Forget developers, just sort out Archway’s roundabout

• I READ with dismay about new planning ideas for Archway (Ssssh! We’re spending another £200k trying to ‘fix’ Archway, November 27). I thought we had already concluded this matter. Why is Islington Council spending more money ‘masterplanning’ when it has already spent a quarter of a million on a plan for Archway? It appears to be a bit like the Irish EU referendum. The ideas of a Tesco-like complex keep reappearing until they have been accepted.
As has long been accepted, the way to regenerate Archway is with incremental improvements and firm planning enforcement, including removal of all excess signage, and reconfiguring and pedestrianising part of the road system. We do not need a big developer to pay for road improvements. There’s now £2million of government money to kick-start regeneration in Archway. That’s what the road changes at Highbury are costing (excluding removal of the post office), and the £2million should be spent sorting out the Archway roundabout.
Why is the council continuing to commission retail studies that ignore the existence of independent shops and describe the wishes of big business, including supermarkets, as needs? We want an Archway (and council) that reflects the wishes of the community
PROFESSOR STEPHEN WOOD
Fairmead Road, N19

• I AM dismayed to hear that Islington Council is considering a change to the core development strategy which completely undermines the Archway supplementary planning document (SPD). The SPD and previous core strategy drafts state that the area should not be designated for large-scale retail and leisure development.
Unfortunately, this latest strategy proposes just this. It suggests redeveloping the tower area and the other side of Junction Road. This has had no local consultation and goes against the ideas which are supported by locals. It would remove the Victorian high street and replace it with large-scale retail which would draw in more traffic to an area which already has terrible traffic problems.
It is ridiculous that the council has so-called consultation, comes up with a SPD which is supported by locals but then turns its back on this completely.
SIOBHAN SCOTT
St John’s Way, N19

• IT is depressing to see that Islington’s core strategy, the document which will be used to shape the borough for the next 15 or 20 years, is drawing on research which is not only shoddy but also factually incorrect. The Islington Retail Study, quoted at various points in the draft strategy, ignores the massive number of independent shops in the borough, and addresses only the wishes of chain stores, which it describes as “needs”. Those “needs” include superstores at Angel (bigger than anything already there), plus Highbury and Archway.
Look hard at the “evidence” though and it’s clear the authors haven’t seen the places they describe. They refer to one of the supermarkets in Archway as Marks and Spencer, because it used to trade as MS (not M&S). And, while the report claims no residents of Crouch End use their local M&S, it says lots of them travel all the way to Angel to do so. There are plenty more similar examples. In other words, the “evidence” of this report is not worth the paper it is written on.
Despite this, the core strategy is using this document to support policy promoting “major retail and leisure development” in Angel, Nag’s Head, Archway and Finsbury Park.
And hidden away, pretending to support small businesses, it says that retail units should be 500 square metres. That’s the size of a Tesco Metro. So presumably they are looking to litter the borough with those as well.
Why is this happening when time and again residents have said they don’t want this? And why is this approach being pushed when more and more research shows clearly that big businesses like supermarkets and big developers actually take money out of the local economy? These proposals would leave Islington even poorer than it is now. They need to be discarded – along with this dreadful retail report.
AMY SILVERSTON
Laurier Road, NW5

• I WOULD like to say categorically that no secret negotiations are taking place between council officers and any developer at Archway, and we are not seeking to launch a third development scheme. The council is not in discussions with Tesco or any other supermarket operator.
The truth behind this story is a bit less sensational. We have recently secured external funding to invest in the regeneration of Archway, and are developing a plan to identify the best way of investing this money.
We are involving local people and organisations such as the Better Archway Forum in the development of this plan to make sure it reflects their knowledge and understanding of the area, and their aspirations for its future.
The cost of the study, funded by external public money, is still being finalised but will be nowhere near the £200,000 quoted in your article.
Archway is a vibrant and well-loved place. However, no one would argue that it does not need investment. We want to work with local people to find practical ideas that will make a real difference to some of Archway’s key challenges, such as improving its public spaces.
CLLR LUCY WATT
Lib Dem deputy leader, Islington Council