HS2: Council urges Mayor’s Office to begin discussions on Albany Street immediately

Camden councillors and residents have gathered outside the former Albany Street police station site to call for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to give up its lease of the site so it can be used for HS2 replacement housing.

In a consultation run by the council in 2013, 70% of residents described the former police station site as either a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ site on which to build homes needed to replace those demolished by HS2.

However, MOPAC currently have 45 years remaining on their lease on the site, the freehold of which is partly owned by the council, and partly by the police.

Councillor Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council wrote to Stephen Greenhalgh, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, in December last year to call on MOPAC to release the site (you can download the letter in the right hand column).

A recent response from Deputy Mayor states that MOPAC are willing ‘to revisit the issue and to have further discussions’.

Cllr Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council, said: “We are encouraged by recent communication from Deputy Mayor Stephen Greenhalgh that suggested the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) are happy to resume discussions on us using the former police station on Albany Street for replacement housing. This is one of residents’ preferred site and we would love to include this in our plans.

“I will be inviting MOPAC to come to the table urgently so we can begin discussing this.”

The call comes as the council prepares to put forward sites for planning permission in May 2015 to build the homes needed to replace those lost to HS2.

A six-week consultation with residents on the latest designs of the new is now open. Find out you can have your say today.

More information

Camden Council opposes plans for HS2 as currently proposed. If the government does go ahead with the scheme, Camden is committed to securing the best deal for our communities. Find out more here.