Camley Street
CLIENT
Camley Street Neighbourhood Forum
PRINCIPAL
STAKEHOLDERS
Camley Street Neighbourhood Forum
PROJECT TEAM
Plan Projects
LOCATION
Camden, London
Summary
Plan Projects is involved with the development of a neighbourhood Plan for Camley Street, a well-established community close to Kings Cross, to ensure any new development in the area reflects more closely the needs and values of the people and businesses located there.
Context
The Camley Street neighbourhood sits close to two important centres: the Kings Cross regeneration zone (north of the station) and Camden Town, within its shops and markets. The regeneration zone is an exemplar development project, and it has had a transformational effect on the local property market.
Specific changes include the arrival of the University of the Arts, stimulating a high demand for student accommodation in the area. In addition, the development of new commercial space has reinvigorated Kings Cross as a place of employment, adding to pressure for new housing.
The attractiveness of Camley Street is undoubtedly reinforced by its proximity to Camden Town with its world famous market and good transport connections.
Community
The core of the neighbourhood are residential and industrial enclaves sitting to east and west of Camley Street respectively; the community reflects these two enclaves – dividing roughly into a residential community of around 1200 people and a working population of about the same size.
While the Kings Cross redevelopment may be positive in itself, the pressure for development it has precipitated, together with the Local Authority’s drive to maximise the returns it receives from its property assets, threatens to displace the businesses in Camley Street. The residential community is also concerned, noting the quality of recent developments in the area, that new schemes coming forward will be poor quality and will not take into proper consideration their needs.
As a result, the Camley Street Neighbourhood Forum was established in 2014. Plan Projects is working with this forum to conceive a neighbourhood plan, with the aim of developing policy creatively and proactively to steer future towards design that is more sustainable and addresses the existing community’s housing and infrastructure needs more effectively.
Vision
As a result of the neighbourhood plan, Camley Street will evolve into a highly urban environment providing land uses suited to the complex demands of a diverse community; individual development projects will reflect the values of the community and the residential, work-related and student housing areas will become better linked so as to bring about an improved sense of both identity and coherence.