Islington Council spent £131,000 on a zebra crossing and associated street upgrades on Thorpedale Road in Finsbury Park, a figure that has left residents and councillors questioning value for money. The cost was revealed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Council meeting grilling
At a council meeting on July 14, Green councillor Jonathan Ward challenged the Cabinet Member for Finance over the expenditure. Ward stated, “We have a pedestrian crossing that arrives in a quiet street that costs £100,000. Residents were absolutely gobsmacked. It’s not a busy road.” The council later confirmed the total spend was £131,000, which included additional safety measures.
Finance chief Cllr Paul Convery (Labour) expressed surprise, noting similar crossings elsewhere in Islington cost around £15,000. “I am startled,” he said, suggesting hidden costs might be involved.
Scope of the project
The crossing was installed after residents raised concerns about fast-moving traffic using the road as a cut-through, endangering children on their way to school. Cllr Rowena Champion, Executive Member for Climate, Environment and Transport, detailed the full scope: “We widened pavements, carried out drainage improvements, installed a raised crossing to help reduce vehicle speeds, upgraded street lighting and Belisha beacons, and added high-friction surfacing on the approach to the crossing.”
Despite these details, Ward remained critical. “We’ve got hundreds of places like this across Islington. Can we afford to spend £131,000 each time? It’s good that there’s a facility for people to cross the road safely but it would have been cheaper to put some plants in, rather than a new pavement,” he told the LDRS. He called for “imagination and value for money in public works.”
Broader spending concerns
This debate follows a similar controversy in June, when councillors were alarmed that a self-cleaning toilet installation was quoted at £192,000. The repeated high costs have raised questions about procurement efficiency in the borough.
