A new mental health centre has been opened in Islington by a former Arsenal player.
Per Mertesacker, who is currently manager of Arsenal Academy, joined staff and service users at North London Mental Health Partnerships’ (NLMHP) new centre in Lowther Road on Thursday (April 18).
It comes just a month after neighbours living in a block of flats nearby said they were worried their homes would be overlooked by the new centre.
When planning permission was granted in 2021, Islington Council imposed a planning condition on the development to protect the privacy of neighbouring homes, asking that obscured glazing and screens be installed.
But people living at Arcadia Court, a block of 12 flats directly facing the hospital, claimed that the measures put in place to meet this condition did not seem sufficient.
They had asked for full, rather than partial, obscure glazing on the centre’s windows that face their flats, and privacy screens on an overlooking balcony.
NLMHP has now confirmed that although the original building was fully compliant with planning conditions, new coverings have since been fitted to further obscure these windows.
But Arcadia Court neighbours have said that the balcony still provides "an unobstructed view" into their homes, and reiterated their calls for privacy screens to be installed.
A spokesperson for the trust said: “The balcony facing Lowther Road is for staff only and has a raised planting bed which sets people back from the edge.
“The planting will mature, to provide further privacy.”
The new centre will offer “integrated mental and physical health services” and a community café will be located on the ground floor of the building.
The building will be home to the majority of NLMHP’s Islington community services, including complex depression, anxiety and trauma, personality disorder service, and community rehabilitation.
The trust said it hoped the centre will help further strengthen its close links with the Arsenal in the Community project.
This delivers sport, social and education programmes to over 5,000 people each week, including many with mental health diagnoses.
Declaring the centre open, Mertesacker said: “This is an issue that is close to my heart.
“As a young man in Germany, I spent a year working in a mental health hospital, and the experience was both humbling and life-shaping.
“Our mental wellbeing is just as important as our physical wellbeing.”
He added: “I’m proud I can share in this moment to deliver a first-class facility right in the heart of our community, that will play a major role in to supporting both patients and staff for years to come.”
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