Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER Published: 28 December 2007
TV vote wins £600,000 for safer cycling and walking routes
Islington is set to benefit from a massive investment in cycling and walking routes, after a show of support from residents in a public vote on national TV. Sustrans – the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity – has won £50 million of lottery funding for schemes across the country.
As part of that project, £600,000 will be spent on linking Islington’s green spaces.
The money comes from the Big Lottery Fund’s The People’s £50 Million contest – after the TV vote.
Cllr Lucy Watt, executive member for environment, said: “I know many of our residents voted for this scheme, so I’m delighted our efforts have paid off. “This will mean better and safer links between our parks for cyclists and pedestrians, making our green spaces even more accessible.”
The Sustrans’ Connect2 scheme was competing against the Eden Project: The Edge, Sherwood Forest: The Living Legend and The Black Country Urban Park.
The project won 42 per cent of the ballots cast in what was the largest ever publicly-decided award.
The money is expected to be spent on two routes in Islington.
The first one – running south to north – starts at Highbury Corner, passes through Highbury Fields, up the side of Emirates Stadium to Gillespie Park Nature Reserve and via Finsbury Park interchange into Finsbury Park.
The second will run east to west through the borough linking green spaces and squares between Highbury Fields in the east and Caledonian Park in the west.