The proposed Windsor Street building

• MARTIN Rutherford’s assertion that there has not been a single consultation with local residents about a proposed development in Windsor Street is incorrect (We’re left in the dark about this three-storey building, January 19).

I attended an early consultation meeting, and there have been several other similar meetings.

He suggests that the project will cause “great upset and distress for residents if it goes ahead”.  I can assure him that living near adults with learning disabilities – for whom the proposal has been designed – is neither upsetting nor distressing.

I can only presume that he is referring to the short-term inconvenience of having building work in the locality, even though this happens to most of us who live in inner London at some point.

In contrast, what is truly upsetting and distressing for many families in Islington is the shortage of appropriate local housing for adults with learning disabilities. There are hundreds of families in this situation, which is why this well-designed development within the borough is so necessary.

Mr Rutherford further asserts that “this type of development needs houses on ordinary streets, not some kind of institution”. As the mother of someone who lives in a flat in a similar scheme in Highbury, I can vouch that what is proposed is far from being an “institution”.

There is no single blueprint for accommodating adults with learning disabilities, any more than there is a single blueprint for housing other adults.

I used to lie awake worrying night after night about what would happen to my son when he reached adulthood and I was no longer able to look after him. Thanks to Islington Council’s far-sighted desire to build suitable accommodation for adults with learning disabilities, he is now happily settled, near family and friends.

But I worry about what will happen to other, similarly vulner­able adults if new proposals to accommodate them within their home borough are going to be met with such bewildering and dispiriting hostility.

I urge readers to send comments in support of this well-designed and much-needed project to the Islington planning officer by Monday.

VIRGINIA BOVELL
Plimsoll Road, N4