Residents fear for cobbled street

Many buildings are Grade II listed Enlarge Image

People living in a tiny 18th Century street in north London say its cobbles are under threat from heavy lorries.

Little Green Street's houses survived the Blitz and is one of London's few remaining intact Georgian streets.

But developers want to use the narrow street for access to a building site which would mean improving the road so it can bear 40-tonne lorries.

They say it will be put back to normal once work is complete. Opponents say the prospect is "grotesque".

A block of ten flats and 20 houses are to be built on derelict land behind Little Green Street - where several buildings have Grade II listed status.

Nobody should have ever thought they could get access along Little Green Street. It's grotesque Gillian Tindall

Changes to the buildings' exteriors, but residents were shocked to find a sign at the bottom of the street stating it would be closed from 3 July to 21 August "to facilitate highway reconstruction".

They feared the road would be covered with asphalt and hundreds of lorries would be squeezing through the narrow street, damaging homes and bollards.

One resident, Nick Goodall, told BBC London that at 2.5m (8ft), the road was too narrow to get the widest trucks down.

He was backed by local author Gillian Tindall, who said: "The whole question of access should have been canvassed from the beginning and nobody should have ever thought they could get access along Little Green Street.

Camden Council initially turned down the application, but it was allowed on appeal to planning inspectorate - although it is conditional on the council approving its access arrangements, among other things.

In a statement, the council said it "understands and shares residents' concerns about the historic value of Little Green Street and is taking all action possible to make sure that the road is protected.

A spokeswoman added that the sign had gone up in error and would be taken down "as a matter of priority".

Satish Patel, who works for architects PTP, said the road would not be covered with asphalt, but recreated using the same cobbles to bring it up to standard.

"The whole interest in the site is the character of the area and one thing we don't want to do is upset the character."

"We mean it when we say we will put right any damage and we will discuss this through any means available to reassure people."