Richard Wilson

Like many local people I today noticed the offensive and racist graffiti that has appeared on the fence round the building site to extend Hornsey Girls School.   I immediately contacted the Hornsey ward councillors (the school is just outside my ward) to see if they were aware.  They were – and have already reported it urgently to the Council.

I believe the Council are supposed to remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours, and this is pretty nasty stuff so I hope it is dealt with ASAP.  This must be pretty depressing for Inderwick Road residents as the fence has only been up a week or so, and there will be worries that this will keep happening during the long period of the building work.

An objector's poster on Inderwick Road

I have just returned from tonight’s planning meeting, where the committee voted 5 to 4 in favour of building a new admin block for Hornsey Girls School right up to the pavement of Inderwick Road.   I think this was a very poor planning decision, which will ruin the character of this residential road, where all the other buildings are set back behind gardens.  You only need to look round the corner on Weston Park to see the only other nearby example of where a one story building has been built up to the pavement - and its a complete eyesore.

Its a real shame because everyone wants to see investment in Hornsey Girls School and everyone agreed with 95% of the proposal.  The objectors were only asking for a small change – for the admin block to be set 1-2 meters back to allow trees and greenery to be planted between the wall and the road – and compromise should have been possible.

Indeed, I tried to bring forward a compromise whereby we defered the decision to a later meeting and asked the architects to revise their proposal.  However, the Labour Councillors present voted this motion down, and the committee then divided on party lines with the 5 Labour councillors pushing the proposal through and the 4 Lib Dems opposing.  This is really sad as I know several Labour councillors thought the proposal ought to be changed, but decided not to break ranks.

It is very dissapointing that some councillors aren’t willing to listen to residents and take on board their concerns – when this is what they are elected to do.

Unfortunately, the Planning Committee ran out of time last night and we weren’t able to discuss the planning application for Hornsey School for Girls.  I presume it will now go on the agenda for the next regular planning meeting on 8th December (hopefully much nearer the start – so that we reach it this time!).

I’m fairly new to the Committee, but it does seem to me that the way it handles its business could be improved.  It must be infuriating for residents to have to sit through hours of debate on other applications to then be told that the proposal they are concerned about won’t be reached.  Local residents deserve to be treated better.

The site of the proposed extension

This morning, along with other councillors on the Planning Committee, I visited the site of the controversial planning application to extend Hornsey Girls School up to the pavement on Inderwick Road.  The plans go to Planning Committee on Monday evening, and council planning officers are recommending we approve the application.

Obviously, I won’t be making up my mind on the application until I have heard all the presentations on the night.  However, the visit was a good opportunity to discuss the issues with officers, and to see how the plans relate to the houses on Inderwick Road.

I lobbied to ensure the visit happened as I think it is important that committee members see the site (some of whom represent very different parts of Haringey – so may not be as familiar with the road as local councillors).  This is particular important as, although it is brilliant that the school is being invested in, I know some aspects of the proposal are controversial amongst many local residents.