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Residents divided on latest ‘gated community’ bid
PLANS to transform a quiet mews in Maida Hill into a gated community to banish drug dealers were expected to be thrown out by planning officials last night (Thursday).
Residents of Abinger Mews have been split over plans to install remote-controlled gates outside their exclusive homes.
Many believe the gates, which would bar non-residents from the complex, are needed because of increases in drug dealing and car crime. But this is disputed among those that live there and the council has indicated it is unlikely to accept the plans.
The application is the 13th of its kind from luxury home owners in affluent parts of Westminster wanting to section off their homes.
The figure was highlighted after one of Westminster’s most famous residents, Tony Blair, had parts of Connaught Square sectioned off to traffic because of security.
Councillor Robert Davis, lead member for planning, said: “We have had a number of high-profile individuals in Westminster, as well as some of the most important buildings in London, and if every one of them was allowed to gate themselves, soon nobody would be able to move around freely. How can we say to Londoners and the millions of tourists: ‘You can’t walk down certain streets?" |
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