The Heath & Hampstead Society have released renders of how the views of London from Hampstead Heath risk being permanently altered by the cumulative impact of Camden’s planned redevelopments in the Kentish Town and Gospel Oak areas.
In a recent press release, they illustrated the impact of developments on the wider area with some stark before and after images.
The Heath & Hampstead Society’s full press release read as follows:
London’s skyline has always evolved, but some changes come at a cost we rarely see until it’s too late. From Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath, one of the city’s most cherished viewpoints, a wave of high-rise developments is poised to permanently alter a panorama that has inspired artists, filmmakers, and Londoners for generations.
What follows is a stark before and after glimpse of what’s being proposed across Camden: individually planned schemes that, taken together, would transform the horizon beyond recognition. These images don’t speculate—they visualise what current planning decisions could mean for the Heath’s iconic views, and for the way we think about growth, heritage, and transparency in the city we call home.
Take a look – and decide for yourself what London stands to gain – AND WHAT IT MAY LOSE FOREVER.
The Heath and Hampstead Society has set out the issue succinctly below in its press release – please read in full to understand the ominous nature of these developments:
Heath and Hampstead Society press release
New developments across a two-kilometre wide area of Camden will utterly destroy iconic and world famous views of London from Hampstead Heath
The London Borough of Camden, and various developers, have ambitious plans for new high-rise developments in central Camden – specifically Gospel Oak, Haverstock and Kentish Town – under planning applications for Bacton Towers, West Kentish Town Estate, Regis Road Estate and Murphy’s Yard.
The planning applications collectively propose multiple massive and high-rise buildings, exceeding even the permissible heights specified in the latest Camden Council guidance and disregarding London-wide policy on landscape impact.
Each of these proposed developments is subject to its own planning application and process, the various applications having been submitted at different times and without coordination, thereby concealing their shocking cumulative effect on the two kilometre-wide affected area. This is nowhere more visible than from Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath itself.
The ‘before and after’ images in the images at the top of this newsletter represent a view from Parliament Hill at its statutory viewing point towards St Paul’s Cathedral. The proposed dimensions of the Bacton Towers, West Kentish Town Estate, Regis Road Estate (Camden Film Quarter and Joseph Homes private housing) developments are shown from right to left. These outlines have been accurately drawn onto an OS 3D map. Further left is the outline of the first application submitted (but withdrawn) for Murphy’s Yard in 2021; a second high-rise application for this site is now in preparation.
The Heath & Hampstead Society (a registered conservation charity: www.HeathandHampstead.org.uk) has fought for over 125 years to protect the Heath and its amenities, including its panoramic views of London, frequently captured by filmmakers, which provide Londoners and visitors with a unique opportunity to understand and appreciate its grand topography.
With the aggregation of these proposed high-rise developments, the Heath’s iconic views of the London landscape and its outstanding architecture will be lost forever.
We urge Camden Council to be candid with the public about the cumulative impact of the proposed developments on residents and the broader community. The need for development, rehousing and new housing can be met without the permanent destruction of these views.
Notes:
(i) Camden Council is not only the planning authority for these developments but also itself owns the Bacton and West Kentish Town Estate sites and part of the Regis Road Estate.
(ii) The West Kentish Town Estate application has already received outline approval.
(iii) We would like to thank AAB Architects for the preparation of these images.
Images courtesy of the Heath & Hampstead Society.
Bacton Towers Action 