‘How it could be’: view looking south along Grafton Road

• WE are a group of people who live in West Kentish Town and are horrified by Camden’s vision for redevelopment of part of our neighbourhood.

Last year Camden agreed to proceed with rebuilding West Kentish Town estate on the basis of a masterplan, the illustrations of which look more like Old Street.

They include eight-storey buildings along Grafton Road, a 15-storey tower block and the decimation of trees and open green space.

Further to Jill Fraser’s letter (Residents voted to pull down this estate, July 16), we fully recognise the right of estate residents to be involved with the design of their new homes.

However we have the right to a say on the additional 550 new homes planned to be built for sale.

West Kentish Town is our neighbourhood; 60 years ago the council compulsorily purchased large chunk of it for the public good.

There is still a chronic need for additional council homes in this area, which Camden’s plan does not address. Now is the chance to finish the job.

Camden wants to build private homes to raise money both in the short term and through ground rents in the long term, the latter resulting in the current proposal to segregate estate residents to a small part of the site.

There needs to be a different funding model that does not depend on such massive scale, harmful, development.

We all know the likelihood is – even greater in a pandemic – that the expensive private flats will remain empty.

Camden should not act like a private developer seeking to maximise its assets but should recognise the needs of the thousands of people who live in West Kentish Town.

For example, since the sale of Lyndhurst Hall, gifted to Camden for public use, there has been shortage of community space; there is now an opportunity for Camden to replace it.

We also want to see a more humane scale of development and the preservation of trees and open space, of which there is an acknowledged shortage in our area.

Neighbours of West Kentish Town:
DEMELASH BEKELE, PETE BOND, ALICE BROWN, DEE SEARLE, ALI STEPHENS, TOM YOUNG
neighboursofwestkentishtown@gmail.com