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Camden New Journal - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 29 November 2007

Public inquiry into road closures for apartments

Mayor Ken orders new probe into plans for street after objections

PLANS to close off a Kentish Town street so that developers can build a seven-storey apartment block will be probed by a government inspector at a public inquiry.
The investigation, set to take place in January, will look into council-approved plans to “stop-up” Dalby Street so that developers Trac Properties Ltd can build a controversial 55-apartment complex next to the Talacre Sports Centre.
The inquiry, ordered by London Mayor Ken Livingstone when he saw the number of objections to Camden’s proposals to close Dalby Street and redesign part of Prince of Wales Road, will ask Camden Council to justify the road changes to government planning inspector Andrew Roberts in a three-day hearing at the town hall.
Although the stopping-up is being ordered purely to allow construction of a clinic and 55 flats on the existing roadway of Dalby Street, Trac will play no part in the inquiry because highway changes are a council matter.
Campaigner Peter Cuming, of Friends of Talacre Gardens, who filed one of the 22 objections to the order, welcomed the inquiry after four years of opposing the Dalby Street development on the grounds that it is too large for the site.
He said: “Residents feel this is the end of the Dalby Street project – the final act of the drama. The plans are not fit for purpose and the changes to the road are dangerous.”
The planning inspector’s report and recommendation will be passed to Camden councillors for a final decision.
A council spokesman said: “We welcome this opportunity to enable further public debate about access to Talacre Sports Centre, the gardens and the planned development.
“We are confident that working through the public inquiry process will ensure that we get the best access arrangements possible.”
The council stands to gain from future developments on the site, which includes a chunk of formerly council-owned land. Trac, which bought a derelict house on the site for £190,000 in 2001, sold their interest to British Virgin Islands-registered Cornwall Overseas Development Ltd for £3.5m within weeks of planning permission being granted last year.

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