The 02 shopping centre is one of the best known buildings on the Finchley Road

• LAND Securities (owner of the O2 site between Finchley Road and West End Lane) is proposing to redevelop it by building 2,000 homes, a number that would be impossible unless the buildings are very high and densely packed. Potentially an overcrowded 21st-century slum.

The proposal to cram in so many dwellings may be simply a ploy to lure Camden Council into negotiating down from that ridiculously high starting point. But even were the number to be halved, the density would still be far too high.

Public concern about this O2 redevelopment is fast developing not only because of the density but also because of the layout of the buildings, apparently designed by “award-winning” architects: a row of shapeless identical multi-storey blocks plonked thoughtlessly in the middle of the site where residents would be exposed on all sides to the continuous 24/7 noise of the railway and tube lines that run along both edges.

The obvious starting point (if another award-winning architect may offer some free advice) would be to set two long, uninterrupted, quite tall, continuous “terraces” along the edges of the site, shutting out the railway noise and enclosing a quiet central park, perhaps with more housing in the park.

Conceptually speaking this would be a modern interpretation of the long, tall, terraces that already line many streets in West Hampstead.

There is also concern about the possible loss of the existing Sainsbury’s store, an important asset that owes much of its success to the large car park.

With careful design and project management, the store could be retained by demolishing the existing O2 down to ground-floor level and roofing over the car park (with openings to let in daylight and ventilation) with the new landscaped park and housing above.

But the biggest issue here is the urgent need for the council to provide social housing. Even after Camden threw off 23,000 people from the waiting list in 2015, thousands are still languishing on it: not outside yuppies, not offshore property speculators, but local people waiting and hoping for a secure tenancy in Camden, at a controlled rent.

The O2 must be the opportunity to do something serious on their behalf. Only the council can procure this housing.

To achieve it will require meaningful negotiation with LandSec, with cast-iron guarantees they will deliver a really substantial amount of social housing, protected from the vagaries of market forces that developers often use an alibi for minimising (even eliminating) the provision of social housing further down the line when Camden is not in a position to litigate.

Camden residents are watching to see if their council is able to deploy the necessary skill to handle this deal successfully for the benefit of the community.

THOMAS MUIRHEAD, NW8