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Revamp for corner? We’re just going round in circles
• I WOULD dearly like Highbury Corner to be improved. The area is ugly and untidy and the traffic is frequently at a standstill. So I was delighted to hear there were proposals to improve the area – and then when an attractive (and expensive)-looking consultation document dropped onto the mat I hurried to read it.
But on page one I found “these proposals are dependent on securing planning permission and further funding. No funds have been identified to develop and construct the scheme. In addition, the proposals will require further design and consultation to be taken forward.” So what is the point? Haven’t we been here before?
I remember attractive plans for redeveloping the area when the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was first being planned and it all came to nothing. What a waste of time and money – but who is surprised by that? The document carries the imprint of the Mayor of London and Islington Council... need I say more?
Margaret Reese
Hopping Lane, N1
q While appreciating council leader James Kempton’s enthusiastic support for saving “the inconvenient tree” at the north end of Compton Terrace Gardens, his promotion of Transport for London’s Option B (north side closure) is curious (Leader calls for ‘radical’ action to tackle congestion problem at roundabout, November 23).
This option adds lanes of traffic to the south side of an already overloaded roundabout and would require heavy lorries to negotiate three sides of two-way traffic to get from Holloway Road to St Paul’s Road or vice versa.
Option A (west side closure), as it stands, proposes to axe the tree, therefore Mr Kempton’s high-profile support seems slightly hollow.
Much more to the point is to promote the adoption of Option A, provided it is modified to save the tree. As Nathan Coffey points out, this, in all other respects, offers the best choice of those on the table (Cutting a corner, November 23).
Therefore, I would urge all Islington residents, businesses and pedestrians to plug for Option A, on the understanding that it will be modified to save the tree.
JOANIE SPEERS
Compton Terrace, N1
• COUNCIL leader James Kempton is quoted as saying he thought the north side closure of Highbury Corner was the better option. We don’t agree.
The north side option adds an additional lane of traffic within metres of Canonbury School playground. Like local families and residents’ groups, Canonbury School wasn’t consulted before the proposal was put forward.
The effect on the school isn’t even mentioned in the consultation document put forward by Transport for London. Pupils may not be commuters, but they are still important and the effect on them shouldn’t just be ignored.
There seems to be strong and growing support for our view that closure of the north side is a wholly negative option. In the last two weeks, 654 people have signed letters to support our campaign. We now have a website – www.highburycorner.
com
Join us and sign our letters under the Save this Tree banner on Highbury Corner. We favour positive change for the benefit of everyone and support closure of the west side (Option A) as long as Compton Terrace Gardens is protected. We look forward to positive participation in the future design of the corner.
NATHAN COFFEY
Families of Highbury Corner Campaign Group
• I AM enthusiastic about improving Highbury Corner for pedestrians, public transport users and residents. Highbury Corner is not only a major transport interchange for Islington (and the 40,000 commuters that use it daily) but an important landmark and public space. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rid the borough of this failed post-war gyratory which blights the area for everyone.
That is why the council, along with Transport for London and the Mayor of London, has issued more than 20,000 consultation documents to seek people’s views on what should be done.
Planning experts have identified three possible schemes for the area – essentially, closure of the western side (outside the Cock pub), closure of the northern side (near Highbury Fields) or minor improvements to the existing layout.
The article last week misquoted me. Although I would be disappointed if there was not public support of one of the two major change options, at no time have I expressed a preference for closing the northern arm of Highbury Corner roundabout, as reported. In fact, I have said clearly, both in public meetings and in an interview with the Tribune, that I am keen to listen to people’s views.
The consultation at this stage is more about the overall plan than detail of implementation. Some residents have already told us they would like to see improvements to some of the detail of the options.
For example, the option to close the western arm of the roundabout could involve the loss of a 100-year-old plane tree. As the Tribune correctly reported last week, I have pledged to do all I can to protect it and have urged the Mayor of London to work with me to ensure this would not have to happen.
As council leader I have always tried to listen carefully to what people are saying, keep an open mind and avoid jumping to hasty judgements. Genuinely listening to people’s views will help us avoid repeating the mistakes that were made at Highbury Corner in the past.
CLLR JAMES KEMPTON
Lib Dem leader, Islington Council
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