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Green spaces in danger
• I AM a member of the North Camden Co-Op living in Margaret Road for the last five years.
I share a communal terrace with two other flats, an important and cherished green outdoor space of decadesÕ vintage.
Last year this was put in jeopardy when, without consultation with users, major renovation work to the terrace, needlessly destroyed what had been nurtured over decades to provide an area full of blossom and greenery, which delighted all.
Now North Camden Co-OpÕs manager, Sue Ulrich, has written demanding I remove what remains of this delightful green space, to facilitate proposed work by design company Hadley Design, of Highgate.
As a member, I was informed of this work, but not the drastic renovation planned for the roof of what is a mid-19th-century listed building, in a prime location, opposite the church, Our Lady Help of Christians.
I was informed by Camden Council of the application of planning permission. I believe my objection to what I consider public vandalism of a beautiful street, has revived the threat to the terrace garden, as today I received an ultimatum to clear the terrace of all plants and furniture by October 10 (only two weeks), or else be served with a notice to quit.
What is so alarming, is that the Co-Operative movement was built on democracy, consultation and equal rights for tenants.
Although I have utilised the constitutional machinery of the Co-Op to try to preserve the terrace, what I have discovered is how powerless a member of a Co-Op is when democracy breaks down and power is hijacked by a non-elected, non-member bureaucrat. Parallels with society at large come to mind.
Bullying and harassment by cliques against the lone individual should not be tolerated, and be combated by all.
MORTIMER O'SULLIVAN
Lady Margaret Road, NW5 |
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