#EustonGreenLink The Battle of Tolmers Square

Nick Wates, veteran housing activist, recently gave a talk at Leila’s Cafe about his seminal experiences in Camden in the seventies, occupying Tolmers Sq after the council attempted to evict local residents and sell the land off to property developers. Nick will reflect upon the lessons of Tolmers Sq and their relevance for campaigns today.

“The Tolmers Sq campaign dominated my life for six years. I was obsessed by it, I lived and breathed it. I spent hours in smoke-filled meetings. I paced the streets and talked to people. I wrote thousands of words and did frequent all-nighters preparing artwork for printers. Then I repeated the process in Limehouse before escaping Inner London to bring up my two children on the South Coast and experiment with community planning.”

Works starts on the demolition

In the mid-20th century, the Tolmers area had commerce, industry and private rented housing nestling next to each other in various states of repair.

The first application to demolish a swathe of housing and build a 22-storey office block came in 1959. It was refused — but then the Stock Conversion and Investment Trust began to buy property. By the late 1960s, they asked for permission to build offices in return for selling back some land for housing. Camden needed new homes, and the soaring cost of the land meant they could not issue a compulsory purchase order. It seemed this deal was the best they could get — until Nick and others stepped forward.

Nick was studying at the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL in 1970 and while he was an undergraduate he became aware of the issues surrounding the neighbourhood near his college.

With a group of other final-year students, they embarked on a project to discover who lived there, who owned the housing and what the future held. Out of that project came an organisation called the Tolmers Village Association.

Activists spread the message

The area had a diverse community, including independent businesses such as Drummond Street’s famous curry restaurants. “There were families and single people who had lived for decades in rented accommodation, and then empty homes,” he adds. “It began to feel very run down.”

The Tolmers Village Association included squatters who had begun to move in — including Nick. The first squatters were in place by June 1973 and two years later 50 homes were occupied by 180 people.

It became a lively place with many people offering different skills and was at the vanguard of the battle to halt the office blocks. As the deal between the developers and the Council began to shape, it was calculated that by giving planning permission, the Town Hall would be handing the developer around £20m.

Photos of the activists’ battle to save Tolmers Square

The TVA and activists from the Labour Party, with the help of councillors, fought to halt the plan by exposing how they could set up a similar deal — but hand all the profits back to the council to re-invest.

“Eventually, frustrated by the delays and a temporary drop in the office market, in 1975 the developers sold up to Camden.”

The Town Hall eventually developed it — with less office space and more homes. It also safeguarded Georgian terraces such as North Gower Street, which otherwise would have been levelled.

“I am looking forward to sharing my memories of our campaign and revealing some of the tools of our trade as activists. The key lesson is the importance of information, of solid research, and communicating it. If people know, they can campaign, they can organise and make an impact.”

With the area now again being changed — this time by HS2 — the story of Tolmers Square has added resonance.

“Neighbourhoods are still facing the destructive power of property speculators and mismanagement by local and central government. The housing crisis is worse than it was then — and activists are still burning themselves out trying to create sustainable, urban neighbourhoods,” says Nick.

But the story of Tolmers Square, sandwiched between Euston Road and Hampstead Road, is one that shows that with the right campaign, a white flag does not have to be raised when the forces of money come over the hill. And the story of the battle for Tolmers Square has resonance today. As soaring property prices have altered the face of neighbourhoods, and private developers are seen as the first port of call for much-needed new housing, unity and passion amongst the community will ensure the area retains its vibrant character.

And this is where we come in! Euston Town exists to represent the interests of businesses in Euston as the area undergoes dramatic changes. The HS2 project can, we believe, present a once-in-a-generation opportunity for positive development — if it’s done right. As a business improvement district, we are actively prioritising the impact on businesses and this shapes our activities. We strive to achieve the best possible outcome from this project, for all stakeholders. Our #EustonGreenLink will help to celebrate the character and independent business community of the area, through creative projects and green infrastructure. There is a wealth of history steeped in this place, which deserves to be celebrated and promoted.

Read more about #EustonGreenLink here.

Find out more about Euston Town.

Parts of this article were published in the Camden New Journal and Spitalfields Life.