Development plans given to Argent

By Rosie Stewart

CONTROVERSIAL plans to grant planning permission to a development group were slammed by campaigners this week.

Camden Council granted planning permission to development organisation Argent at a meeting last night, despite the fears of local campaign groups over the legality of development proposals.

Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “We will be supporting all local Camden residents and businesses to seize the wealth of opportunity on offer and ensure that the regeneration of King’s Cross delivers benefits for everyone.”

However, Michael Edwards, spokesperson for the King’s Cross Think Again campaign, expressed his disappointment at the decision.

He said: “Camden gave permission finally for the Argent development proposals, despite
the representations of many objecting groups and despite many of the borough councillors saying that they would have voted against it if they felt they legally could.”

He added: “Good speeches were made [against the decision] but I think we all felt that they made no difference. The odds were stacked against us, so now we are sailing towards a full-scale judicial review. There has to be a better way of doing these things.”

Construction is due to begin at the end of 2007, when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at King's Cross is finished.

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CCTV will not deter prostitutes

By Rosie Stewart

SEX WORKERS on Market Road have said they will not be put off despite the decision to install a £1 million CCTV camera scheme.

Islington Council and local police want to install cameras across the borough in an effort to drive out prostitution and anti-social behaviour.

One prostitute said: “I don’t care about the cameras, I’ve got to work, I’ve got to earn money.”
She added: “I moved from King’s Cross not because of the cameras, but because I was banned from the area. Instead of punishing us they should give us areas where we can work in safety.”

Labour Councillor for Caledonian, Paul Convery, has lobbied the council for CCTV cameras for the past three years. He denied the suggestion that instead of resolving the problem, it was simply driving it elsewhere.

“We’re under no illusions that there’s any quick fix solution," he said. "It may not stop prostitutes but it will deter the men that use them. This is not about criminalising the women - it’s about disrupting the trade.”

Sergeant Franc Francioni, head of the Holloway Safer Neighbourhood Team, agreed:
“We’ve tried to get to the hard core of the problem, but it’s very difficult. It is a bit like passing the buck, but the flipside is we do nothing, and that’s just not an option.”

Sergeant Francioni said the problem on Market Road had got worse since the King’s Cross regeneration programme began.

“King’s Cross was heavily policed and sex workers have moved through York Way up to Market Street,” he said.

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Marisha Ray, said: “Whilst we don’t want to push them [sex workers] around, there are issues that go beyond prostitution in the area.

“We do work to resolve the problem by targeting support groups who try and tackle drug abuse and other social issues with the prostitutes," she added.

The CCTV camera on Market Road is to be installed by March 2007.

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Anger over King's Cross Redevelopment

By Rosie Stewart

LOCAL campaigners will attempt to stall the King’s Cross redevelopment this week, by urging Camden Council to reconsider granting planning permission to UK developer Argent.

Members of the King’s Cross Think Again campaign will address Camden’s Development Control Committee on Thursday, 16 November to ask them to reconsider the controversial Section 106 agreement – the legal document outlining the obligations of the developer, council, landowners and other parties.

The agreement, made in March of this year, has met with serious criticism. Mark Edwards, co-chair of the King’s Cross Railway Lands Group, said: “Our group, with other local groups in Camden and Islington, has campaigned for regeneration of the site for nearly 20 years.

"But the decision that was pushed through Camden in March has serious flaws. Councillors need to reconsider the whole application. "

The site borders Camden and Islington, and campaigners will argue that the amount of affordable housing proposed will not meet legal standards and that conservation and heritage sights are under threat of demolition.

Concerns have also been raised regarding the current scheme's commitment to European requirements on air quality.

Diana Shelly, spokesperson for the Cally Rail Goup, expressed her concern that any benefits from the scheme will by-pass Islington entirely.

“We don’t even have access to any of the proposed facilities," she said.

"Camden are getting new state-of-the-art leisure facilities, and despite the impact the development will have on us we get nothing. Meanwhile the Cally Pool is badly in need of refurbishment.

"It may seem trivial, but it is indicative of the wider problem. Camden are bullies.”

Labour councillor for Caledonian Paul Convery said: “I’m very disappointed by the 106 agreements. It strikes me as a bad way to design a big development.

"As it stands, the impact will be in Islington, but the benefits will go to Camden.”

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