Living with the builders

• ARSENAL wants to defer, for two years, building the 15-storey housing blocks in Queensland Road because it hopes to get more money from building the private flats in the future when the housing market recovers. 

The construction of social housing in Queensland Road will, however, start immediately. The result is that residents of the social housing will have to live immediately opposite a huge building site for the duration of the construction of the private housing. How much fairer to all it would have been if the construction of all the housing was scheduled in parallel. 

Arsenal wants to build 25-storey blocks at  Hornsey Road roundabout. If this is granted, the overwhelming odds will be that Arsenal will  apply, in the future, to increase the height of the private housing blocks in Queensland Road from 15 storeys to 25 storeys or higher. It is pathetic that councillors and officers get sidetracked into a discussion about ratcatchers and fail to confront Arsenal on the real issues. They could make a start in standing up to Arsenal by requiring that it guarantees that private housing in Queensland Road will not exceed 15 storeys.        

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