New Greener Together funded projects will bring the greenery to the borough.
By Julia Gregory, Local Democracy Reporter
Islington Council asked residents to come up with ideas to help transform corners of the borough and create more green spaces as part of its response to the climate emergency.
Rowena Champion, who is responsible for the council’s work on the environment said: “It started with a small idea and it ends up growing.” She told the council’s Executive meeting: “I’m really excited,” by the £1m Greener Together scheme which follows a year long pilot.
Green-fingered residents put in 95 applications and 38 community projects were picked. Council staff are working with the people behind the schemes to turn their ideas into reality. They include pocket parks, community gardens, including the Winton garden in Caledonian ward and raised planters at the Sussex Way community gardens in Finsbury Park.
Islington has the lowest amount of green space of any borough in the country and nearly a third of Islington residents do not have gardens. Highbury Fields is its biggest park with 29 acres, whilst just across the border in Haringey Finsbury Park is 110 acres.
Islington is one of six London boroughs thought most at risk of the effects of climate change including extreme heat and flooding, according to a City Hall report. The council’s Executive of senior politicians green-lit the next two years of its Greening Together programme.
The Amwell Society will plant trees in Clerkenwell to mark its fiftieth anniversary and there’s even a plan for compost in Tufnell Park. The scheme also means social enterprise and charity Artbox which runs an art school for people with learning disabilities will get help creating a dye garden on the Bemerton estate in Barnsbury.
