Consultation on the Draft Masterplan for the redevelopment of Holloway Prison opened last Friday. Go to the Community Plan for Holloway website for details.

Please have a look and make your comments - it's really important that as many people as possible respond. There will be around 2,500 people living in the new development and of course it's important that the development is good for them, their neighbours and the environment.

First impressions are summed up in my letter to the Islington Gazette:

Holloway Prison Over-Development

Peabody have launched their consultation on the future of Holloway prison, which is lacking in detail but gives a worrying idea of what is proposed. 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.

The documents indicate up to 12-storey tall and deep buildings densely packed together, targeting 1,050 homes. The most Islington council has considered for this site is 900 and this was already thought to be too dense.

The proposed design is likely to result in many homes not receiving adequate daylight. The developer, Peabody has not published figures yet but, from the initial presentation, informed estimates suggest there could be in the region of 100 homes without adequate daylight.

The proposed form and layout of the apartment blocks means that approximately only 20% of the homes have good cross ventilation. This leaves hundreds of homes at risk of overheating, unless air conditioning is proposed which is expensive for tenants and environmentally damaging.

The height and density means that neighbouring homes and even the large central park will be heavily overshadowed and may experience windier conditions. This must be a high quality outdoor green space that this part of Islington so badly needs.

The environmental assessment process is also neglecting to study impacts on health and wellbeing of future residents, and climate change. 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.

Jonathan Ward

Contact: [email protected] for more information.