Chalcots estate

• IN your Comment (Confusion persists over tower block safety measures, July 20), you highlighted Green Party councillor Sian Berry’s crucial role in pushing Camden Council to release historic fire risk assessments for the Chalcots towers – something the Labour administration has initially been reluctant to do.

We also know Sian and Green activists’ role in challenging Labour on a host of failings such as air pollution and protecting green spaces, and via the cipchallenge.org.uk website, which shows just how little social and affordable housing the council is providing in developments across Camden.

But, at the same time, we see Labour, buoyed by its general election result in Hampstead and Kilburn, with ambitions to turn Camden into a near one-party state in next year’s council elections.

Whatever your political slant, a 100 per cent Labour council would be a disaster for Camden.

Councils with no opposition, such as Newham, have some of the worst records on providing affordable housing and displacing residents in damaging redevelopments. Council meetings are a sham, and residents’ voices are not heard.

The Chalcots crisis, and the unheeded fire safety concerns of residents before the evacuation and again now about the emergency work, shows what happens when residents’ voices aren’t listened to.

With vital decisions about Camden’s housing development programme to be taken in coming years, we need more opposition councillors, not less.

That means electing more hard-working Greens like Sian to do the scrutiny of Labour and keep them on their toes.

JOHN HOLMES
Co-Chair, Camden Green Party