The O2 Centre site in West Hampstead

• CAMDEN Green councillor and London Assembly Member Siân Berry wrote to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan last week asking him to refuse the planning application for the O2 Centre development when it is passed to him for a stage 2 decision.

This is a really important step forward in the local Green Party’s efforts to try to stop these plans before they receive final approval.

In her letter to the Mayor of London, Siân has called out the height and design of the proposed buildings, as well as the tenure mix, which once again fall short of Camden Council’s own affordable housing targets. Quite simply, this is the wrong kind of housing for our community.

Environmental concerns are a key consideration for us too, as Camden has not considered the issue of embodied carbon and it’s clear that demolishing a 25-year-old building is a hugely unnecessary waste.

There is a lack of green, open, spaces on the site too, and we are also concerned that air quality in the locality will worsen as a result of the construction, which is due to take 15 years to complete.

These are important points that I raised during my time as a Camden councillor, when I represented Fortune Green for eight years and used my role as a platform to formally oppose the O2 Centre plans.

I have long believed that this development is wholly inappropriate for the area and I really understand the anger that residents living nearby feel towards the Labour-run council for approving it.

I am now standing for Camden Council again as the Green Party candidate in the forthcoming South Hampstead by-election, and I pledge to work with community groups and with Cllr Siân Berry to take real action now to do all we can to try to stop this development from happening, before it is too late.

LORNA JANE RUSSELL
Green Party Candidate,
South Hampstead By-election