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Somers Town invitation
To Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chief Executive, Medical Research Council
• WILL you come and meet the people of Somers Town? You have claimed the proposed £500 million National Institute for Medical Research centre in Somers Town will bring “new jobs, an improved environment, local education opportunities and health advances that will benefit generations to come”.
Research into preventing cancer or the flu virus is a crucial priority everyone would agree on. So why are local people so angry and preparing to take action to fight your plan?
We have heard promises like this before. In the 1970s £600 million was spent on the British Library. However worthy an institution, it has had no impact on local jobs or the problems and lives of those who live in its surrounding streets.
You say “the people of Somers Town have watched nearby streets transformed as investment in new shops and flats has flowed into King’s Cross and St Pancras”. I am sorry, but this just proves you have never visited the area!
We have watched only offices and hotels flowing into the area, with no new housing at all – unless you count the £10 million penthouses above St Pancras station.
Meanwhile, shocking statistics show how health inequality has increased as these developments have progressed.
We live 10 years less than in the richest wards in Camden. And in the 21st century, overcrowding means parents being forced to share a bed with their children, or being told to convert their living space into a bedroom. No wonder our older kids are hanging out on the streets with nowhere to go.
That is why, after waiting 40 years, we are demanding the land behind the British Library is used to build new council homes and community facilities.
We are pledged to fight for planning permission to be refused for your development, and we will continue to lobby this government to use public land to build three million new homes.
We are issuing you this as a public invitation to come and meet people in Somers Town to try and resolve these problems.
Candy Udwin
Secretary Somers Town People’s Forum
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