• WHAT do Camden Council have against windows that open?

Surely opening apertures have been built in people’s homes for many centuries? They are pleasant, useful for ventilation (and escaping from fires). I don’t really have to explain what they are for do I? Apparently Camden don’t know or don’t care.

Maiden Lane Tenants and Residents Association (TRA) sympathise with the plight of Regent’s Park estate and others in the path of HS2 construction who have been told they cannot enjoy their homes for 17 years (HS2: 17 years of windows kept closed, July 20).

In Maiden Lane the council have installed “like-for-like” new windows which don’t open. And not for 17 years, which is obviously a very long time, but for ever.

For four years residents on Maiden Lane have put up with demolition, noise, construction, no parking, and disruption every single day. The project, still unfinished, is now two years late.

We have been consulted to within an inch of our lives for going on 10 years. We have engaged with our council and tried to ensure they understood what it’s like to live here at many meetings.

We did this so our estate would be regenerated, new council homes would be built, and our neglected estate (and it’s long-suffering residents) would finally get the repairs and refits it desperately needs.

The council have made a multitude of promises including that every penny made from the multi-million-pound XY development would be pumped into regenerating Maiden Lane.

And yet the regeneration they are giving us ignores our wishes, expressed at consultations, ignores our concerns raised, it ignores normal building practice and inflicts on us a product that is not what we were promised; turns our houses into ovens, exacerbates health issues and makes people feel less secure not more as the council alleges with one of their condescending catch-all soundbites.

They want to palm us off with a cheap option instead of fulfilling their promises and giving us truly “like-for-like” windows which surely relates to both function and form.

At a meeting on Tuesday officers and a councillor made no attempt to hide their frustration with pesky residents and did not even understand why we are upset!

The new XY development built on our estate has windows that open; 5 Pancras Square can also enjoy a pleasant breeze from their windows.

I’m sure officers and councillors alike don’t think twice about opening a window in their home in hot weather. In fact, I don’t know anyone in Camden who has no windows in their main living area.

Maiden Lane residents are stunned by the behaviour of the council and what Camden consider acceptable living conditions. So acceptable they want to spend millions of pounds of our money on a regeneration that makes life more miserable for their residents for the rest of their lives.

The TRA will continue protesting against this window option from the stone ages. It’s not just shortsighted, it’s uncaring, anti-social and cruel. We call upon someone with some sense to stop this irresponsible behaviour. Sir Keir Starmer is that you?

DEIRDRE MCEVOY
On behalf of Maiden Lane Tenants and Residents Association