#Designation   #Gypsies   #Travellers   #Ronald   

While we strongly believe in inclusivity for all cultures in Islington, we see 71 Ronalds Road (near Highbury Fields) as totally unsuitable to be designated as a caravan site for Gypsies & Travellers because:

• The site sits directly above the entrance to a heavily used railway freight tunnel (1,450+ trains running on the track every week), so is highly exposed to noise, vibration and pollution from diesel locomotives, which regularly idle there for long periods. This exposure inevitably raises serious safety risks for occupants including children.
• Gypsies & Travellers would suffer from disturbance and a lack of privacy, as the site is quite small for the proposed purpose and both hugely overlooked by numerous residential properties and on a busy pedestrian route.
• The proposed site sits next to the new Roundhouse Community Centre which is expected to regularly welcome busy events. Access to both sites would be significantly constrained by that activity which will impact uncomfortably all parties.
• A number of mature trees are at risk as the council will not guarantee their retention.
• Islington’s plans fail to take into account the character and heritage of the local area – in close proximity to the Highbury Fields and Whistler Street Conservation Areas and Olden Community Gardens.
• The site would be an inefficient use of the land compared to its current designation for social housing with quality engineering – hard buildings would also efficiently protect residents of the site from disturbance of the railway and overlooking properties. According to data shared Islington Council with MyLondon (here), there were 14,530 people on the Islington Council waiting list for social housing in 2021 and only 7% are housed each year.
• The consultation process has been inadequate – Islington council failed to write letters to a significant number of residents in close proximity to the site and much of the consultation process
  has fallen during the summer holiday period.

We believe that the site could be used in many different ways which would benefit the whole local community – possibilities include building social housing (its current designated use in Islington’s Local Plan), planting an orchard for the foodbank nearby, a green outdoor space directly linked to the Roundhouse, a sensory garden for our disabled community, or a solar park to generate clean energy.