• WE are entering into a second lockdown and are being told to stay at home.

In this time of anxiety and stress, we all are indebted to nature – and its positive impact on our physical and mental wellbeing. So, what does Islington have to offer? Many homes in Islington have no outside space.

Dixon Clark Court, a block containing 60 dwellings, lost its communal garden to council developers back in March. Opposite, in 2018, 17 trees and one-third of our green space were lost in the redevelopment of Highbury Corner.

Islington declared a climate emergency and the council’s biodiversity action plan states that 17 per cent of Islington is deficient in access to nature. Yet still the council refuse to consider alternatives for the siting of a private six-storey block.

If built, seven healthy, mature trees – not six as some of the councillors are reporting – will be removed. It is generally accepted that removing trees is a last resort and done only if there is strong justification for doing so.

Seven mature healthy trees does not equal to 63 saplings. It will take nearly two generations for those saplings to be able to benefit the community. That is, if they survive. Hedge and saplings planted at Highbury Corner are already dead.

Extinction Rebellion Islington moved on to the site to protect these trees from felling. Twenty additional saplings were promised if XR I vacated the site.

The mature trees are integral to our atmosphere. Their removal would increase Canonbury primary school’s children’s exposure to pollution and lead to potentially illegal levels of NO2.

Objections were raised during the DCC planning process on the grounds of a loss of open space, the sheer scale and mass of the block, and misrepresentations of the design to the public.

Those opposing the development are not opposing housing for those in need; but these irreplaceable trees are not the only option. There has always been an argument for the council to site the private block on one of its other brownfield sites.

The bottom line is, the council is the developer. And they are not listening.

TERESA WELLS
Upper Street, N1