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Neglected building or new centre for community? It’s a no-brainer
• IT doesn’t seem like a tough choice – redevelop an unused brownfield site and create a community facility with school, nursery and youth centre, or leave it to be neglected and spend another five years arguing about what to do. So why didn’t Islington councillors do the right thing last week when the planning application for the Crouch Hill development came before them?
I sat through two hours of argument at the planning meeting and council officers made it clear there was every reason to support it. Instead, the delays continue, and the children at Ashmount School will start another week in a crumbling, out-of-date building instead of being a step closer to their new home.
Please Islington, it’s not too late to do something we can all be proud of. This is too good a chance to miss. Support the Crouch Hill development.
R Porter
Sparsholt Road, N19
• YOUR report was a good summary of a meeting which took more than two hours to produce a non-result. What has subsequently become plain to me is the level of anger and disappointment among Ashmount parents as news spread of the outcome, or rather, lack of one. In fact, in more than 12 years as a school governor I can recall nothing like it. Given that this project has dragged on for five years, the dismay they feel at the neglect of their children’s welfare is understandable.
For me, the vexation of the non-decision was increased by the chair’s apparent willingness to take into account matters that were not relevant to this planning application, despite being advised against this several times by his legal advisor.
I am aware of the enormous amount of work council officers have put into this project, which has included getting the agreement of the planning advisors to the Mayor of London to allow the application to proceed. I hope it is possible for the deferred application to be brought back to an Islington planning committee soon. I know that the governing body of Ashmount School will be pressing for this, and expecting a positive result.
David Barry
Chair of governors, Ashmount School
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