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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on March 24, 2015 at 17:07

HURRY, hurry hurry!

Less than 23 hours left to book!

Get your £299 (plus VAT) ticket to the Tottenham regeneration conference *

Get inside running on the inside track!

Haringey Consultations can be effective; this is one that matters.

Both the Council Lead Member for Housing and the Council's Chief Executive will be there.

* The promoters also take Visa Debit cards.

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Permalink Reply by Martin Ball on March 27, 2015 at 0:20

Now the event has taken place, then what more do we know about it?

For starters we know that New London Architecture didn't price it to encourage local people to book a place. Plus, there were a lot of the 'usual suspects' in the Tottenham Regeneration Project amongst the speakers and audience. And, the event was all about how wonderful the top-down development agenda is. But, that is not new information.

But thanks to a Freedom of Information answer, we have a little more detail about the event from the recorded information that Haringey Council holds.

The council says it holds information confirming the venue would be charging nla the sum of £385 for staffing and set up of the space. So, one booking effectively covers the hire cost. I guess that there were around 60 attendees, but some might have been freebies. Surely Nick Walkley and Cllr Alan Strickland didn't pay to attend and speak? So, if only 35 paying attendees then the income might be around £10,000.

nla asked the council for a recognisable image of Tottenham to advertise the event on their website. They end up using a cgi of the proposed tower block over Tottenham Hale tube station.

The original plan was to have the post-walks drinks at Tottenham Hotspur. So, nobody tell John McAslan that N17 Studio was not the first choice. Did Spurs decline, or did somebody have the inspired thought to suggest another community use of N17 Studio.

But the big revelation of the FOI is the claim that 'NLA apparently offered 40 complimentary places' with the hope some went to resident forums. Which will come as a shock to community groups in the regen warzone and I know of a few that didn't get any invite. The Our Tottenham network contacted the nla organiser to request five places, but only got one and Dave Morris went inside to put the case of residents.

Here is the link to the FOI answer

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/regenerating_tottenham_event...

Any thoughts from others who were either outside protesting or were inside participating?

Further information about New London Architecture's Regenerating Tottenham event - held on Thursday 26th March at Tottenham Town Hall - is on their website http://www.newlondonarchitecture.org/programme/events/2015/march-20...

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Permalink Reply by pamish on March 27, 2015 at 1:23

I counted 112 chairs before it began but then they had to bring in more.  40 free offers, dont know who got those, they were certainly not mentioned on the NLA website.  I saw some councillors so they may have skipped the £360.  Lunch and drinks after would have cost £x, supplied by Craving Coffee.  The PA hire would have added some ££.

Nick Walkley did not earn his £150,000, his welcoming speech was about 30seconds.

Here's the first Q&A session.

L-R

Richard Blakeway, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property, GLA

Anthony Benson, Director, Allies & Morrison

David Walters, Development Director, Grainger Plc

Cllr Alan Strickland, Cabinet Member for Housing and Regeneration, Haringey Council

Sophie Camburn, Associate - Urban Design, Arup

Chris Hall, Director, GVA

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on March 27, 2015 at 6:55

Salary clarification: the "Annual Pay" of Haringey Council's Chief Executive was reported to me as £189,440.04; however on the same line in the spreadsheet, the minimum Salary range for Salary Scale "CEX" is £206,918.00 (data supplied in January).

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