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Legacy of a fulfilled ego
• THE controversy surrounding the glass-fronted Hodges House in Barnsbury Square, which recently was awarded planning permission on appeal, brings to the forefront a debate which has long needed to be rekindled among the chattering classes of Islington.
I do not know Robin Hodges, but, from articles in the local press on his epic, seven-year planning battle with neighbours and councillors, he does appear to be the modern English incarnation of philosopher Ayn Rand’s Howard Roark, the architect protagonist in her seminal 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.
Individualism is the cornerstone of Rand’s objectivism doctrine, and a rational man (or woman) should act only in their own self interest. While others may label such behaviour selfish, Rand believes mankind’s natural state is individualism and rational egoism.
It would be interesting to get readers’ views on why private developers, such as Mr Hodges, whose goal is to maximise profits, should be forced by the state to provide affordable housing? And why his neighbours, who own £1million homes, would want affordable housing on their doorsteps? Such behaviour is simply not rational.
Rand’s doctrine also allows the human ego to be expressed fully. It seems Mr Hodges has done so with his glass-bottom swimming pool in Islington’s most valuable flat, and the glass-fronted Hodges House will leave a legacy in Barnsbury Square of Mr Hodges’ fulfilled ego for future generations to appreciate.
Why such controversy? Where is the problem?
H Ishiguro
Gibson Square, N1
• THE new Hodges House in Barnsbury Square is for 10 very large “upmarket families” who can afford at least $1million. Has someone gotten something wrong here? Didn’t councillors of all parties agree some time ago a policy that requires 50 per cent affordable homes at developments of 10 flats or more?
With 13,000 on the waiting list for affordable housing, including many large families living in overcrowded conditions, how is it that a wealthy and greedy developer is allowed to buy his way out of avoiding the social responsibilities which rightfully accompany permission to develop?
Without affordable housing, Hodges House will be yet another apartheid yuppie development, in an enclave already invaded by super-gentrifiers. On the other hand, five affordable homes in the middle of one of Islington’s most exclusive squares would help retain what remains of an inclusive Islington in which those of varying socio-economic strata live side-by-side.
Islington is special, and sought-after, because it has been ruled for decades by a “lefty cabal” (in P Johnson’s words) be it Labour or Lib Dem, democratically chosen to reflect the views of the electorate (Flats will add sparkle, February 8). When was the last time the Conservatives were able to put even one bum on the bench, much less rule Town Hall?
If Robin Hodges, as supported by P Johnson, wants exclusivity, he should take his sparkling plans to Knightsbridge or Mayfair, not Barnsbury.
As it now stands, the victory for Mr Hodges and his free-market-at-any-cost ilk (particularly if Islington’s own B Johnson ousts Ken at City Hall) is another step in the funeral march for the mixed-community social structure we on the “left” have held dear.
The “left” needs to protect its hard-won ground. The council would be “foolhardy” not to appeal the inspector’s decision in the High Court.
L Warren
(Address supplied) N1
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