Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey's Warehouse Districts Under Threat?
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
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Permalink Reply by Takaokagiejin on
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Ha! And the lovingly drawn line to define it actually includes my old Victorian terraced home. Grrrr
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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It's a Hipster enclosure! 'beware, you are entering a zone of yellow socks, awkward length trousers, beards and ironic spectacles.'
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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You see! Already turning on the bearded minorities!
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Joking aside, the issue is that the creation of HMOs containing over 700 bedrooms in Harringay has been supported here on HOL because the occupants are viewed as desirable. The experience of the surrounding community is that the HMOs cause significant damage to the environment and anyway the occupants aren't that chummy.
This differs hugely from the outpouring of rage when illegal conversions happen on the Ladder eg "Rogue Ladder Landlord Benefits to the Tune of£312,000"
I wonder if it is because the occupants of the illegal ladder conversions aren't considered to be the footsoldiers of vibrant regeneration.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Here's how the story is being presented on London Housing News:
A special taskforce will be set up to tackle landlords who force people who live in “overcrowded and potentially dangerous” warehouses in Haringey.
The borough has seen a recent surge in instances of people renting out industrial units as communal living spaces for young adults, according to Haringey Borough Council.
However, these buildings are often not fit for people to live, with no means of escape in an emergency, poor sanitation, and a lack of basic facilities.
The council claims there are a total of 727 bedrooms, in 322 units, across 26 sites in Haringey.
Each unit is often overcrowded, with up to 20 people living in each one.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Thursday night the council approved a plan to create a taskforce to tackle the problem.
It will see planning, housing and enforcement officers working together with the police and fire brigade to clampdown on the illegal use of industrial units.
The taskforce will also ensure living areas are safe and appropriate.
Councillor Joseph Ejofor, cabinet member for planning and enforcement, said: “It’s unacceptable for landlords to be offering industrial units as places to live.
“The buildings are often cramped, cold, insanitary and dangerous and we are clear that the landlords who are using them in this way are in serious breach of planning regulations and are placing their tenants at risk.
“We know that housing is at a premium in the borough and we recognise the contribution that these residents – many of whom work in the creative industries – make to our borough, but the council would be failing in its duty if it was to turn a blind eye to the very real dangers that these tenants are facing.”
Under the scheme, landlords will be asked to clear premises where they are found to be unsuitable for residential use.
Existing residents will be given up to six months to find alternative accommodation and will be offered advice from the council’s taskforce.
Members of the Liberal Democrat opposition have claimed the clampdown on warehouses could mean up to 6,000 are evicted from their homes.
Councillor Richard Wilson said: “How could Labour-run Haringey Council have failed to notice thousands of residents moving into industrial buildings - including units it owns itself?
“This complete shambles could have been avoided if earlier action had been taken.
“The council must do everything they can to ensure that people are not evicted unnecessarily and the creative community on the site is given all the assistance they need to stay in Tottenham.”
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Well that does sound unambiguously negative and punitive. I very much hope this is not the case, and is an inaccurate account of the plan.
I was so hoping that - at least in their own Seven Sisters ward - Claire Kober and Joe Goldberg had tried to find a flexible and imaginative approach to this problem. An approach which stood some chance of balancing the various interests.
Maybe they could come on Harringay Online and clearly, in detail, without obfuscation, spin, or ambiguity, explain their plan.
In the meantime, can I suggest that a "Good Neighbour Agreement" between the artists/creatives and other local residents might be considered a constructive way to temporarily tackle some of the problems of noise and nuisance described in this thread. Thankfully, that would not need the council or local councillors, but could be initiated locally.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by ingo pless on
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Hi Alan,
We did precisely that on Arena - a responsible landlord's agreement. Worked well for a considerable time.
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Thanks Ingo, if that's precisely what you did, then I'd like to read it. Where can this agreement be found, please? Does it include neighbours outside your building? Or is it between the tenants and the landlord(s)? If the latter then that's not exactly the idea I'm suggesting.
A few of the neighbours and ex-neighbours of the former light industrial buildings have posted comments on this site; and it's their concerns and experiences - as well as yours - which I'm suggesting should be considered and respected as legitimate.
I'm not saying you (personally or with the other residents in your building) haven't already done that. Obviously I don't know. Nor am I saying that having a few people commenting on HoL necessarily means they "represent" or "speak for" this or that group.
An online forum is a highly imperfect public space - Agora as Citizen Finnegan reminds us. But we are losing physical public spaces all the time, so it can help a little in learning what others think and believe. And potentially in building collective judgement about what's happening and how to try solving problems.
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Here is a previous draft Alan, it relates to specifics of the Arena site, a great deal of footfall through a school gate style frontage next to family homes.
Discussions amongst ourselves highlighted the issue, and genuinely i.e. people on our site realised that it was not just their parties and guests causing headaches but all the others'.
"There are some very simple and sensible things we can all do in order to avoid making other people’s lives unbearable.
The noise issue is an important one, as local residents around the gate area are at their wits end, often getting woken in the night more than once a week. This letter is to ask you please be considerate, and to make an effort to do the following.
1: If people are leaving your unit late at night, make sure they understand that they are in a residential area and should keep down their voices.
2: Taxis: A big part of the problem is that people often wait for taxis by the gates. It is better if people wait for late-night taxis to pick them up from inside your unit, or at the back car park. If you are having a celebration or event – consider putting a sign on your front door and in the loo with a local cab number - explaining to people to please be quiet when leaving. It would be good to inform the cab office you use to pick up at the back car-park and not at the gates. For your info one local cab number is 020 88005544.
3: Keeping an eye on things: If there are a lot of people about late at night, it doesn’t take much effort to walk down to the gate periodically to check people are keeping it civilised outside. This saves others from having to get out of bed to do this.
4: If it is late and groups are leaving your unit - Where possible use an exit as far as possible from the front gates.
5: Please do not do your recycling after 11pm at night.
We hope that these very simple measures will greatly alleviate the problems and complaints, whilst allowing us to continue to enjoy our community and lifestyle."
I wasn't actually born in a warehouse, and have discussed our site with new buyers locally, who seem keen on opportunities to see some of the "creativity behind the gates" a view shared by lots of us.
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Many thanks for posting this, Ingo. It seems both helpful and practical.
Though I'm given Ning's formatting of comments - it's grouped with January posts - it would be shame if it was missed by other people who would find it useful. So can I suggest you consider posting a link on the latest page of this thread .
Please also consider the suggestions made in my comment here - which I hope, complement your "Good Neighbour" advice for residents and visitors in the Arena site.
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