Abbey area regeneration proposals exhibition

The exhibition on the Abbey Area masterplan - ie regeneration of this immediate area with a focus on the publicly owned housing and public realm - will be open 22-27th November in the Abbey Hive, 86 Abbey Road. Opening times are weekdays: 2.00-6.00pm, with late opening until 8.30pm on Thursday evening, and Saturday 10.00am-4.00pm.

The opening of the masterplan exhibition which will be held on the evening of 23rd November in the Abbey Community Centre from 6.30-8.30 - local residents are invited, please rsvp to petra.clarke@camden.gov.uk

We'll be going along as Swiss Cottage ward councillors. We are very aware of the considerable controversy locally around these various regeneration options, and the impact residents very close by in Swiss Cottage ward, for whom we have a particular responsibility, would feel.

There are lessons for the council from this project in how to engage with the wider local community, though it's important to recognise that the main consultation for any redevelopment would come with the planning application, and we're not at that point yet.

We will of course represent local concerns, most particularly in relation to planning applications, while of course Roger Freeman and Andrew Marshall as members of the Development Control Committee need to avoid expressing opinions in public that would mean they were unable to vote on the applications (due to the need to avoid "predetermination").

We look forward to working with the West Hampstead and Kilburn councillors on this, perhaps especially with Kilburn Labour Cllr Mike Katz who is one of the sharpest minds on the new council and who struck a very considered position at the community meeting on this in the summer.