Residents at the Wendling Tenants and Residents Association Hall meeting  

• FURTHER to the proposed redevelopment of Wendling estate in Gospel Oak, refurbishment of the estate has not been examined as an option, (Tenants pass vote of no confidence in Camden’s regeneration chief, February13).

If the flats were refurbished residents could stay in their homes and not need to be relocated. It would enable communities to survive.

Camden Council say in the information given to residents about the ballot that: “The homes that we demolish to make way for more new homes will always be those that would require major investment to maintain”.

However, buildings will always require to be maintained and refurbished on a cyclical basis. We can’t justify knocking them down and rebuilding them every time the council finds itself short of cash. It is simply not sustainable. What happens the next time refurbishment is required?

This is similar to what the council did in the 1970s when they compulsorily purchased thousands of 19th-century terraced houses and demolished them, causing massive disruption to existing communities which has taken years to recover from.

Camden’s reasons were the buildings were over-crowded, in poor condition and of inadequate construction for modern-day life.

The council’s justification was not the case then, as subsequent refurbishment of similar buildings has shown, and is not the case now.

Camden has a responsibility to seriously consider the refurbishment of Wendling estate and to prove that this is not an option, before proposing demolition.

SUE SHEPHERD
Savernake Road, NW3