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Rug is pulled from under King’s Cross forum
• THE King’s Cross Development Forum met in a sombre mood for their annual review meeting because member, Lisa Pontecorvo, had been killed in Holloway Road.
The forum, originally brought together by Camden Council to sound out local communities on developers’ plans for the massive King’s Cross Central site, was further saddened to hear that the council are now withdrawing support. Working closely with organisations from the Islington side of York Way and with Islington planners, the forum brought together people from community groups in all the surrounding neighbourhoods and wards. Some strong opponents of developer Argent’s plans and some mainly supportive representatives studied the outline applications and set up a system to scrutinise the detailed plans now coming to Camden planners month by month.
Architects and designers have shown plans, presentations, story-boards and models of their projects. Forum members have learned technical terms and planning procedures.
As it gets more complex and detailed the council have pulled the rug from under the forum by withdrawing officer support, maintaining contact lists, arranging meetings, taking and circulating notes.
Forum members voted to write to chief executive Moira Gibb and council leader Keith Moffitt with copies to all Camden councillors complaining as the loss of support and requesting it be restored.
Government reports and award-giving bodies have praised the approach to public consultation at King’s Cross. Now Camden have withdrawn the help needed to get busy active citizens together over this, possibly Europe’s biggest city centre vacant site, just as the time has come when we begin to see what is really proposed.
REV GEOFFREY H ROPER
King’s Cross Development Forum
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