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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 21 March 2008

Shops to go in Lib Dem’s ‘closing down sale’

THE Nag’s Head shopping centre is among the parades of shops being sold off by Lib Dem Islington Council in what is being dubbed by opposition Labour as the “big bonanza closing down sale,”.
A strip of stores in Caledonian Road and four council office buildings in Old Street are also on the list of 90 properties the council is off-loading in the multi-million pound sell-off.
The properties, which include a car park in Enfield, are expected to exceed the minimum £27million required for the sale to proceed.
Shops and offices on Barnsbury Road, Copenhagen Street, York Way and Prebend Street will be flogged to raise funds for the council’s coffers. The covered market at the rear of the Nag’s Head shopping centre and a whole parade of shops and cafés in Caledonian Road are also up for grabs.
One victim of the sale will be opposition leader Catherine West, who holds her weekly surgery at 299 Hornsey Road, formerly used to house a refugee service.
She questioned the wisdom of selling off property with the market in decline. The majority of properties will be sold off in a portfolio and businesses will be allowed to bid for their property by being asked to match the price of the winning investor.
Cllr Phil Kelly, whose ward includes the Nag’s Head, said: “A lot of what the council plans to spend is dependent on property sales. How do you sustain that once it’s gone?”
Cllr James Murray, who has been talking to the worried shop and café owners in Caledonian Road, said: “What will be a disaster for the area is if these get sold-off to a property developer who turns them into some swanky car sales showroom.
“This is the big bonanza closing down sale from Islington Council.”
Council leader James Kempton was unavailable for comment at time of going to press.

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