Thank you to everyone who came along to the Community Plan for Holloway open day at St George’s Church, Crayford Road on Saturday 30 September.

More than 150 people stopped by to discuss the future of the Holloway prison site and share ideas for how the land should be developed.

Local MP, Jeremy Corbyn, joined us for a couple of hours and spoke of the huge potential to create affordable housing at the Holloway site. Councillor Diarmaid Ward Executive Member for Housing & Development explained the thinking behind Islington Council’s planning guidelines currently out for consultation.

Rebecca Roberts of Community Plan for Holloway, speaking at the event said;

What is clear from our survey findings is that people want truly affordable housing at the site, along with publicly accessible community buildings and spaces for all.

Next, we will be drawing up a draft community plan for the site – but we need to work together to keep up the pressure and continue to build support for a positive development at the Holloway prison site.

We had 15 stalls showcasing proposals from local groups and we presented findings from our survey that received more than 900 responses.

Stallholders included; Cycle Islington, Reclaim Holloway, Keep Homes, Solace Women’s Aid, Women in Prison, Anaconda Swimming Club, Green party, Labour party, Sisters Uncut, Community Land Trust Network, Islington Axe the Housing Act, StART Haringey, PEACH, Rooms of Our Own and North London RCG – all of whom have fantastic suggestions about how the Holloway prison site can be developed for the benefit of the community.