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THE Town Hall is to launch one of its biggest ever sell-offs in order to raise funds to repair schools and council homes.

Developers will be keeping tabs on what promises to be a property bonanza, throwing up a series of chances to buy and redevelop land in prized Camden locations.

Workshops, commercial units and disused space on estates are on the potential sale list, although senior councillors say no plans are set in stone at this stage and consultation projects could sway a final decision on whether to sell or retain sites.

The Labour-run council is also set to embark on a host of regeneration projects with private developers.

Characterised in a press briefing on Thursday as “selling air”, the example was given of a rusting community centre or a row offices only two storeys high that could potentially be rebuilt on a bigger scale. From a deal of that nature, Camden could keep two storeys of space and get brand-new facilities, while private partners would get other floors to use.

The masterplan – the Community Investment Programme – will touch nearly every corner of the borough and councillors are bracing themselves for battles with those opposed to familiar old buildings being lost to the private market.

Labour finance chief Councillor Theo Blackwell said: “We have far less money from the government, but we have to find a way to repair our schools and our council homes or the bill is only going to get bigger in the future. 

“Other councils have received their settlements from the government and have looked around and said, ‘what do we do now?’ Camden, in contrast, has come up with a plan to meet the challenges it faces.”

By that, Cllr Blackwell means spending on creaking classrooms and council flats needed beyond the normal bud­get set to keep council services running.

“The government has been in power for 16 months and the signs are that it will not be giving Camden any more money,” he added. “It took away Building Schools for the Future (BSF) investment that was set aside by the last government to repair schools. 

“That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – no government had offered investment like that for our schools before – but it was just taken away and we have to find ways to make up the difference.”

Labour councillor Sarah Hayward said: “We are not saying that everything in the documents is definitely going to be sold, equally we are not saying there won’t be hard decisions to make.

“We will discuss everything with the communities affected. A good example is the Surma Centre in Regent’s Park, which could be in a better condition, and there is a possibility to improve it.

“I went there and talked to people about what could be done and, the plans, it is fair to say, went down like a cup of cold sick. So, we have stopped those plans and will think about what else we can do there. We will be listening to what everybody has to say.”

The council has a £44million list of work in schools which it believes are a must-do priority, accelerating the need to bring in money.

Opposition councillors refute the continued claim that the need to sell off resources is all rooted in the BSF money decision. Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “When they talk about the capital gap, they don’t talk about the gap created by the Labour government in terms of council housing.

“It was that government which held back £283m for Camden’s homes – so there is a big dollop of hypocrisy. Camden is being dishonest by saying it has to sell these properties off only because of BSF.

He added: “There is also a fixation with the schools and it feels like the decisions are being railroaded. They are planing to sell off the Mornington Sports Centre in Camden Town, but think of how important a resource like that is to young people.”

Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Mennear said: “The broad principle of looking at ways to bring in funds is correct but we do need to see more detail. Camden said it was going to share services with the local health authority – well the health authority has a huge property portfolio, is it going to sell any of those buildings off for mutual benefit?”

– See next week’s New Journal for a guide to what buildings could be sold and which areas redeveloped.

Published: 21st July, 2011
by RICHARD OSLEY

Views silenced? Opposition walkout

THE leaders of opposition parties at the Town Hall were stopped from speaking at a key Cabinet meeting on Camden Council’s sell-off plans last night (Wednesday).

Leader of the opposition, Councillor Keith Moffitt, and Tory chief, Councillor Andrew Mennear, walked out after being told there was no time for them to add their views.

Both were angry with that explanation as the ­meeting did not even run to the allotted finish time of 10pm.