Fears over 'Arsenal wall' demolition
WORRIED residents losing part of their gardens to the latest Arsenal development have been told that builders have not breached planning conditions. Demolition of a 16 foot-high garden wall has started at the rear of homes in Bryantwood Road, Highbury, as
WORRIED residents losing part of their gardens to the latest Arsenal development have been told that builders have not breached planning conditions.
Demolition of a 16 foot-high garden wall has started at the rear of homes in Bryantwood Road, Highbury, as building work gathers pace on 700 new flats and a sports centre in neighbouring Queensland Road.
Contractors Kier have erected a protective metal fence half as high as the wall as a temporary replacement - but some residents fear it will not be enough to shield them from dust and debris.
Pat Tuson, 65, a part-time photographer, said: "They've started taking the walls down in the two houses next door to us. We've been told its safe but we've got bulldozers knocking everything down all over the place.
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"There's a great big crack in our wall and I'm concerned because it's shaking. It's like a bomb site out back."
Contactors Kier will temporarily occupy the gardens of around 100 residents for six months to access the building site, part of the Emirates Stadium development.
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A spokesman for Islington Council said no demolition could take place in gardens of properties that had not signed a party wall agreement with Arsenal.
A town hall planning enforcement officer had visited the site earlier this week and had found "no breach of planning conditions", the spokesman added.
In April a surveyor employed by Arsenal told a council planning meeting that compensation "hadn't been an issue" with 44 out of 47 homes that had signed a party wall agreement with the club.
