On Friday, Richard visited the building site for the new Park Theatre for the first time.  Richard heard about this amazing plan to build a new commercial theatre in Finsbury Park, but didn’t know much about it until the visit. Two of the directors (Jez Bond and Andrew Fishwick – pictured) presented their plans to a small audience of local councillors in what they hope will be new Theatre’s education room.

Richard says, “A new 200 seat commercial theatre on Clifton Terrace will be a massive asset to our area, helping to change the image of Finsbury Park and bring even more energy and business to Stroud Green Road. I can’t wait until it opens (hopefully early in 2013).  What’s amazing is that the money is coming from private sources and fundraising, rather than public spending (though they still have a bit more to raise). They do have big celebrity backers like Sir Ian McKellen, but they also want local people to support the project too.

“Friday also saw the signing of the new ‘Finsbury Park Accord’ – a long overdue initiative to get the three Council’s that cover Finsbury Park to work together. Residents are always frustrated by how difficult it is to get Haringey to co-operate with Islington on issues like parking and planning – so I hope this starts to change and some action comes out of this Accord.”