Chestnuts People Community-Led Consultation Event 13th December 2014

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Chestnuts Community Centre is under threat of closure – Chestnuts people say No!

Come and have your say at the Consultation and Festive Fair – organised by the community: food, stalls, performances, kids activities, free bike repairs and music

Saturday 13th December 2014
11.00 – 4/00pm
280 St Ann’s Road
Tottenham
N15 5BN

CHESTNUTS COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE IS UNDER THREAT OF CLOSURE!
• Haringey Council want to close Chestnuts Community Centre on the 31st December. They plan to take the building from the local community and put it out to public tender.
• This is after 25 years of community service with no direct financial support to the Centre. Haringey Council received over £300k in rent from the community during this period.
• Haringey Council has no idea about the important role that Chestnuts Community Centre plays in the life of the local community or services provided here!THE COUNCIL INTENDS TO CLOSE THE CENTRE ON 31ST DECEMBER 2014!  THE CHESTNUTS PEOPLE SAY…NO!PLEASE SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN TO KEEP THE CENTRE IN COMMUNITY CONTROL BY:
• Signing the online petition at change.org/p/save-chestnuts
• Attending the community led consultation event on Saturday 13th December 2014 (see overleaf for more info)
• Become one of ‘Chestnuts People’ – a diverse group of users and wider community members developing a community plan for the centre
• Lobbying and/or writing to your local councillor and local MP for Tottenham, David Lammy to say ‘No’ to the closure of Chestnuts
• Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter COMMUNITY LED ENGAGEMENT….NOT COUNCIL ‘CONSULTATION’!
• Have your say about what activities you would like to see at Chestnuts
• Join our community-led process to create a Community Plan for Chestnuts.
• Come and meet other Centre users and people from the local area

For further information please contact:
Chestnuts.people280@gmail.com
0208 802 4649
Twitter @chestnutspeople
Facebook www.facebook.com/chestnutspeople

Support Chestnuts Community Centre!

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Petition
Please sign and promote the petition to all your contacts: https://www.change.org/p/save-chestnuts

Public meeting
Haringey Council plan to meet with Chestnuts Community Centre users at the centre based at:
208 St Ann’s Road, Tottenham N15 5BN  [On the east side of Chestnuts Park]
Tuesday 25th November 2014 @ 7pm sharp

We would like to show solidarity with organisations which run activities at the centre, so please come and join them, especially if you have ever attended an event at this centre. If not, we still need you to show support as the Council is planning to close the building on 31st December 2014. The Council says it will put it out to public tender after it has completed buildings repairs next year.  More than 30 (predominately Black led), groups currently use the building and they will be adversely affected by this decision.
Chestnuts People – a new group of centre users and wider community members say ‘No’ to this decision!
Join them on Tuesday 25th November.

THANKS!

2 x Petitions: Save Chestnuts Community Centre & St Ann’s Hospital site

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Save Chestnuts Community Centre

https://www.change.org/p/save-chestnuts

Haringey Council want to close Chestnuts Community Centre on the 31st December. They plan to take the building from the local community and put it out to public tender.

– This is after 25 years of Community service with no direct financial support to theCentre. Haringey Council received over £300k in rent from the community during this period.

– Haringey Council has no idea about the important role that Chestnuts Community Centre plays in the life of the local community or services provided here.

– The council intends to close the centre on 31st December 2014.

The chestnuts people say…..no!

Please support the campaign to keep the centre in community.

Haringey Needs St Ann’s Hospital

https://www.change.org/p/we-call-for-a-halt-to-the-plans-to-sell-off-nhs-land-at-st-ann-s-hospital-in-haringey-to-property-developers-instead-we-call-for-improved-health-services-on-the-site-now-and-for-the-forseeable-future

Haringey’s last hospital is under threat. Plans to redevelop the St Ann’s Hospital site have been rumbling on since 2006. Now, as the managers of the site, Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust (BEHMHT) are preparing their application to get Foundation Trust Status in 2014 the redevelopment plans have been developing rapidly. To get Foundation Trust status BEHMHT needs to ‘balance its books’. They claim the site is underutilised, has poor facilities and is costing them £7.5m a year to maintain. They say the only way they can afford to provide the healthcare facilities we need is to sell off two thirds of the site to property developers. We say we already pay for universal healthcare out of our taxes, we demand healthcare facilities that meet the needs of local people now and for the foreseeable future. We don’t see the site as a liability – it is an asset that needs protecting.

We the undersigned call for a halt to the plans to sell off NHS land at St Ann’s Hospital to property developers, and instead call for improved mental and physical health services to be provided on the site to meet the needs of Haringey’s residents now and in the foreseeable future, including expanded Mental Health facilities, a multiagency Child Development Centre and an Urgent Care Centre.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HaringeyNeedsStAnnsHospital

Twitter: @StAnnsHospital

A ‘Road-Map’ for the Community Plan for Tottenham

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The following year-long ‘Road Map’ was agreed at the OT Conference 2014:

What we’ve already achieved so far – as a foundation for the next steps:

1. Produced a summary of a wide range of successful & inspiring community-led Tottenham projects
2. Adopted a Community Charter (April 2013) with positive policies on what we want
3. 46 community organisations have so far signed up to the Charter.
4. Held a Conference on Community Planning (Feb 2014), which adopted a series of further recommendations for moving forward
5. Agreed a set of Guiding Principles for the evaluation of proposed urban development plans/sites.
6. Set up a Community Planning Working Group
7. Started compiling a range of Reports and Consultation documents already produced (eg Tottenham Futures, Atkins Open Space Assessment etc) which contain quite a lot of detail about what people want and deficiencies that need addressing etc
8. Started Information Mapping (online and on paper) collating a large amount of data about Tottenham, its facilities, services, buildings, open spaces, population, community groups etc
9. Started developing Working Groups on a number of key themes (Economy, Housing, Planning Policies etc) which will help focus and guide activity

Some next steps up to the spring 2015:

10. Have a more detailed look at successful Community Plans in Tottenham and elsewhere, eg the process, visioning, community involvement, funding etc. How did they do it? What could we learn from them? Support the Wards Corner Community Coalition to implement its Community Plan (and to make links with similar Elephant and Castle site), and the Warehouses of Harringay Association of Tenants to develop a Community Plan. Encourage Tottenham Traders Partnership to lobby the Council to back Community Plans.
11. Identify special qualities, strengths and uniqueness of Tottenham, and our local communities / neighbourhoods / facilities / services / peoples etc
12. Make some comparisons between Tottenham and other parts of London to show how we are integrated into the wider city
13. Start to involve more of Tottenham’s community groups and our wider communities in this process, including specialist groups which can advise the network regarding key themes.
14. Update and launch the Information Mapping about Tottenham, including an audit of black and minority ethnic Centres and spaces. Find a technical coordinator.
15. Clarify the planning policy basis for a Community Plan ie Local, London and National official policies supporting Community Planning
16. Do fundraising to support development of an initial draft Plan
17. Assemble a team of volunteers to kick off the creation of the draft Plan – outreach / community workshops / volunteers (eg network members, Team London etc). Develop a strategy for involving students, including University College London and Plymouth University.

Steps up to the Summer 2015

18. Create a Visioning Document (Skeleton) to be adopted at the next OT conference

Conference Report: Tottenham Residents Back Community Empowerment

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PLEDGE TO MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER IN RESISTING ‘TOP DOWN’ INAPPROPRIATE DEVELOPMENT, AND IN SUPPORTING COMMUNITY-LED PROJECTS AND PLANS

At the end of a successful Tottenham Community Empowerment Week involving a wide range of events and activities, the Our Tottenham network organised a ‘Moving Forward Together’ Conference on Saturday 11th October 2014 at the North London Community House. It was attended by 75 members and reps of 37 local community groups and organisations, residents associations, community centres, traders groups, education institutions, individual local residents and a range of interested planning students.

The conference built on the successful work of the Our Tottenham network over the last 18 months, and adopted some key additional commitments regarding – housing, youth, the local economy, environmental sustainability, community centres and public services. We agreed to implement a year-long ‘Road Map’ towards the development of a Community Plan for Tottenham. Continue reading →

Chestnuts Community Arts Centre – Call for volunteers for this community run centre

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Do you have a couple of hours to spare in the day or evening?

We are in need of Volunteers for:

·       Reception /Office Work
·       Archiving/ Boxing up documents
·       Logging of centres fixtures/fittings
·       Recording Chestnuts historical documents
·       Duty Officer/ Caretaker cover

If interested please contact Gina Osbourne on 07956 512 928 Angella Palmer on 07956 107 929 email or chestnutscommunitycentre@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

chestnutscommunitycentre@gmail.com

Report of Tottenham Community Empowerment Week: 4th – 12th October 2014

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Reply

20141004_170326The range of events during Tottenham Community Empowerment Week were a great success in highlighting concerns, views, activities and talents of those who live or work here, and advancing our call that local people be central to the decision-making affecting us. 10,000 leaflets were distributed beforehand publicising the events and the Our Tottenham network. Events included an exhibition, socials, public meetings, leafletting sessions, a bike ride, a festival, a walk, martial arts, a film show, green gyms, a poetry slam and a community conference!  For example, hundreds of local people joined in the Wards Corner Community Coalition celebration on getting planning permission for their Community Plan, with food, music, dance and info; 50 people took part in poetry and discussions at the youth event at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre; the ‘Our Neighbourhoods’ film night held an excellent discussion following some inspirational local and international documentaries; and 30 concerned residents participated in the discussion on how to defend and support Tottenham’s community-run community centres. [More details below].

The week culminated in a ‘Moving Forward Together’ Conference, organised by the Our Tottenham network at the North London Community House. It was attended by 75 members and reps of 37 local community groups and organisations, residents associations, community centres, traders groups, education institutions, individual local residents and a range of interested planning students. The conference built on the successful work of the network over the last 18 months, and adopted some key additional commitments regarding – housing, youth, the local economy, environmental sustainability, community centres and public services. We agreed to implement a year-long ‘Road Map’ towards the development of a Community Plan for Tottenham.
Wards Corner Event Oct 2014
The programme of events included:

–  Exhibition: 25 years of Community Action – how the community transformed Lordship Rec, Tottenham’s largest park
–  Celebration: Working together for the future of Wards Corner and Seven Sisters Market
–  [Re]Generation Tottenham – Young people’s film / food / poetry slam @ Bernie Grant Arts Centre
–  Mark Duggan: The Complete Picture – a public meeting
–  City of Migrants: Haringey Migrant Support Centre Second birthday celebration / fundraiser social
–  Defending Our Homes: Past, Present and Future – walk around some key local sites
–  Haringey Needs St Ann’s Hospital – leafletting for improvements not sell-offs!
–  Bike Ride for World Mental Health Day
–  Martial arts self defence classes for young women
–  REEL News Film and Discussion Night: OUR Neighbourhoods! People power and gentrification
–  Meeting to Celebrate and Defend Tottenham’s Community-run Community Centres
–  Open Air Green Gym – gardening, fitness and fun
–  Our Tottenham Community Conference: Moving Forward Together
–  Tottenham Green Multicultural Festival

 

 

 

Respond to ‘High Road West’ consultation (by 25th Oct)

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http://www.haringey.gov.uk/highroadwest

The Tottenham Business Group at High Road West – opposite the Spurs ground – speaks up for the 120 threatened local businesses threatened with demolition. They are calling on everyone to respond to the outrageous proposals for the mass demolitions in the area. The proposals follow the fraudulent ‘consultation’ last year in which there was no option to oppose demolitions. At that time 4,000 people signed a petition against demolitions.

The Tottenham Business Group recommend ticking the ‘strongly disagree’ boxes in the current consultation.
Fill in your response asap (by 25th Oct at the latest): http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/haringey-snap-survey.htm?k=141053592434

The Our Tottenham Co-ordination Group have responded by ticking most of the ‘strongly disagree’ boxes, but leaving a few blank.
We also commented on each page ‘Totally opposed to any demolitions of existing buildings. Support retention and improvements to existing buildings and facilities.’

Save Ermine Road and Plevna Crescent Open Spaces in Tottenham

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Dear all

1.       The Planning Inspector has decided that the appeal needs a full inquiry, not an informal hearing. So our planned lobby of the hearing on Tuesday 28 October is now off. We will let people know as soon as we hear dates for an inquiry.
2.       Friends of the Earth volunteers joined with local residents on Saturday 11th October to clean up dumped rubbish on Ermine Road open space. The site, which is designated green open space in Haringey’s plans, is threatened by housing development. It has been allowed to become derelict.
3.       As well as pressing the Inspector to refuse the appeal, we are calling on the Council to work with local residents to secure a better future for the site which could include play space, food growing and areas managed for wildlife. Our petition is on line at

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-ermine-road-and-plevna-crescent-open-spaces-in-tottenham

and together with our paper petition has had over 2,000 signatures so far.

Quentin Given
Co-ordinator
Tottenham & Wood Green Friends of the Earth

Post Conference Meeting: The Next Steps

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The Next Steps
Thursday 23rd October, 6.30pm
@ 639b High Road, N17

75 people from 37 local organisations attended our ‘Moving Forward Together’ conference on October 11th, and there were some excellent discussions. A summary will be circulated shortly. The conference was the culmination of an action-packed Tottenham Community Empowerment Week which involved and engaged a lot of people around a whole range of events and issues throughout the area.

This important next meeting will discuss and review the conference and Empowerment Week, collect together all the notes (and anecdotes!) – and sort out the next steps for Our Tottenham as a whole and for the various Working Groups and initiatives we are involved with. We want to stand up for the interests of the peoples of Tottenham and to do that effectively we need you!

All welcome. It would be great if one or two people could attend from every supporting group…

Together we can…
– defend and extend our community-run spaces!
– protect our Council estates: no to demolitions, yes to improvements!
– defend small, local businesses: save our industrial zones under threat!
– create and implement Community Plans!
– save Tottenham’s heritage and character!
– give our youth a future!