• CAMDEN Council has radically changed its scheme for rebuilding Bacton Estate in Gospel Oak.

It now proposes a type of construction that will greatly increase social harms, carbon emissions and damage to the environment.

The first phase of the Bacton Estate masterplan, commissioned by Camden Council, was at a human scale and some of the main structure was built in timber.

Rather than continue with delivering the original scheme itself, the council has decided to enter into a private development agreement for phase 2.

This decision relieves the council of the tasks of finding a contractor and carrying out the hard work of project delivery.

The resulting scheme proposal for phase 2 was recently published by developer Mount Anvil.

The numbers of new homes proposed has been increased by 200, of which 75 per cent are proposed to be for private sale and likely to be marketed to obtain as high a price as possible.

Many of these private homes are needed to generate a profit for the developer (the standard is 20 per cent of the construction cost).

This approach does not ease the housing crisis.

Research has shown a high proportion of such “assets” are bought by overseas investors and private landlords, with the effect of driving up house prices further.

Instead of meeting the local housing need, the development scheme is likely to force young people out of the area and thus have a deleterious impact on the local social and cultural fabric.

Private homes for sale are in high-rise towers, the tallest of which is 23 storeys high. In stark contrast, the maximum height of the original scheme was eight storeys.

Due to its dramatically increased height, the construction will require a massive concrete frame.

But since cement is responsible for 8 per cent of carbon emissions globally, councils should be doing all they can to reduce its use.

We cannot afford the extensive use of concrete for the purpose of providing developers with a profit.

In addition to being “high-carbon”, building above eight storeys is unsuitable for families and leads to social isolation.

High-rise buildings are costly to maintain, and these high costs will be passed on to leaseholders.

All in all, this type of development locks in detrimental effects on residents’ health and wellbeing.

Camden needs to go back to the drawing board and seek a better development partner, one that will prioritise quality social housing built with low-carbon construction.

Better still would be for Camden Council to return to appointing a contractor directly, so as to build less at a lower cost, with much-reduced carbon emissions, a higher proportion of council homes and more green space.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY CAMDEN