‘Archway Tower move will devastate community’

Published: 1st April, 2011
by KARINA WHALLEY

THE loss of 177 jobs at Archway Tower will have a “devastating” economic effect on the local economy, council leader Catherine West will warn the government this week.

In a last-minute appeal, she will be writing to Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke, urging him to intervene on the move.

The plan is for the majority of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) jobs to move from the 17-storey Archway Tower to new premises in Birmingham.

The OPG protects people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves by supporting attorneys and deputies in carrying out their duties. 

The move will affect the local economy, where dozens of shops, cafés and restaurants make a good living out of the office workers.

It’s the biggest single loss of jobs in Islington since up to 200 redundancies were declared at Holloway-based London Metropolitan University.

The Public and Commercial Services union, which is fighting the move, claims the department will be replaced by a “poorly staffed, glorified call centre”.

In her letter to Mr Clarke, Cllr West writes: “You will be aware that Islington has high levels of poverty and has been hit hard by the economic downturn with increasing numbers of residents out of work.

“Archway is one of our priority areas for regeneration, yet this move and the loss of so many local jobs will inevitably have a damaging impact on the local shops, restaurants and amenities.” Cllr West continues: “I urge you to look again at this planned relocation and find an alternative that would protect the quality of this valuable service and its dedicated workforce.” 

Cllr West said she also finds the significant relocation expense of more than £22million a cost the public sector simply cannot afford.

Residents in the area have voiced their concerns through Hak Huseyin, chairman of the Archway Town Centre Management Group.

He said: “I’m hearing every day from local businesses worried about the impact of the OPG leaving Archway.

“Restaurants and cafés who rely on lunchtime trade for a large share of their turnover are particularly concerned.

“It’s vital that we retain office-based staff who contribute such a lot to the local economy.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn fears that with dozens of unused office blocks in the capital, the tower could remain empty for a long time, ending up a White Elephant. 

He said: “The tower was originally built by London Transport in 1967 and has been a fantastic drain on public expenditure.

“The OPG paid for an extremely expensive refurbishment of the building only a few years ago. 

“I suspect the building will now revert to its former state of being empty, with the local economy suffering from the lack of expenditure from people working in the tower.”