19 affordable homes approved for Upper Holloway’s historic Wedmore Estate

An artist's impression of the rear of the new block in the Wedmore Estate. Picture: Burrell Foley Fischer Architects and Urban Designers (Image: Archant)

On Monday night, Islington Council’s planning committee approved the plans for the Wedmore Estate in Wedmore Street, Upper Holloway.

Current Wedmore tenants will be given priority on the new flats if they wish to up- or down-size.

The Wedmore Estate was built in 1904, and was the first estate built to let by Islington Council. It currently consists of four blocks, constructed in red brick, of 162 flats.

The scheme, which had been in the pipeline for three years, will include seven three-bed, nine two-bed and three one-bed units.

It will also offer environmental improvements for the estate. They include community storage, for items such as gardening tools, improved green space and better lighting.

A planning officer, who recommended the scheme for approval, said ahead of Monday’s town hall meeting: “Given the aspiration to deliver genuinely affordable housing, the building of affordable housing (the majority of which would be for social rent) on hardstanding and car parking to create a defined street frontage is considered a sensible approach.

“Moreover, the quality of the landscape strategy together with the overall planning benefits derived from the proposal are considered to fully justify the building on some of the existing open space on the estate.”

The committee approved the scheme despite eight letters of objection from neighbours, including one from the Wedmore Estate Tenants and Residents’ Association.

They complained about noise and disturbance, the new block not being “respectful” to the estate’s existing historic architecture, loss of daylight and insufficient infrastructure to deal with the increased population.

But the planning officer said: “The proposal is not considered to have an unacceptable impact on neighbouring residential amenity in terms of loss of daylight, sunlight, outlook, privacy, noise and disturbance or an increased sense of enclosure.”

After the committee meeting, committee member and Junction ward Cllr Tim Nicholls tweeted: “The Wedmore has a fantastic community. What they’ve achieved there is awesome. But I’ve long thought they deserve better. And I hand-on-heart believe the 19 new units, with new playspace, greening & new entrances will help do that.”