Homes should be at centre of St Pancras summit

Published: 18th March 2010

• FEW other capitals throughout the world, if any, have such a unique and special place as central London – a centre for arts and culture, a hub for business, for fashion and tourism.
But how dreadfully it is ­maltreated by central government.
London ministers come and go but little changes.
Over the years the upkeep and improvement of transport has always been treated as an afterthought by Whitehall. 
While, infrastructurally, the ­centre should be kept as it is, its public spaces badly need tidying up.
People live side by side with shops, offices and theatres in other capitals. Here, there is little of this, except in Soho.
Homes need to be brought back to the centre as in the 18th and 19th centuries.
We hope government minds will be concentrated by discussions at a special summit next Thursday at the German Gymnasium in St Pancras.

• THE growing protest over the planned weekend closures of Tube stations on the Northern line in Camden for one-and-a-half years is gathering steam. Trades and owners of venues, who will be hit by vanishing ­customers, have quickly taken up the cudgels.
Now, the general public, who will be equally hit, should join the protest.
It is all part of one fight – to preserve the public sector. And how one views the importance of the public sector comes down to a political overview.
It is inescapable. The protest can only succeed if it is well-orchestrated and determined. Anything less will fail.

• A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME chance to turn a large part of Fitzrovia into a green oasis, that would be the envy of any other major capital in the world, may be lost .
It seemed tragic enough when the bulldozers demolished the Middlesex Hospital. Then, during a muddle over the sale of the land caused by the financial crisis, along came a wonderful idea – to turn the huge  derelict site into an allotment.
Everything is ready for the allotments to take life – 800 ­grow-bags in place, tonnes of manure, gardening sheds.
Now, the bank which owns the site are saying that a sale, once thought improbable, is in the ­offing – too close to allow the allotment plan to go ahead.
Local people are thunderstruck.  Campaigners say they won’t let go of their dream.
Another fight, again for public control over land, is on the ­horizon.