Holloway residents have voiced fears over their personal safety, on the same day as local police failed to show up at a community event.
The surgery was advertised as an opportunity for residents to come and share any potential concerns they might have regarding local crime in the area.
But due to a total lack of publicity for the event, no concerned residents arrived and the event failed to go ahead.
North Road and its surrounding roads, including nearby York Way, have been identified as two of the three hotspots for anti-social behaviour in Holloway in the latest monthly Neighbourhood Priorities report released by the Safer Neighbourhood Team.
Residents said that they did have concerns about the safety of the area, and that police still needed to do more.
Several people said they often saw “groups of people hanging around the streets”.
Tim Woodhouse, a long-term Holloway resident, said: “I haven’t personally been a victim, but you can often see groups of youths loitering. I wouldn’t necessarily walk down here alone very late at night.”
Charlotte Furnell, 24, who has been living around North Road for two years, agreed she “definitely would not feel safe walking home on [her] own at night”.
Martin Barnes, who lives on an estate just off North Road and has been in the area for nine years, indicated he had himself been a victim of street violence in the past, having “a couple of stones thrown at [him] for no apparent reason as [he] was walking down this road”.
He said: “There are groups of youths hanging around which look a bit ‘drug dealer-ish’. We’ve also had problems with fireworks recently. I’d say it’s particularly around this area [North Road and its surroundings] that people feel a bit nervous and worried.”
The Metropolitan Police have identified drug dealing as one of Holloway’s biggest criminal problems, and one resident said he often smelt cannabis when walking down the street.
Residents however noted that police and the council were trying to improve the situation, saying they often saw police patrolling in vans or on foot.
They also acknowledged the efforts that have recently been made to make the area more pleasant and nice to live in, such as roads being resurfaced.
Mr Barnes said: “It’s actually got a lot better, the whole area is relatively new. Until about three to four years ago, this was one big 1980s council estate. This whole development is relatively recent, which has improved things. When the old estate was here it was awful.”
Some people highlighted the positive role that housing associations – who are in charge of quite a few buildings on North Road – play in the area, stressing that “they do take it quite seriously in terms of what they expect from their tenants”.
Paul Convery, who is Islington’s executive member for Crime and Community Safety, indicated that housing associations now have the power to “evict households with consistent patterns of ASB or criminality” , adding that such theats were, for instance, much more efficient than “three months at a young offenders institution”.
A spokesperson for Holloway’s Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “We are aware of the ASB issue in the area, and we are doing our best to improve it. We try and be as responsive as possible when residents contact us about an issue.”
Mr Barnes added: “There have been improvements, but its not ideal yet”.
