Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Hornsey Station Housing Monstrosity Back in the Running
The developers of the nine storey monstrosity for the site on Hampden Road by Hornsey Station have put the building back in the running.
After being rejected in Spring 2014, the developers drew up some revised plans and ran a poorly attended consultation meeting in January this year.
At the meeting I was told that the building as is may never get built, but they that they were seeking to obtain planning permission for the plot. The person I spoke to talked as if this were common practice, but I'm uncertain as to what the implications would be.
Now we learn from Steve Moore that the plans are being presented to Haringey’s planning sub-committee tonight in the form of a pre-application discussion. This means that no decision will be made, but I guess is aimed at softening up the committee and sounding our where additional objections might be made.
From what I dug up last time round, there is plenty of ammunition to seek an amended application. This one as it is looks like a real horror.
Tags for Forum Posts: hampden road, hampden road development
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Antoinette on
-
A plot with an approved planning application can increase the value of the plot tenfold, so in that sense the practice is common. But more often than not the plans as approved are those that get built. Submitting new plans costs money and causes delays.
-
-
webcam is available http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=728&... regardless if you like the idea or not some of the counsellors are a joke.
One of them spent nearly the whole time on the phone and every question asked by the counsellors had already been discussed/answered in previous meetings. No wonder Haringey has one the worst performing counsels in the country!
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Thanks. I'm attaching the briefing document and here's a link to the video skirting the Haringey Council system which seems to slow things up badly. It's not riveting TV, I warn you.
The consultants start their briefing at 10 mins.
Given that this is likely to be the biggest housing development in Harringay ward over the past 100 years, it seems a real pity that none of our councillors was able to attend. I'm assuming there were very good reasons for this.
- Attachments:
-
-
I heard few councillor questions from a residents' perspective until the end and then only when nudged by the chair. One question asked was about the scale. Gebina, from the architects, admitted that it was designed as a building to have presence. Her mitigating plea was that the number of people living there would make the area feel safer and some nonsense about it helping to make the location of the footbridge more obvious. (Really?!?)
She concludes by saying. "I cannot deny that it's very high, but it's something that we've looked at from the very start and we just think that the location can sustain the height because it's on the side of a railway.....it has a certain presence; that's all I can say".
Her colleague chips in to add that the site is "quite unconstrained" as to its character because it's next to a railway and other commercial activities. He supplements this to say that they wanted to create a building that will be exciting as you go past on the railway or come out of the station.
Grand, so they're arguing that the size of the development is excused because:
a. It will help people find the railway bridge.
b. It will make people feel safer in the street because people will be sitting out on their balconies (a sort of summer safety then).
c. It will be exciting as you go past on a train.
d. There are few design constraints because it's by a railway.
That's it? Nothing about how it may affect the area and fit it with the existing townscape? Nothing about the impact on local health education and other amenities? Gobsmacking.
I'm not anti-development, but currently the Council is looking not only at this, but also at other huge developments in Harringay and I don't see any one wrangling with the issues of what this might mean for quality of life in the neighbourhood.
-
-
Well you did ask... sounds like they had a more important engagement.
-
-
To give a sense of scale and what the building might feel like in the neighbourhood, I've done a little mock-up. I've tried to be fair when judging the scale and used the existing building, the mosque and Station mansions as a guide. Click to enlarge.
-
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
-
Perhaps with all those people living there, the boarded up shop in the mansions will open up selling Lattes and Sausage rolls? Or perhaps they will just be sold to investors in China who have no interest in becoming landlords? What are the chances of them giving locals fed up with noisy flats on the Ladder first pick?
-
-
It is horrid, way to overpowering. Two huge towers were pulled down years ago to be replaced with the lower buildings in Denmark Road which were more in keeping with the area and now they are building huge buildings again. Traffic and parking is already under pressure added to by 3 places of worship.
-
Permalink Reply by David Schmitz on
-
When I went to the GDF last year, I was struck by architects' rep's assertion that the building was pleasing because it recalled a cliff face. She also referred to the supposedly striking appearance of the structure from the railway line.
This led me to speculate, inwardly, that passengers heading home to Scotland might soon be toasting their escape from a city which seemed to be becoming prey to an aesthetic which lauds piles of rock as the stuff of inspiration for architects.
I haven't seen any further plans (a matter commented on by Cllr Beavan), so I can't say whether my speculations still hold. However, I'm not particularly hopeful.
Clearly, we have to watch this one closely. Because speaking time before the Committee is very scarce (only a few can speak for only a few minutes), we should take care (assuming that we have objections to the final scheme) that a group is formed which can agree a line and prepare arguments which are brief and circulated by email directly to committee members at least a week in advance. I shall of course be happy to help. This is particularly important because the unusual holding of a "pre-application meeting" in which only the developers can speak will have the effect of giving them two bites at the cherry.
I shall also be happy to meet with residents of Railway Mansions and with representatives of the Mosque and the two nearby churches to discuss any concerns which they may have.
David Schmitz
Lib Dem former Councillor, Harringay Ward
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
