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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

If you want to have a nose around, there are viewing days till Sunday. Or, if just a passing interest, see the attached.

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It's the absolute minimum required ouside space that they can get away with.

Apparently the balcony craze began with a 2010 change to the London Housing Design Guide that mandated a minimum of 5 square metres of outdoor space for every new 2-person dwelling constructed (more for bigger properties). No developer is going to “waste” space on individual or communal gardens — as witness the courtyard in this development — so balconies are the answer.

I love the fact that they have only listed the local "Outstanding" schools in the area, even though most of them are nowhere near the development! They couldn't possibly list the 5 or 6 Much closer schools (so half a chance of getting in to) that are Ofsted rated "Good"!

Extremely poor design.

I am flabergasted by just how brutally imposing and detracting from the surrounding street scale and architecture the Green Lanes facade is. In other words UGLY!

As someone mentioned, it didn't have to be this way. The explanation is we have very mediocre councillors in Haringey. Okay they may devote time to the 'job' but they aren't forced into it. And they get remunerated for it too. The council staff and officers are stretched to the limit by the continuous cuts,cuts cuts but the councillors sell the borough down the drain very very often when all it takes is a little more resistance to mediocrity.

The result will be that the borough is becoming uglier. Here in the east we have the predatory landlords converting family houses into tiny flats. And loads of new EXPENSIVE tiny flats being built in high rises here and there. So family homes are disappearing and families end up leaving the neighbourhood resulting in churn and transience which is not in favour of builidng stable communities wuth residents that have a real stake in it aand take a long term interest in the place. Result is ghettoisation and continued high deprivation levels...sink estates!

I cite:

- the Spurs cynical takeover of North Tottenham and demolition of grade listed buildings and a whole block of conservation area High Rd. A mono activity based local economy with so many shops and pubs, displaying the Spurs cockerel or logo.

- the extremely pendantic, horrible Grainger scheme for Wards Coner which, if built, will become a horrible piece of architecture and combined with Grainger's Fag Pack Apex tower, will succeed in making Seven Sisters corner more 'architecturally hostile' to users. The way in which this was carried forward is studied by planning/architecture students all the time. See and compare the more limited height of the 'towers' in Dalston and their spatial disposition aaround the tube transport hub.

- the Tottenham Hale towers; a jumble of residential high rise homes around a bad spaghetti jumble of a road network, eachh blocking out the precious light of previous lower blocks. Just poor poor porr spatial planning.

- the poor public realm, often substandard work, that is allowed to be done when repairs or 'regeneration' is carried out. The lack of enforcement for shop fronts in the HIgh road consevation areas where anything goes and money IS being spent but results in new mediocrity.

There are a few signs of improvement but accusations also that this is 'gentrification'.

Yes, I paint a bleak picture. But a different more determined, thought through, developemnt policy and implementaion could make it all different. Precisely to drive all round improvements for local stakeholders who would not naturally benefit from the  typical London type gentrification. THIS IS A STAUNCHLY LABOUR council after all, no?. It is harder to carry through given the national policies and politics. But it isn't impossible. It didn't and doesn't have to be this way! Ask your councillors why it is!

I haven't mentioned our MP Mr Lammy and his vision or rather lack of any real inspiration.

U raise some good points JJ and on reflection of Fionas comments too I’m reminded of the time I commented on the development next to Hornsey station which the local councillors ignored in favour of a affordable homes quota. I’ve seen this time and time again working in local authority - councillors pushing for development and poor quality development at that, yet I’m also perplexed with Haringey that this isn’t consistent because they rejected the regeneration by Landlease in Tottenham?  U mention Dalston, JJ which isn’t perfect but what I will say for Hackney is that they have extremely supportive councillors to their planners and they understand the policies. I do feel bad for bashing planning earlier, especially being a planner myself, but now I do recall an officer in haringey telling me that they did everything to improve the design of the development next to Hornsey station but it was pushed through by councillors based on housing numbers for the borough allegedly.

Yes, but it DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!

I LABOUR borough should eb pushing for quality affordable developemnts.

I think there is also 'something else' going on!!?

Voila...tout est dit.

There were two large protected trees "accidentally" felled on Easter Sunday 2009 on that site. It turns out that those trees were worth millions.

Thanks for posting the link to the brochure, Hugh. This new development could make a significant change to Green Lanes. I walked past there a few days ago. The builders seem to have built the main support pillars and floors, and on the ground floor the exterior was being faced with red brick, at least on the side fronting on to Green Lanes.

As someone who lives on Harringay Road, with a garden backing on to Colina Mews I’m directly beside this development. As it’s gone up over the summer I’m increasingly flabbergasted 7 stories were signed off for the central block in the development. My house has the same aspect as the proposed block on Colina mews, this block & the proposed garden area in the middle of this development will get absolutely no afternoon/evening sun from the south/west because the height of the 7 & 5 story blocks that’ll pen it in. I can’t see where it’ll get any sun from at all to be honest. The bottom 5 floors of the central block will also struggle to get any natural light from any aspect because of how tightly sandwiched in they are from the blocks either side.

The now-apparent disparities between the plans and CG imagery publicised at the planning stage and the actual reality should be a strong warning that whatever emerges for the massive St Ann’s site will need really rigorous scrutiny to prevent similar space/light/density problems. Luckily, StART are on the case and have a crucial AGM coming up on 26 September, but they may well need wider support and pressure on councillors once any decision is taken on the actual developers.

It really won't matter how much scrutiny you give the plans and how many issues you point out to the Planning Officers - they'll just acknowledge that it doesn't comply with whatever policy/regulation/best practice and say it's ok.

There were dozens of instances where the plans for this site didn't comply at all with Haringey's own Planning Policies, but the Officers just waved them through - read their report to the Committee, it's all in there.

And then the Councillors on the Planning Committee will just toe whatever line they've been told to - it's a complete stich up.  Sorry to be so negative but I've seen this happen in action more than once.

Even if the proposed new national planning guidelines don't come to fruition, Haringey Council will continue to ignore their own policies when it suits them - makes you wonder why they bother to spend the time, effort and cost developing them in the first place.

Not a huge surprise to read this. I remember Hugh’s description of his appearance at the planning enquiry for the flats at the top of Wightman Road, and that was pretty depressing. Still pinning some hopes on StART for St Ann’s, as they seem to have made some progress and that development’s under the Mayor’s Office, not Harringay, I think, isn’t it?

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