About dirty washing

Published: 11 November, 2010

• WHEN I first moved into Highgate ward in 1984 there were three laundrettes here and one just across the road from the boundary, on Highgate Road. 

Now, apparently in tune with Chancellor George Osborne’s war of attrition on the “lifestyle choices” of benefit claimants, Camden has issued the proprietor of the one remaining laundrette in the ward with notice that they want her and all the shop-owners attached to the Chester Balmore estate opposite Highgate library out by November 17, and have done nothing since September to notify the laundrette users involved directly.

Why? Camden’s environment department says it needs to build more (but more-cramped) flats in that space, and they need to make money by letting out a supermarket space to the highest bidder. They also describe the condition of the existing estate as “dilapidated”.

The estate to which  the laundrette has been attached for the past 33 years was award-winning at the time of its inception, and residents at a cramped meeting in September complained that the council had never applied a dab of paint to the outside. 

Would the new estate that was mooted over a year ago fare any better after the Comprehensive Spending Review?

In all the time I have lived in the area, I have never been able to afford having a washing machine fitted into my one-roomed flat.

I heard at the September meeting that elderly and disabled people would not be able to get to the next nearest laundrette after the closure of the facility near the library. 

The proprietor also tells me that care workers on shifts have complained to her that the closure would add so much extra walking time to their workload that they would not be able  to do the service user’s washing in the time provided. 

There are several equality impact assessments the council should have applied. 

I would ask the key decision-makers involved how far they have to travel to deal with their own dirty washing.

ALAN WHEATLEY
Croftdown Road, NW5