Islington Council

Which pond creature builds a special case to hide in by spinning together twigs, leaves or stones with silk thread? Find out at the Great Gillespie Investigation today, 2-4pm Gillespie Park N5 1PH. Part of the City Nature Challenge http://socsi.in/oANy0 #CNCIslington2019

A beautifully planted tree pit can be an amazing sight, but it’s important to ensure you are keeping the tree healthy too. If you’d like to voluntarily plant and/or maintain a tree pit to brighten up your street, find out more here: http://socsi.in/Brighten_your_street_OEGX i

Gillespie Park is Islington’s largest nature reserve. It may be small compared to Hampstead Heath, but over the last 30 years, an amazing amount of wildlife has been recorded here: over 500 different kinds of plants, more than 90 bird species, 24 different kinds of butterflies, and 12 species of dragonflies and damselflies. We also have newts, slow worms, toads and a range of different insects in the woods, meadows, and ponds.
On Sunday 28th April 2-4pm we are going to be inv...estigating what lives in our pond and what plants are in flower, and will record our finds on iNaturalist as part of the City Nature Challenge – a global event where cities all around the world are competing to see how many people can get out and record wildlife in their city.
Get involved! Join us at Gillespie Park for a great afternoon for adults, children, young people, everyone! – and help London win the City Nature Challenge.
http://socsi.in/city-nature-challenge-nee ds-you__bQogB #CNCIslington2019
See More

🏎️ ☀️ ♻️ 😃
Islington's Community Energy Fund helps local initiatives and community groups like the Three Corners Adventure Playground.
Find out how they make the borough more energy efficient & how to apply for the next round of funding:

Fancy a game of hide and seek? Why not take a look round the delightful Barnsbury Wood, Islington’s hidden woodland and wildlife garden: http://socsi.in/Barnsbury_Wood_CBZiI

Highbury Corner is now operating in the new two-way traffic system. Drive carefully while pedestrians and traffic get used to the new system. For more information visit

From spiders to starlings, beetles to birches, spot, snap and upload wildlife this 26-29 April and help London compete with cities around the world! The #citynaturechallenge helps conservationists collect vital data on urban nature: http://socsi.in/City_Nature_Challenge_mK7 cm

From 7 am this morning, Highbury Corner will operate in the new two-way traffic system. Drive carefully while pedestrians and traffic get used to the new system. For more information visit

From 7 am tomorrow, Highbury Corner will operate in the new two-way traffic system. Drive carefully while pedestrians and traffic get used to the new system. For more information visit

Parents and carers. Give your skills and confidence a boost and gain a qualification by training to be a volunteer Bright Start Parent Champion. Accredited level 1 course starts on Wednesday 15 May. Creche and expenses available. For details visit: http://socsi.in/sgv2x

From 07:00 Monday 22 April, Highbury Corner will operate in the new two-way traffic system. Drive carefully while pedestrians and traffic get used to the new system. For more information visit

We need to change how we manage parking on estates. Let us know what you think by 19 May.
Find out more at http://socsi.in/fv6AQ or ask about the estates parking consultation at your Area Housing Office or at the Customer Centre, 222 Upper Street, N1.
Email estate.parking.section@islington.gov .uk or call us on 020 7527 8669 with any questions.

Is that wild garlic in the woods? And what’s that yellow flower by the pond? Snap and upload to iNaturalist to find out when you come to Gillespie Park for the City Nature Challenge Sunday 28th April 2-4pm Gillespie Park N5 1PH. [http://socsi.in/dGXj6] [http://socsi.in/yKx4m] #CNCIslington2019

Our rubbish and recycling collections will operate as normal on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Changes to parking restrictions, as well as other services we provide in the borough, can be seen here: http://socsi.in/fwATU
We hope you have a happy and restful Easter!

We’re partnering with arts organisations to improve access and engagement to the arts amongst Islington residents. Keep a look out for Treading the Boards activities, workshops, courses and events http://socsi.in/aXUs9 #TreadingtheBoards #ArtsOnEstates

Whether you’re a wildlife lover, avid adventurer, thrill seeker or simply enjoy a great day out with the family there’s something for everyone in the 10,000 acre Lee Valley Regional Park.
Enjoy an invigorating walk, run or cycle ride along miles of traffic-free trails in the glorious River Lee Country Park. This 1,000-acre park has a huge variety of activities to enjoy from boating and kayaking to wildlife watching or animal encounters at the family-favourite Lee Valley Park ...Farms.
Plus it's only a few miles from Islington with plenty of easy ways to get there on public transport!
Find out more by visiting
See More

It's a beautiful spring day! Why not flex those muscles? Try one of the free outdoor gyms in Islington’s parks today! http://socsi.in/V6iCw

Read our latest news bulletin here, covering Easter opening hours, Highbury Corner traffic switch, and boundary changes.
You can see the full list of e-newsletters we offer here: http://bit.ly/2X9MdZL

Saved! Pleased to see Transport for London has listened to our concerns and ditched plans to scrap the vital N271 night bus service to/from Whittington Health NHS Trust Hospital, and will leave the No. 19 bus route as is. Some routes will be changing, though. Full details of their plans for the Central London Bus Network can be found here: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/ce ntral-london/

if i could give 0 stars i could. one of the most corrupt councils there is. closing fabric is a complete joke. you should hang your heads in shame you bunch of out of touch morons. mark my words, there will be more drug deaths in illegal raves or much less well run establishments all over london but won't be able to blame fabric you cowards.

absolutely appalled at what has been done to Benjamin Street park in Farringdon. a wonderful selection of wild birds,lived in that park ,as the very strong established ivy and coverage was in abundance.The very high wall inside the park was home to robin,blackbirds,blue tits and even ,this year 3 hedge sparrows.Islington Council have stripped the massive wall bare! Its Januàry?? Why has this been done? I have loved this park for 14 years,and spent many tranquil moment watching the beautiful array of little wild birds.So saddened at what Islington Council have done,but why?

You have literally taken away the most iconic and important music venue in London without having any realisation of what it actually means to people, both clubbers and artists. People take drugs all over the city at all venues - Fabric was one of the strictest at searching and as mentioned in their report were described as 'best practice' in this area. If you shut down Fabric then what about all of the other clubs which are no different in this respect?



All of this leads to a clear ulterior motive which must be gentrification and that makes this whole thing even worse. The culture of London is being ripped out to make room for more money making schemes - you should be ashamed. What about the voice of the people... 150,000 signings of the petition but that apparently counts for nothing?

Thought I'd share this moan about a parking fine I received the other day. I am a mobile engineer and for various reasons have had to use many different cars recently.

I parked in the City last month and mistakenly selected a different Reg number from my Ring Go account and paid for parking. Upon returning I dicovered my car had been ticketed. Much to my annoyance I realised I had entered a wrong Reg from a previous car I had been driving.

I wrote a mail to Islington Council explaining my mistake and as I had paid for the space ans procided a receipt I fully expected them to let me off.....then received a mail yesterday from a ray of light working for Islington Council called Linda Clark saying



"I have therefore checked your RingGo account for details of the transaction for £14.51 and as you have pointed out the incorrect vehicle registration was entered, which means that the parking session was therefore not valid for bay 61316.



Whilst I appreciate this may have been a mistake I am afraid that this does not provide sufficient reason to cancel the PCN."



I fail to understand how a genuine mistake with proof I had paid for the space is not a good enough reason to waive the PCN.



#jobsworth #islingtoncouncil

Taken advice from a panel of people not in the vaguest sense qualified to advise on the business with Fabric, its is widely known too that the real estate is being coveted for profit.



This stinks of poor consultancy, no sense of valuing what makes London's culture vibrant and world class and just piss poor sense of what's important.



Any closure based on drug use will push their use further underground and increase the chance of much more widespread and unmanaged use - and increase chances of mortality.



This is an appalling decision for which many people who have never given Islington BC a second thought, for many years to come will remember it as the LBC that closed an iconic cultural venue on flimsy poorly researched and consulted evidence.



You should be ashamed of yourselves.



I look forward to warehouse parties popping up all over London at random in the next few months. Well done for controlling drugs Islington - top marks! �



Doug Osborne

54 yrs, went to warehouse parties in 1988/9

Parking service is a total disgrace. Similarly to Darren Doyle I made an error in the number plate used on RingGo. In my case is was typing in a zero rather than an O (no validation on the field, even though it is easy to apply on digital apps such as this one).

Result is the fine stands.

Interestingly the person who wrote back to me quoted the wrong reg (they transposed a Y for an N). Guess it is OK for the parking service to make mistakes, for the rest of us we just have to pay twice.

On the 17th November 2017 my daughter called housing direct to report that her boiler had broken down which left her without hot water or heating. She was informed an engineer was due to attend within 24hours as she has two children under 5 but no one showed up. she called them back after the 24 hours and they said they would send another engineer again no one showed up. This continued to happen every other day until finally the 2nd of December a engineer showed up and told her that she needed a pressure sensor! she called up 4th of December and was advised a part was to be ordered and would call her back with an appointment.



She has not received a call despite phoning several times, last week an out of hours engineer attended and cut a pipe leaving her with a leaking boiler & having to use a bowl to catch the water in, she called housing direct back and two hours later another engineer came out and was shocked how the contractor before had left my boiler and confirmed again it was my pressure sensor she needed!



When she first reported this she informed housing direct that one of her children has a skin condition which he needs to be bathed and creamed every night other wise he comes out in scabs/open sores, but you just don't seem to care and have ignored this fact. Today is the 14th of December and she is still without hot water or heating, Please can you tell me when this will be fixed or are you going to leave a young family without heating & hot water all over Christmas. Your treatment of residents is disgusting! Please advise!!!

No proper heating or hot water for over a month to the point I've been unable to go to work from sickness , left a msg for them on Facebook since they were closed for the holidays, they never even checked it.



This is the tip of the iceberg, I had a leak in my flat for 7 years which they only fixed cos we got the local papers involved so maybe that's the next step for me again.



Honestly wish I knew where my rent money goes cos they clearly don't invest it back in to the estates.

Let that man keep his flat. It was YOUR mistake. Accept that and learn from it. £360,000 for a box room is taking the p

It would be unprintable.

For a Council with no money they can have not one but two contractors in my flat ,the second contractor fixing the first contractors mess,although paying thousands to the first contractor

Paying for me to stay in Premier Inn to fix this mess which has been going on now for over a year and having to deal with a drug addict in the block bringing misery to everyone and having all repairs done free when her door etc is damaged when her special friends visit

You couldn't make it up.

Islington council issued me with a PCN on Cleveland road zone T for failing to comply with a sign that traffic must pass through the specified side. I would happily agree if they didn't put a parking bay on the left making it extremely difficult for cars to pass through the specified side unless they have a smart car!! I don't want to damage my car, it's wheels or the bollards on the side so went through the middle at 2.45am.

I feel I'm not the only victim here to put money into Islington councils pockets through a scheme that's intentionally made for that reason.

I do have images showing how tight it is yet the council disagree.

I own two small business in Islington and they found not try harder to make it bit work for us if you're an estate agent and a big chain then the place is for you.

I am unable to access my own home after Upper Street Housing Office changed the electronic key fobs to my building and before supplying replacements.



Council staff have told me they are unable to replace the keys I bought from them a few months ago at a cost of £30 as they did not order enough.



At best this is unprofessional and irresponsible on the part of Islington Council. The ceasing of my property and possessions may also be illegal.

Housing team is a joke. I still haven’t come across one member that knows how to do their job properly. Councillors of islington do not get back to emails, Whats the point voting you in. Need councillors to make changes so I’ll be voting for a new lot....

Hello! Is anybody there? I have tried numerous times to set up a direct debit to pay council tax and it never works. I have also tried to change the account to reflect the new tenants and for over two months this hasn't occurred? I have tried going through the official queries channel on the website, however no action or response. I have tried calling, however I have spent over 30 mins waiting on the phone and just get cut off?? I am trying to make your lives easier however it seems you don't want your money on time??? What is happening there????????

Finally sense with a successful appeal by Fabric against its license being revoked, yet your own response to this exposes how dodgy the decision was in the first place. Talking about certain procedures not bring adequate when its been accepted by the authorities that this venue was an example of good practice to others. If this was your genuine concern you would be focusing on other venues and it's utterly clear there were alternative motives. I've moved out now but paid council tax in Islington for the best part of a decade, the fact tax payers money is spent pursuing such outcomes for corporate interest is beyond abhorrent. You are an utter disgrace.

Dear Islington Council



CC Marston Debt Group



I have been sent a NOTICE of ENFORCEMENT dated 14th August (ref 6145043)to a wrong address and postcode by Marston Group demanding I pay a debt of £278.00 that YOU, Islington Council passed to them to collect?!



I have no prior letters from Islington Council AT ALL on this car penalty or any proof of this being correct and is the first I have heard of it. Attached a copy showing the ONE letter I have with the completely wrong address and postcode received!!!



The lady who lives in a completely different road and postcode has just posted this letter through my door and it is the only letter I have.



You have the wrong details which is your error for my vehicle and we need proof of this penalty and therefore I had no chance to even dispute this or see the evidence to pay the original penalty if necessary before you had incorrectly escalated to this level .



This is causing me a GREAT deal of upset, stress and anxiety that you are doing this to genuine hard working people and I taking this further.



I have written to the Government Obudsman and filed a complaint against Islington Council , Government Obudsman, Marston Group, an Independent complaints commission, plus the press and local papers plus am seeing the advice of a solicitor. Is this how you treat people? sending them to debt collection agencies for penalties they know nothing of as you had the address wrong?



Please contact me immediately and resolve this, outrageous way to try and get money from genuine people! You should be ashamed of yourself.



Regards

Lucy Obrien

Dear Islington Council, it's 11.15pm and TFL have turned up with hydraulic drills to make a nice big hole in the road right outside my flat. No warning, no information, nothing. My building has 190 flats inside, there are 3 more blocks of flats just metres from these guys. How is this even legal? It's appalling that something like this can be signed off.

An absolute mockery and disgrace of what a good employer should be! They are so concerned with being politically correct yet they throw out all the basic employment rights, such as fairness, consistency and transparency! And Corbyn has the audacity to challenge other parties on the protection of Employment Rights! Party Leaders who live in glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones or is that another saying that will offend someone? They allow people to bully, promise support and don't deliver! Shocking employers!!

if i could give 0 stars i could. one of the most corrupt councils there is. closing fabric is a complete joke. you should hang your heads in shame you bunch of out of touch morons. mark my words, there will be more drug deaths in illegal raves or much less well run establishments all over london but won't be able to blame fabric you cowards.

absolutely appalled at what has been done to Benjamin Street park in Farringdon. a wonderful selection of wild birds,lived in that park ,as the very strong established ivy and coverage was in abundance.The very high wall inside the park was home to robin,blackbirds,blue tits and even ,this year 3 hedge sparrows.Islington Council have stripped the massive wall bare! Its Januàry?? Why has this been done? I have loved this park for 14 years,and spent many tranquil moment watching the beautiful array of little wild birds.So saddened at what Islington Council have done,but why?

You have literally taken away the most iconic and important music venue in London without having any realisation of what it actually means to people, both clubbers and artists. People take drugs all over the city at all venues - Fabric was one of the strictest at searching and as mentioned in their report were described as 'best practice' in this area. If you shut down Fabric then what about all of the other clubs which are no different in this respect?



All of this leads to a clear ulterior motive which must be gentrification and that makes this whole thing even worse. The culture of London is being ripped out to make room for more money making schemes - you should be ashamed. What about the voice of the people... 150,000 signings of the petition but that apparently counts for nothing?

Thought I'd share this moan about a parking fine I received the other day. I am a mobile engineer and for various reasons have had to use many different cars recently.

I parked in the City last month and mistakenly selected a different Reg number from my Ring Go account and paid for parking. Upon returning I dicovered my car had been ticketed. Much to my annoyance I realised I had entered a wrong Reg from a previous car I had been driving.

I wrote a mail to Islington Council explaining my mistake and as I had paid for the space ans procided a receipt I fully expected them to let me off.....then received a mail yesterday from a ray of light working for Islington Council called Linda Clark saying



"I have therefore checked your RingGo account for details of the transaction for £14.51 and as you have pointed out the incorrect vehicle registration was entered, which means that the parking session was therefore not valid for bay 61316.



Whilst I appreciate this may have been a mistake I am afraid that this does not provide sufficient reason to cancel the PCN."



I fail to understand how a genuine mistake with proof I had paid for the space is not a good enough reason to waive the PCN.



#jobsworth #islingtoncouncil

Taken advice from a panel of people not in the vaguest sense qualified to advise on the business with Fabric, its is widely known too that the real estate is being coveted for profit.



This stinks of poor consultancy, no sense of valuing what makes London's culture vibrant and world class and just piss poor sense of what's important.



Any closure based on drug use will push their use further underground and increase the chance of much more widespread and unmanaged use - and increase chances of mortality.



This is an appalling decision for which many people who have never given Islington BC a second thought, for many years to come will remember it as the LBC that closed an iconic cultural venue on flimsy poorly researched and consulted evidence.



You should be ashamed of yourselves.



I look forward to warehouse parties popping up all over London at random in the next few months. Well done for controlling drugs Islington - top marks! �



Doug Osborne

54 yrs, went to warehouse parties in 1988/9

Parking service is a total disgrace. Similarly to Darren Doyle I made an error in the number plate used on RingGo. In my case is was typing in a zero rather than an O (no validation on the field, even though it is easy to apply on digital apps such as this one).

Result is the fine stands.

Interestingly the person who wrote back to me quoted the wrong reg (they transposed a Y for an N). Guess it is OK for the parking service to make mistakes, for the rest of us we just have to pay twice.

On the 17th November 2017 my daughter called housing direct to report that her boiler had broken down which left her without hot water or heating. She was informed an engineer was due to attend within 24hours as she has two children under 5 but no one showed up. she called them back after the 24 hours and they said they would send another engineer again no one showed up. This continued to happen every other day until finally the 2nd of December a engineer showed up and told her that she needed a pressure sensor! she called up 4th of December and was advised a part was to be ordered and would call her back with an appointment.



She has not received a call despite phoning several times, last week an out of hours engineer attended and cut a pipe leaving her with a leaking boiler & having to use a bowl to catch the water in, she called housing direct back and two hours later another engineer came out and was shocked how the contractor before had left my boiler and confirmed again it was my pressure sensor she needed!



When she first reported this she informed housing direct that one of her children has a skin condition which he needs to be bathed and creamed every night other wise he comes out in scabs/open sores, but you just don't seem to care and have ignored this fact. Today is the 14th of December and she is still without hot water or heating, Please can you tell me when this will be fixed or are you going to leave a young family without heating & hot water all over Christmas. Your treatment of residents is disgusting! Please advise!!!

No proper heating or hot water for over a month to the point I've been unable to go to work from sickness , left a msg for them on Facebook since they were closed for the holidays, they never even checked it.



This is the tip of the iceberg, I had a leak in my flat for 7 years which they only fixed cos we got the local papers involved so maybe that's the next step for me again.



Honestly wish I knew where my rent money goes cos they clearly don't invest it back in to the estates.

Let that man keep his flat. It was YOUR mistake. Accept that and learn from it. £360,000 for a box room is taking the p

It would be unprintable.

For a Council with no money they can have not one but two contractors in my flat ,the second contractor fixing the first contractors mess,although paying thousands to the first contractor

Paying for me to stay in Premier Inn to fix this mess which has been going on now for over a year and having to deal with a drug addict in the block bringing misery to everyone and having all repairs done free when her door etc is damaged when her special friends visit

You couldn't make it up.

Islington council issued me with a PCN on Cleveland road zone T for failing to comply with a sign that traffic must pass through the specified side. I would happily agree if they didn't put a parking bay on the left making it extremely difficult for cars to pass through the specified side unless they have a smart car!! I don't want to damage my car, it's wheels or the bollards on the side so went through the middle at 2.45am.

I feel I'm not the only victim here to put money into Islington councils pockets through a scheme that's intentionally made for that reason.

I do have images showing how tight it is yet the council disagree.

I own two small business in Islington and they found not try harder to make it bit work for us if you're an estate agent and a big chain then the place is for you.

I am unable to access my own home after Upper Street Housing Office changed the electronic key fobs to my building and before supplying replacements.



Council staff have told me they are unable to replace the keys I bought from them a few months ago at a cost of £30 as they did not order enough.



At best this is unprofessional and irresponsible on the part of Islington Council. The ceasing of my property and possessions may also be illegal.

Housing team is a joke. I still haven’t come across one member that knows how to do their job properly. Councillors of islington do not get back to emails, Whats the point voting you in. Need councillors to make changes so I’ll be voting for a new lot....

Hello! Is anybody there? I have tried numerous times to set up a direct debit to pay council tax and it never works. I have also tried to change the account to reflect the new tenants and for over two months this hasn't occurred? I have tried going through the official queries channel on the website, however no action or response. I have tried calling, however I have spent over 30 mins waiting on the phone and just get cut off?? I am trying to make your lives easier however it seems you don't want your money on time??? What is happening there????????

Finally sense with a successful appeal by Fabric against its license being revoked, yet your own response to this exposes how dodgy the decision was in the first place. Talking about certain procedures not bring adequate when its been accepted by the authorities that this venue was an example of good practice to others. If this was your genuine concern you would be focusing on other venues and it's utterly clear there were alternative motives. I've moved out now but paid council tax in Islington for the best part of a decade, the fact tax payers money is spent pursuing such outcomes for corporate interest is beyond abhorrent. You are an utter disgrace.

Dear Islington Council



CC Marston Debt Group



I have been sent a NOTICE of ENFORCEMENT dated 14th August (ref 6145043)to a wrong address and postcode by Marston Group demanding I pay a debt of £278.00 that YOU, Islington Council passed to them to collect?!



I have no prior letters from Islington Council AT ALL on this car penalty or any proof of this being correct and is the first I have heard of it. Attached a copy showing the ONE letter I have with the completely wrong address and postcode received!!!



The lady who lives in a completely different road and postcode has just posted this letter through my door and it is the only letter I have.



You have the wrong details which is your error for my vehicle and we need proof of this penalty and therefore I had no chance to even dispute this or see the evidence to pay the original penalty if necessary before you had incorrectly escalated to this level .



This is causing me a GREAT deal of upset, stress and anxiety that you are doing this to genuine hard working people and I taking this further.



I have written to the Government Obudsman and filed a complaint against Islington Council , Government Obudsman, Marston Group, an Independent complaints commission, plus the press and local papers plus am seeing the advice of a solicitor. Is this how you treat people? sending them to debt collection agencies for penalties they know nothing of as you had the address wrong?



Please contact me immediately and resolve this, outrageous way to try and get money from genuine people! You should be ashamed of yourself.



Regards

Lucy Obrien

Dear Islington Council, it's 11.15pm and TFL have turned up with hydraulic drills to make a nice big hole in the road right outside my flat. No warning, no information, nothing. My building has 190 flats inside, there are 3 more blocks of flats just metres from these guys. How is this even legal? It's appalling that something like this can be signed off.

An absolute mockery and disgrace of what a good employer should be! They are so concerned with being politically correct yet they throw out all the basic employment rights, such as fairness, consistency and transparency! And Corbyn has the audacity to challenge other parties on the protection of Employment Rights! Party Leaders who live in glass houses shouldn't be throwing stones or is that another saying that will offend someone? They allow people to bully, promise support and don't deliver! Shocking employers!!