The Green Party’s Charlie Kiss slammed Mayor Johnson’s approval on Friday for the controversial, massive housing development at the Mount Pleasant Sorting office site. “This development is wrong on so many levels it’s hard to know where to begin” he said “ the inadequacy of the social housing provision, the massive impact the development will have on local services and the total inappropriateness of the design to the surrounding area. It’s a disaster.”
“London needs decent housing for low income families” he added “but this is just profiteering by the newly privatised Royal mail – cashing in on their property assets with no regard for the communities affected; closing the Highbury Corner and St Mary’s Post Offices and providing that glorified sweetshop on Upper Street instead is just another example.”
Ben Hickey, a Green Party local campaigner echoed Charlie’s dismay: “The development now approved shows scant regard for Clerkenwell’s past or the needs of its future. Other designs were available that made better use of the existing environment, minimised traffic and offered a genuine asset for the whole community.”