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Cue and commentary
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King’s Cross Central is a 67 acre brownfield site situated between the north of King’s Cross and St. Pancras Stations which is about to be developed.
Proposals for the new site include new homes, retail, office and leisure facilities, open spaces, cultural uses, the refurbishment of historic structures and buildings and employment opportunities. In short - a major change for the area.
Outline Planning Applications were submitted by the developer, Argent (King’s Cross)
Limited, to Camden and Islington
Councils, in May 2004. Since then there have been a major series of consultation exercises which are still ongoing.
One of the difficult balances to achieve is between what local people need and envisage for the area and the costs of developing and sustaining it.
Local residents, Marian Larragy and Angela
Inglis, have used Camden Central Radio to explore and explain the issues involved
in order to help themselves and other residents to have a voice in the process.
They interviewed Michael Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Planning at
University College
London, and a member of the Bartlett School of Planning.
He was an advisor to the King’s Cross Partnership from 1999- 2003. From the late 1980’s until now he has been involved in research on the redevelopment of King’s Cross.
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Michael Edwards outlines his experience
in this field:
- audio
- transcript
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The interview covered a range of issues in some depth. Michael Edwards started by outlining the results of his research into the different kinds of
population in King’s Cross and the difficulties that people have in trying to remain in this area.
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Population:
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King’s Cross has been known for its
diversity of small and medium sized businesses. But if people are being pressured out of their living accommodation, what is the future for such diversity?
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A
diverse economy:
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| So what is needed for small businesses to flourish in the new
development proposed for King's Cross Central? -> |
Businesses:
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- transcript |
| Clearly these comments point to the
need for balance between offices and housing in the new
development. -> |
Balance:
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| A better balance between living
and working space could also have benefits in London’s
transport system. -> |
Transport:
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So what kinds of things could the development of the
Railway Lands
(King's Cross Central) do to give more employment to local
people? ->
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Employment:
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| It is important that the
development plans take into account sustainability.
Developers face an enormous challenge keeping up to date with
the rapid changing views on this subject and the need for very
different types of energy from those used in the past. But
whilst a few relish the challenge (like the architects of Bed-Zed,
who put sustainability at the heart of the project), most find
it hard to get the point, as Michael Edwards summarises very
neatly. ->
While some methods for sustainability have
been proposed for the King’s Cross development - for
instance, 15% of the roofs would be green/brown - no energy
assessment has been provided and the total amount of renewable
energy would be less than 1%. |
Inching towards sustainability:
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| The King’s Cross Forum, made
up of local groups and residents, suggested in their response
to Argent’s 2004 planning proposals for King’s Cross
Central that there is an opportunity to make this new
development revolutionary in terms of sustainability,
buildings, heritage, transport and in terms of it being the
Gateway to Europe. We need to hear a lot more about the
European link-up. -> |
European link-up:
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- transcript |
| Argent, Camden and Islington
have the opportunity to make this a revolutionary
international development, one which looks towards the future
in terms of sustainability, travel, community and culture. To
do this requires vision and courage to take on board more of
the imaginative proposals that are being put forward for this
development.
Consultation
People were invited to give
written responses to the amended planning application for King’s
Cross, sending them to Camden Council by 21st November
2005. For more information see Camden
Council’s website
A meeting organised by the King's
Cross Railway Lands Group to discuss the proposal took place on Saturday 5th November
2005 at the
Courtyard Theatre in York Way. See www.kxrlg.org.uk
for details.
The planning application was also
discussed at the Camden Central Community Umbrella Convention
on Saturday 12th November 2005 at Working Men’s
College at Crowndale Road.
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here for Camden Central Radio
~ Click here for
Angela Inglis' website |
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