Introduction
This prospectus was commissioned by Islington Council‘s Local Economies Team and is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The document has been created by Office S&M Architects with support from Jamila Saha and additional community engagement carried out by Holloway Neighbourhood Group. A microsite, created by Adam Tarasewicz, has been developed to go with this document.
History of Nag's Head
Present
What makes Nag's Head unique?
Today, Nag’s Head Town Centre is a bustling place where you can find all your essentials and seasonal extras. Along with the Angel, Finsbury Park and Archway it is one of four town centres in Islington. With Holloway Road (A1) as the spine and at the crossroads with Seven Sisters Road (A503), it is well connected by public transport bringing many visitors daily.
Unique Retail Offer
Nag’s Head Town Centre is home to Islington’s only department store, Selbys, along with national brands, independent businesses, street stalls and markets offering a varied shopping experience and employment opportunities. With its cost-friendly alternatives, it complements Islington’s other town centres and supports local people with low disposable income.
Strong Food and Market Culture
Fresh food is part of the unique offer in Nag’s Head Town Centre through specialist greengrocers and butchers mixed with vibrant cafes and restaurants serving a variety of food from different cultures. There is a strong market culture along Seven Sister’s Road, including fruit and veg stalls, The Junction Market, The Upper Place and Nag’s Head Covered Market with 47+ small businesses, where over 50% are female-owned. Every weekend, Grafton Primary School hosts the Nag’s Head Open-Air Market attracting many visitors. This offer is paired with a variety of services supporting local people including dentists, solicitors, bike shops and dressmakers.
Home to Diverse Communities
A diverse mix of communities live in and around Nag’s Head Town Centre, in a broad variety of housing ranging from rooms above shops to council flats and large townhouses. A large student population is also present in Nag’s Head Town Centre, both through the London Metropolitan University and the range of student accommodation that houses students, many from overseas, of various universities.
Variety of Cultural Initiatives
The town centre also hosts cultural institutions like the Odeon Cinema, the National Youth Theatre, Storm Rehearsal Studios and Fourth Monkey. The Emirates Stadium contributes to the cultural offer, being the home to Arsenal FC with large-scale concerts during the off-season.
Engagement
We understand the importance of listening to and making local voices heard as local peopleare experts on the local area. As part of Nag’sHead Prospectus of Ideas, we set out to find what local businesses, residents and visitors think of the town centre and what would make it better for all, now and in the future.
What are the challenges that Nag's Head Town Centre is facing?
Being at the crossroads of Holloway Road (the A1) and Seven Sisters Road (A503), Nag’s Head Town Centre suffers from heavy road traffic that separates the area. This has created a disconnected and low sense of place among businesses, visitors and local people.
With few open or green spaces and dominant road traffic, there is little space for walking, wheeling and other public uses in the town centre. A general lack of pleasant spaces for people to dwell, limited public facilities like toilets and a low sense of safety due to challenges with crime and anti-social behaviour, tend to make many visits to Nag’s Head Town Centre brief. With retail at its heart and few free activities, spending time often means spending money in shops or on services.
Nag’s Head Town Centre is the meeting point of five Islington ward boundaries, meaning there is no single political oversight. With Holloway Road and Seven Sisters Road being red routes, Transport for London (TfL) manages and maintains the roads and their public pavements. This means the council has little control over the development of these roads. As Islington Council do not own any of the town centre’s commercial properties this makes it difficult to unlock spaces for alternative and meanwhile uses.
The town centre also faces economic challenges with business rates and rents being high and many of the local people not having much disposable income. Despite being bustling during the day, it also lacks a strong evening economy making it inactive at night which contributes to the low sense of safety.
Key Challenges
Environmental
- Lack of green spaces and inviting public realm in the town centre
- Dominant road traffic with little space for pedestrians on Holloway Road and Seven Sister’s Road
- Difficulties in unlocking spaces for alternative and meanwhile use
Social
- Low sense of place in the community
- Lack of social spaces and public amenities for people to dwell
- Low sense of safety when using the town centre during all hours of the day
Economic
- Poor connections between businesses, community and cultural organisations
- Lack of an evening economy activating the town centre at night
- Lack of free activities available to people with low disposable income
A clear vision for Nag's Head
The foundation of this vision and the catalogue of ideas lies in the wealth of initiatives and projects already happening in the Nag’s Head area. The aim with this vision is build onto and celebrate these initiatives while at the same time outline new ideas that together with the the existing opportunities envision the future of Nag’s Head.
Create stepping stones for local businesses to growth and testing new ideas and celebrates Nag’s Head as a small business hub. It also identifies opportunities for young people in the area both through creative and trade paths.
The vision outlines opportunities for improvements from a social, economic and environmental view point.
It aims to enhance the current daytime economy and programming while at the same time identify opportunities for the evening or night time economy to grow. This will help activate the town centre throughout all hours of the day.
Through the catalogue of ideas presented in this chapter we show examples of how future improvements can be made in Nag’s Head that respond to the aspirations and needs of local people and stakeholders.
Funding streams
There is a range of resources and other organisations available to help access funding streams for future projects, both from council funds and charities. The list below identifies some key funding streams and resources that can support the future delivery of the prospectus.
Section 106
Section 106 (S106) agreements are legal agreements between developers and local authorities as part of the planning process. They secure funding or contributions from developers to offset the impact of new developments. The funding can be used for affordable housing, schools, parks, transport improvements, and other community infrastructure.
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a funding source from new developments to help local authorities improve a range of infrastructure. CIL funding can be used to secure planning obligations, such as financial contributions for affordable housing, carbon offset measures, affordable workspaces, and transport network improvements.
