As you may have noticed, Skin Back Alley is all about music. Once in a while, though, something comes along that deserves support and publicity.
This is one of those times.
Here in the UK, the government is proposing to build a new high speed rail link, connecting northern parts of England to London. All sounds great, doesn’t it.
Unfortunately, that plan involves a great deal of destruction in Camden – an historic, vibrant and culturally rich part of the capital. It is home to the famous Camden Market, numerous independent shops and restaurants, and great music venues such as the Barfly and Underworld that provide important outlets for many and varied artists and performers.
A ‘Save Camden’ campaign has been launched locally, detailing the following:
“[The government] has chosen to do this [build HS2] by rebuilding the North London line between the two points and installing two new lines. Although 6.3 km will be tunnelled, 2.3km will run straight through the heart of Camden, unnecessarily causing devastating loss and damage. 7 bridges will be demolished or rebuilt; homes and shops will be demolished; 1 national freight line lost; 13 new construction compounds, 2 major engineering head houses and numerous material stockpiles will be built. Camden Lock Market, one of the UK’s top 10 tourist destinations, will be lost or ruined. Losses to Camden’s famous creative industries are estimated to be in excess of £600 million, plus 9000 jobs. The scale of construction is gigantic. There will be significant road closures and traffic construction fanning out from Camden to Bloomsbury and Swiss Cottage for over a decade, plus an extra 600 lorry movements per day. Residents’ health is at risk: there are no plans to protect them from adverse air quality, dust, vibration and noise levels. But it does not have to be this way. Tunnelling the link under Camden would either negate or massively reduce all the other impacts…”
So, for the first time at Skin Back Alley, we’re having a political moment in order to try and help the campaign to preserve this vital and vibrant community. Political yes, but in a way it is still very much about the arts and music in particular.
Therefore it would be very much appreciated if you could click HERE and add your name to the list of 30,000+ people who have already done so in order that we might have our voices heard, and persuade the UK government to think again about how they deliver HS2.
With thanks.
Normal service is now resumed.
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