Dalby Street flats will be ideal - for trainspotters
IF the 55 Dalby Street flats are to ever see the light of day, they will bring about a most unexpected change in the environment for that part of Camden.
For private tenants destined to occupy pricey flats overlooking the platforms of Kentish Town West Overground station, the back edge of Platform One (Richmond-bound trains), will be just nine metres away from sitting room and bedroom windows.
Some existing local residents welcome the prospect because it will screen out the loudspeakers' echo that can be heard at present 300m away to the west.
The flats will also shield some residents from the din of overnight goods train traffic. Overground controllers, (said to be in Willesden), talk to the district eight or more times per hour and the frequency of the monologue is due to increase with more frequent trains.
When the overground loudspeaker voices are silent there is the chance that the sports centre tannoy will fill the gap.
The squeals of stopping train disc brakes are also heard some 150 times a day. Kentish Town residents to the east of Dalby Street seem likely to get more railway noise reflected from the seven-storey block.
Fortunately, the windows of both the luxury and affordable flats will be permanently sealed to enable Findon Urban Lofts future residents to survive the cacophony.
However it must be said that existing locals with high standard double glazing have no immunity from the local din of trains and loudspeakers.
So much for Camden sustainability - just think of the energy costs of mechanically ventilating a new, primarily residential, block throughout the year, not to mention the cost of funding wardens for 15 hours a day, 364 days a year.
Peter Cuming
Talacre Road, NW5
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