Lib Dem Housing Hypocrisy

At South Area Planning Commitee on Thursday 2nd October, we were asked to approve an application for 17 residential units at 110-116 Elmore Street.

Islington Council's stated policy is that they will seek 50% affordable housing for all developments over 10 units. This development should have had at least 8 affordable units, yet the developer claimed he couldn't afford to provide any affordable housing.

The developer had an 'independent assessor's' report, which said the development was 'unviable', principally because he'd paid too much at auction for the site. And who did he buy the site off? - Islington Council. And there were the Lib Dems, supporting the developer's argument all the way, twisting the words of Council Policy, and saying that providing affordable housing was more-or-less an option for the developer if he felt like it.

The whole point of an affordable housing policy is to make sure we get affordable housing.

Along with Councillor Gary Doolan we bitterly opposed this application, and I said in the meeting that the argument put forward by the developer was clearly spurious, since the claimed unviability was entirely down to his own folly in paying too much for the site. Why should the less well-off people in Islington get pushed out yet again, just because this developer can't get his sums right? But the Lib Dems on the committee couldn't do enough to explain how policy had to be applied 'flexibly', and that a requirement for affordable housing had to be 'reasonable'. They all voted for the 100% private scheme in spite of the paper-thin arguments.

It is quite clear to me that the Lib Dems DO NOT WANT affordable housing if they can possibly avoid it, and are prepared to be sold almost any kind of a line by developers trying to wriggle out of it. In Westminster under Shirley Porter, this was called Gerrymandering. I'm not sure I can see the difference, except the Lib Dems haven't yet twigged that they are Gerrymandering themselves out of their own seats.

The Mall Antiques Market Trashed

The new owners of 'The Mall' in Camden passage have demonstrated that they not only don't care about the character of the area, they are actually trying to destroy it, just so they can make a bit more money.

London and Associated Properties, who bought the building earlier in the year, thinking they could just kick out the antiques traders, gut the building, and put some fancy national Multiple retailer in there instead got a nasty surprise when over 300 people turned up to the Planning Committee and objected to the idea, and permission was refused. The Developers, vowed to appeal against the decision, but gave an undertaking to the Council to keep the Mall open until the result of the appeal was known. They have gone back on this promise and all the traders were evicted at the end of September. They are determined to try and kill the antiques market.

Readers may also be interested to know that LAP tried the same move at 'Antiquarius' in the Kings Road, where they evicted traders and commenced building work without Planning permission, but were stopped when Kensington and Chelsea statutorily listed the building.

LAP still have to convince a Planning Inspector that they are justified in destroying the most important part of Camden Passage, and if they fail, will have to re-open the Mall as a Market again.

The appeal is being heard at Islington Town Hall on 9th and 10th of December. Please come and object again.