Remember the Bermuda Triangle where mysterious forces acted, things went missing and was a threat to all that lived nearby  ? Well we have an Islington Triangle just off York Way  where democratic processes go missing , mysterious forces are at play, laws of maths are broken and devleopers try to sink dirty deals and deeds – local heroes Diana Shelley and the Kings Cross Railway Lands Group have run one of the great long term campaigns to get appropriate local development on this site meeting community needs (as opposed to the 14 storey tower that will go there with noisy combined heat and power plant and CO2 producing private swimming pool).

This Islington Triangle is a site just off York Way near Randell’s Road – it is the only bit of the massive Argent railway lands development to fall within Islington.  In  last hurrah, to make up for a history of questionable planning decisions the last lot of Councillors cut the size of the Argent development permitted there.  Now for some reason key details are not coming back to the planning committe.  Diana in a press release (Download triangle_press_release0502071.doc ) says:

‘Councillors were so concerned about whether the Triangle could actually be made fit for people to live in, they agreed changes to ensure that full noise and other environmental studies were done before any homes were built. And they also decided to reduce the number of homes on the site from 246 to 200, the number originally agreed jointly by both boroughs in their planning brief in 2004.’

‘In a letter of 7 December 2006, Robert Evans of Argent suggests that ‘the application would not need to be referred back to your West Area Sub-committee’. And Islington planners have tabled a report for next Monday’s meeting which goes along with Argent’s request: it states what the officers intend to do without letting councillors consider or vote on it. But the report contains new proposals which in some cases differ greatly from the April decision.‘

All very murky – come along to the meeting on Monday 12th Feb at 1930 in the Barnsbury Centre on Offord Road and make a fuss.