Proposals to build 1,000 new homes on the former Holloway Prison site are now up for consultation.
Developer Peabody has created a draft masterplan for the Parkhurst Road development, which includes up to 1,050 new homes and the potential for 12-storey buildings, and is inviting residents to leave their feedback.
Described as landscape-led, the plans also include 9,500sqm of open space, a new public park, and a Women’s Building - which has been specifically criticised by feminist group Sisters Uncut over a “lack of transparency”.
READ MORE: Sisters Uncut criticise Peabody’s ‘lack of transparency’ over women’s centre plans for former Holloway prison siteThe whole development would be car free, with only disability parking and vehicle access for emergencies, deliveries and servicing.
A resident, Jonathan Ward, wrote to this newspaper with his concerns that the proposals are “lacking in detail”.
“I am seriously concerned about the poor quality of homes that will be created by the proposed high-density redevelopment - resulting in many homes with poor daylight and dangerously prone to overheating, and heavily overshadowed windy streets and parks,” he said, stressing when Islington Council considered 900 houses for the site, it was “thought to be too dense”.
“Peabody need to up their game and seek a higher quality of design. At this early stage, now is the time to establish a design that can deliver the required quality for all.”
In 2017, London mayor Sadiq Khan refused to bid for the empty Holloway Prison site and Islington Council demanded half of the homes should be “genuinely affordable”.
READ MORE: Community backs council’s demands that half of homes on Holloway Prison site are ‘genuinely affordable’READ MORE: Sadiq Khan rejects calls to bid for site – but vows to help get affordable housing builtAoife Conacur, Peabody’s Holloway project director, said: “We welcome all feedback and would encourage anyone who has not yet looked at the plans to do so on the website and let us know their views.
“This is the opportunity to comment on the general principles for the development, and there will be further workshops and exhibitions later in the year on the detailed designs of the buildings.”
The consultation started on June 12 and will continue for three weeks. An exhibition on the plans was initially scheduled to be held in person, but the coronavirus pandemic forced Peabody to move the event online via interactive PDFs.
View the plans at http://hollowayprisonconsultation.co.uk/exhibitionboards/
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