Executive Summary:
This submission to the 2024 Camden Local Plan consultation is made by the Heath & Hampstead Society with the support of a consortium of local organizations and community groups. It proposes the development of a nature-rich green corridor from Hampstead Heath into Kentish Town through improvements in a chain of five Camden Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINCs) and their connection through green infrastructure established across future development on three Camden Site Allocations: Murphy’s Yard, Regis Road and West Kentish Town Estate.
The objectives of this Camden Nature Corridor are to increase biodiversity in Central Camden, contributing to Camden’s strategy for nature recovery networks, and to make health-enhancing nature experiences more accessible to local residents.
We present supporting evidence for the Corridor and describe initial planning on SINC improvement and ideas for green infrastructure design in Site Allocations. We request that Camden recognizes the Camden Nature Corridor in the Local Plan, and we suggest how this might be done in specific policies for Central Camden, Environment and Biodiversity. By taking a policy-integrating approach that reconciles potentially opposing urban priorities for new housing and nature enhancement, we believe that this proposal exemplifies Camden’s vision for healthy and sustainable development, and resonates with the Council’s emerging plan for a network of green corridors across the Borough.
