The council argues the private block will help solve the housing crisis, as it will fund a net gain of 25 flats for social rent at the estate off Canonbury Road.
But eco-activists have been urging housing chiefs to consider whether the block - which was given planning permission in 2018 - could instead be built on any of the brownfield sites it owns. They pointed to the climate emergency Islington Council declared in 2019, when it made a pledge to embed carbon reduction in all relevant decisions.
The group Save The Trees are asking the council not to chop down the seven mature trees at Dixon Clark Court. Picture: Save The Trees
Readers letters
Frontline staff member Champa Jetha, acute therapy technician at Whittington Hospital
- Credit: Slater King
We need you to stay at home and save lives
Siobhan Harrington, CEO, Whittington Health NHS Trust, writes:
I am writing to you to give your readers the latest information about how Covid-19 is affecting Whittington Health NHS Trust, as I have tried to do throughout the pandemic.
Like the rest of the NHS across London, Whittington Health is experiencing real pressure as a result of a rapid increase in Covid positive patients. It is once again heartening to see that as my colleagues work so hard, lots of you have been in touch to ask how you can help us. To them and to everyone I say that the most important thing we can all do is to follow the national lockdown rules: stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
Readers letters
Cycle lanes have proved beneficial in lockdown
- Credit: Tim Ireland/PA Images
Benefit of People Friendly Streets
Tash H, Islington, full name and address supplied, writes:
As Lockdown 3.0 was announced, one of the first things I noticed was the number of people outdoors going for walks and cycle rides. With gyms shut and lockdown restrictions in place, getting outdoors is the main way many people are getting their exercise. For some people, it is currently their only way of having social contact, by meeting one other person to exercise with.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), part of the council’s People Friendly Streets programme, make this so much easier, with quiet streets allowing more space for walking, cycling and playing, while being socially distanced. It’s never been so important to have access to public space, and getting out and about is much more enjoyable in our Low Traffic Neighbourhoods like Canonbury compared with areas like Barnsbury tha
Calls to reconsider
Meg Howarth, Ellington Street, Islington, writes:
As 2021 begins, with a pandemic raging, the town hall’s political bosses seem intent on pursuing the destruction of the Dixon Clark Court (DCC) “little forest” at Highbury Corner.
Here, thanks to the unwavering efforts of the tree protectors, the 52-year-old mature trees - planted when many Islington councillors were children or yet-to-be born - are still standing.
For how much longer depends on the outcome of the legal proceedings for re-possession of the occupied site, which are due to resume next week.
The trees and the green space in which they sit benefit not only DCC’s existing residents, but all who live near and pass this noisy, toxic, busy location.
18 December, 2020
Trees around Dixon Clark Court
• FOLLOWING the letters about building on the communal garden and felling mature trees around Dixon Clark Court, near Highbury Corner, I am writing in support of defenders of green space.
Air pollution in the area is already high and will only be increased by building there. The bottleneck at Highbury Corner and regular traffic jams on its main access routes produce a toxic mix.
The recently built apartment block nearby, with 54 flats on previous open space add to the air pollution. I heard once an Islington Society talk on the loss of grassy areas in the borough.