Change language
Actions
Displays
Remove from selection
Add to selection
Abstract

Campaigners were left “stunned” when a decision on park improvements which have been a decade in the making was delayed by councillors.

The Friends of Barnard Park group was expecting to greet the beginning of a huge refurbishment of the Barnsbury park – first mooted in 2005 – but a planning committee chose to defer the decision last week. Council officers had suggested the plan should be approved.

A row over reducing the size of the 11-a-side football pitch by around 70 per cent has threatened to engulf the proposals.

Sports bodies, including Sport England, claim the Town Hall plan would take away precious space for sport in a borough with limited green areas. The new upgraded 3G seven-a-side pitch would have a pay-to-play element.

The Friends group says the plan will make way for a new village green area and provide more room for informal sport.

It would address the needs of all park users, including sports players, runners, dog walkers, families and the elderly, the group claims

Council documents show 14 letters of objection were received compared with 70 in support.

Councillors at last Monday’s meeting seemed to heed Sport England’s concerns as they called for a more “common sense” approach.

Speaking after the meeting, committee chairman Martin Klute told the Tribune: “We were concerned that the reduction in the amount of space given over to the football pitch seemed excessive.”

Cllr Klute suggested a compromise could be reached by creating two nine-a-side pitches, which could also form one small 11-a-side pitch. He said nine-a-side pitches were those most often used by schools.

Sport England says there is a “significant unmet demand” for full-size pitches in Islington.

It adds: “The benefits of reinvestment in a full- size, floodlit, artificial grass pitch would include youth engagement programmes, local health provision, schools’ football, training and employment, and community and club football.”

Sport England is backed by local sports bodies such as the Copenhagen Youth Project, Arsenal in the Community and Finsbury Park Rugby Club.

Cllr Klute said: “We were trying to apply some common sense to the situation. The balance did not seem to be right. It didn’t look like it was thought through properly.”

The plan will go back to council officers for consideration before it returns to the planning committee.

A statement from Dianne Browning, on behalf of the Friends group, said: “We and local supporters are stunned by the deferral of the community-generated plan for Barnard Park, which will make a very good, functional park for all user groups.

“The plan was democratically shaped in six years of local consultation and community engagement. We continue to support the proposal and are seeking clarification of the actions taken by the planning committee.”