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Sir Simon Jenkins |
King's Cross could become an 'unloved Canary Wharf'
Former Times editor and warns
over future of development
THE fate of Europe’s largest city-centre redevelopment
lies in the hands of councillors who will have almost no chance
of understanding it, it was claimed this week.
As former Times editor and architecture writer Sir Simon Jenkins
joined opposition to the controversial £2 billion King’s
Cross scheme and developer Argent prepared to market it at an
international investors fair in France next month, the 16 councillors
who decide its fate received the official 600-page, two-inch
thick report that will form the basis of their decision.
Supporters insist the 67-acre scheme is the best chance of ending
the blight of decades of neglect on the massive brownfield site.
But critics say it destroys too many of King’s Cross’s
historic landmarks, creating too many unnecessary and faceless
office blocks at the expense of vital housing, parks, playing
fields and schools.
And they warn the long report, un-illustrated and divided into
22 chapters, will prove impossible to make sense of in the two
weeks before the crunch vote – a fear the New Journal understands
is privately shared by some members of the committee.
The officials who wrote the report, recommending councillors
give the scheme the go-ahead, have scheduled a meeting for Monday
to explain it in greater detail before the main meeting on March
8 and 9 but had to call off earlier talks because the report
was published late.
Rupert Perry, chair of the King’s Cross Conservation Area
Advisory Committee, and leading opposition to the plans, said:
“I do not know how they expect councillors to read this
report and understand it in the time available.
“There is detail in there which can be made sense of, but
it is not easy to find – it is not at all clearly written
and it is enormous, with no illustrations, which were available.
“Our concern is that the ‘King’s Crossness’
of the site will be lost.”
Sir Simon Jenkins, who lives in Regent’s Park Road, Primrose
Hill, warned King’s Cross could end up like the unloved
Canary Wharf development if more old buildings were not retained.
He urged councillors to save the Culcross building, a large
block of workers flats directly behind King’s Cross Station,
adding: “These old buildings are what humanise a development
and they could easily be incorporated.
“I’m very fond of the area because I used to moor
a boat in the yacht basin on the canal there.”
Further concerns have been raised because Argent, the developer
behind the scheme, is understood to have sent its main model
of the site to France, where it will be used to tout for investors
in late March if the scheme gets the all clear from Camden.
The massive redevelopment has been mired in controversy since
former planning supremo Councillor Brian Woodrow was ousted
last year by Labour party colleagues who believed he was biased
against it after chief executive Moira Gibb reported him to
the standards board.
Councillors have since been warned not to attend meetings of
residents opposed to the scheme or to take tours of the site
with critics.
A Town Hall press official said the council was confident members
would have long enough to get to grips with the report.
She added: “Normally they wouldn’t have this long,
but because of the complexity they have been given extra time.” |
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