Artist’s impression of a new-look Church Street

• I WRITE in response to your coverage of the new masterplan released by Westminster Council (New vision for Church Street, September 15).

Coming so soon after the criticisms made of Building Height: Getting the right kind of growth for Westminster, released in the spring, it appears that the council wants to achieve all this growth in just this one ward, Church Street, via this masterplan.

This when we already have almost 13,000 persons living in 43 hectares, with the highest population density in the borough already – if not the country.

They want to add another 3,400 persons in Church Street while only having 35 per cent affordable housing, well below the Mayor of London’s target of 50 per cent across the capital.

This also while the public services in the ward are being run down by the council as your newspaper has only recently reported over the long-term closure of the public loos used by both residents and traders of Church Street Market.

Furthermore it claims developments on the other side of the Edgware Road in Paddington but nothing from the rest of Marylebone, which is where it has historically been part of for many decades and indeed parts like Marylebone station and Edgware Road (Circle line) station used to be in Church Street ward.

Someone appears to be in denial that Church Street was ever part of Marylebone.

All this while the housing market is not moving much with up to a dozen refurbished properties lying empty along Bell Street alone since the beginning of the new year.

The documentation fails to respond to these and many other issues in Church Street and I and many others on my street will be responding to the consultation. We are not sure, however, that the council will be listening at all given the top-down emphasis of the consultation.

MURAD QURESHI
former Labour London-wide Assembly Member
@MuradQureshiLDN