Camden Green councillors – eight years of achievement – Town Planning

In the first of a series of posts about her eight years as a Green Councillor in Camden, Maya de Souza writes about the influence Greens have had on planning in the borough:

In my eight years as a councillor, initially with fellow councillors Adrian Oliver and Alex Goodman, we influenced planning policy as well as actual decision-making.

Our knowledge of the law and our determination to make an impact on policy has certainly helped. Good planning and good design is something we Greens are passionate about. Shaping our local environment and protecting our heritage is so important. We are also keen to use planning policy to protect our local shops and high streets and ensure, through section 106 payments or the community infrastructure levy, that developers provide affordable housing, open spaces and community facilities.

King’s Cross – To give some examples; early on as a councillor on the Development Control committee I considered an application for a building by Christopher Hatton school in the Holborn area that raised issues about the playground being overshadowed. I felt the answer must be to have roof gardens to compensate, given the pressure to build in the very urban parts of the borough. I raised the issue in committee, including when we were considering the Kings Cross development, and in discussions on the new Camden Planning policies. Roger Madelin, the Kings Cross developer, has taken this on board, and the policy was amended to included a reference to roofs for amenity spaces and food growing.

Basements – When the issue of basements first arose the planning department felt that it wasn’t a planning matter. It was for neighbours to manage through party wall agreements or standard negligence actions. I read the policy and disputed this interpretation. I argued that the impact on water movement and possible flooding of neighbouring property made this a planning issue. This is now accepted and the Council seeks independent reports on hydrological issues, regarding it as a relevant ground for refusal. I’ve also argued that, to ensure its independence, the council should commission the report itself at the applicant’s expense. This is now virtually accepted practice.

Change of use – In council discussions on change of use of the Torriano pub in Kentish Town, I realised there wasn’t enough protection for pubs with a community function, and argued for the inclusion of a stricter ‘change of use’ test in such circumstances. This, again, has become planning policy. I understand that this was helpful in resisting the application for change of use of the White Bear pub in Hampstead. In recent council discussions I argued, persuasively, for stricter protection that takes into account not only the community functions of pubs but also their heritage value.

Construction nuisance – Another issue we are proud of is insisting that, in special cases, construction issues are taken into account before a decision is made. This was of relevance in the Fitzroy Farm (Highgate) and Little Green Street (Kentish Town) applications. We argued that in some cases the construction nuisance was serious enough to justify the refusal of planning permission altogether. We also argued that granting planning permission and then, later, considering construction issues, always left the Council in a weakened position. This approach has been accepted, though officers need to be consistently reminded of it by vigilant councillors.

Local environment quality – These are some examples of our work, but there are many others – for example, challenging officers in planning decisions to ensure they have fully considered efficiency standards in buildings, biodiversity, flood resilience, green and open spaces and other issues.

The developer pays – I’d like to mention one notable example of the role of section 106, in which a developer makes a payment towards a neighbourhood amenity. In this case, Camden council, as the developer in Holly Lodge Estate, was persuaded to contribute to a new family centre building. It was the idea of a local resident. I pushed for it and was pleased to see it happen. Though councillor Sally Gimson may claim credit, it had been agreed long before she arrived in the area. There remains much to be done in terms of good use of section 106 funds and the Community Infrastructure Levy. We’d like to see innovative approaches, for example using some of the funds to pilot a small network of pipes for a combined heat and power system, an investment in our infrastructure that would create jobs and improve our homes.

Taking ownership – More recently, I’ve supported the neighbourhood forums as away of communities sharing the use and feel of the area. I see the forums as a way forward on decisions relating to better transport and streets, energy efficient homes, protecting parades of shops and space for business, as well as heritage and prized sites. In Highgate Ward, this would include the Mansfield Bowling Club site amongst others. I’ve worked with residents to develop a constitution for the forum that makes it inclusive and participatory.

We Greens have done a fair amount of work but more, lots more, remains to be done. Green councillors, with their knowledge, expertise and commitment, are well equipped to play this important role.

Maya de Souza
Camden, May 2014

Join the Church of the Holy Kazoo Sunday Service to protest Camden’s busking laws

Our candidate for Camden Town with Primrose Hill ward, Ben Van der Velde is organising an excellent protest against Camden’s draconian and contradictory busking rules this Sunday, with Jonny Walker, Founding Director of the Keep Streets Live Campaign, and Comedian Mark Thomas. Join in and find out more…

Ben Van der Velde, Mark Thomas and Jonny Walker found the Church of the Holy Kazoo in Camden

Sunday Service: May 4th, 1pm, Britannia Square, Camden Town, outside HSBC and Camden Town Tube
 
You are cordially invited to the inaugural service of the Church of the Holy Kazoo this Sunday May 4th at 1pm. This fledging religious movement was formed in the aftermath of Camden Council’s controversial decision to criminalise street music across its entire geographical area, introducing fines of up to £1000 for unlicensed busking and giving themselves the power to confiscate and sell musical instruments to pay the fines as well as banning wind and percussion instruments.
 
However, all is not lost. Camden’s policy exempts music that is part of a religious procession or service from the need for a license, so we are issuing a general invitation for music and culture lovers everywhere to bring their instruments of choice and join our joyful  congregation. The service will be presided over by comedian/activist, Mark Thomas, comedian/Camden Green Party Candidate, Ben Van Der Velde and the founding director of the Keep Streets Live campaign, Jonny Walker. The musical participation of the congregation is strongly welcomed and encouraged.
 
Our church is inclusive and non-judgmental and has few dogmas, save these two:
 
1.) Busking is a sacred act in our church and an expression of worship.
2.) Our songbook is every song, hymn or piece of music that has ever been written.
 
We want to celebrate public space as a place of community and spontaneity and stand against unjust laws that stifle creativity so join us this Sunday as we fill the streets of Camden with music, laughter and a slightly unsettling buzzing sound.
 
 
Join the event online: https://www.facebook.com/events/604776976274559
 

Eco-awareness abounds at Ecobuild

A guest post for Camden Green Party by Elizabeth Block.

In the first week of March I took off on the DLR for my third successive visit to Ecobuild, the mega environmental fiesta of exhibition stands and seminars, now in its 10th year. I trekked across to London’s ExCel Centre, dreading it as usual only because it is so big, to be among more than 44,000 “sustainable environment professionals”. It was up three per cent from last year.

For me Ecobuild answers the technological “what’s possible” question and also the political “how can we make it happen” question. To me the answers to the former were great, inventive and exciting. On the second unfortunately there was little to inspire.

By way of exhibitors, you got hundreds of huge companies, excuse me, “solutions providers”, with huge and no doubt hugely expensive stands. Examples include Skanska, Balfour Beatty, Saint-Gobain, Baxi, Worcester Bosch, Mitsubishi and Travis Perkins, all pushing their green sides. But the event also makes space for a number of new “Green Shoot” companies. Most of these had much smaller stands and my favourite was HE Hydrogen which features “green hydrogen”. This means you feed in water and solar PV for electricity to get H2 out of your electrolyser. As you know, critics of H2 always stress the amount of energy required to make it, but if it’s renewable, hey, no worries. And the CEO, Dr Amit Roy, is experimenting with ambient pressure H2 storage to cut costs. Could this be a game-changer? Could this fuel all our cars? I hope so.

And amid all the roofing, plumbing, and building materials companies on the floor, it was nice to visit the Biodiversity Pavilion with its bat boxes and living roofs.

Paul King, Chief Executive, UK-Green Building Council, Ecobuild’s lead partner said: “Ecobuild has become the Crystal Palace of its day, the great exhibition where new products can be found and sold, and fortunes can be made in the name of green building.” This is a bit excessive, but not that much. And it’s nice to know that Ecobuild is expanding to other countries.

On the political side we had Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, who took the opportunity to launch the government’s consultation on the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). He also claimed to “have built a market” for energy efficiency in terms of technology and expertise. His deputy, Greg Barker MP, minister for climate change, turned up to announce a £19 million boost for the Green Deal by way of funding for six community based retrofit programmes. He also sought to reinvigorate the Green Deal, which we all know has not been a roaring success, by linking it to the new domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), due to start this spring. Actual achievements seemed thin on the ground. Let’s hope the RHI at least is a real success and helps join up technological potential with the incentives needed to make things happen!

But my feeling is that until we have the political determination to make things change, we won’t have as much progress as we need. For the Climate Week’s award which took place in parallel, Jeremy Leggatt of Solar Century won. But next time I’d like to see a politician take the award for setting up a scheme that works and has the big impact that’s needed.

Ben Van der Velde meets Camden Collective

Ben at Camden Collective

by Ben Van der Velde

Last week the Green Party organised a meeting for me with Simon Pitkeathley, the Chief Executive of an amazing organisation called Camden Collective.  Meeting him and being invited around the various properties run by his initiative was one of the most cheering experiences I’ve had in a long time.  The mainstream news and parties in government seem to be stuck on a narrative of austerity and a lack of imagination or innovation within the country.  What Simon showed me suggests something quite different.

Anyone who lives in Camden Town will know that the centre part of it has a very divided feel.  To the right of the station you have the colourful carnival of markets, global food stalls, tourist tat and genuinely creative independent artist stalls.  To the left it is a more dreary affair: with the odd exception the strip between Camden Town station and Mornington Crescent is an identikit British high street of uniformity and drabness.  Chain stores, betting shops and, most upsettingly, empty shop fronts.  But that might be about to change.  In a previously empty property next to Pret A Manger Simon has opened up The Camden Collective – a multi-purpose shop floor where he allows small businesses to trade for two weeks at a time to find out if their idea has legs and to gain all sorts of useful experiences and contacts that can help them grow.  The inside is made almost entirely from reclaimed material and even when I visited it at 10:30am it at an atmosphere of quiet industry pervaded, amongst the cake-sellers, dress makers and pottery-moulders. 

Even more excitingly, this isn’t the Collective’s only property.  As well as using the top floor space above 159 Camden High Street as office space for various new companies specialising in a hugely diverse range of fields, they also use a property further down the high street. Down an anonymous back lane and above a gallery is one of Camden Collective’s Hubs. A place where innovators in software for Google Glasses rub shoulders with designers sat at sowing machines.  Yet again, this is a place where Simon’s organisation offers space to young businessmen and women for free, in order for them to focus all their energies on their ideas, rather than worrying about high rent and rates costs that could hamstring a potentially brilliant concept at an early stage.  More importantly, this idea of shared workspace and giving people room to fail and learn from their mistakes is key.  Anyone working in creative industries will tell you that the best ideas often come when they’re having a chat in the kitchen of a friend working in a completely different sphere and the Collective’s hubs are designed so that these sort of happily accidental pieces of cross-pollination will occur.

Read Ben’s full blog here

We want a reliable, sensibly priced mail service, not a privatised one

By Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader and Camden resident

A letter in last week’s Ham and High from Anton Harding on behalf of Royal Mail illustrates effectively how we don’t want this service to operate, as a business.

We don’t want something “flexible and fleet-of-foot”, that’s what’s given us a steadily diminishing number of deliveries in recent years, arriving later, all too often delivered by casual workers who understandably struggle in Camden with complicated layouts of council estates and ancient Zone 1 street layouts, where once a regular deliverer knew their own patch like the back of their hand.

Privatisation is a failed model. We know from the long trail of disasters, from G4S to A4E to Atos to Harmoni, that outsourcing our public services puts public funds straight into private profits, cuts the pay and condition of workers and reduces the quality of service to the public.

This is an essential public service just like our water supplies, electricity etc. And just like those, it is a natural monopoly – it’s clearly nonsensical for several different companies to make the same rounds of streets and boroughs every day.

We all know how badly privatising water, gas and electricity has worked out. Let’s not make the same mistake with the mail.