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‘It ain’t burning down…’
• STANDING outside Camden Town station on Saturday evening watching fire rage through the Canal Market site was very distressing.
Part of our Camden Town heritage was being destroyed. The next day the news channels and most of the national press were reporting that Camden Market was devastated.
Headlines such as Fears for the future of Camden Market were fuelling this rumour.
Amy Winehouse (accepting her Grammy awards) was right when she stated “Camden Town ain’t burning down” and the message that we want to get out to the wider public is that the devastated area is just a small part of Camden Market.
To save the local economy we need to have people coming to the areas in the numbers that we are used to.
Small businesses (some without insurance) people who work from week to week, and where one week’s profit buys next week’s stock, need the crowds to return and buy their goods.
On Sunday morning, when I visited the residents who were evacuated on Saturday evening, they were all tired but upbeat about the rebuilding of the burnt-out site. A sentiment which was often expressed was that they don’t want this to be an excuse for big business to take over, they want to retain the uniqueness and diversity of this area. It’s what makes Camden special. Being present at the site on Saturday evening and most of Sunday I would like to extend sincere thanks to council officers, the police service and fire service who risked their lives to bring this fire under control. And thanks to council officers and to Camden Town Unlimited who have worked so quickly to help the affected businesses.
CLLR Patricia Callaghan
Labour, Camden Town with Primrose Hill Ward
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