Hornsey Town Hall planning application update
Over the last week we have been busy hand delivering letters (view a copy of it here) to local residents about Hornsey Town Hall and the latest planning application which delivers ZERO affordable or social homes, and no certainty over the final development.
Of course, things move quickly and since then you may have seen the shocking figures reported by the Ham & High revealing - based on information made available to it, that Haringey Council has sold off the Town Hall and its valuable land for a pitiful £3.5m while the developer is set to make over £22m profit – a great deal for the developer and a shoddy one for Crouch End.
With the profit available in this development, we think that there is no excuse for failing to deliver a large number of affordable and social homes and that our local Labour councillors have sold us short.
Lib Dem councillors called in the decision for scrutiny when the developers for the Town Hall site were chosen, but our objections to the deal were at the time ignored, and the deal was approved by the Labour cabinet. It is clear that this deal is not in the best interests of the local community, nor Haringey Council.
Due to the size, nature and timing of the application, Lib Dem councillor Gail Engert has made a formal request for an extension to the consultation period.
We believe the following should be addressed as a minimum before this planning application is even considered:
- A good number of the 146 units to be affordable or social homes
- The impact of the development on this conservation area to be better represented in the application - with improved, and a greater number of visual renderings (not hidden behind trees), particularly in respect to the seven story building
- Detailed assessment of the impact of light and privacy on nearby properties, and a full assessment and plan for local infrastructure such as schools, GP surgeries, and public transport with the introduction of so many new residents to the area
- The operator for the Arts Centre to be agreed and their plans submitted alongside the application
- A true reflection of the figures based on comparable residential properties and commercial operations in Crouch End, not those from other areas that are, on average, cheaper.
If you share our concerns, you can visit the Haringey Council website – haringey.gov.uk – and search for planning application HGY/2017/2222 or click here, to put in your own objection by 5 Sept 2017.
We recommend that you encourage your friends and neighbours to do the same by sending this link to them.
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