• A NUMBER of letters over the weeks have discussed the potential closure of the Netherwood Day Centre.

It is apparent that the pressure to sell off this building arises from the spiralling costs of constructing the proposed new Greenwood Centre.

The Greenwood is where a variety of services currently provided out of Raglan House, Shoot Up Hill and Highgate Mental Health Centre will be brought together in a single building, including a new “centre for independent living”.

In a Camden Council report in 2012, the projected costs of building the Greenwood Centre were £7.85million.

This was to be paid for by the construction of 42 flats (32 for private sale), the sale of Raglan House and Shoot Up Hill and some grant from UCHL.

At that time objections were raised that Camden were providing fewer affordable homes than the planning rules require in order to help pay for the new Greenwood Centre.

In a more recent council report dated November 2016, the total costs of constructing the Greenwood Centre have increased by 275 per cent to £21.7 million (this despite omitting a therapy pool originally planned in 2012 and shaving £1million from the budget).

To fund this it is now proposed to build 60 residential flats. To maximise income to Camden the number of affordable units remains unchanged at eight. It’s worth noting that Camden will be also be relying on receiving £3.4million of income which is at risk if house prices fall.

Even if house prices don’t fall, according to the council’s own reports, this still leaves a funding shortfall of almost £1.2million and is probably the reason why they need to sell off the Netherwood Day Centre to fill the gap.

In 2012, it may have been the right decision to commit to constructing the Greenwood Centre. But given the significant increase in costs since that time, is spending such a large sum on one facility a proper use of Camden’s limited budgets?

In addition, it seems to me that the “cost” to future generations in terms of the loss of the smaller day centres and the lack of affordable housing may be too big a price to pay.

PAUL SEVIOUR
Raglan Street, NW5