An item at tonight's Council Cabinet meeting has thrown into question the future survival of Haringey's two warehouse districts and the artistic communities who live in them.
Both the Harringay Warehouse District and the Fountayne Road community now face an uncertain future following the publication of a Haringey Council report, "Tackling Unauthorised Living in Industrial Areas". (Report attached)
The report, which was discussed at the full cabinet of the Council today, recommends a two-year project costing £600,000 which will seek to deal with "the growing problem of unauthorised residential and live work uses in and around (the) Industrial Sites" in Haringey. The recommended process is "to establish a special multi-disciplinary team to fully investigate and address the problem through a combination of regulation, improvement, enforcement and, where necessary, prosecution".
The alarm bells were ringing for me since earlier in the week I had discovered that these areas are earmarked as being amongst those that will "will accommodate the majority of development in the borough over the next 20 years".
In Facebook and Twitter conversations this afternoon, warehouse residents shared their fears that the vibrancy their communities bring to the borough will be overlooked and their communities sanitised and destroyed.
In response to my Twitter requests to Council Leader Claire Kober this evening to protect these communities, Cllr Kober sought to offer some reassurance:
@harringayonline some people in unacceptable conditions. My concern is for safe, decent properties. No intention to undermine communities
@harringayonline no intention to damage what's good. Priority is to go after rogue landlords just as we do elsewhere in borough
When I asked if she would ensure that warehouse residents will be involved, the Council Leader replied:
@harringayonline don't see any problem involving residents. Will ask officers to consider how best to achieve
I very much hope that the approach the Council takes in this project will support these communities rather than beginning the process of whittling them away.
Tags for Forum Posts: local plan, local plan 2014, site allocation plan, warehouse district
In fairness it does look like she's spent many years trying to address these same problems from her own end (council not listening by the sound of it) so I can see why she's frustrated that several people have now levelled the same complaints at her.
And, uh, 'noisy yoga'? Sounds like a new form I've never heard of!
Jenny, thinking further about your comment "security taking money at the gate" it occurs to me that this may also be a matter for the Haringey Licensing Team.
Obviously they'd be concerned where crowds gather and there's a problem with people having to leave in a hurry. Probably the Noise team have liaised on this issue - especially with the Fire Service.
But just in case, if the events are continuing can you please report this to Haringey's Licensing Team. Again safety would be a priority. I've spoken to them and asked them to take a look at your comments on this thread. But it's best if people contact the team directly.
Sounds like an excellent idea Eliane. Sharon might be up for this. Much easier to start with two (or a few ) of you meeting for a coffee. Can progress wider if the need proves to be there.
Jenny, I'm glad you took the trouble to post this. I believe it's very helpful for people to have information about who's who and how a problem "jigsaw" fits together.
It also indicates that genuine efforts have been made to tackle the different problems. And that includes "brainstorming" sessions with councillors and Council officers. I rarely give Cllr Joe Goldberg compliments these days, but it seems that he took these problems seriously and deserves credit for that.
I've been involved in (and helped set up) similar sessions. They need time and work and rarely lead to quick solutions. A couple of times David Lammy MP has lent his support as well. (In the past David and his family experienced noise and other neighbour nuisance, so he was very supportive.) Though sometimes not even the MP can cut through knotty problems.
Involving the people directly affected can be harder still. Especially if there's a history of conflict and lack of trust. But it's usually vital to get solutions which "stick". One difference with the former factories/warehouses is the scale of the sites - with many more "units", residents, owners and conflicting interests involved.
A general point: learning from what works, or partly works, or fails, is part of the process of building knowledge for the future. Which is harder when key staff get other jobs or are victims of cuts. And when there's a change in councillors or staff. So in April I will suggest to the new Council that some of these "interventions" may be useful case studies published on the Council's website. So that people could learn what's possible. And that it's not necessary to put up with misery. But also that there are serious constraints about what local Councils can do. Especially when some developers, or landlords, or other residents are not co-operative and determined to break the rules come what may.
Case studies from other Councils would be valuable as well. Good ideas should be shared. Though that will need a new Council led by different people, who understand and can foster a learning culture. There's no reason why Haringey should always be ten or twenty years behind the best.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
We did it on Arena, established a residents' group and circulated a code of conduct for leaseholders, different circumstances for each site though.
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