85 Highbury Park

NCH (National Children’s Home), the current owners and occupiers of these premises have decided that they need new headquarters and will move out of 85 Highbury Park in the next year or so. They wish to leave the borough a well-designed and sustainable development which fits within the character of the surrounding area and have asked Islington Council to prepare a planning brief.

The draft planning brief sets out the following principles for a new development here:

• making the most of this opportunity to create a mainly housing scheme which sets a landmark in Islington for sustainable design and construction
• as much as possible of the housing should be for families (three bedrooms or more)
• fify percent of the housing should be affordable
• keeping the trees on Lucerne Road and Highbury Park boundaries
• trying to keep as many as possible of the other trees within the site (according to the tree preservation order)
• keeping Loxford House as the front building on the site
• making the new scheme fully accessible throughout
• achieving a high quality modern design which complements the residential character and scale of the Highbury Fields Conservation Area
• making the new scheme ‘car-free’, with proper provision for cycles, and the exception of on-site ‘car-club’ and accessible parking
• exploring creating a new green open space within the site with space for children to play
• maintaining and improving the security for neighbour

Public consultation on the draft planning brief starts on Monday 16 June with the final deadline for comments being Thursday 31st July 2008.

NCH and Islington Council have also arranged an exhibition in Stephenson Hall, 85 Highbury Park which can be seen at the following dates and times, when council staff and the NCH team will be there to answer your questions:

• Wednesday 18 June,  2-8pm
• Thursday 19 June, 10am–6pm
• Friday 27 June , 2- 8pm
• Saturday 28 June, 10am-5pm
• Wednesday 2 July, 10am–6pm
• Thursday 3 July, 2-8pm

Once the public consultation ends the planning brief will be reviewed to take account of your comments. The final brief will be reported to East Area committee on Monday 8 September 2008 for approval, and then published on the council’s website.

NCH will use the brief to help them select a developer, based on their development team of architects and other experts, their previous experience, and their overall approach to sustainable housing development. 

The full text of the draft planning brief can be downloaded from the link below: 

Comments should be made in writing to:

Chris Corby,
Senior Planner, Policy and Projects,
Strategic Planning and Regeneration

Or by email to: chris.corby@islington.gov.uk