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We must build up our communities
• PETER Cadogan was spot on in his Forum piece (What has happened to our communities?, November 16).
Noting that Camden borough is 15 not one in its communities mix, he aspires to seeing a town hall in each. Let’s hope the mooted plan to further amalgamate the boroughs (all in the interests of economy) fails to materialise.
Youths, mainly males, do what the young do – they form peer groups. It is only when accepted norms of behaviour are breached that problems arise.
That feeling of belonging is needed to cope with living in London with its massive population – greater in numbers than the whole of Ireland, and increasing.
The increase will impact on the less affluent in society, with pressures on affordable housing and the infrastructure needed.
Only a minority of any generation go to excess in their youth, with most getting on with becoming adults with its freedoms and responsibilities.
And when they do good, it is done without fuss – as in this area where the scholars at Haverstock School present food parcels to the needy aged each Christmas. No doubt, too, contributing to the New Journal’s own Christmas hamper appeal.
The borough of Camden is indeed rich in history and the borough thrives in its diversity. As Mr Cadogan notes, communities are mainly neighbours sharing an area and taking part in local activities.
SKIP MURPHY
Prince of Wales Road
NW1
• I READ with interest the article written by Peter Cadogan. I wholeheartedly agree with the profile of a community that Mr Cadogan and I believe that by creating a sense of civic pride in our communities, integration and social cohesion can be successfully achieved. In fact, at the Hampstead Town Community Strategy Meeting one resident suggested that we have local forums for each of Camden’s communities, with the communities being defined using a similar formula that Mr Cadogan suggests, that is “everyone within walking distance of a High Street or other civic centre”.
The one point where I disagree with Mr Cadogan is when he states, “councillors have been issued with blinkers which prevent them seeing the community wood for the party trees”.
I stood for election specifically because I want to represent the communities where I live. However I entirely understand how Mr Cadogan could come to this conclusion, as a local activist prior to being elected I was outraged to hear the comments made by the previous administration’s environment executive when he referred to South End Green as being “nothing more than a bus terminus”.
It is comments such as this which discourage people from taking an active interest in their community which is how strong communities begin to crumble.
CLLR KIRSTY ROBERTS
Town Hall
Judd Street
WC1
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