• IN response to Roland Denning (I back the Camden Highline project as bold and imaginative, March 16), it’s easy not to be a nimby when it’s not in your backyard.

Jeffreys Street is not “as close to the highline as you get”, it is a few streets over. As someone who lives in Ivor Street which is next to the proposed highline, the noise and disruption of 2.5 million people a year passing by our windows and overlooking our private outside spaces is not insignificant.

If Mr Denning is unable to tolerate a few leaflets being put through his door, I can’t imagine he would enjoy putting up with what we are going to have to endure.

I have visited the New York High Line and it is entirely different from what is being proposed here. For one thing it does not run alongside a live railway line. For another, it actually goes somewhere.

The Camden version is being pitched as linking Camden, King’s Cross and Euston. It doesn’t go anywhere near Euston and it’s proposed end (if they ever raise the money to get that far) is a 20-minute walk away from King’s Cross. Walking along the canal takes you from Camden directly to King’s Cross in about 20 minutes.

The New York version affords views of the city. The Camden one will primarily afford views into residents’ homes. The New York High Line is masterful. The Camden one is ill-conceived.

According to Mr Denning, Camden Gardens is “an entirely wasted space”. I wonder if he is aware that the people behind the proposed highline are responsible for turning it into the eyesore it is today, resembling a construction site more than a park.

Nonetheless it is the only outdoor space available to two social housing estates which the developer behind the highline wants for a “park”. It would also actively remove amenities from some of the poorest residents in the borough.

Camden Town is indeed already a popular tourist destination. I imagine Mr Denning chose to live in Jeffreys Street as it is somewhat quieter than, say, living on the high street.

As someone who lives next to the railway and would be affected by the approximately 200-people event space that has been proposed right behind our houses, I can assure Mr Denning that people make more noise than trains.

MELANIE HILL, NW1