Richard Wilson

At the end of December I was alerted to the fact that there had just been a public exhibition about a huge proposed new development on the Stroud Green Road.  As the image on the left shows the John Jones arts centre plan to put a large 6 storey development on their site.  They are at an informal consultation stage – the formal planning application has not yet been submitted.

The development is on the Islington side of the road, and Haringey don’t seem to have made much effort to get involved in the process.  Councillors such as myself weren’t alerted to the event - which meant I couldn’t advertise it on this website.  So I immeadiately put an email into Haringey Council asking how they were going to ensure that residents on the north side of Stroud Green Road were able to have a say.  This week (5 weeks later) I got a response just directing me to Islington Council’s website and saying no Haringey panning officers had even attended the December consultation event.

Clearly this development would have a major impact on Stroud Green.  Its great to see people wanting to invest in Stroud Green Road, but this proposed building does seem quite tall, given the height of the Victorian terraces surrounding it.  I think everyone should have their say on this development – regardless of which side of the borough boundary they live, and  I will press for wide-scale consultation when the planning application is submitted.

Stroud Green has finally caught up with other parts of Haringey and is now forming a Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC) to try to prevent inappropriate development in the area (see picture).  A CAAC  is formed and run by local residents, with Council support, and would have a formal role in advising the Council on planning issues in the conservation area.  There is information on the Council website – link here.

The Stroud Green Conservation Area stretches from Mount View Road in the north to Stroud Green Road in the south.  A map of the conservation areas on the Haringey website can be found here.

Local residents are trying to organise a first meeting with planning officers to discuss how the committee would work in mid December.  If you care about your local area and would like to take part in this excellent initiative then please get in touch and I’ll pass on your details.

Haringey Council have received a planning application to convert and extend the building on the corner of Quernmore and Stapleton Hall Roads opposite the Library (see picture).  The owners propose to convert the shop and residence above into 5 flats.  The building (38 Quermore Road) would be extended out sideways into the paved vacant area in the picture.

The site is a complete eyesore at present, so its brilliant that someone wants to invest some money in improving the building.   However, at the recent Stroud Green Residents Association (SGRA) meeting people were keen to ensure the development fits in with the nearby Victorian buildings (this is a conservation area).  And concerns were also expressed about the possibility of 5 new flats generating 5 new cars in an area with an extreme shortage of parking space.

The application can be viewed on the Council’s website (link here).  The official deadline for sending in comments was earlier this month, however not many people seemed aware of the application, so after the SGRA meeting I contacted the planning officers and they have assured me they will continue to consider any comments they receive before the decision is made.  Apparently, the deadline for the Council to decide the application is the 2nd December – so if you want comment, support or object to the proposal please do so ASAP.

As everyone who commutes on the Victoria Line knows, it is horrendously overcrowded -running at absolute full capacity at peak times. Routinely it is physically impossible for Haringey residents to squeeze on trains at Finsbury Park in the morning.  I would have hoped that the Council would have been fighting to relieve these cattle truck conditions, and would be warning property developers against big new housing developments at Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale that risk worsening an already dire situation.
 
However, papers that went to a recent Planning Committee showed that the Council was doing the opposite, and instead giving developers the green light by telling them that there is ample free capacity on our tube trains for new commuters. 
 
Unbelievably, planning officers have since told me that the transport study they are relying on shows that-

‘the Victoria tube line would have residual capacity of some 52 and 69 per cent in the morning and evening peak hours’.

I’ve asked officers to clarify what exactly that this jargon means (no response so far), but it seems to me they are saying that there is over 50% spare capacity in the peak morning period!  What fantasyland is the Council living in if they think the Victoria Line is half empty at rush hour?
 
I’ve also asked a whole load of extra questions to find out what the Council is playing at – and have asked to see this strange transport study.  I think it deserves scrutiny, as I dread to think what the Victoria Line would be like if Haringey Council had its way and doubled passenger numbers!

Details of London Concrete’s plans for a concrete factory on Cranford Way (behind Uplands Road and Chettle Court) went to the Planning Committee this week.   The application to build the factory was originally rejected by the Committee following a huge campaign by residents (backed by Laura, Ed and I) - but the Government’s planning inspector overuled local councillors at an appeal hearing.

However, the inspector did put 44 conditions on the development (many relating to dust and noise)  and on Tuesday the Committee looked at London Concrete’s proposals for meeting these conditions.    Some of the detail is good – the conveyor belt and the lorry loading areas will now be fully enclosed, which should reduce some of the noise and dust impact.  However, some aspects are inadequate, such as the boundary only being surrounded by a chain fence, which will do nothing to contain dust or noise. 

My colleague Cllr Ed Butcher addressed the committee to complain about this and other problems with the proposals.   As usual he was very forceful in standing up for residents concerns, but the committee had its hands tied by the inspector and could do little to change the proposals.  My only minor success was to get a commitment from council officers to look at the safety of the junction of Cranford Way on to Tottenham Lane, because of concerns about the concrete lorries crossing this busy walking route for local commuters to Hornsey Station.  The Committee also pressed the developers to ensure there was a clear phone number for locals to complain to about any problems at the site.

Obviously building a concrete factory in a densely populated area like Stroud Green is insane, and nobody wants to see this go ahead.  But despite the lack of democracy in our planning system, Ed, Laura and I are trying to reduce the impact of the development.