In an article for The Guardian, Rebecca Roberts has written about the battle emerging for the Holloway prison site.

She writes,

The gloves are off in what is likely to be an historic fight for the future of a 10 acre plot of land on the site of the former Holloway prison.

Community Plan for Holloway received more than 900 survey responses from the public, local organisations and women in the criminal justice system. Sharing their hopes and concerns about the future development of the prison site, they have been clear that genuinely affordable housing is a key priority.

The article concludes,

This is a local issue with national significance. With social housing moving up the political agenda and now a key priority for both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, we may be at an important tipping point.

Holloway prison could be a touchstone development for how public land can be redeveloped for public good. The Ministry of Justice could, and should, hang up its gloves and act in the public interest.

The battle is not yet won, but the people of Islington might be in with a fighting chance.

Also in The Guardian, Alice Martin of New Economics Foundation has urged Theresa May to stop selling off public land. With official government policy focused on making a ‘quick buck by selling public land to private developers. It’s no way to fix the housing crisis’, the article argues.