Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Spurs in spat with Haringey and the Mayor
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Not exactly a "spat" is it?
I wonder whether a better description might be that a very rich football club comes back again with a begging bowl expecting the public purse to cover its funding gap.
Obviously Mr Levy hasn't yet realised that obsequious simpering Haringey Council has run out of money for even basic public services. (Of course with the exception of trips to Cannes and subsidies to vanity projects.) And its so-called Council Leaders are now desperately planning to sell off their land holdings.
"I'm still your friend", Claire Kober whinges to Daniel Levy.
"Sure", says Daniel. "So where's the 'support' you promised?"
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Is it time to open the betting on how long it will take for Spurs to plead poverty and renege on the provision of affordable housing?
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How utterly depressing yet at the same time depressingly predictable.
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Mr Levy's description of his plans as the: "main economic driver for North Tottenham" presumably means driver for the profits of his football business. As for the claims for "regeneration", yes the stadium building is getting higher and larger. But the notion this is an unalloyed benefit to Tottenham residents is dubious to say the least.
But the most curious statement from Mr Levy, in the leaked begging bowl email, is about the banks. He tells us that:
"Other than simply wanting to see the money is in place, it is understood the banks also want assurances over the redevelopment of the local area around the new stadium."The first bit I get. A very rich football club has made investment plans and asked people for huge loans. So investors want to know their cash is not just safe but will be reliably coining profits.
But apparently for this to happen Mr Levy's business needs super-generous "support" from the Mayor of London and Haringey Council. At a time when like many councils, Haringey is sacking staff and shutting down vital frontline services.
Well, like any "business plan" Mr Levy's stacks up with a big enough public hand-out. Even better if someone else pays for the so-called "infrastructure" - the public transport and other facilities which Spurs needs to move its customers to and from their private money-making enterprise.
But why does Mr Levy say that: "the banks also want assurances over the redevelopment of the local area around the new stadium?" Perhaps because somebody is looking to make significant profits but not just from a stadium?
So now look at what is planned for Council-owned housing land near the stadium site - a large part of the HDV (Haringey Development Vehicle). This is now "red-lined" by Haringey Council for demolition and social cleansing.
One part currently called "Love Lane Estate", is now referred to in meaningless Estate Agent burble as "High Road West". The plans are to demolish it completely to provide "a walkway" for Spurs fans, from a new White Hart Lane Station - naturally renamed "Tottenham Hotspur Station".
But a far larger nearby area of existing housing has also been "red-lined" for future demolition and dislocation by Haringey's planners. This land is currently being valued at next to nothing because it happens to be occupied by Tottenham residents. But it will get a huge "uplift" in value if those residents are cleared off and displaced.
As for Cllr Clare Kober, she continues eagerly to offer to work "in partnership" with Mr Levy and seems increasingly desperate to get her demolition plans agreed.
For some time I couldn't understand why she was in so much of a rush. At the very least, some delay and a cautious thorough scrutiny of the plans seemed a very sound idea. If only to try to assess and guard against the risks of the scheme collapsing- as happened with other councils entering into such "partnerships" which ended in messy and expensive 'divorces'.)
Mr Levy's leaked email has made me wonder whether the timetable for signing up to the Haringey Development Vehicle might have been linked to the financial pressure Spurs are now under. And which pressure Daniel Levy appears to be passing on to Haringey and Sadiq Khan.
My Levy seeks huge loans plus solid promises that substantial public cash will be forthcoming.
But he finds not only that the public sector cupboard is bare. Now, what was supposed to be rubber-stamping of the HDV by a supine sycophantic and half-asleep Labour Group has turned into a thoughtful and thorough critique of an ill-considered and highly risky scheme. Potential risks which tower over any of the Councils past messes - for example like the Ally Pally Debt fiasco and the disastrous deal with Firoka.
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West Greener, you asked: "What demolition notices would these be?" that Daniel Levy refers to?" For HoL members who haven't read the Evening Standard report, it said:
"The email, sent last Sunday morning, said: 'The option to utilise Wembley for next season expires in a few weeks, the process of season ticket renewals, demolition notices etc are all reasons why the banks require certainty'."
Which demolition? It's hard to say, Wood Greener. So much is envisaged - if not yet planned in detail - that even for intelligent guesswork we are spoiled for choice.
Is what he says accurate? Since Tottenham Hotspur football club appear to be in the driver's seat in the Northumberland Park neighbourhood, I assume Mr Levy is simply telling the plain truth. He appears to know far better than local residents, local councillors, and possibly even Cllrs Kober and Strickland what's actually going on.
But we won't get the key to unlock this puzzle from Mr Levy himself. The club declined to discuss the email.
Nor I suspect, will Cllrs Kober and Strickland be forthcoming.They and their chums are very uncomfortable with the 'D' word. When campaigners against the Haringey Demolition Vehicle mention demolishing homes, we're told we are "scaremongering". But I doubt that Claire Kober fired off an angry email to Daniel Levy when he used it.
They themselves avoid any such accurate and truthful terms like "destroy homes"; "reduce to rubble", "flatten" and so forth.
(They were the same after the Tottenham Riot when they used terms like "incidents in Tottenham" and "disturbances".)
To return to Mr Levy's email, we learn that he's a man in a big hurry with a very pressing timetable to persuade the bankers to lend him money to finish building the largest shiniest state-of-the-art-est stadium in the whole country.
As we know, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a football club in possession of a giant stadium must be in want of a state-of-the-art high definition TV broadcasting facility. But the existing facility - vans on Northumberland Park School's astroturf is not up to the standard required for a 365 days Leisure Destination. (Including lucrative broadcasts of U.S. NFL matches.)
So the demolition Daniel Levy has in mind may involve knocking down a school or two; plus a nearby housing estate to make space for all this "regeneration".
Perhaps many people won't believe something so monstrous. So please read the Council "cabinet" papers.
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Permalink Reply by JJ B on
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Why don't they sell sone of all those properties they own in North Tottenham? Realise theor value. Surely some developoer will snap it up and make millioins?
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JJ, you know the answer.
Because Spurs prefer to eat someone else's cake, licking the cream off the spoon, while leaving their own cakes to mature nicely.
I really dunno what's wrong down at Claire's Eclairs Delectable Developments. The flow of filo faltered? Not promptly passing the patisserie?
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