‘Tower blocks would be big problem’
Plans to tackle ‘18,000’ waiting list for homes are met by an angry backlash from residents
Published: 22 July, 2010
by JOSH LOEB
PLANS to tackle the housing waiting list by building hundreds of new homes have been met by a wall of opposition.
Town Hall housing chiefs are attempting to ease the shortage of “affordable” homes in Camden by “regenerating” land owned by the council in Swiss Cottage.
This includes an overhaul of the “Abbey Area” – the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, and the Abbey, Abbey Co-op, and Alexandra Place estates.
Officials are believed to want to build new tower blocks, but campaigners insist there is no room for them. A majority of the 80 people who attended a meeting at the Abbey Community Centre last Tuesday night voted for a motion of no confidence in three suggested proposals for the development.
The council’s plans include provision for new homes – “affordable” and private – and new retail space for land stretching across the four estates. Property consultants GVA Grimley were called in earlier this year to approach residents, ward councillors and community groups with the plans – “Phase One” of the process.
But Flo Cubbin, who co-founded campaigning group Against Overdeveloping Abbey, which convened the meeting, branded the consultation a “farce”, saying the council had not publicised its plans widely enough.
She said: “Information on the council’s website does not cover the latest proposals. Information on the schemes was displayed by the council in an exhibition that was open Monday to Friday 2-5pm, cutting out anyone who has a normal working day.”
Under the smallest of the three schemes suggested by the council, 115 new homes would be built in the area. The largest is understood to be for 330. Two of the proposals are believed to involve building new tower blocks of up to 24 storeys.
Ms Cubbin said: “Schools are already full to capacity and no one seems to have thought through the effects of having another 300 families in the area.”
A council spokeswoman said: “Since February, the council has held a series meetings and workshops with residents representatives. Newsletters have been sent to all residents in the wider area, and the plans have been available for residents to view on exhibition boards in the Abbey Hive for the last month, and they will continue to be on display for the next two weeks. Residents have also been invited to go on bus trips to other estates so they can see the possibilities that regeneration work will create for the Abbey Area.”
She added: “There are 18,000 people on the council’s waiting list for housing, and many others are in need of social and affordable housing. The council is committed to increasing the amount of high quality social and affordable housing that is available in the borough."