in the north London district 14 years ago.
But its prime spot came under threat when the landlords put forward a plan to convert the space into luxury flats.
A high-profile campaign was launched to keep Triyoga in its home, backed by Sir Paul McCartney, retail guru Mary Portas, actress Sadie Frost and TV chef Jamie Oliver. More than 1,700 people wrote to Camden council to protest against the plans.
But following a long fight, Triyoga’s founder Jonathan Sattin said he had been left with no choice but to leave the building in Erskine Road.
He said: “We were advised that even if we took it to the courts and won, at some point over the next two years the landlords would go ahead.”
Fortunately he has found an alternative venue in Camden in an old piano factory in Jamestown Road — an eight-minute walk from its Primrose Hill location. Mr Sattin said: “It has not been a pleasant journey and we would prefer to stay where we were but it was not in our control and we have a fantastic new building.”
Regarding his star-studded membership, he said: “We don’t comment on our clientele but we like to think our clients are loyal and we hope people keep coming back.”
Planning laws introduced last year have made it easier for offices to be turned into housing, bypassing the usual planning permission process with councils. Mr Sattin said the move of Triyoga — which has three other sites in Chelsea, Soho and Covent Garden — would impact the wider community.
“The problem is the change in planning law,” he said. “Our moving will affect the number of people going [to Primrose Hill village] because we have 300 to 400 people coming to Triyoga every day so they will lose that footfall.”
The development firm, Durley Investment Corporation, did not respond to a request for comment via architects PKS.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 
No doubt the well heeled group now increasingly taking over every element of the residential space in London, will regret the loss of this exclusive facility. However, as long as it gets rid of those unsavoury working class types, that clutter up the streets and bring property values, I’m sure they’ll see it as a sacrifice worth making.
An article in the Times this weekend, highlights the other threat to ordinary working people being able to keep living in the centre of metropolitan areas, through the loss of social housing, to money grabbing property barons. Right to buy, with ludicrously generous discounts and dangerously over liberalised planning laws – are these to be the long term legacy of the Thatcher era and the latter day Conservative politicians it produced?