Camden Labour is supporting the Crown tenants in their campaign to prevent their landlord, the Crown Commissioners, from selling off their homes to a speculative developer. The proposal involves 539 units of social housing in Regents Park Ward. Many of the residents are elderly and have Rent Act protected tenancies. More recently, flats have been allocated to “key workers” under assured shorthold tenancies.

Local residents, Mary and Bill Greenleaf with Cllr Heather Johnson, Frank Dobson MP and Cllr Nasim Ali

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New data from Camden Labour suggests that council neglect and anti-social behaviour are the main concerns of residents in the Haverstock area of Camden, from Chalk Farm to West Kentish Town.

Queens Crescent community activist, Joynal Uddin (pictured left), is making a stand for local people, saying “The residents of places like Denton, Southfleet, Malden Road and Maitland Park have had enough of the Tory/Lib Dem Council’s neglect.  The Tories and Lib Dems are happy to churn out leaflets but it counts for nothing when they refuse to deal with the problems of antisocial behaviour I see every day on the streets.  Many of our local problems can be traced back to poor and overcrowded housing conditions – problems only made worse by the Council’s policy of selling off homes to private developers despite the 18,000 housing waiting list.”

Joynal has pledged, if elected by local people, to join Camden Labour colleagues in opposing any further housing sell offs and to support tough action against crime in Haverstock ward.

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As the Camden New Journal reports on private developers making vast sums through the auctioning of homes by Camden’s Lib Dems and Tories, Camden Labour has reaffirmed its commitment to stopping the sell-off of desperately needed local housing.

Cantelowes ward campaigner, Phil Jones, said “This ‘flipping’ of publicly owned housing to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds for private developers will shock and appall Camden’s taxpayers.  It’s also a daily tragedy for the thousands of local families that languish on the growing housing waiting list.  The choice at the next election is between Lib Dem/Tory support for sell-offs and Camden Labour’s promise to immediately halt privatisation of desperately needed housing.”

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Camden Labour have been backing the campaign to save the Whittington A&E from closure.  There will be a public meeting about the planned closure on Monday 25th January, 7pm at Archway Methodist Church, N19.  We hope you can join us there to protest against this terrible decision by NHS executives.

Closing the Whittington A&E would force some people to travel further in an emergency.  It would also put an extra strain on other hospitals, such as the Royal Free, and potentially lead to the closure of other services at the Whittington.

More than 1,000 people have signed the petition against the closure.  You can add your name here: http://www.savethewhittington.org.uk/tag/petition/

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Lib Dem led Camden Council has backed down from plans to replace the unique internal heating system on the Alexandra & Ainsworth estate with radiators, following a high profile campaign led by the Tenant’s & Resident’s Association – supported by Kilburn’s Labour Team.

Over 90% of residents surveyed by the TRA opposed the radiator plans, which many residents feared would be unsightly and could potentially lead to structural problems with the eye-catching grade II listed estate.

Labour campaigner Thomas Gardiner said: “Thanks to the TRA campaign, the Lib Dems have seen sense and backed down on their plans to impose radiators on the Alex & Ainsworth. We’re pleased the council has seen sense and will get on with replacing electrical wiring in new risers on A block, while looking again at sustainable longer term solutions for the estate.”

Tags: Kilburn, Radiators Row, Rowley Way.

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Camden council flats in desirable Belsize Park NW3, bought at auction by private developers earlier this year, have been ‘flipped’, for a potentially massive profit – Camden Labour can reveal.

Sold as part of Tory-Lib Dem Camden’s council house sales programme, a three flat home on the Russell Nurseries Estates in Aspern Grove only left council control at the start of last month, when it was snapped up at auction for £560,000.

Now just one of the flats is being marketed for buyers at the sum of £250,000 – a price the estate agent described on their website as “unbelievable” – allowing the buyer to make a substantial profit almost overnight.

This is despite the fact that there are 18,000 people on Camden’s waiting lists.

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Tags: Camden Conservatives, Camden Lib dems, housing targets.