Activists from North London Sisters Uncut and Islington Homes for All have cautiously welcomed the housing association Peabody’s proposals for the redevelopment of the Holloway prison site, the Islington Tribune reports.

Peabody, who bought the Holloway site last week with a loan from the Mayor of London, plan to build 1,000 homes on the site in partnership with private property developer London Square. The proposals include:

• 60 per cent of homes to be ‘genuinely affordable’, including 42 per cent at social rents.
• A Women’s Centre.
• The Visitors Centre to be temporarily used as a homeless shelter.
• Public green space.
• A ‘full consultation process’.

Niku Gupta of North London Sisters Uncut said:

It feels like a victory of sorts that Peabody listened. It shows that direct action works. But you never know what can happen with the centre. It could just be all talk by Peabody. We have no reason not to trust them but we are going to keep the pressure on.

Andy Bain of Islington Homes for All said:

This result is due to three key factors: the determination of local housing campaigners, the strongly-held views of local people that what is needed is council housing, and the actions of the council to challenge the government’s efforts to decimate social housing.

Community Plan for Holloway is holding an emergency meeting on Saturday 30th March between 2PM and 4PM at St George’s Church, Crayford Road, Tufnell Park N7 0ND for local people to come and discuss how to make sure the community is at the heart of the Peabody development. Everyone is welcome, so please come and join us to get involved in the next step of the campaign.