Rein in the developers

Published: 10 September, 2010

• ON Tuesday night a temporary reprieve was given for the land at the NCH (National Children’s Home) site in Highbury and an important stance was taken on social housing in new developments.

Islington Council’s centralised planning committee voted to defer the planning decision and has encouraged the developer to heed the conditions in the planning brief: both to deliver 50 per cent affordable housing and “to retain the mature gardens in their entirety”.

Islington Green Party is delighted that the committee recognised the work it has done in identifying the significance of the grassland habitat in the Islington context. 

Fifty per cent affordable housing must be more than an aspiration.

We will continue the fight to prevent developers riding roughshod over the planning brief.

We call on the committee when it considers any modified planning application to stick to its insistence on 50 per cent social housing and the retention of the undeveloped grassland area.

MARK CHILVER
Islington Green Party