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English Heritage cares about King’s Cross plans
• ENGLISH Heritage welcomes the decision of Camden Council’s planning committee last Thursday night to grant planning permission for the King’s Cross Central scheme.
This is a major step towards lifting the blight that has affected the area for the past 20 years. We are particularly delighted that so many historic buildings are to be refurbished to house vibrant new uses.
The historic environment of the capital is always our first priority and we object very strongly to comments made by former councillor Ernest James (‘Hold public inquiry into KX plan now’, Nov 16).
Mr James is wrong on three counts. Firstly, English Heritage did not rely solely on Camden Council’s legal team to determine whether an outline application was sufficient in this case – our own in-house legal team looked at the issue very closely.
Secondly, Mr James says he has now written to John Prescott asking him to call in the King’s Cross scheme. In fact, Mr Prescott and the Government Office for London decided not to call in the proposals for a public inquiry last year.
Thirdly, Mr James asserts English Heritage is not empowered to consider the community benefit of a particular scheme. Again, he is wrong – this is very much within our legal remit as set out in government planning policy.
I am confident that English Heritage has given the King’s Cross Central proposals very careful consideration and that our advice to Camden Council has been entirely appropriate.
PATRICK PUGH
Head of Advice and Grants
English Heritage, EC1
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