Dream of Green Christmas

Published: 24 September, 2010
by RÓISÍN GADELRAB

PLANS for a Christmas winter festival – including an ice rink – at Islington Green have been slammed by neighbours.

Residents say the proposal for a 40-day licensed event until 11pm seven days a week would make life “unbearable”. 

Organisers of the proposed festival, which would include a 26-stall Christmas market, a 300 sq ft ice-rink, and an insect museum, have upset neighbours by applying for a licence to serve mulled wine and festive drinks on the Green.

Neighbour Christiana Mobbs, who lives in Gabriel House overlooking the Green, said: “The proposed opening times and duration of this venue are completely excessive. The gathering of crowds under the influence of alcohol and with the inclusion of live music will add to the noise disturbance. 

“The combined effects of this over a 40-day period will be unbearable for the many local residents that live adjacent to Islington Green.”

Ms Mobbs said that in previous years, Christmas lights had been aimed “directly” into her home and said she feared any stronger lights used for the ice-rink would make life “intolerable”.

She added: “This outdoor venue will require noisy generators to constantly keep the ice frozen and to provide power to the market stalls. 

“It will also require noisy public announcement systems to provide amplification for live and recorded music. Additionally, it will require additional sta­dium-type lighting.”

Lib Dem councillor Susan Buchanan said: “I am very concerned about this proposal. Islington Green is a war memorial garden and one of the few spaces in the borough that can be enjoyed by everyone in the local community – it should not be treated as a private commercial venture for those living outside the borough. It’s a residential area as well as a business area.

But Labour St Mary’s ward councillor Rhiannon Davis said: “I think a Christmas fair is a lovely idea. Christmas is a wonderful time to get together and I can’t think of a nicer place than Islington Green at the heart of our borough.”

Applicants Open Source Productions Ltd/ Anything is Possible said in an application to Islington’s licensing committee the plan for a winter festival would include a Santa’s grotto, a carousel, insect circus museum and a 300 sq ft rink, which can take 90 people per session, for 10 sessions a day.

They hope to play “low-level” festive back­ground music on the ice-rink and throughout the markets.

There are also plans for an occasional small folk band and local carol singing groups. 

They propose some Christmas-themed carols but promise “measures will be taken to make sure other religious beliefs are not discriminated against”.

The plan is not to provide a full bar, instead serving only seasonal drinks such as mulled wine, liquor coffee and hot chocolate, hot toddy, mulled cider and winter punch.