Liddell Road scheme given green light
Camden councillors voted tonight to give the go ahead to both the proposal to build the school and to build the housing and employment space that will help fund it.
The debate lasted just over an hour and a half and got rather tetchy at times. It brought home how complex the funding issues are and how hard it is to make decision, or criticize them when no figures are made public.
The first vote was whether or not to approve the school and all the committee voted in favour
The second vote was whether or not to approve the rest of the scheme. Cllr Flick Rea (LD) and Cllr Claire-Louise Leyland (Con) voted against, it looked from the webcast as if Jenny Headlam-Wells (Lab) abstained (WHL has contacted Cllr Headlam-Wells to clarify), and everyone else voted in favour so both applications were passed.
We now get to see whether the numbers did indeed add up. There was some suggestion from the independent viability assessor that it was possible there would be more capital receipts from the scheme than originally anticipated. Should that happen, that money would go towards affordable housing, though this would not be on the Liddell Road site itself.
It was sad how little mention was made of the jobs and businesses that will have to leave the premises.