Subject : Starbucks update - please have your say now!

Dear Friends,

Today is your last chance (in theory, at least) to submit comments on the Starbucks proposal to change a S106 agreement in Camden Town. (As most of you are already aware, I am referring to the change of use at the Canal Information Centre at Hampstead Road Locks.)

So if you want your views to be known, then I urge you to send an e-mail (or a online comment) as soon as you receive this e-mail.

I have submitted a formal objection, and you are welcome to write to Neil Zaayman, to express your support for my stance. You might also want to express support for the statement from Roger Squires of the Inland Waterways Association. To see what we have written, please click on the following links.

http://friendsofregentscanal.org/features/misc/Starbucks/letter-of-objection-2012-05-06.html
http://friendsofregentscanal.org/features/misc/Starbucks/letter-of-objection-2012-05-02.html

For those of you that feel that I have adopted a negative approach, I want to assure you that I have clear ideas about how we could work jointly with Starbucks to support a suitable canal information centre in a shared space. This could probably be achieved without resorting to any "change of use", but at the moment we have no choice but to go through the machinery of the planning system, get our issues on record (through formal objections), and then make a fresh start. While this is happening we can continue to exchange ideas about how best to revive and reintegrate the centre. If we sit back and do nothing then we could end up with a refurbished centre that blends well with the coffee shop but does not meet the needs of the volunteers and visitors of the future.

I look forward to seeing your comments on this. Please do not hesitate to contact me for guidance or contact details.

Best wishes,

Ian Shacklock
Chair, Friends of Regent's Canal

7th May 2012




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