• IN response to your editorial (HS2 is showing contempt for the people of our borough, March 7), Camden Council has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our residents and businesses since plans for HS2 were first announced.

We strongly opposed the scheme and rather than just shout from the sidelines have fought collectively to mitigate its disruption.

When the HS2 bill entered parliament we held workshops to assist hundreds of Camden residents and businesses to have a voice in the process through petitions to parliament.

Together we gained over 150 assurances that counter many of the predicted impacts of the original HS2 proposals.

Together we have:

• Protected the heart of Camden Town by getting the HS1-HS2 link scrapped;

• Prevented families from being forced to leave their community due to HS2, by building over 100 new council homes for displaced families;

• Defended Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate and Rowley Way residents from disruption by getting the proposed vent shaft scrapped;

• Relocated Maria Fidelis school pupils away from disruption to a brand new school site, which is now complete;

• Secured £2.4million from HS2 Ltd for a road safety fund and a com­mit­ment to fund the rep­lacement of all trees lost;

• Secured a £3million community impacts fund, of which £1million has been allocated to local projects.

We continue to push for full implementation of our 150-plus assurances and spend significant amounts of our much-diminished resources pushing forward on these issues with residents, businesses and community groups.

The HS2 act does strip away some of the council’s normal powers and it would be false to claim otherwise. This includes our ability to simply refuse road closures, such as the proposed shutting of Eversholt Street.

We are often not the final decision-maker in many matters. However we remain committed to standing up for and working alongside our residents, in pushing for maximum mitigation, whether it is a road closure or another impact.

The HS2 act has given the railway the go-ahead from parliament. This is the challenging context we must work in. But we have to, and will, stand together, united with the community, to deal with its terrible impacts.

CLLR GEORGIA GOULD
Leader of Camden Council

CLLR DANNY BEALES
Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities

CLLR ADAM HARRISON,
Cabinet Member for Improving Camden’s Environment