No Room at Camden Council’s Inn December 1, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden, Politics , 2 commentsThe grandeur of the new St Panacras station sits side by side with one of the most deprived areas of London, Somers Town. Walk away from champagne and Eurostar, and its not hard to find people in very difficult circumstances. The drug dealers and hookers have mostly been moved on to other areas, but the vulnerable are still there if you look.
Every year, my friend Dom spends his Christmas working for Crisis Open Christmas, a charity which provides for the homeless and inadequately housed at Christmas time. It’s a rewarding and useful way to spend the week, giving him a lot of personal satisfaction while doing some good that’s much more in keeping with the Christmas spirit than the normal rounds of presents and parties.
Crisis operate these centres all around London, and this year, the Wellcome Trust offered a building on Euston Rd. That sounds ideal, given that a short walk around Eversholt St or St Pancras church will dispel any notions that homelessness has disappeared from Camden.
Why then, when Crisis asked Camden council for their support, did Camden turn them down? They weren’t asking much, because Crisis and it’s volunteers will do all the work, and even clean up afterwards and take people back to where they came from. But Camden Council are not prepared to support this.
I asked one of our local ward councillors about it. I know he’s concerned about housing in this area, and he’d heard nothing of it. A little further digging in the council, and I find myself in possession of an extraordinary and spinechilling document - a Council briefing paper prepared by the Acting Assistant Director (Needs and Access), Karen Swift.
It seems that Camden Council have a low opinion of Crisis, based on a fairly outdated understanding of the service they offer. These days, homelessness isn’t just about rough sleepers, but about those who have no secure housing, who move from sofa to friend’s floor, and those who, although offered a place in a hostel cannot take it up. Often these people have enormous mental health issues and aren’t easily brought into the system. Crisis is at least as aware of that as Camden Council. Crisis Open Christmas helps them to get the help they need, in a way that works with how they are, rather than through ‘targets’ and ‘tasking’ which may have little relevance to chaotic lives.
Don’t get me wrong. My experience of living in a council-owned flat and being involved with the District Management Committee for Housing in Somers Town has given me a high opinion of many of those involved in housing services in Camden, but the Council has got it wrong here.
Sadly, I suspect the nub of the reason for Camden Council’s rejection is in their statement that the Kings Cross area is ’sensitive’ due to recently reopened St Pancras, and that there is an unspecified but small rise in ’street activity’. Does this just mean that the Council is worried about all those unsightly homeless people who are out of Camden’s ‘control’ showing up near the posh new station?
It’s not clear where responsibility for this decision lies, but I can only ask the Council to change their mind. Every year, Crisis do excellent work with some of the most vulnerable in our society. If Christmas means anything, we must support them.
St Pancras Opens November 14, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden , add a commentFor all the years I’ve known this part of Camden, there’s been a huge eyesore of a building site in the south-east corner of Somers Town. Roads have been blocked and the most exquisite architecture in the area has been under varying degrees of cover and scaffolding. Finally, it has started opening and today the first bookable Eurostar left St Pancras.
Paris is now only 2hrs 15 minutes away and, more importantly for me, the walk to the station is 10 minutes shorter. Brill Place, signposted ‘formerly Phoenix Rd’, was unblockd last week for the first time in years, opening up a quick shortcut into St Pancras, and through to the side platforms of Kings Cross. Door to Gare du Nord in less than three hours, and no need to allow for tube delays.
This morning, those details were unimportant as the first train pulled away. The refurbished train hall is magnificient. Classic Victorian brickwork and steel girders are topped by the lightest transparent roof. The best of the Victorian era meets the best of ours in a place which will uplift and delight for years.
Hundreds of passengers, media people and sightseers thronged to see it leave, and admire it all. The announcer repeated that flash photography was not permitted on the platform. No chance.
Cycling protesters did a great job of getting in every shot and made their point about the sad lack of bicycle parking on the station well.
The statue of the kiss is as tacky as reported, but that of John Betjeman, poet saviour of the station is set to become a favourite. The old clock, with hands and brass numerals, presides over it all, reminding everyone in the champagne bar which runs the length of a platform not to miss their train.
The shops aren’t open yet, and the lack cycle parking is scandalous, but they’ve done very, very well here. The place is beautiful.
