‘With all statutory bodies, experts, local residents and councillors opposed, what does it actually take for planning permission to be withheld?’

• HS2 – now paused in Euston – had planning authority for actual railway land and buildings and extended under pavements but that did not include neighbouring buildings.

We call on Camden Council as a matter of urgency to demand this be returned to them during this hiatus.

Meanwhile HS2 is brutalising the tree remnants in Euston Square Gardens West and turning a London square into a taxi rank.

Concreting over and trees in pots is their idea of reinstating a park. Air pollution from construction and traffic continue.

The formation of a development corporation must be opposed; they are undemocratic and have far too much power, and Euston is too restricted in scale with tightly packed people and buildings.

There would need to be an act of parliament and HS2 will do far too much damage in the intervening period. We need the local authority in control again.

Furthermore, despite the many planning and sustainability policies and guidelines for development, Camden carries right on with business as usual following officer recommendations to approve developers’ proposals.

Most recently we saw this in the approval of the Selkirk tower, a decision which must surely go to scrutiny, and the London mayor.

With all statutory bodies, experts, local residents and councillors opposed, what does it actually take for planning permission to be withheld?

The plan has over 100 residential units failing the minimum daylight standard, half with no natural light at all. Retrofitting existing buildings releases fewer CO2 emissions, yet even the climate emergency measures are ignored.

With COP28 upon us, we need a plan with teeth, timescales and targets for major immediate adaptation and mitigation.

While applauding cycle lanes, low traffic measures, plant-based diets, recycling plastic food wrapping, and research into carbon capture, it is far too late now for these to make enough impact to avert major famine, floods, fire and war for millions of humans and many other species. See the Climate Emergency Camden paper: Camden Climate Action Plan CEC

Camden residents have continued concerns over the lack of rigour in Camden Council processes such as planning approvals, climate action planning with targets and timescales, and implementation of retrofitting with section 106 money.

Despite the urgency of reducing emissions to ameliorate the impending climate catastrophe, for Camden Council everything is very much “business as usual” .

We are already at COP28, chaired by big oil producers. Governments have not honoured the promises made in 2015 at the Paris Agreement and climate warming continues apace.

DOROTHEA HACKMAN
Chair, Camden Civic Society