A cluster of 24-storey towers, large studio blocks and very tall residential buildings is proposed at Regis Road, only 80 to 130 metres from the City Farm, Polka Dots Nursery and nearby homes. It would bring six years of major noise, dust and pollution and permanently replace open sky with a wall of high-rise buildings.

WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED?

Camden has received a planning application for a massive new development on Regis Road that includes:

• a 24-storey residential tower

• multiple oversized studio and residential blocks

• a six-year construction programme

• a hotel and mega-studio campus generating heavy daily traffic

We support regeneration and the delivery of social and affordable housing in the Regis Road area. However, the proposal as a whole concentrates far too much height and density for this part of Kentish Town, and the impacts are especially severe where the tallest blocks sit closest to existing homes and community uses. Its extreme height and massing would permanently alter the skyline, while the six-year construction programme would expose neighbours to unacceptable construction levels of noise, disruption and traffic. The scheme also risks significant long-term air-quality and transport impacts across the area.

This campaign is led by residents of Cressfield Close and Woodyard Close, the streets closest to the site.
But the impacts will be felt across Gillies Street, Holmes Road, Spring Place, Arctic Street, Regis Road, Highgate Road and the whole of Kentish Town.

You can find more info about this project here, or see the full application documentation here.

We have until 14 December to act. A strong community response can secure major improvements or a full redesign.

 WHY THIS MATTERS - FOUR KEY PROBLEMS

1. The high-rise cluster is far too big

The Heathgate tower, mega-studios and the Inkerman blocks would form a wall of tall buildings rising over a neighbourhood of 2–3 storey homes. They would dominate our skyline, remove open sky, and permanently change the calm residential character of Kentish Town. This is about scale and balance, not about opposing regeneration.

2. Six years of construction that would be impossible to live with

The developer’s own documents show harmful levels of noise, loud enough to disrupt sleep, work, study and family life on a daily basis. This would happen right beside the sheltered housing, Polka Dots Nursery and the City Farm animals.

Dust, drilling and vibration would spread across the whole neighbourhood for years, with proven impacts on stress, concentration and mental wellbeing.

No community should be asked to absorb this level of disruption for six years without a more sensitive construction strategy.

3. Huge increases in traffic and pollution

A major studio and hotel would bring a constant flow of HGVs, equipment vans, contractors, taxis and ride-shares. These vehicles would spill onto already congested streets like Holmes Road, Highgate Road, Malden Road, Gillies Street and Spring Place.
 

This means more noise, more pollution and more safety risks for children, cyclists and pedestrians.

4. Serious gaps and missing information in the application

The developer’s documents leave out crucial viewpoints and assessments. There are no images showing the tower from the closest streets that would feel the impact most.

Key traffic, construction and overshadowing effects are also missing or incomplete, meaning the true scale of harm has not been properly shown to residents or Camden

WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE - BEFORE / AFTER IMAGES

The application conveniently leaves out the views from the streets and community spaces that sit closest to the tower. These omissions make it impossible for residents to understand the real visual impact. Below are estimated views created by local residents using the developer’s own stated tower height of 75 metres.

Woodyard Close (100m away): Beside Polka Dots nursery where young children arrive every day, the proposed tower would loom far above the homes, replacing open sky with a stark wall of massing in a street designed for families, not high-rises.

Kentish Town City Farm (180m away):  The proposed tower would rise as a massive vertical mass behind the farm’s entrance, dominating the skyline of a space used daily by families, toddlers, school groups and SEN visitors.

Kentish Town City Farm (90m away):  The calm, open-skied animal enclosures that children and families enjoy today would be overshadowed by the proposed 75m tower, rising as a dominant high-rise wall directly beside this much-loved community space.

Cressfield Close (90m away) - Just outside sheltered housings, the tower would rise as an overwhelming vertical wall, removing daylight and open sky from one of Kentish Town’s most vulnerable communities.

What You Can Do (Deadline 14 December)

1. Sign the Community Petition

The petition (full text here) helps us demonstrate community concern and gives us influence later when the proposal goes to the Planning Committee. It shows councillors how many local residents are engaged.

 ➡️   SIGN THE PETITION  ⬅️

2. Submit Your Own Objection to Camden

This step is essential!

While the petition raises visibility, only individual objections submitted through Camden’s portal are counted at the formal assessment stage, which determines whether the application is approved, refused, or must be revised.

➡️  SUBMIT FORMAL OBJECTION ⬅️

You can write in your own words, or copy and paste the text below:

I object to Planning Application 2025/4861/P because it conflicts with the London Plan, the Camden Local Plan, the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Plan and the Regis Road SPD, and because key parts of the Environmental Statement are incomplete.

1. Excessive height and massing

24-storey towers and bulky blocks are proposed directly beside 2–4 storey homes, a nursery, the City Farm and sheltered housing. This scale is wholly out of context and conflicts with London Plan D1/D9, Local Plan A1/A2, the Kentish Town Neighbourhood Plan, and the Regis Road SPD, which supports mid-rise development and sensitive transitions.

2. Affordable housing is not dependent on these heights

I fully support affordable housing, but the extreme height at the site’s edge is a design choice, not a policy requirement. The same housing quantum could be delivered through a better-distributed massing that avoids concentrated harm to vulnerable neighbours and community uses.

3. Defective Environmental Statement

The ES omits verified views from the closest and most affected locations: Cressfield Close, Woodyard Close, Gillies Street, the City Farm and the nursery. These omissions make the ES incomplete under the EIA Regulations, meaning the application cannot be properly assessed or lawfully determined.

4. Daylight, sunlight and overshadowing

The proposed massing would significantly reduce daylight and sunlight for nearby homes, sheltered housing and the City Farm. Reliance on “urban flexibility” is inappropriate in a low-rise residential context and conflicts with Local Plan A1 and London Plan design policies.

5. Six years of Major Adverse construction impacts

The ES predicts prolonged Major Adverse noise, dust and vibration, including deep excavation and heavy piling beside highly sensitive receptors. This breaches Local Plan A4 and no credible mitigation measures have been provided.

6. Construction traffic on unsuitable streets

Holmes Road, Regis Road and surrounding streets cannot safely accommodate years of HGV movements. This contradicts Local Plan T1/T2 and London Plan T4, which require safe, feasible construction logistics.

7. Post-construction transport impacts

The applicant has not demonstrated that the local road network or public transport can absorb the traffic and servicing demands of a major studio complex and hundreds of new homes, contrary to London Plan T1/T4.

8. Piecemeal development contrary to the SPD

The scheme comes forward without a coordinated masterplan for the wider site, despite the Regis Road SPD requiring comprehensive, whole-site planning. This fragmented approach undermines the SPD’s strategy.

9. Insufficient green space

Despite the scale of the development, the usable public green space is limited and fails to meet London Plan G1/G4 or the SPD’s expectations for a generous, connected public realm.

Conclusion

Because of its excessive massing, an incomplete ES, severe construction and amenity impacts, transport issues and non-compliance with the SPD, this application should be refused or withdrawn for substantial redesign.

3. Share This Page With Neighbours and Local Groups

The more residents know, the more influence we have. Every signature and every objection counts.

4. Ask local organisations to file official comments

In particular, nurseries, schools, youth groups, SEN groups and local businesses that would be affected by the project. Their voices carry exceptional weight in planning decisions.

We Have a Narrow Window to Act

If residents do not act now, the decision may be made without these impacts being properly understood. If we mobilise, we can:

• force the scheme to Planning Committee

• secure accurate photomontages

• demand proper environmental controls

• achieve a major height reduction

• or stop the most harmful elements entirely

This is our neighbourhood. We decide what happens to it!