Holloway Prison site

• THE section of Meg Howarth’s letter (Passing the buck on empty homes, May 29) relating to Wellington Mews, next to Pentonville Prison, adds very little to her online “below the line” comment to your article about the flats (February 8 2019) apart from one error and one inaccurate comparison.

The error is in saying that there are “more than 100… flats empty for over 25 years”.

When I visited the area in 2011 I estimated there were about 28 large flats, most with four bedrooms, and about six were occupied, although some of the exterior pipework was in poor condition.

I tried to get the flats handed over to Islington Council then. And other councillors have tried since, all to no avail.

The inaccurate comparison is with the former Holloway Prison.

The Ministry of Justice had hoped to maximise their profit by selling the site for an exclusive luxury development.

They were forced to change their minds by Islington Council’s pre-existing tough planning policies and the plans now being developed for there will conform to those policies.

The ministry have never announced any plans for Pentonville Prison with or without Wellington Mews.

Ms Howarth also believes that, as a new backbench MP in 2005-2010, Emily Thornberry could have got the then Labour administration – not renowned for its support of council housing – to release the flats to Islington.

I suspect that, had that happened the then Liberal Democrat-controlled Islington Council would have been happy to see them redeveloped as luxury housing.

BARRY EDWARDS
Islington Labour Councillor (2006-2014)