Haringey Draft Local Plan 2025/26

Current Local Plan for Haringey

The Draft Local Plan is described on the Council’s consultation website as representing the Council’s 15-year spatial vision for new buildings and development in the borough, setting out a borough-wide framework for placemaking and complements the Council’s overall vision for Haringey. They state it has been substantially shaped by residents, communities and other stakeholders and is informed by a comprehensive evidence base. This is ‘just’ a draft – however the more the community can contribute and feed into it, the more it will better represent it our needs. There can be a tendency for developers and powerful bodies to significantly influence it to their advantage in their pursuit of their own profits and power. One of the main focus of these bodies is to gentrify the borough, especially Tottenham, pricing out the current local population from housing, shops and businesses. See below: ‘What is it?’ for a summary of the various sections of the Plan, and this link here for access to the full documents: 
https://haringeynewlocalplan.commonplace.is

The consultation website is very extensive with many options to offer feedback, which is great, but it can be overwhelming. Therefore a good place to start is to look for your local neighbourhood and look at the sites proposed for future ‘development’ in your area. And try to find other documents describing any protections or lack of protections to our public green spaces or other vital amenities.

https://haringeynewlocalplan.commonplace.is/proposals/your-neighbourhood/step1

Latest List of Consultation events and Webinars and Recordings available so far of those that have taken place:
Have Your Say Today – Community Engagement Events – Haringey Draft Local Plan
https://haringeynewlocalplan.commonplace.is/proposals/v3/virtual-engagement-events

Previous Local Plans – and successful Community responses and campaigns: 

The last Local Plan in 2017 had many shortcomings and lobbying by communities had some successes, e.g. :

  • the threat to build on a third of Lordship Rec and the demolition of Broadwater Farm – after hundreds of objections and much lobbying the Inspector ruled that the Council had to scrap its plans and instead work with the Community.
  • After much campaigning a similar judgment was made in relation to the Selby Site, and also led to the protection of the adjacent Bull Lane Playing Fields (which campaigners had been fighting to protect for 40 years).
  • Residents near Pinkham Way in the west of Haringey also led a successful campaign to prevent their local green space being turned into a waste processing facility.
  • The traders and residents in and around Wards Corner by Seven Sisters tube station, after 20 years campaigning, have finally seen off a corporate developer who wanted to demolish this much loved area, and are now backed by the Council in taking the site over themselves.
  • And the biggest success was the Campaign against the HDV (Haringey Development Vehicle – an outrageous Council plan to transfer of £2 billion of Haringey’s public assets and land into the management of notorious hedge-fund Lendlease. This was not mentioned in the 2017 Local Plan, but planned by the then leading Cabinet Members who were defeated by a mass campaign of protests by Haringey residents coming together, a legal challenge, and Labour Party members deselecting their own leading Haringey Councillors.

You can read more about the very substantial efforts to improve the 2017 plan at our webpage here.
https://ourtottenham.org.uk/working-groups/planning-policy/
So it’s really important for local people and residents’ groups to stand up for our real needs!

Groups developing responses

There are groups across the borough who are developing responses to some very local proposals but also other over-arching policies that join together across the borough. Here are some of who we are aware of:


  • Haringey Climate Forum activists are drafting up a response to try to ensure the Plan better addresses the climate emergency regarding zero-carbon development, and sustainable energy, heating and cooling systems
  • Haringey Friends of the Earth will be responding regarding open spaces issues, including the need to properly protect green spaces and Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
  • Haringey Defend Council Housing is working on a response about the need for genuinely affordable and well-designed social housing
  • Warehouse district in Hermitage and Gardens (and other similar areas) has been the subject of a long running Save Our Warehouses campaign by residents, to retain a cultural and live-in work quarter. They will be commenting on and trying to strengthen the relevant policies
  • A member of the Haringey Over 50s Forum is aiming to call for all new homes to be built to a quality standard and fit for people with health and other needs.
  • Members of the Gardens Residents Association will be responding to the huge nearby development sites at the Arena estate and Green Lanes, and will be demanding that their award-winning Community Garden is fully protected.
  • Residents around Bruce Castle area are aiming to call for the Plan to recognise their campaign for the historic area around the Museum and Park to be denoted a ‘cultural quarter’.
  • The Tower Gardens Residents Group are calling for their local community building at 100 Tower Gardens Rd to be protected, not sold off. They are aiming to take it over and manage it themselves.


Minutes of Activists Meetings

Activists in the Tottenham community have organised online meetings to discuss aspects of the draft plan and to encourage local people and groups to speak up for their real needs.

These are the minutes from them

What is this Draft Plan?

The purpose of the Haringey Draft Local Plan (LP) is to identify Site Allocation across the Borough i.e sites suitable for development/re-development, Land use and scale of potential development, along with limits regarding building heights,  provision of green space etc
The Council has limited powers since it does not redevelop the land itself, other than for Council-owned buildings or Council Housing. The Local Plan is a tool used by the Council for regulating planning permissions in the Borough, with housing targets being set by Central Government and the London Mayor (As set out in the London Plan).
The Plan does not cover all council policies, so for example the transport chapter only covers transport issues in new developments, it is not a wider transport strategy.  Chapters of the Local Plan. include Sustainable Transport, Climate Resilience and the Natural Environment, Spatial Strategy and Housing, Design and Heritage, Culture and Social Infrastructure, Inclusive Places.
Green and blue infrastructure is identified in the LP, including watercourses. 
The suggested timescale for the developments varies by site some are beyond 2030 and some not until after 2040.
The public are being ‘consulted’ and are urged to respond by the deadline of 19th December, which is a very short time for people to take on the enormity of what is being presented and offer any kind of meaningful response.