Dear Neighbours

I hope everyone is safe and well in the aftermath of Storm Eunice. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those caught in the destruction. Even our sheltered neighbourhood suffered from the power of the elements. The feature image for this newsletter shows the fallen tree outside the Little Angel Theatre, just behind Cross Street.

Seeing that fallen tree made me even more grateful for the amazing work done by Islington Clean Air Parents for their Forest for Change project. Have a look at ICAP's most recent update on Twitter, it will lift your spirits! 🌱🌿🌳 Don't miss the next workshop in ICAP / #inspiringsustainableislington's Nuture Islington series, How to create a community parklet this Wednesday 23 February, which will explore how to reimagine how we use our streets, currently used for car storage, and enrich them. If one parking space in every street was turned into a community parklet it could become a tiny green oasis where people could rest, sit and chat, and provide a space for plants, bikes, children playing.

Walking along Cross Street yesterday was a delight. After an initial few days of confusion and driver frustration as people realised that the street is now filtered as part of the St Mary's Church LTN, it's blissful to see people walking and cycling freely on this now quiet street. We want to see this across Barnsbury and the remainder of St Mary's! If you haven't already done so, please get in touch with the Council's People Friendly Streets team and demand that our engagement and design process start NOW. We are hoping to put the question at the full Council meeting on 3 March.

Please also make sure that you respond to the the Highbury LTNs consultation, to make sure that the road filters there are adopted permanently. As a reminder, the Council are running a couple of information sessions:

  • In person drop-in session at Highbury Crescent - junction with Highbury Terrace (N5 1XQ), on Tuesday 01 March 2022, from 4:30pm-5:30pm. Covid-19 restrictions permitting.
  • Online Zoom event on Saturday 26 February 2022, 4pm-5pm. Registration required.

I'll leave it at that for today. My daughter's baking calls - chocolate brownies for breakfast!

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Low Traffic Barnsbury & St Mary's