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Roundabout set for beach party
Festival to highlight calls for makeover
ARCHWAY roundabout’s lonely plight will be highlighted during a one-day festival when it is transformed into a Victorian seaside resort.
The troubled gyratory, which many say is cut off from everyday Archway life, will become the place to be next week when hundreds of revellers are expected to kick off their heels and make the most of island life in a giant beach party.
Organisers hope the festival will emphasise how cut off the roundabout is from the rest of the community and hope to gather support for a campaign to make it part of the “mainland”.
It is the latest step in a long-running campaign to secure funding to remove the gyratory once and for all.
Kate Calvert, of Better Archway Forum, who have been campaigning to remove the gyratory, said: “The gyratory acts as an enormous river through the middle of Archway that people can’t cross from one side to the other. It divides the town centre. The festival is useful in reminding people how cut off the island is and the damage done by the road layout.”
She added: “We’re hoping to persuade Transport for London that this is one of the one-way systems that are going to be removed. They’ve accepted one-way systems don’t work. It’s just a question of finding the money.”
Councillor Ursula Woolley, Islington’s executive member with responsibility for the regeneration of Archway, said: “The island has a growing number of cafés and shops, including the new tropical bar at the historic Archway Tavern.
“But if it wasn’t cut off by the gyratory Archway would just be much more pleasant, safer and more convenient, for residents and people passing through.’
At next week’s festival, the island will have its own beach made from recycled pallets and parasols as well as seaweed, cutout figures, rocks and a lighthouse.
There will be live Latino music, a bouncy castle, face-painting, mask-making, food, and crafts.
Sporty visitors can take part in a 5-a-side football tournament in Archway Park.
The seaside theme was commissioned by the council’s town centre management team and is the creation of Nicola Shilcock, a graduate of Holloway’s Byam Shaw School of Art, and Mina Samangooei, who is working on a Masters degree in Architecture and Environmental design.
Archway Island Street Festival takes place on Saturday, September 6, between 11am and 5pm in Archway Close, Archway. |
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