Architects’ vision for the derelict sports court

A DERELICT sports court in Holloway is being redesigned into a green zone with play equipment, benches and even food-growing areas for green-fingered neighbours.

The under-used patch of land overlooking the railway in Shearling Way, just off Caledonian Road, has been reimagined by council architects and is now undergoing work that will turn it into a safer, greener space for the community to enjoy.

Similar projects are under construction elsewhere in the borough.

Back in 2022, more than 85 per cent of residents in the Delhi Outram estate near Copenhagen Street voted for a sunken ball court to be converted into a garden, and the local authority is now working with Octopus Community Network – which runs community gardens around the borough – to put their vision into action.

The land which is now being developed

When the redesign is finished, Octopus will teach gardening and sustainability skills to residents on the estate.

In Junction ward the old ball court and playground in Bovingdon Close is similarly being improved, with a sensory play panel, a trampoline and a basket swing currently under construction.

These green projects have been paid for via Islington’s “community infrastructure levy” – the pot of money set aside for local projects, that all big developers are required to pay into when they build in the borough.

The green spaces themselves were shaped by residents, the council said.