Islington Council is making life better for those living on estates with a range of improvements including an environmentally friendly parking plan, more youth activities, better better grounds maintenance and more recycling.<br><br>The announcements, made by the council's Executive on 7 February, mean a greener, cleaner and safer future for many of Islington's estate residents.<br><br>Speaking after the Executive meeting, Cllr Terry Stacy said:<br><br>"We've listened to estate residents who said that they wanted their grounds to look as good as our spruced-up parks and our Victorian and Georgian squares. So they will be getting a little extra TLC.<br><br>"Residents also told us they wanted more activities for young people so we have decided to match fund the Arsenal's Positive Futures scheme which is giving a generation of Islington's youngsters a better start in life."<br><br>And the green tariff principle which currently applies to street parking permit charges will extend to housing estates from 1 April 2008. Charges start at under £2 per week while electric vehicles will park for free. This follows a referendum in June 2007 which saw the majority of residents vote for a system based on how much the vehicle pollutes.<br><br>An upgrade of estate grounds to public park standards will start when a new contract is let in 2009. Caretaking and grounds maintenance costs will be separated from the weekly rent charge and increases kept within inflation. <br><br>£200,000 will be invested in recycling facilities to extend the environmental benefits enjoyed by occupants of street properties to estates.<br><br>Islington Council will be match funding the Arsenal Positive Futures Project and allocating a further £150,000 next year to give young people supervised sports education activities that offer safe and fun alternatives to their leisure time. <br><br>In addition, there's more money for adaptations to help support tenants to remain in their own homes and to tackle underoccupation by moving families into larger flats vacated by single people or older couples without chidren.<br><br>The changes have been agreed by Islington Council's Executive in its budget proposals, and are now due for consideration by full council on February 28.<br><br>ENDS<br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br>
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009