In a week where we’ve all had to suffer the glaring upside-down reality of gold standard liar-in-chief, President Trump, squaring up - on grounds of truth and morality 😂 - with the self-flagellatingly impartial British Broadcasting Corporation for a comedic $1bn, it’s worth looking at how this toxic, global, anti-fact dialogue trickles down to neighbourhood level.

Here in LB Camden, we proudly rejoice in our successful multiculturalism and the inadvertently antagonistic fact of all our blended families, sexualities and identities just getting on with it.

Compare the social and cultural priorities of Mar-a-Lago with one of the Borough’s underfunded but beloved community centres to witness alternate visions of what’s most important in life, as seen by assorted special interest groups across today’s emotionally and financially polarised Western world.

Yet our social dialogue has become gleefully absolutist. All thoughts of compromise or nuance are lost in the shouty way people like to pitch themselves for/against each other.

But that’s not how any of this stuff works in the real (offline) world - or how agreement is ever reached. So we need to be better, even if the wider culture (and its unfortunate leaders) are currently not.

Last week I went to see the latest proposals for the Camden Film Quarter, a complete reimagining of NW5’s inaccessible and ignored industrial estate, hemmed in by old railway lines and long-closed access roads sandwiched between Kentish Town and Gospel Oak.

To date, these thrusting new ideas have generally received a positive response from locals and the groups that claim to represent them, but I could sense some of the more standard concerns and urban redevelopment gripes now sliding into that dialogue, as the dizzying scale and ambition of the development becomes clearer.

Who is actually RIGHT though? Well, obviously nobody, and equally: everybody.

The main bone of contention seems to be the height of the ‘stacked’ film studio stages, which would unquestionably tower over the whole site (see main pic above), with a design based conceptually on Robert de Niro’s hot new Wildflower Studios complex, which just opened in Queens, NYC.

I asked Simon Lear, Managing Director at Camden Film Quarter, about the design, which he says is aimed at being nothing short of the ‘future of storytelling’, an explanation of which feels of particular interest as we hurtle into the uncharted AI-does-everything era.

“The ‘vertical studio’ model allows us to maximise scarce urban land while providing world-class production facilities in the heart of the city,” he told me. “As the screen industries evolve - driven by virtual production, AI and digital innovation - this kind of adaptable, central London infrastructure is exactly what’s needed to keep the UK at the forefront of global film and television.”

The idea is that bringing such creative energy into the ‘city centre’, (aka the former sleepy farming hamlet of Kentish Town), will beat the sprawling out-of-town complexes, such as Pinewood and Shepperton, as studio demands and requirements shift.

“Rather than out on the edge, we’re building a place where technology, education, and opportunity meet - right here in Camden,” says Simon.

Exciting as all this undoubtably sounds, it’s understandable that people living in two-storey Victorian terraces might not be quite so enamored with this sky-high movie production vision landing on their doorsteps, complete with the trucks and complex set infrastructure that each stage would require rolling in and out, let alone the construction traffic for years to come.

Plans for about 500 new homes and two film and TV training schools to rise on the currently bland industrial site should surely be a good thing for the area though, right?

Well, local architect and defender of socially-led infrastructure, Tom Young, also got in touch with Camdenist last week, emailing across his polemic, critical of the CFQ and how it removes the range of flexible light industrial businesses that currently operate across the Regis Rd estate.

He’s concerned that, not only does the main 65m-high studios lack such flexibility if the concept of IRL film production falters in future, but the focus on ‘placemaking’ nudges NW5 towards some far more bland Dubai-style reinterpretations of our characterful if a little crappy semi-industrial neighbourhood.

“Soulless tropes of luxury living are normal in the new ‘world-class’ public destinations that Yoo Capital propagandises,” he says of the developers, who are also completing the radical overhaul of Olympia as a cultural and residential destination, alongside the Saville Theatre restoration in Covent Garden (see Camden Curated section below for news of an exciting pop-up there).

“The placemaking at the CFQ will be cashed out in predictable costly shops, eateries and bars, the usual landscaping, typical tall residential clumps with ungenerous balconies. The louring, unromantic presence of the studio building might contribute as much to the setting as Facebook’s and Google’s offices do in Kings Cross,” Tom predicts.

It’s the classic conundrum, that the amount of residential units we desperately need in London require high density, yet the inevitable resulting towers are deeply unpopular with the people already in place.

Add into that complexities over dwindling school intakes (see the Trust event review from William Ellis School last month), and whether such posh (or so-called ‘affordable’) flats will ever attract young families anyway, and the real tug and tussle of urban development and its multifaceted implications begins to be laid bare.

And that’s before the key flashpoint of moving the existing recycling centre and Council housing repair depot amplify the whole debate up a few shrill notches, with strong potential to drive locals to pick an entrenched and simplistic love/hate view.

“We’ve listened carefully to what local people have told us,” insists Simon, “and the recycling centre will continue to serve the same essential purpose, but in a cleaner, quieter, and more modern building. We’ve re-planned its layout to reduce vehicle queuing and noise, and integrated the latest acoustic and odour-control systems into the design.”

If they can pull off the proposed indoor centre, it will be far better than the current heave-it-into-a-skip facility, and the residential plans equally seem - if delivered as planned - to offer distinct advantages for the housing pressures in the Borough, let alone opening up a whole new part of the neighbourhood to foot traffic via new landscaped public realm.

“On building heights, we’ve worked closely with Camden Council and residents to make sure the scheme sits comfortably within its surroundings,” Simon goes on. “The taller buildings are set deeper within the site, away from homes, while edges along Holmes Road and Regis Road are more human in scale, creating a neighbourhood that feels connected to Kentish Town, rather than separate from it.”

I overheard some Inkerman Area residents saying they’ve “seen far more attractive multi-storey car parks" of the studios centrepiece, but also heard positivity about the links from Queen’s Crescent to central Kentish Town and the Heath.

I’d love to think that, between all the viewpoints and voices, gripes and agendas, we might be able to do a bit better on the CFQ than the US President’s self-aggrandising shut-down assaults on anyone who crossed him.

Regularly speaking to people on all sides of the debate, I honestly think this process can well end up with a big net positive - if scarily ambitious and transformative - development of this neglected corner of our area. In a time of polarised positions on everything, there’s a rare chance to demonstrate a balance between the many nuances of housing supply, creative and educational infrastructure, public realm improvements and forward-thinking AI-ready industry here on our doorsteps.

We shouldn’t see this as a bid for a glitzy Hollywood, NW5, but rather an opportunity to build upon the industrious rail, manufacturing and community-building past of this part of Camden, and pull together to ensure what follows truly is world-class, while vitally local-level, too.

Can we hope to improve upon the entrenched puff and posturing of our politicians? Of course. That’s what we do around here anyway, so where better to creatively thrash out the many needs and demands of a totally new kind of neighbourhood?

💦 The forthcoming Museum of Youth Culture, slated to open next month, has unfortunately just ‘sprung a leak’, pushing its completion back to Spring 2026. Nearby roadworks seem to be to blame for their sunken space ingressing a problematic puddle and, as they sagely say, ‘water and museums do not mix.’ Watch this space for more updates on their arrival in the area.

🌊 Meanwhile, another big mop-up continues after Thames Water’s latest ruinous burst water main, this time deluging homes and businesses in central Kentish Town. While Berbere Pizza has managed to reopen at ground level and the iconic Assembly House pub returns today, it looks like the whole vital Xmas season has been all but wiped out for delightful subterranean speakeasy Knowhere Special. With over 2ft of water swilling about in their cosy lounge space, the clean-up is going to take a while, so do reach out to them if you’d like some ace cocktail staff - currently at a bit of a loose end - to rock up and make your house party so much more epic this festive season instead, supporting them to build back better in the process.

🎡 In a rather tenuous link to this section’s theme of water, it’s nevertheless apt and exciting to report that another forthcoming museum, the Quentin Blake Museum of Illustration, has announced it’s opening - in May 2026 - in a historic 18th century waterworks (once the HQ of Thames Water, no less) in Clerkenwell. Originally the London location for the head of artificial water supply, the New River, in the 1600s, it is currently being transformed into a series of galleries, learning spaces, public gardens, a shop and café - a few tasty work-in-progress shots of which you can also see here.

NIGHTLIFE: 🍷 Nothing in the culture space excites me more than a well-produced, edgy nightlife experience; ideally one that transports guests into an otherworldly, hedonistic and unforgettably wild environment for a few hours. And this is what’s on offer right now at the former Saville Theatre, where pop-up event series lost is presenting a short autumn season of expressive mixed club, cinema and performance events, running between now and the end of the year.

You’re invited to disconnect from any phone-based distractions and delve into a realm of late night possibility, inside this dark former West End cinema and theatre, which should one day be a glam permanent home to the mighty Cirque Du Soleil.

Multiple rooms of unusual entertainment and unexpected encounters are assured, if you commit to diving in.

FOOD: 🍝 There’s the chance to join a free buffet and social evening this Sat 15th Nov at Coretto By The Canal, the all-day Italian cafe bordering the towpath at Hawley Wharf. You simply buy a first drink and then unlimited food is yours, creating a convivial atmosphere to make new friends, as well as eat and drink your fill.

MUSIC: 🎼 Flute and whistle-led Anglo-Irish folk phenomenon Flook are celebrating 30 years together with a national tour this month, which arrives in these parts for one night only at Islington’s Union Chapel on Thurs 27th Nov.

STAGE: 🎭 Catch a dynamic new interpretation of the Jean Genet’s classic, The Maids, at Covent Garden’s Donmar Warehouse running until Sat 29th Nov.

DANCE: 🩰 Twawsi - The World As We See It is the double bill of performances that aim to redefine African diaspora dance with a contemporary outlook, on tonight in Euston at The Place, Fri 14th Nov.

MUSIC: 🎸 Local synthwave electro soul band Temporal Comet beam down from outer space to Tufnell Park tonight, Fri 14th Nov, for a free show alongside lo-fi minimalist vocalist Pear Person and a solo performance from The Shining Tongues' Daniel Knowler. Then catch sister band and NW5 heroes Naked Yoga at The Spice of Life the following day, Sat 15th, supporting The Forty Fours.

We’re keen to help build a thriving ecosystem of decent London newsletters you might like, which focus on topics like the ones we cover here in Camdenist. This week, do check out The Wick, (which if you didn’t know is actually our sister title), covering Hackney Wick and the wider Olympic Park growth boroughs out East. We’ve been hard at it this week getting a collectable hardback book off to press in time for Xmas, which looks back at the last 15 years of culture, community and change in the area via the pages of The Wick’s quarterly print newspaper. More info on the book is here, and I’ll include invites to the official launch party to all premium Camdenist members next week, so another reason to sign up today if you’ve not already done so 😉