O2 Centre development

• OUR community’s protections against the gargantuan O2 Centre development between Finchley Road and West Hampstead hurting our neighbourhood may be about to unravel.

Camden Labour have been working for years with Landsec to push through their preferred scheme. The council’s (Labour) cabinet boasted last March they had “co-designed” the planning application with Land Securities (Landsec).

However, recently Landsec reported a huge six-month loss of £200million. At the same time, Landsec announced it would shrink its presence in London and auction off £4billion of assets.

The proposed 24-storey skyscraper at 100 Avenue Road has remained a hole in the ground. The developer has twice applied to waive or reduce the commitments to the community it made when receiving planning permission.

While these attempts were refused by the planning inspector, it shows the difficulty of a council dealing with companies that are looking to review programmes and cut costs – as Landsec is.

The 60-flat Park Place complex off Kilburn High Road was held up by a developer’s insolvency, with some works to the site not complete eight years after it was granted planning permission.

The high-rises proposed for the O2 Centre will transform our area’s character for the worse. Camden has said that instead of reducing the harm to our area’s character, it wants Landsec to make a few promises to the area on what might ultimately go in the development.

But Landsec could ask to abandon those commitments to our community – just as Essential Living, the developer at 100 Avenue Road, asked to do.

Camden’s strategy of working hand in glove to build a mega-development with this developer will prove to be very unwise.

For three years Conservative councillors have led the campaign against Camden and Landsec’s plans for the O2 Centre, and we will continue to fight against them.

We never take the huge risk with West Hampstead and South Hampstead that Labour are taking by getting into bed with Landsec.

CLLR GIO SPINELLA
Leader
Camden Conservatives