Camden New Journal - News: Protesters’ emotional vow to stop sale of British Library land

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Camden New Journal - by JAMIE WELHAM
Published: 18th October 2007

Protesters at Wednesday night’s meeting

‘We’ll fight until the death’

Protesters’ emotional vow to stop sale of British Library land

MORE than 100 protesters vowed a “fight until the death” over the planned government sell-off of land behind the British Library at an emotional meeting last night (Wednesday).
Holborn and St Pancras Frank Dobson MP pledged his support to the campaign to use 3.6 acre site at Brill Place solely for affordable housing and facilities for residents in Somers Town, but urged them to be realistic about their chances against the powerful corporations bidding for the site.
The only declared contender out of six shortlisted bidders for the site is a £350 million research centre to be run by the Medical Research Council in partnership with Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Somers Town Community Centre, Mr Dobson said: “I would like to see the site used for housing and facilities for local people, especially the young people in the area who have nothing here. But what I think is likely to happen is that the Medical Research Council will get the site, and if this is the case we will have to do everything possible to work with planners to make sure we at least get some of the site.”
Mr Dobson was accused of taking a defeatist stance and he was told they would not lie down and let the Department for Culture, Media and Sport sell the site from under their feet.
Campaigner Dave Hoefling said: “I was born and bred in Somers Town and we’ve definitely got a problem on our hands with this.
“We are the most deprived area of Camden and we are going to fight tooth and nail for this land. It should be a blessing for us – we don’t have any space for our kids to play and what we don’t need is another concrete jungle of offices. We are going in for a fight and we’ve got to go all the way. If you don’t ask you don’t get so I do think the politicians are being too defeatist about this.”
Candy Udwin, who chaired the public meeting, called for a “united front” so they could take their campaign forward with momentum.
She said: “If we are going to fight we have to be united. We spend too much time squabbling but what we are all agreed on is that we want housing on the site. For now we have to tell the DCMS, (housing minister) Yvette Cooper and Camden Council to stop the sell-off and give us some houses.”
Mr Dobson said he would take the fight to Westminster but added that he did not want to lie to residents: “I am only being realistic when I say I wouldn’t stake a lot of money on winning the argument. I will continue to fight for housing on the site and will raise it in Parliament and talk to ministers but we are dealing with very powerful institutions with a lot of influence here. We may have to settle for the MRC but there should be no question of them getting all the land. We must get the best out of a difficult situation.”

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