• I AGREE 100 per cent with Paul Braithwaite’s letter, (It’s time for a new chair of the planning committee, August 9).

Apart from many of the planning applications for new housing that Camden passes, which mainly satisfy the needs of Far Eastern and European investors, my question is: Would similar historic European cities approach housing renewal and expansion in such a haphazard fashion as what is now seen throughout London?

Any Tom, Dick or Harry, filled with gold in their pockets can persuade Camden Council and other London councils to give the green light for construction. The government has a huge share of the blame, putting economic pressure on local councils.

nd the councils therefore jump to fill their coffers with payments received from these developers. But are we ruining our capital city? Is there no longer an overall unified plan to make London more beautiful?

Not necessarily a Palladian or Nash layout or, at the other end of the spectrum, a Le Corbusier-type of urban design, but letting housing developments sprout like mushrooms on a dead tree trunk, without any thought to unity and flow in our city, is a very depressing thought.

I have personally watched the Camden Council in action at the Town Hall. The residents affected by a so-called affordable housing complex in a conservation area were literally gagged and restricted to a total of five minutes to object!

Paul Braithwaite is so correct when he says that our Camden Council should become more critical of planning applications before giving the go ahead. And also, as experienced objective city planners have informed me, the council needs to have such decisions made by councillors qualified to make such major ones.

PRIMAVERA BOMAN
NW1