Times are hard but estate still needs its social centre

Published: 12th December, 2010

• ISLINGTON Council wants to close the community rooms at the Highbury estate and on other estates. We all know that cuts are being imposed by the Coalition government but the cost of running our community rooms is minimal, so the saving will also be minimal. In fact, our costs will increase if we have to pay outside venues for hire of their facilities.

Our community rooms represent the only resource available for residents of some 240 homes. Over the years the rooms have hosted activities such as play schemes, pensioners’ parties and Tenants’ Association (TA) meetings. Our community rooms have given the estate a focus for local activities and local democracy. 

Our estate was built in the 1950s and 60s. Despite post-war austerity, the community rooms, along with drying rooms, were built into the plan specifically to foster local cohesion and community bonding. Those considerations remain as valid today as when our estate was built. Despite the current hard times, we should not jettison long-term democratic traditions and resources.

Past periods of cuts have shown that, once lost, community resources are not replaced. 

About 20 years ago many estates had neighbourhood offices built by the council to bring its services “closer to the people”. Our neighbourhood office was closed shortly after to “improve” the council’s service to residents. The neighbourhood office remains closed to this day. 

If we lose our community rooms now, they will never be replaced. We had planned to use legacy money to refurbish our rooms. This would have brought the rooms up to a decent standard so we could host local events for the estate. We will never be able to hold pensioners’ parties or summer play schemes without our own small centre.

While we will campaign against this unwarranted cut, the TA is open to considering suitable alternative accommodation, on our estate, for the benefit of residents and the wider community.
Lorna Reid (Chair)
Susan Boyd (Secretary)
Suzanne York (Treasurer)
Richard Rosser
Highbury Estate Tenants’ Association