Beneficial

Published: 22 July, 2010

• MY July 8 Forum piece evoked, as I expected, a range of reactions (more supportive than hostile at the Somers Town Festival where I spent most of July 10).

You printed three responses (Research lab will not benefit Somers Town, July 15).

To Atsuko McCarthy I agree economic and employment benefits are not automatic.

They don’t just “trickle-down”. I’ve spent my working life as an urban regeneration economist developing policies to capture them, with some successes across London.

It can be done.

Miranda Martin fears I or the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation would undermine Camden’s valuable planning policies to secure housing (which in previous incarnations as vice-chair of planning I had helped develop).

Ms Martin concedes the laboratory itself cannot include housing, and I agree with her the UKCMRI should provide the maximum community and housing benefit for the whole of Camden.

As to Councillor Chris Naylor, I haven’t the space to­ rebut all his points, but need no lessons in housing or planning from the man whose auctioning-off of council housing arguably lost his party the last local election

CLLR PETER BRAYSHAW
Labour, St Pancras & Somers Town ward