Camden’s regeneration chief Labour councillor Danny Beales

• WE write on behalf of the group Neighbours of West Kentish Town.

We are committed to the improvement of our neighbourhood and were interested in the piece about the impacts of another major development on the community, (Euston: People need somewhere to live, not plans for a soulless plaza, September 16).

Apparently, “despite the huge stakes and powers at play, the council believes it can still influence the future of Euston through its own planning framework”. We welcome Camden’s optimism and faith in town planning.

Here, in our bit of the borough, Camden is the one with “huge powers”, the over-mighty developer.

Sadly, over the past 10 years of their Community Investment Programme Camden has gone ahead with all kinds of local intervention without the benefit of a planning framework.

Resulting unwanted side-effects include: massive delays on housing schemes, very low return of additional council flats, over-dense development (CIP’s cross-subsidy model means building many more small flats than family homes), loss of open space and play areas, confidential negotiations / partnerships with buyers of public land to dodge Camden’s own planning policies, destruction of mature trees, demolition of the last remaining council-owned workspaces in the neighbourhood and, now, the botched road closures around Queen’s Crescent.

There has been no open space planning, no community facilities planning and no strategising on housing needs specific to our area (with Carlton School now closed as a result) and no economic development planning.

We have the same type of concerns that Cllr Danny Beales does about Euston. We think Camden’s lack of a plan harms our area.

Over the next five years we will find ourselves living in the teeth of three major housing developments at Bacton, West Kentish Town and Wendling.

We have no confidence our council is interested or capable of planning this properly. This is the responsibility of Cllr Beales in his role as cabinet member for regeneration.

We’re suffering his indifference to doing things properly. It is good to have a reputation for getting things done but not a reputation for getting things done badly.

Does the fact he now looks to proper town planning to safeguard the already shell-shocked Euston communities mean he knows what’s right or is it just he sees town planning as a last resort?

Whatever the answer, we want proper town planning in our neighbourhood and have been asking for it now for the best part of 10 years.

NEIGHBOURS OF WEST KENTISH TOWN