• A NARROW street at the north end of Judd Street has become the front line of a battle between residents and a corporate entity, the Bottaccio group, who propose to change the top two floors of Camden town hall into an event venue, albeit masquerading as a private co-working club with ancillary hospitality provision.

The background credentials of the company remain hazy.

Today, November 7, Camden’s licensing panel will decide whether or not to grant Eventhia Limited a premises licence, with alcohol for sale from 10am to midnight on Fridays and Saturday, light refreshments available until 1.30am, and opening hours for the building until 2am every day of the week except Sundays, when it will close at midnight.

To some extent the conflict focuses on the outsiders’ desire to completely change the character of this historic residential street.

It is currently one way, and described by Camden as a healthy schools street, since Argyle primary school is around the corner. Most significantly the street provides access to the eight-storey Edwardian block, Queen Alexandra Mansions, which is home to a very large number of people.

To the south lie many more residential blocks (both council and private) as well as terraces of Georgian housing, corner stores, cafés and several pubs. Even a church.

To those who live here, and for those that bother to explore the streets, it is a dense residential neighbourhood.

To those that live elsewhere, the proposed reinvention of Camden town hall as a glitzy venue and private members’ club is attractive and alluring.

They see its new non civic use as an extension of the regenerated King’s Cross that has arisen, phoenix-like, from the derelict former railway lands, and is now a popular (though expensive) leisure destination for the wider world.

But in terms of place-making, Bidborough Street is simply not suitable for 500+ visitors going in and out of a building until midnight seven nights a week.

Supporters of the licence, unsurprisingly, include those who are already collaborating in a variety of ways with Bottaccio, although they don’t acknowledge the connection.

Objectors to the licence are, again unsurprisingly, residents, who fear that their quality of life will suffer from the noise and nuisance of up to 743 visitors who can make use of the facilities.

It is far from reassuring to know that “only” 150 can stay there until 2am (excluding staff). Servicing and delivery vehicles are already causing daily chaos.

Unfortunately there has been a complete lack of trust in the process surrounding the arrival of “Town Hall by Bottaccio” in Bidborough Street, so the battle lines are drawn.

DEBBIE RADCLIFFE
Judd Street, WC1