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Stallholders seek slice of £6.90 pie
• JOHN Gulliver has been attending the same soirees as the Lib Dems for a little too long if he agrees with the reported view of defeated Lib Dem leader Steve Hitchins and his hapless successor, James Kempton, that building more affordable housing would be bad for local shops as their residents wouldn’t be “well-off” enough to sustain them (Over garden party drinks the talk is of weighty matters, of parking polls, flight of middle classes and our housing crisis, July 6)
Let’s get a few things straight. The Lib Dems’ sell-off of 220 shops, at the highest possible price and vastly increased rents, demonstrates that they are not interested in sustaining these businesses.
Their concern about building more affordable housing is based on a belief that this will damage their electoral chances.
As a result of their attitude, the council has been taken to task by an independent government inspector for not even trying to meet Mayor Ken Livingstone’s housing targets.
At a time when there’s a 13,000 waiting list for council housing, that refusal is denying thousands of Islington residents the opportunity to a decent home. That is shameful.
It is also not true that only the well-off keep local shops afloat. Many Islington residents rely on local shops for their groceries, while the wealthy can drive further to supermarkets.
I would have been happy to tell John Gulliver this at the mayor’s event as, contrary to his claim, both Councillor Richard Greening and I were there, but he was too busy hobnobbing with former councillor Mr Hitchins.
Cllr CATHERINE WEST
Leader, Labour group
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