Blight and voids built up in Tory-Lib Dem years

Published: 5 August, 2010

• IT would be amusing, if it was not such a desperately serious topic for the residents of Holly Lodge, to read in your columns of the hypocritical accusations of councillors Andrew Mennear and Chris Naylor (Labour ‘break promises’ and sell off council flats, July 29).

On their watch we have had 170 empty bed-sits lying derelict at Holly Lodge, and nothing much done about getting on with this regeneration project, started by Labour nearly a decade ago.

I am mindful that this is some of the most sub-standard housing in the borough, with shared bathrooms and toilets, no proper cooking facilities, and no heating.

While living in a cluster of bedsits may be appropriate for temporary life as a student, there comes a stage of life when it is wholly unsuitable.

On a recent visit to Holly Lodge with ward councillors, one of the residents memorably said that “…it was fine when you had three girls to share the flat with, but not much fun when you meet the psycho boyfriend in the loo in the middle of the night”.

These conditions are simply unacceptable, along with the accompanying nightmare of planning blight, voids, and disrepair which have built up in the Tory-Lib Dem limbo years in Camden.

And yet the community and the location at Holly Lodge are second to none in the borough, and we want to work with local residents to achieve the best homes we can for them.  

Of course, the default position for a Labour administration in Camden is to seek 100 per cent council homes at Holly Lodge.

As your article makes clear we would very much like “to keep every home on the Holly Lodge Estate”.

And as yet we have not sold a single home at Holly Lodge.

But in the national ice age of the Cameron-Clegg Con-Dem cuts, Camden is already having to withstand a financial blizzard, particularly on capital projects.

Unfortunately, the potential Homes and Community Agency (HCA) funding for Holly Lodge is in serious jeopardy because of the national freeze on public expenditure and we have been asked to make a second bid for HCA funding on Holly Lodge.

Even without any HCA funding I would like to make it very clear that the “worst case scenario” proposal for phase one at Holly Lodge which went to the recent cabinet in Camden would still manage a split of 70 per cent affordable homes and 30 per cent private homes.

This project will also create more council tenancies than before the project started.

I am desperately hoping that with HCA and other funding we can reach up towards Labour’s 100 per cent goal for council homes at Holly Lodge.

But if we cannot, then it will be entirely the fault of the policies of the national Con-Dem government that we cannot achieve that target!

CLLR JULIAN FULBROOK
Labour Cabinet Member for Housing