Barnsbury Estate: bulky towers at west portal of the Islington Tunnel

Islington planning ref P2022/1898/FUL

Islington council has received an aggressive planning application to build three tall buildings alongside the Regent's Canal in Barnsbury. Their height exceeds the council's 30 metre limit, but the developers will be looking for every legal loophole or trick to override any democratically-led decisions made by the council.

UPDATE: This is going to the planning committee on Tuesday 29th November 2022

A copy of the officers' report is available here (15MB document, 268 pages).

Site location

This site lies between Caledonian Road and the Islington Tunnel

Impact on the canal

How things looked in 1822

Why to object

The public consultation with the wider community was deficient. No canal representatives were invited to take part in the consultation until it was too late to make a difference.

The three tower blocks are totally disproportionate to the canal dimensions along this stretch of the conservation area and they will severely undermine the canal as a public open space. They will harm the appearance and setting of the historic portal of the Islington Tunnel.

How to object

Please send your objections to Nicholas.Linford@islington.gov.uk and planning@islington.gov.uk, quoting reference P2022/1898/FUL.

Or else you can use the council's online portal

The official deadline is 7th July but comments will probably be accepted for another couple of months.

Sample objections

Objection from Friends of Regent's Canal

Article by James Dunnett in Islington News (June 2022)

Planning documents and drawings

The full set of planning documents can be found on the council website and a selection of them is available below.

Planning Statement (PDF) (5MB)
Planning Statement (flexi-format)
Design and Access Statement (PDF) (76MB)
Statement of Community Involvement (PDF) (1.4MB)
Statement of Community Involvement (flexi-format)

There are over 300 documents on the council website. To see a list of titles, as at 12th June 2022, click here

Council website

Show summary of the application