Digest: Empty social housing, squatters in the spaghetti house and Ben Stiller's bus crash
It's our round-up of what's been happening in Camden and Islington.
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Now it’s time for another round-up of what’s been happening – the free post for all readers. The date is, of course, July 7 and flowers have been laid this morning in Tavistock Square by the Mayor of Camden and other dignitaries to mark the anniversary of that terrible day in London 21 years ago – and honour those who lost their lives.
BUS CRASH MOVIE
IF you’re in Primrose Hill this week, don’t be alarmed if you see a bus crash. Movie makers working on a rom-com starring Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Meet the Fockers) are busy working in the back streets. A letter to residents in the area was not shy about revealing too much of the plot, explaining that viewers will watch the incident appear at both the start of the film and “its emotional climax”.
The producers, who have also been spotted in Clerkenwell over the last two weeks, say they only have two chances to get the scene right – because they only have two buses. The name of the film that Stiller is said to be working on in London this summer is A Matter of Time, and it also stars Bella Maclean from Sex Education and Rivals.
That all said, when we reported what was being planned last week, there was a frustrated reaction among some readers who didn’t think such a stunt involving a bus should be filmed on the streets of London on or around the July 7 terror attack anniversary.
THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS
HERE’S another example of a council turning down a proposal, only for a big-bucks firm to return with the same idea until it gets what it wants, usually via a planning inspector.
NewJournal+ readers may remember Daisy Clague’s feature last year on how gambling operators are still targeting the high street, even if not always as traditional racing turf accountants. Instead, arcade casinos with addictive slot machines are popping up at a steady rate in London, often, it has been warned, in areas with high concentrations of social deprivation.
Hackney Council tried to stop one of these opening in the old Fish & Cook stationery shop in Blackstock Road and refused a change-of-use application. This was supported by councillors in Islington – the shop is just a few yards over the borough border – but Admiral appealed and that refusal was overturned.
It’s hard to think what more the local authorities could have done with the powers they have, and it might quickly all happen again on Holloway Road, where Cain’s Amusement Limited is seeking permission for an adult gaming centre in the old Barclays Bank.
A classic red telephone box in Lissenden Gardens getting a new lick of paint this week
EMPTY SOCIAL HOMES
IT’S universally accepted that there’s a housing crisis going on, whether you’re facing the punishing private rental market, living in a home with damp and mould, or waiting in the long queue for social housing.
There should be little surprise, then, that residents on the Goldington Estate in Somers Town want to know why a six-storey block on the grounds has stood empty for two years. The flats were let by Notting Hill Genesis, although the rest of the estate is managed by Camden Council.
Metal hoardings cover the windows, which have been sprayed with graffiti, while weeds have set in all around. Dervilla Carroll, chair of the Tenants and Residents Association, said: “It’s been empty for two years. The people who are tending to the housing lists and voids should be turning over properties like this quickly – it’s scandalous really and it’s poor management.”
The council made a pledge last week that we should all hold it to: “The housing association have rehomed all their residents and the flats will now be returned to Camden to be prepared and then made available to let to council residents.”
The road sign in Elm Street – just off Gray’s Inn Road – has disappeared. It had made passers-by laugh because somebody had added the words ‘Nightmare on…’ and a silhouette of Freddy Krueger, a joke which had proved too irresistible to somebody with a ladder several years ago.
EARLY MORNING WORLD CUP FEVER
IS it coming home? It might be, after England’s dramatic 3-2 victory against Mexico in Mexico City in the early hours of Monday (UK time).
The match will be remembered for the team’s refusal to buckle in the pressure-cooker environment of the Azteca Stadium, but back in Camden and Islington it might be known as the one where we stayed up way beyond our bedtimes and saw the unusual spectacle of people being allowed to stay in the pub until 5am.
There were no major police updates about bad behaviour despite the extended drinking hours, although some residents said they were disturbed by merry fans celebrating all the way home. You could pick many pubs and see the same kind of footage, but here’s the Dartmouth Arms in Dartmouth Park.
EGG ATTACK
IT’S hard enough for independent businesses to survive – and avoid being turned into slot casinos or vape shops – without kids running around with boxes of eggs and ruining the stock.
West End Lane Books, a gem on the high street in West Hampstead, suffered this fate last week when three teenage boys suddenly appeared and began throwing eggs around.
Some have said this is kids just being kids and should be seen as a misguided prank, but that’s not so easy to swallow for the staff who counted up around £800 worth of damage to books.
General manager Jess Allan said: “We are a smaller shop and that kind of damage might seem like something careless or funny but we had to close for three or four hours, scrub and categorise the damaged books. It’s a huge amount of work.”
Police said they were searching for the suspects.
DEAFENING SILENCE
AS the North London Bubble politics column reported over the weekend, Labour leaders in Islington have faced questions over why the council isn’t, in the opinion of campaigners at least, pulling up trees to save the Paradise Park Children’s Centre. There is now a little over a fortnight before this highly valued nursery closes its doors, and the future remains unclear regarding what will go in the council-owned building.
But there surely must be questions for the Islington Play Association charity, which has been running the centre and adventure playgrounds in the borough – not least because its trustees have been so poor at saying anything. One thing the cabinet councillors and the parents agree on is that the communication has been awful.
Of course, the Islington Tribune has tried many different ways to speak to the people running the IPA, but we too have been ignored, almost to the point of rudeness. With nothing said beyond a printed statement some weeks ago, there has been no chance to scrutinise the reports of financial problems – and, most importantly, how the charity fell into the red. The people affected deserve an explanation, in our humble opinion.
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR CATS?
IF you’ve been down the Mornington Crescent way recently, you may have noticed that the ‘Black Cat Building’ is missing its cats. Our resident Untold London historian Dan Carrier explains what’s happened in his latest film, which you can watch HERE.
On the subject of what you can do online once you’ve finished reading your NewJournal+ digest: check out our Facebook page. It now has 4 million views a month and is updated daily with a mix of news, debate and nostalgia – and a bit of video too. Do follow along.
ICYMI ROUND-UP
- THE Camden Open Air Art Gallery has moved out of Camden Town and is relocating to Shoreditch. That’s a bit of a blow to NW1’s attempts to hold onto some alternative cool and its past reputation as a boho paradise around the market. Owner Finn Brewster Doherty said he felt the area had become too “generic”, which is probably the most devastating word you can say to anybody who wants Camden to still be known for some good old grunge and street art.
- FORMER Mayor Nash Ali says he is feeling sad, angry and frustrated about losing his seat in Regent’s Park at May’s council elections. In a frank letter to the Camden New Journal, he criticised a strategy not to campaign in the ward, which was surrendered to the Greens. He is also frustrated with party organisers for not inviting any of the Labour councillors who had previously represented the ward, himself included, to stand in this Thursday’s council by-election in Regent’s Park.
- SQUATTERS have been moved out of the old Spaghetti House in Goodge Street, according to a notice on its red doors. The restaurant was a popular branch for many years but closed in December. The unofficial recent tenants, removed with a court order, left behind speakers, 30 instant cameras, My Little Pony toys, and ‘black fake silk pyjamas’, according to legal papers. The company said before it closed the eatery: “A combination of sustained cost increases, the lasting effects of COVID-19, Brexit, and ongoing global instability has fundamentally reshaped the landscape for restaurants in central London.”
- POLICE are looking for a man who is believed to have carried out an attack using a dumbbell. Officers were called to Hemingford Road last Monday night after reports of an assault. A suspect approached another man, aged in his 30s, and attacked him with the dumbbell. The victim was taken to hospital by the London Ambulance Service, where his injuries were assessed as non-life-threatening and not life-changing. No arrests have been made so far, and police said their investigation is continuing.
- PLUS: SPURS have broken their transfer record to bring in Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United as a summer of big spending continues;
Outreach groups have raised concerns about new street-drinking fines being imposed by Camden Council, fearing they will target people experiencing homelessness;
Campaigners have questioned delays to the women’s centre project promised for the redeveloped site of Holloway Prison;
It was a weekend of street parties and festivals, from Pride in central London to the Cally Festival, the Jester Festival in West Hampstead and the Big Fair in Hampstead;
Heath Street in Hampstead is set to be closed for up to eight weeks due to roadworks;
A woman has posters up across Camden appealing for help finding her pet orange lovebird which flew out of an open window during the heatwave;
AND the Highbury Clock Tower has been removed for refurbishment works and taken to specialists in Derbyshire.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN REVIEWING
THEATRE editor Lucy Popescu went to see The Misanthrope at the Lyttelton, National Theatre, starring Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh – it had lots of reasons to recommend it but she said it loses its way a little as more and more characters with competing themes are introduced.
LLOYD Bickham went to see Lily Allen perform her West End Girl album at the O2, a show which has been criticised for having no encores or any of the earlier hits – but our man at the Millennium Dome thought it was near-perfect nonetheless.
IT’S Dan Carrier at the movies, it’s cinema – and it’s another four-star review for a film: he describes How To Live On Earth with Benedict Cumberbatch as a film which can be inspirational even amid the doom of the climate crisis.
AND back to Lucy: she enjoyed Stephen Mangan “acting his socks off” in the marital farce The Truth at the Apollo Theatre.
As always, there are lots more reviews of art, music, film, theatre and all the rest on our main websites.
LAST UP...
WHO knows if Richard West likes everything that he does to be accompanied by a reminder that he was in The Shamen and is known to ravers as the DJ Mr C.
Life is a little calmer these days, he recently applied to be a Green election candidate in Islington but missed out on the nomination. Not that he hasn’t got enough to keep himself busy, with new venture Bed Light and Beyond opening in Brecknock Road.
This, he explained to us, was an attempt to bring red light therapy to the masses. The wavelength treatment – without the harmful UV rays that come with sunbeds – can be used on pain and inflammation, while also boosting collagen in the skin.
It is normally only found in hospitals or expensive private healthcare settings, or in the therapy rooms at Premier League football clubs, but Mr West said it was time to make it available at an affordable rate.
“Being the socialists we are, we decided we could set this up for the community,” he said. “We thought – working-class people like us can afford sunbeds – so why don’t we set up a centre and charge something comparable to sunbeds?
“Let’s make it affordable and help as many people as possible benefit from it. Our closest rival is double in price.”
He has set up the business with his twin sister, Julia.
That’s it for now. Look out for more NewJournal+ features heading into subscribers’ inboxes later this week, and the digest returns at the start of the next one.
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