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Building work on the new Highbury Round­house is set to start next month after the community centre secured a vital £1m in lottery funding.

Based in Ronalds Road, the Highbury Round­house’s nursery, youth club, pensioners’ groups and sports classes have been provided from temporary locations since its old premises were deemed unsafe and demolished in 2013.

Islington Council said the building, a former Victorian bottleworks, would be too expensive to repair and planned to sell the land to housing devel­opers. But after a campaign from residents and service users the council agreed to let the Highbury Roundhouse Association build a new centre as long as they were able to raise the majority of the funds.

And this week, the association said it was “delighted” to announce has that the Big Lottery has awarded the project nearly a million pounds.

Secretary Tony Miller said: “It’s a huge relief and we are delighted to know that we are able to go ahead. We reached a significant agreement with the council earlier this year, giving a 99-year lease on the building and they also committed to giving us £900,000 in matched funding.

“In July, the piled foundations of the new building were put in place. This secured our planning permission and was largely paid for by donations we received locally, so the local support is literally underpinning the building.”

The new building, designed by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects is expected to be complete in autumn next year. See also letters page from same edition p.13