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Cllr Catherine West |
Labour feel the heat as ‘ludicrous’ plan for Highbury Fields draws fire
LABOUR leader Catherine West has backed down after suggesting at a council meeting that Highbury Fields should be considered a potential site for Travellers.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who used to live close to Highbury Fields, caused a storm in his own backyard by demanding all local authorities identify space to accommodate members of the travelling community.
When members of the north area planning committee met to discuss the mayor’s request, Cllr West suggested Highbury Fields should be considered.
But this week, Cllr West changed her mind, releasing a statement saying: “I do not want there to be a traveller site on Highbury Fields and nor does anyone in Islington Labour.
“There will be no traveller site on Highbury Fields under Labour – end of story.”
For hundreds of years, Highbury Fields has been the home of choice for Islington’s intelligentsia, and more recently author Nick Hornby and journalists Peter Oborne and Lowri Turner have moved close by.
Lib Dem and St George’s ward councillor Tracy Ismail, who was at last week’s meeting, where Cllr West touted the idea, said: “It’s a ludicrous idea. Maybe she’s having a pop at the rich. We would fight tooth and nail to keep hold of that green space.”
When asked about her comments, Cllr West said: “I said we could look at Highbury Fields. Would Cllr Ismail exclude it? Is it because it might offend her voters? Everything, including Highbury Fields, should be looked at if that’s what’s required of the local authority. No green space should be ruled out.”
But this week, Cllr West reconsidered her stance, releasing a statement on Tuesday, promising there will be no traveller site on Highbury Fields.
She also criticised remarks made on the Lib Dems Highbury East councillors website, adding: “This is a sensitive issue, and gypsies and travellers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We are talking about a very small number people and we do not need the kind of alarmist racist stereotyping that the Lib Dems have engaged in on their website.”
Journalist Lowri Turner, who lives close to the fields said: “It’s an insane suggestion. The point of a park is for everybody to use.
“It’s not the fact that I live close by or that it would get up the noses of the local celebrities, it’s that Islington has a shortage of green space. What we have should be for all of the people in Islington, not cordoned off for any one group. I would equally oppose them selling off the park to build executive flats.”
Martin Jones, of the Highbury Fields Association, said: “It certainly would be quite out of the question for Highbury Fields, which is the largest and most heavily used open space, to be used for that purpose.”
Council leader Cllr Terry Stacy said: “I’m gobsmacked. The borough lacks open space and the idea of taking away the largest and most well-used one is unforgiveable.” |
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