The protest in the park on Sunday over a planned pavilion (inset) that would mean the loss of trees

YOUNGSTERS and their families have gone head to head with the Town Hall over moves to cut down a woodland area as part of a £1.5million scheme to rebuild a cricket pavilion.

On Sunday the children took part in a staged community protest against council plans to cut down trees and shrubs in Wray Crescent open space and playground in Finsbury Park, to make way for a storage unit attached to the pavilion – and on that same day a petition was launched, which so far has more than signatures.

Despite drawing “save our trees and bats” in chalk and painting posters, the children’s work was removed just days later by Islington’s parks department.

“So much for public debate!” said Jonathan Ward about the council’s fast response to the local activism.
Mr Ward, part of a group of locals staging a fightback to the scheme, disagreed with the council aboriculturalist who branded the collection of trees and shrubs – some of which are 20 years old and up to five storeys high – “undesirable over the longer-term”. He said: “They’re just proposing to cut down every single one of the trees, shrubs, basically to clear it, to raze it to the ground.”

In its place Islington plan to install a storage unit, while the current pavilion building, which has fallen into disrepair, is due to be demolished and rebuilt on the same patch of land.

Mr Ward claimed council officers recently admitted they “weren’t clear in their minds” about what will be stored there.

The planned pavilion

Petition creator Rac Halliday called the council hypocritical after it went to great lengths to protect the Banksy artwork which is less than five minutes away in Hornsey Road, which, she said, was a message about how “nature’s struggling and it’s up to us to help it grow back”.

She quoted the Woodland Trust which says 1.5 million hectares of additional woodland must planted by 2050 to meet the country’s carbon neutral target.

Jonny Evans, chair of the Friends of Wray Crescent, said the Town Hall’s initial consultation on their plans was “laughable”. Islington called the consultation “extensive” in planning documents submitted to its planning department.

A primary concern for the Friends, according to Mr Evans, is that the building is inaccessible to the community from the street, meaning it can’t be accessed when cricket is being played or when the park is closed.

“Our biggest issue is the lack of genuine commitment to make this a community space,” he added. “We think at £1.5million the ambition should be for a building and park that serves the whole community 12 months of the year, not just one part of the community – cricket – for six months.”

They are also worried the removal of the trees could affect the local bat population and other wildlife.

A council spokesperson said: “We’re planning improvements to Wray Crescent open space, to replace a derelict pavilion with a building that will better support local people and provide much-needed facilities including accessible toilets, baby change, a kitchen area and space for community events,” she said.

“An independent report found that the six trees and area of shrubbery to be removed are all low quality, or poor quality. No mature trees will be removed.

“We will replace these six trees either in the park or in the immediate vicinity, and hedging and shrubbery will be replaced with planting that will encourage far more biodiversity.”

An extra door was unnecessary, she added, because the park “is not locked”.

A consultation on further possible improvements will be launched in July.

To view the petition, visit: www.change.org/p/stop-unnecessary-destruction-of-parkland-trees-and-shrubs-in-wray-park-open-space