Finsbury Leisure Centre football pitches saved!

The Council has vowed to protect the popular football pitches after conceding a prospective judicial review by campaign group EC1VOICES.

Islington Council have confirmed the withdrawal of a proposal to redevelop Finsbury Leisure Centre, which would have resulted in the site’s popular community football pitches being developed and replaced with smaller pitches on the roof of a new building.

The withdrawal of the proposal followed the Council conceding a prospective judicial review of its in-principle decision to appropriate the land for planning purposes without disclosing a Rights of Light report.

EC1VOICES argued that the failure to disclose the report rendered the decision unlawful.

Following EC1VOICES’ prospective legal challenge, the Council disclosed the report and agreed to withdraw its in-principle decision to appropriate the land.

Shortly afterwards, Cllr Una O’Halloran, Leader of Islington Council, said in a press statement:

“We know that our plans to build on the football pitches were a controversial part of this project, and I want to be clear that these will now be protected from this development and improved for more people to use.”

The Public Interest Law Centre represented EC1V in its prospective legal challenge, assisted by Alex Shattock of Landmark Chambers.