Plug pulled on £160m to pay for bulldozing Gospel Oak estates
Fear that the loss of government cash will let developers move in
Published: 25th November, 2010
by DAN CARRIER
GOVERNMENT cash the Town Hall had hoped to spend on a controversial scheme to demolish nearly 1,300 homes in Gospel Oak is no longer available, it was revealed this week.
But the decision by the government’s Homes and Communities Agency to withdraw £160million to rebuild six estates raises the spectre that the council will have to find private money instead – and that developers will be brought in to finance the scheme.
Tenants and leaseholders are now preparing to galvanise opposition to any plan that knocks down homes, increases the number of people living in the area or means publicly owned properties being sold off.
Newly-formed Gospel Oak Neighbourhood Action Group – Gonag – fears the removal of the cash will see greedy developers licking their lips at the prospect of getting their hands on the land.
Spokesman Dorian Courtesi said: “My fear is that, without any public funding, private developers will want their pound of flesh.”
He said the council would have to create an attractive package to lure a developer, which would inevitably mean land sell-offs. He added: “That is the only way they’ll raise the money for their investment programmes. This is basically the privatisation of Gospel Oak.”
Gonag believes the choices are between a redevelopment which would create social housing fit for the 21st century – or a land grab to cash in on the prime real estate and raise money to do up homes across Camden.
Tenants and leaseholders are cynical about the reasons the previous Tory-Lib Dem Town Hall administration wanted to draw up a new masterplan for the area – and are challenging the Labour-led council to give cast-iron guarantees over what is planned.
The area under consideration amounts to 15.5 hectares in the kind of location that has estate agents dreaming of fat percentages. A three-bedroom flat on the other side of Mansfield Road is advertised this week for sale at £650,000.
A design report by consultants Scott Wilson says that, because of a badly designed lay-out in the 1960s and 1970s, reinstating streets long since gone could create space for three times the number of existing homes.
Half could be sold to fund social housing and boost council coffers in hard times – a fact residents say is tempting the Town Hall’s housing department.
Labour regeneration chief Councillor Sarah Heyward said withdrawal of £160m government cash was disappointing – but expected. “Any regeneration project will take between five and 15 years so who knows what funds will become available?” she added. “This means if we are going to do any work we will have to find funding from other sources – which could mean more private investment.
“Our aim is to make Gospel Oak a first-class place to live in, to preserve all that is good there and not use it as a cash cow for other developments. We will only be proceeding with any work with the backing and co-operation of the people who live there.”
At risk – ‘Community will wilt and die’
JOHN Till’s wife Maureen scaled a half-built wall and peered into the building site. She was so taken by the prospect of a 16-foot kitchen, indoor bathroom and two toilets the couple decided on the spot to move to Gospel Oak.
That was 40 years ago – and the Tills have brought up a family in the home on the Waxham estate, in Mansfield Road, they saw that day.
The thought of losing their home fills them with real dread. Mr Till said: “My house is perfect. It is like a show home.”
He and his neighbours fear that if their homes are knocked down they will never be able to return to the area. Pensioner Roy Eastbrook, who has lived in Ludham block for 40 years, said: “If you pull up a flower it will wilt and die – and that is what this scheme will do to our community.”