As the dust settles from party conference season, the fight for green space around London’s Euston station has become a flashpoint in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. Residents who watched playgrounds disappear under HS2 diggers in 2017 say the promised replacements have vanished, leaving a concrete future where parks once stood. Planning documents reveal that the high‑speed railway and associated schemes will permanently consume 14,404 square metres of green space and playgrounds from the constituency, with St James’s Gardens – an 18th‑century burial ground marked as a site of importance for nature conservation – bearing the biggest loss. The issue is now shaping voter sentiment, pitting Labour’s long‑held dominance against a Green challenger who promises to hold the council to account.
The vanishing green belt
When HS2 construction began near Euston in 2017, locals were told that any green space lost to the project would be reinstated. Dorothea Hackman, a governor at Netley primary school, recalled the assurance: “They have to give it all back.” Yet, as work progressed, the promised replacements were stripped away. Government‑driven cost‑cutting redesigns removed the planned park on a concrete deck above the railway tracks, leaving nothing to restore. The result is a permanent scar of 14,404 sq m – roughly the size of two football pitches – swallowed by infrastructure and adjoining developments.
Promises broken and redesigns
St James’s Gardens, the largest green area under threat, was originally earmarked for replacement by HS2 Ltd. The new park was to sit atop the tracks, offering a tranquil refuge for commuters and residents alike. However, after a series of revisions aimed at reducing expenditure, that replacement was dropped entirely. Responsibility for the site now falls to a tangle of public planners and private developers. Camden council is reviewing proposals from Lendlease, the firm tasked with delivering commercial space and up to 1,500 homes across the area, while HS2’s parliamentary approval remains intact.
Voices from the community
Alice Brown, co‑founder of Climate Emergency Camden, stressed the human cost of the loss. “Otherwise it’s just going to be the site of the massive office building,” she said, warning that the neighbourhood risks becoming a sterile business district without places for people to breathe. She also criticised the affordable housing element of the plan, noting that the term “affordable” is being used to mean 80 % of market rates, not true social housing. Hackman echoed concerns about the impact on local schools, pointing out that Camden’s failure to deliver family‑sized homes is pushing families with children out of the borough, further eroding community life.
Political stakes in the byelection
The Holborn and St Pancras seat, vacated by former prime minister Keir Starmer, has been a Labour stronghold since the constituency’s creation in 1983. Yet frustration with Camden council’s handling of the Euston redevelopment could sway voters. Brown suggested that many see council actions as either performative or profit‑driven, every sale of land detrimental to residents. At the Labour conference, deputy leader Lucy Powell deemed it “unlikely” that Green candidate Zack Polanski would win, but Brown remained optimistic, believing he would “roll his sleeves up and get involved” in local issues, pressing the council to improve its performance. The byelection thus offers a chance to test whether Labour’s grip can be challenged on a platform of green space, housing fairness, and accountability.
Why it Matters
The disappearance of over 14,000 square metres of green space in Euston is more than a loss of parks; it reflects a broader tension between infrastructure ambition and the livability of inner‑city neighbourhoods. For residents, the issue touches on health, community cohesion, and trust in local government. How the byelection resolves this conflict could set a precedent for how future major projects balance development with the preservation of public green spaces across the UK.
