A to Z of ‘Tottenham Regeneration’

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A – is for the asset-stripping of Haringey Council’s public buildings, housing estates, schools, hospitals, and parks. The latest public assets under threat are locally-run community centres.
B – is for Best Consideration price rules cited by Haringey Council as legal justification for selling the Apex House customer service centre for £3.8m to their preferred buyer Grainger and avoiding an open market sale that could have potentially reached a higher price.
C – is for the Chickentown business getting £250,000 of public funding to open a ‘healthy’ fried chicken restaurant in the former fire station on Tottenham Green. Displacing from the premises a children’s charity and the reception area of the building’s management agent.

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A platform for architecture and planning professionals to support the current housing stuggles in London

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https://www.concreteaction.net/signup.php

A group of architects called Concrete Action is launching a website on the ‘dark web’ to allow development professionals to anonymously leak confidential documents about regeneration projects.

The ‘Wikileaks-style’ website will from June allow staff to leak documents such as viability assessments which are often not released in the public domain by councils and developers citing commercial confidentiality. Inside Housing understands activists have already lined up a programme of leaks.

Albane Duviller, an architect involved in Concrete Action, said the site will be used by campaigners and journalists. She said: ‘It will be a way to counter regeneration schemes that are driven by speculation. It will bring back into public knowledge that normally should be a part of the public debate.’

The group has a technology team to set up the website, trying to make it a ‘secure drop’ to allow professionals to leak information without leaving a digital trail that could identify them.

Anyone can visit websites on the dark web, if they have the URL. This means the site will be useable by activists, members of the public and journalists. However, these websites aren’t indexed by search engines, and it is very difficult to find out who runs them.

In recent years there have been a number of high-profile cases in which councils or developers have been accused of wrongly withholding viability assessments.  Greenwich Council in February was ordered by a tribunal to publish details of deal with developer Lend Lease to regenerate the iconic Heygate estate.

But it is possible that leakers could still be tracked down by property developers upset about information being released. Paul Mander, a partner at law-firm Pennington Manches, warned staff would almost certainly be dismissed if they are caught.

Antwerp Arms now owned and managed by the community!

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The Antwerp Arms Association are delighted to be able to announce, that after almost 2 years of negotiating, organising and fundraising, the freehold purchase of the Antwerp Arms Public House, has been completed today 31 March 2015.

The Antwerp Arms Association will take over soon after 15 April 2015.

Thank you so much for all your support.

We look forward to raising a glass or two with all of you, at the ‘Annie’, our community hub.

More news to follow soon!
Antwerp Arms Association

Formal complaint re the Local Plan documents consultation process, calling for the consultation to be halted and re-scheduled

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To: Cllr Ali Demirci, Mr Stephen Kelly and LDF team – LBH Planning

As we approach the end date for the consultation period on Haringey Council’s planning polices and related document I write from the Our Tottenham Planning Policy Working Group (active on behalf of the Our Tottenham Network) to request that the consultation be halted and re-scheduled because the process is fundamentally flawed.

We have done our best to publicise and explain the consultation process to all our contacts throughout Tottenham, despite our lack of resources and capacity and the extremely challenging material we are encouraging public responses to. However, despite our best efforts, we have found this an impossible task to do effectively for the reasons set out below.

Fair and lawful consultation
Haringey Council’s Consultation Charter states that the Council undertakes consultations “so that people who live and work in the borough have a say in the Council decision making process and know that their views have been taken into account.”

In the recent Moseley judgement against Haringey Council by the Supreme Court the judges set out the conditions for fair consultation. These are: “  First, that consultation must be at a time when proposals are still at a formative stage. Second, that the proposer must give sufficient reasons for any proposal to permit of intelligent consideration and response. Third,… that adequate time must be given for consideration and response and, finally, fourth, that the product of consultation must be conscientiously taken into account in finalising any statutory proposals. ” Continue reading →

Protest against Tottenham property developers Thurs 26th March 1pm

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Our Tottenham – Not Their Tottenham

Protest outside the £300-a-head ‘regeneration and redevelopment’ event at our Town Hall
Thursday 26th March, 1pm – 2pm

Tottenham Town Hall, Town Hall Approach Rd, London N15 4RY
Protest called by the Our Tottenham Coordination Group, Haringey Housing Action Group, Taxpayers Against Poverty, and Haringey Solidarity Group. All supporters are welcome to bring relevant placards and banners…

We believe that those who live and work in Tottenham should be driving forward the decisions about the future of our communities. Instead we have unaccountable property developers, Councillors and private companies trying to impose their top-down, profit-led mass ‘regeneration and redevelopment’ schemes all over our neighbourhoods.

As the Tottenham public are excluded from this elitist event for so-called ‘key stakeholders’ [see below], we call on local people to attend the protest/rally outside to make our voices known…We invite all the real key stakeholders to join in. Continue reading →

Antwerp Arms – Community pub update!

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About The Antwerp Arms Association

The Bruce Castle Village Association found out in June 2013 that our local pub, the Antwerp Arms, had been put up for sale by the freeholder, Enterprise Inns. They were looking to sell it to the highest bidder, almost certainly for conversion into flats.
Taking advantage of the Localism Act 2011, we applied for the pub to be listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), meaning that we would have the right to buy it if it came on the market. Although the pub was sold to a local development company Hinterwell Ltd before the ACV was in effect, they offered us the right to put in a bid, which we took up in November 2013. We have until May 2014 to be the sole bidder.

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22-storey tower at Seven Sisters?

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Pre-planning meeting next Tuesday 10th March at the Civic Centre
Please circulate.

Apex House, the unlovely redbrick Customer Services building at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Tottenham High Road, is due to be demolished and replaced by a 22 storey tower block of mostly private-sale flats.  Not surprisingly, the developer is Grainger, as in slash-and-burn plans for Wards Corner, the adjacent building.  They have been gifted the site by the Council for £3.4 million, ie about the price of three houses in Muswell Hill.

This is, as far as I know, the first proposed building of this height in Haringey.  The Tottnm Hale towers are about 15 storeys.  Precedent?

I’ve blogged some stuff on the SoTo site:

https://gosoto.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/who-wants-a-22-storey-tower…

https://gosoto.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/exhibition-re-apex-house/

https://gosoto.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/how-big/  and

https://gosoto.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/first-council-meeting-about-the-22-storey-tower-tuesday-10th-march/

Note in particular that last note, a pre-planning ‘advisory’ meeting with the Planning Committee, next Tuesday 10th March, at the Civic Centre.  The Agenda and reports pack for this meeting can be viewed on the Council’s website here:
http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=728&…

Those of us who live literally in the possible shadow, will be there to offer some advice.

Broadwater Farm / Lordship area under threat

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Leaflet: Defend our local estates and park… and support each other! (March 2015)

Broadwater Farm Residents’ Association, Broadwater United Sports And Football Academy, and Friends of Lordship Rec

Broadwater Farm / Lordship area under threat

DEFEND OUR LOCAL ESTATES AND PARK
… AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER!

Object now to shocking Council proposals which could lead to future demolition and ‘redevelopment’ of Broadwater Farm, Somerset Close, Lido Square and Moira Close, and to house-building on Lordship Rec…

Email the Council: ldf@haringey.gov.uk

The facts
The Council’s planning department are proposing a demolition and ‘redevelopment’ zone for the ‘Broadwater Farm Area’. This area includes not only the estate and all its marvelous community facilities, but also Somerset Close, Lido Square, Moira Close and the houses along Lordship Lane to the north. We have been told that the proposal would include housing to be built on a large chunk of the north end of Lordship Recreation Ground, including the enclosed sports field, to temporarily re-house some of those displaced by any future demolitions.

The proposed zone is indicated by a red line on a map (see right) taken from the Council’s draft Local Plan for Haringey 2011-2026 – ‘Site Allocation 63’. If this proposal is not chucked out now it would mean increased powers for property developers throughout that zone in the future, backed by Council encouragement and support. There is a borough-wide consultation over the whole draft Plan, with March 27 as the deadline for people to object to any proposals. We say object strongly and object now!

A threat to our community
This totally unnecessary attack on local communities and our park would cause massive stress to all concerned, displacement and disruption for years, and undermine all the successful efforts over decades to build a strong and stable local community and to improve local facilities. Local residents have worked long and hard to make Broadwater Farm one of the most attractive and well-served estates in the UK, and to make Lordship Rec the great park it now is – including the sports field, home of Broadwater United youth football teams. The estate and park have won many national awards for successful community-led regeneration and empowerment, and are now admired throughout the world. The Council should be celebrating what has been achieved instead of allowing planners to dream up outrageous proposals to destroy existing homes and facilities and break up our communities…. Continue reading →

Community-Led Future – Update from Chestnut People 8th February 2015

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Update from Chestnut People  – 8th February 2015

The good news for 2015 is that Chestnuts People continues as a vibrant force for community-led development of Chestnuts Centre and promotion of activities supporting

local people. So, despite Haringey Council installing Bridge Renewal Trust as interim managers, we are actively working on many projects that will result in a stronger community based in and around the centre in the long term.

Since being established Chestnuts People has involved centre users, other community groups in countering the agenda of Haringey Council to close the centre and use it for its own agenda. Chestnuts People has collaborated with the Chestnut Centre & Arts management to ensure the centre remains open while building works are done and has organised well-attended consultation events so that the true voice of users and the community influences the council’s plans for the centre.

Below we update on our current activities, including winning a national funding award to write a business plan and if you have any thoughts on our work then do let us know. Continue reading →