Those I know who live in Kentish Town are suddenly looking extremely smug. Having forever been in the shadow of Camden Town, a sort of Dartmouth Park-lite, a glorified cut-through on the way to Archway and beyond, it is now the most talked-about area in London.
Keir Starmer’s hood speaks volumes about the way he likes to come across: smart, but not too smart; working-class, but with middle-class aspirations; rough, but not too rough. It wouldn’t have looked too good if he had been found living in Notting Hill, Kensington, or, God forbid, Chelsea, and while he grew up in the leafy splendour of Kent and Surrey, NW5 suits him just fine.
And don’t I know it. Those friends who have never previously bragged about living on the fringes of Camden have now taken it upon themselves to broadcasting it almost as a form of greeting. “Hello, I’m Robin,” Robin might say. “I live in Kentish Town… not far from the Prime Minister.”
This is just the start, trust me.
The halo effect might actually start to become a reality, though, if projects like the Camden Film Quarter become a reality. In April last year, Yoo Capital acquired the land at the Holmes Road Depot and Regis Road Recycling Centre on a “subject to planning basis”. Their ambition? To build a movie and TV studio complex, right in the middle of the city.
For the film industry, a movie and TV complex in the city would be a game changer
For the UK film industry, this would be a game changer, as the closest studios to London are currently three miles away. This new studio would mean close proximity to hotels (for the talent), the vast number of post-production houses in and around Soho, and the London Screen Academy in Islington.
It would also mean a massive boost to the Kentish Town economy and send house prices through the roof, although at the moment the idea is still at the pleading stage: planning permission has to be sought, while Yoo Capital also need to convince the powers-that-be that they are “delivering” on the intent of the Kentish Town Planning Framework and Neighbourhood Plan. To this end, they are promising a mix of creative space including eight to 10 soundstages, plus much-needed new homes of which 50 per cent will be affordable, along with new infrastructure to support the community.
Adrian Wootton, chief executive of Film London, told me: “The screen industries remain a major economic growth sector for the UK, and we’re excited by the possibilities afforded by Camden Film Quarter. This is a fantastic opportunity for London to harness the potential of new technologies and champion the next generation of storytellers.”
Yoo Capital themselves have some skin in the game, as they are behind the £1.3 billion redevelopment of Olympia, and also the Saville Theatre, which is being transformed into Cirque du Soleil’s first permanent home in UK.
There is certainly demand for it. With streamers and US studios already occupying a lot of the existing space at Pinewood and Shepperton, the demand for high-quality studios remains high. It would be a fillip for the British film industry, something to add to the reworking of the UK’s 40 per cent tax credit and our hugely talented craftsmen and technicians.
This seems like an extraordinarily positive development for Kentish Town, and for London in general, as the amount of work needed will involve every sector from building and project management to transportation, F&B, security, design and retail as well as all the core and ancillary disciplines involved in such a vast project. I’m all for it, although I fear there is one very obvious drawback: neighbourhood smugness:
My friend Robin, for one, is beside himself. “Not only could I say I live next to the Prime Minister,” he told me this week. “I could also say I live in Hollywood.”
