The proposed tower block in 100 Avenue Road

• BEFORE congratulating himself for supporting a “hardball” approach to Essential Living’s shameful attempt to renege on their “affordable” housing commitment in Avenue Road, Conservative councillor Steve Adams might have reflected that the problem only exists because a Tory minister overturned Camden’s refusal to give Essential Living planning permission in the first place, (When a hardball approach to a developer can pay off, January 13).

Camden Council rightly rejected such a gross and insensitive overdevelopment but were steamrollered by a government prioritising private profit over public good, despite – as Cllr Adams says himself – many locals asserting that it’s “better not to build this gargantuan 24-storey tower at all”.

If his government had listened to residents and not developers, Camden wouldn’t have had to spend thousands of pounds and countless hours forcing Essential Living to honour agreements they clearly wanted to ignore from the start.

DON KELLER, N15