• WHETHER Somers Town becomes another “Silicon Valley” remains to be seen, (Somers Town people losing out as the rich eye up a ‘new Silicon Valley’, June 20), but what is not in doubt is that the area and those adjacent to it in the south of the borough are currently undergoing a massive transformation.

And given its closeness to both St Pancras International station, which is the home of Eurostar, and Euston station, which is seeking to become a “global transport hub”, it is not surprising that many of its residents are extremely worried about what the future holds for them and their families.

We have also been working with and supporting the Somers Town Tenants’ Association for a number of years in their dealings with their landlord, Origin housing association, and they say that they have been living on the doorstep of a number of very large construction projects such as the building of the British Library and Crick Institute and the redevelopment of St Pancras and King’s Cross stations for a long time.

They also say that they have not seen much benefit to the community coming from any of these, apart from a few cleaning and security guard jobs and some modest financial resources coming into the area.

Now with the redevelopment of Euston station and the associated HS2 high-speed railway, which is not due to be completed by 2026, the need for residents’ voices to be heard and their concerns listened – and responded – to are greater than ever before.

We will continue to work alongside the tenants’ association and others to make sure the case is strongly made for genuinely affordable housing and not just luxury flats; and training and job opportunities are provided that lead to high-quality, well-paid, jobs for local people who are the most heavily impacted by the noise, traffic, pollution and disruption to their everyday lives that inevitably comes with such large construction projects.

Your readers may also be interested to know that we run the Camden Housing Association Residents’ Group, which gives a collective voice to those people who make up the 11 per cent of the borough’s households covered by these landlords. So please get in touch if you would like to go on the mailing list for future meetings and events.

ROBERT TAYLOR
Organiser, Camden Federation of Private Tenants
Malden Road, NW5 3HS
020 7383 0151
@CamdenFPT
www.cfpt.org.uk