Bunhill councillor Valerie Bossman-Quarshie (@ValerieABossman) argues for a new approach to housing development.
No one wants to live near a building site. Obviously, people don’t want noise, chaos, dust, concrete and scaf- folding around them. That’s reasonable and it’s why a lot of problems come with developing new homes.
At the same time, it’s really important that we talk about why housing development happens. In my ward, Bunhill, I often hear that we have too much development. I can understand that argument when it comes to speculative luxury housing of the type we see in some parts of London.
But we desperately need adequate social housing and Islington Council, along with other councils, is trying to address this shortage. So the issue I’m trying to address is this: how do we get developers and the Council to build new housing, while also ensuring that residents are not too put out, and even understand the need for it? Particularly as there are 15,000 people on the waiting list, with many children and young people in overcrowded homes, living with elderly family members who desperately need adequate living space.
All housing was new once, and if you go back, people in the past often objected to terraces that are now much-loved. Across Islington in the 19th century, housing covered fields as London spread out from the centre.
So this isn’t a new story by any means, but it has hit a new critical phase, particularly when, at Braithwaite House in Bunhill Row for example, there’s a loss of amenity. It brings on complaints about feeling over- crowded. People are concemed about the impact of new residents on overstretched schools and doctors’ surgeries, and. wonder whether they’ll be an additional burden on the area.
They also want to hang onto recreational space. I get it. I live in Highbury, and I too want to protect our community spaces. But in order to create the housing we need there also has to be some public acceptance that building needs to take place.
Part of the issue is that central London is not particularly dense when it comes to housing, particularly compared to cities like Paris or central Barcelona where mid-rise housing is the norm.
So instead of growing outwards, there’s now a tendency to build up a bit, which isn’t such a bad thing and will have the effect of creating more dwellings on the same footprint. Also, now that the Council is embarking on its own building of social housing, there’s a chance to create much-needed homes up to far more stringent ecological standards.
These homes will set the standard for the future. If we have a denser city, then we also need it to be a greener city. My feeling is that development has got to involve a community approach. For example, part of the problem of the loss of amenity could be resolved by creating new sites for recreation.
When I see car parks, for example, I wonder if they might be resurfaced and turned into recreational space. Plus, existing open spaces such as that which exists in Bunhill Fields could be used more. Planting could help off-set the sense and reduce the health inequalities associated with poor living conditions and overcrowded homes.
And as to the problem of living near developments, that could be managed better. With good faith, considerate. construction, care taken to limit noise and dust and community consultation, perhaps we can start to get people to concentrate on the positives rather than the negatives.
