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Many residents say our streets are dirtier since Camden Council cut the street cleaning budget by £4million.
Council cuts to the street cleaning service has led to a large number of complaints from residents living off Chalk Farm Road.
Camden Town has the fourth largest night-time economy in the UK. This may be good for local businesses – but the inevitable by-product is unfortunately a whole trail of rubbish and debris down residential streets in the morning. This is worst on Saturday and Sunday mornings, after the local bars and clubs have been at their busiest – and residents often emerge to find discrded take aways, vomit – and worse – on their doorsteps.
It therefore makes no sense that the streets off Chalk Farm Road have been allocated their (now weekly) sweep on a Wednesday – four days later.
While everyone understands that councils have to save money in difficult economic times, they must do everything they can to minimise the impact. Labour-run Camden’s £4m cut to street sweeping (almost 50% of the total £9m budget) is going to be felt even more keenly when it is being applied in such an illogical way.
Streets in the heart of Camden Town need a weekend sweep – not rubbish sitting in the street to ferment until Wednesday.
Haverstock's Lib Dem councillors are supporting local residents
The owners of Camden Lock Market have applied for a license that will allow the sale of alcohol from anywhere within the market. Their application also asks Camden Council to allow live music, cinema and theatre until late into the evening.
It’s some time since I’ve seen such strong local opposition against a single licensing application. A significant number of residents and our local police fear that creating a huge entertainment zone in the middle of this residential area would cause real problems.
Of course many people enjoy visiting the markets – which is great – and they support many thriving local businesses. However, that success shouldn’t and doesn’t have to come at the expense of local residents. We have therefore sent in objections to the Lock Market application, which you can read below.
Dear Sir or Madam,
RE: Camden Lock Market, application number APP\PREMISES-NEW01077-11
We would like to object, in the strongest possible terms and in common with many local residents and the police, to the above licensing application.
The application cannot possibly be considered to be in line with Camden Council’s policy objectives for this area. We are specifically concerned that, if approved, the application would be in breach of the licensing objectives to prevent public nuisance, and to prevent crime and disorder.
The application site lies within a designated Special Policy Area. This indicates the council’s recognition that there is already a severe impact – on local amenity and on levels of crime and disorder – from the concentration of so many venues. This new application, by it’s size and nature, will significantly add to the cumulative impact. It quite obviously can in no way be considered a small venue or coffee shop – the only exceptions from the presumption to refuse all new applications within the Special Policy Area.
A market is a place to buy and sell goods. The application, however, would transform Camden Lock Market into an open air entertainment, festival and club venue, in the middle of a residential area. It is not acceptable to have live, amplified music played outdoors in such close proximity to people’s homes.
It is currently possible to buy alcohol within the application site, from one of several bars in operation, and it is reasonable that adults should be allowed to sit down and have a quiet drink when they visit the market. It is not reasonable, however to introduce outlets where alcohol can be bought and consumed on the go. Street drinking will massively alter the character of the area, and makes the consumption of alcohol a more fundamental part of the market offer. The huge crowds that visit the market, and the myriad of entrances and exits, will make it almost impossible to contain drinking within the boundary of the application site and away from the canal towpath and Chalk Farm Road.
If Northside Developments are granted permission, the impact on local residents will be severe and significant. We therefore urge the committee to refuse the application, and would welcome the opportunity to make these arguments in person at the hearing.
Yours faithfully,
Cllr Matt Sanders, Cllr Rahel Bokth, Cllr Jill Fraser
Liberal Democrat Councillors for Haverstock ward
The new license would cover the whole of the Lock Market site
Local people have concerns about plans submitted to Camden Council for assessment
Plans for the mass redevelopment of the Hawley Wharf site opposite Camden Market have been submitted to the council this week.
For over two years, I have been working with other local councillors, residents and business groups to influence the developer’s proposals. While it’s great that this ramshackle and tawdry site (partly gutted by the fire back in 2008) will finally get a make over, we need to make sure the development respects our local area and makes Camden Town an even better place to live.
Judged against these criteria, and despite the developer taking on a few of our ideas, I believe the proposals currently fall short on several scores:
- Just 8% of the new housing on the site will be affordable, despite Camden setting a target of 50% and housing being the priority need in the area;
- Open spaces are poky and overshadowed by huge blocks;
- No evidence has yet been provided that local transport infrastructure will be able to cope with large numbers of extra visitors to a new four story “market”;
- There is no mechanism to secure new outlets that will bring retail diversity to Camden, to appeal to a different demographic.
Frankly, this new development feels like a shopping mall disguised as a market. Yet there is already a huge, commercial market on the other side of Chalk Farm Road, attracting thousands of visitors a week.
I believe most residents and local businesses would like to see a scheme that looks to Camden Lock’s origins as a place for craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and creativity, while offering something for the local people who currently feel frozen out of their own area.
You can read more in both the Camden New Journal and the Ham and High, and there will soon be an official consultation on the plans. I’ll post details as soon as they are available.
Many Camden businesses are boarded up as a precaution.
Everyone in Chalk Farm has really pulled together over the last twelve hours. Many people have offered help with the clean up, which is just great. Thanks for all your kind messages.
As I write, things are very quiet here in Chalk Farm, and I’m really hoping they will stay that way.
The council have been working extremely closely with the police and, as a result, we’re assured there is a much stronger police presence in Camden tonight. Although the police have found it hard to predict exact locations where there may be trouble, they have been using feedback from the community to allocate resources. Hopefully it won’t surprise you to know that we have been arguing that Haverstock needs to be properly covered.
The council also agreed to our request to make sure that local building sites (which were the source of various “weapons” last night) have been secured, with scaffolding and other equipment removed where possible.
As you may well have seen, many local businesses are boarded up, and Queen’s Crescent Library closed early. Although it’s a bit eerie seeing Chalk Farm Road and Queen’s Crescent so quiet, the police tell us these are precautionary measures only.
The council have updated their website with more help and advice for Camden residents and businesses (including numbers to call if there’s a problem).
Do keep safe this evening and, as ever, drop us a line if you need a hand.
Councillor Jill Fraser surveys the damage at the O2 story on Camden High Street
Cllr Fraser and I have spent the morning knocking on doors and speaking to people in Belmont Street, Harmood Street, Hartland Road and the other roads off Chalk Farm. At a time like this, the community needs to come together, so we were simply calling to check in and make sure everyone is OK after all the disturbance last night, which focussed on Chalk Farm Road.
I also wanted to assure residents that we have been in frequent contact with the council, the police and local businesses. Support in Chalk Farm last night was limited to Camden Police, but I am told they are trying to secure extra resources for us tonight from across London. There were attacks on property and cars in my own road, Prince of Wales Road, so I appreciate how frightening it was last night for many.
The worst hit businesses are Evans Cycles, Sainsbury’s and various mobile phone shops, but of course all local businesses will suffer from lost trade today.
What has really come through this morning is that the majority of residents in our area are decent, honest people who care about their neighbours and community. The shocking and unacceptable actions last night were limited to a tiny minority. That so many people were out this morning helping the clean up demonstrates that awful events like this can show the best in people as well as the worst.
Please do get in touch if you have been affected and if there is anything else we can do to help. I will post again if there is further news or updates from the police.
Developers told to come clean about disruption
Our campaign against disruption from large scale construction on Harmood Street was covered in the Camden New Journal this week. You can read the paper clipping by clicking on the image above.
To be clear: residents accept the need for development on this site, which has been an eyesore for years. However, we strongly feel that the council has failed to properly evaluate all the different options for accessing the site.
This is very relevant for those engaged with other large sites around Camden (for example, the Hawley Wharf project). We need to make sure developers are clear at an early stage not just about what they are building, but also how they intend to build it.
Matt Sanders and Harmood Street residents launched a protest against disruptive construction plans
I was bowled away by the number of residents who turned out last week to protest against council plans to allow up to 30 construction trucks a day to use their road.
Residents in Harmood Street have been horrified by the plans, which represent a lengthy, major disruption to life in this quiet, residential street. Having received dozens of letters and emails, it was clear that we needed to take action to show just how high emotions are running.
Camden Council have shown a complete lack of backbone in their dealings with the developer. We need to consider the impact of construction far earlier in the process, and developers should be told that they have to respect their neighbours.
Development doesn’t always have to be bad for an area. However, by refusing to take meaningful steps to protect residents’ quality of life, the council completely undermine faith in the process and naturally makes it more likely that people will oppose development in the future.
An early sketch of how Hawley Wharf could look
A big thank you to all those who attended Holy Trinity Church last week to debate the progress of the Hawley Wharf development, and also to those who couldn’t make it but took the time to send me their views by email.
We had a vigorous discussion, with a general consensus that more affordable housing should be a priority in the development. You can read a more full account in today’s Camden New Journal.
As ever, do get in touch if you have any thoughts you would like to share.
I have been campaigning to make sure that residents’ voices are heard in the huge new Hawley Wharf development, opposite Camden Market.
The next public meeting of the Hawley Wharf Action Group will take place on Monday July 12th, 7:30pm at Holy Trinity Church (on the corner of Hartland Road and Clarence Way).
This group is led by local residents and aims to involve as many people as possible. By joining together we have a much better chance of influencing the council and the developers to make sure that the new development makes our area an even better place to live.
At the meeting we will discuss employment opportunities for local people; how we make sure new shops and markets appeal to local residents as well as visitors; tackling anti-social behaviour and the strain on public transport, and lots more. I will be in the Chair and do hope as many people as possible will come along and share their views on the future of our area.
If you want any more information, please email me or get in touch with the organisers directly.
I chaired a positive meeting between local residents and the management of Stables Market tonight.
We set up the Resident Liaison Group last year to be a forum for local residents to air their concerns about the impact of the market on the local area.
After our second meeting, we negotiated an agreement whereby traders would fund security patrols around local streets, and close off the Market’s front exit after 11pm. I’ve had very positive feedback from residents on Hartland Road and Harmood Street, who feel that these moves have already made a huge difference.
We are continuing to work together to further improve the area. Tonight, we discussed the dramatic impact on Camden of the forthcoming Northern Line closures, and how to tackle the scourge of unlicensed mini cabs, which cause a nuisance around Ferdinand Street and other streets off Chalk Farm Road. In the past, the group’s discussions have led to real action on issues of concern. I”ll be pushing for more of the same.
