The Cally: Help us create greener, healthier, more welcoming streets

Between November 2022 and August 2023, the council listened to ideas, insights, and views from local people and businesses on how the area could be made better for all, including through survey responses and at in-person events.  

Taking into account the feedback received, the council is now presenting its final proposals for creating a “liveable neighbourhood” in the area, to make new community spaces that all can enjoy using, to help reduce the health risks associated with air pollution, to support local people to walk, cycle and wheel more, and to create more green spaces.

The council’s proposals include:

• Making it easier for all to walk, cycle, wheel, and use buggies and wheelchairs, including through pavement improvements, new seating, and lighting. This will build on improvements that the council is planning to make to pavements on Caledonian Road.
• Creating more greenery across the neighbourhood through new trees and planting, to create a more pleasant area where people want to spend time and visit local businesses.  
• Creating new, attractive spaces for people of all ages and backgrounds to spend time and enjoy.  This includes building a “green corridor” along Tilloch Street, Freeling Street, and Story Street, complete with new pocket parks, seating, cycle parking, lighting, and environmentally-friendly drainage.
• Creating new walking, wheeling, and cycle routes, including between York Way and Caledonian Road.  
• Re-imagining the approaches to Bingfield Park on Randell’s Road, Feeling Street, and Gifford Street to make them more inviting and greener.

The proposals are designed to build on the wider “We are Cally Community Plan”, through which the council, residents, community organisations, and other public agencies are reshaping the area to help create a more equal borough. The plan is funded by a £1.25 million investment by the council and by a £350,000 from the Mayor of London through his Good Growth Fund.  

A public consultation on the proposals has been launched, and local people and businesses are invited to give their views via the Let’s Talk Islington site. The consultation survey will remain on the site until Sunday 17 March 2024, and a series of in-person and remote events are also taking place for people to provide feedback.  

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality, and Transport, said: “We firmly believe that to create a more equal Islington for all, we must also make our borough a greener, healthier place.  

“So, we’re working with local people, businesses, and partners to transform streets into spaces where people can come together, to reduce the health risks associated with air pollution, and to provide more opportunities for local people to get active.  

“Your ideas and insights have helped to shape our final proposals for the Cally Liveable Neighbourhood, and we’re really keen to hear feedback on them. If you live in, work in, or travel through the area, then we want to hear from you during the consultation.”

Depending on the feedback received during the public consultation, the council expects to begin work on creating the neighbourhood later in the year.