• THE proposed demolition of Gilbeys Yard and Juniper Crescent estate in Chalk Farm by One Housing Group housing association came up at a recent meeting of our Camden Housing Association Residents Group during a lively discussion about the government’s social housing white paper.

Although the white paper is called The Charter for Social Housing Residents and does have a section about landlords “listening” to the “voice” of their residents, it does not include anything about the important issue of estate demolition and what this means for thousands of people across the country facing uncertainty about where their homes will be in the future.

However, London’s mayor has taken a different approach, and from July 2018 now requires any landlord seeking Greater London Authority (GLA) funding for estate regeneration projects which involve the demolition of social homes to show “that residents have supported their proposals through a ballot”.

This is “to make sure that GLA funding only supports estate regeneration projects if residents have had a clear say in plans and support them going ahead”.

We see that the demolition question has been put to the residents of Gilbeys Yard and Juniper Crescent by their landlord, and a clear answer received because, as the article points out, 91 people voted against and 61 for it.

We appreciate that One Housing Group needs to “understand why they voted the way they did”, but given that they said in a pre-ballot letter “…whichever vote (yes or no) receives the highest number of votes will decide if the scheme goes ahead or no”, we would also urge them to listen to the voice of their residents and accept the result of the vote.

If you are a housing association resident living in Camden and would like to become a member of our growing organisation either call 020 7383 0151, or email admin@cfpt.org.uk to request an application form or go to: www.cfpt.org.uk and join online.

ROBERT TAYLOR
Camden Federation of Private Tenants (CFPT)
Malden Road, NW5