Community Plan for Holloway (CP4H), a coalition of community
groups in Islington, have rejected the plans of Peabody to develop the site of
the old Holloway Prison for women. The Peabody housing association bought the
site from the Ministry of Justice for £81.5 million in 2019. They plan building
985 homes on the site.
CP4H objected to Peabody’s plans for a number of reasons.
They feel that the level of density of housing will push up St George’s ward,
in which the site les up to be the 12th most densely populated ward
in London. This would cause great stress in terms of traffic and in terms of
the flourishing of residents. The proposal by Peabody for the level of housing
density is rare even in London.
In addition, the heights
of most of the proposed buildings are
not in accordance with the Islington Core Strategy which states: “Tall
buildings (above 30m high) are generally inappropriate to Islington's
predominantly medium to low level character, therefore proposals for new tall
buildings will not be supported”. In addition to this, the recent Local Plan
Topic Paper Tall Buildings 2020 states that “The Holloway Prison site was also
subject to detailed appraisal and was not considered suitable for tall
buildings”. The proposed number of homes also exceeds a reasonable density for
the site, as a recent study found that 720 homes would be appropriate and even
that 880 homes would be too much. The site would house 3,500 people, an
increase of 30% in the population of the ward.
Other objections were over the lack of community facilities (none offered
whatsoever), the impact on community service provision, and the
reduced sunlight and daylight in the surrounding area. 200 flats on the
site would not get the recommended
levels of daylight and ventilation would be poor.
CP4H
stated: “The plans, as submitted, would fail to create a new neighbourhood that
comprised good quality homes and amenities, with the lowest possible
environmental impact, and a fitting legacy for this site of historical
significance.”
Many
suffragettes were imprisoned at Holloway Prison as a result of their actions to
gain suffrage. Ruth Ellis, the last women to be hanged in Britain, was executed
there for the killing of her partner, without the domestic abuse she had
suffered from him being considered.
Peabody
agreed to a women’s centre at the site under pressure from community and
women’s groups. However Peabody is only offering one floor and a garden with
little light, overlooked by three towers, and next to a noisy road. The space
offered in fact offers less therapeutic services than were available in the
prison. Members of CP4H feel that their suggestions have been ignored over the
last two years. They feel that Islington Council and Peabody have been
complicit in offering the community groups tokenistic gestures. In addition,
the community groups feel that the architects and engineers have not designed
the zero-carbon “exemplar” that both Islington Council and local residents
hoped for. The carbon emissions of the site are twice as higher than current
benchmarks proposed to meet net-zero carbon targets. . Peabody are proposing
buildings of up to 15 stories and extensive concrete basements, contributing to
a high carbon footprint. The solar power units on the site’s rooftops
are 40% below the council’s target.
As one campaigner commented: “It feels like a desperate attempt to create
as many ‘units of accommodation’ as possible, to ‘fix’ our social housing
problem, without concern for the people who will live in the crammed-in,
poor-quality, homes or the future negative social, health and environmental
impacts.”
https://plan4holloway.org/
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