• ISLINGTON has long been admired for its fine Georgian and Victorian architecture, and it is disappointing that the council now appears to be allowing the creeping destruction of this heritage.

On the east end of Tufnell Park Road is a short terrace of Grade II-listed houses, built in the 1830s-40s. It is largely intact, having had no major exterior alterations since Victorian times.

An application has now been made to build a large extension at the rear of one of the houses. While this may seem insignificant, it will not only permanently damage the heritage value of the terrace but also set a worrying precedent, which could lead to further erosion of local heritage. Members of Islington Archaeology and History Society recently agreed at a meeting that they opposed this development.

The heritage statement accompanying the application appears hurried – it gets the terrace’s conservation area wrong and much of it appears to have been taken from a 2014 application for a different property in a different conservation area, written by a different applicant. And it’s been accepted by council officers.

It is disappointing that council planners appear to be taking a relaxed approach to the borough’s listed buildings, especially those that have survived for so long.

CHRISTY LAWRANCE
Editor, Journal of the Islington Archaeology and History Society