Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Pickles Settles Confusion and Names Haringey 'worst authority'
Little love lost? Clare Kober, Leader of Haringey Council and Eric Pickles Minister for Communities and Local Government
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has issued a letter of correction after he wrongly identified Hackney as the worst performing local authority in the country in regard to planning applications on Monday. His correction instead puts Haringey in the frame.
In a House of Commons debate yesterday, Mr Pickles was asked by shadow secretary Hillary Benn during a debate on the Growth and Infrastructure Bill to name “one example of a so-called failing planning authority”.
Mr Pickles responded: “As the right hon. Gentleman knows and, more particularly, as other Opposition Members know, I have been more than helpful to those Members who have had trouble with planning authorities and I have done my best to move things along, but I am very happy to name the worst, which is Hackney.”
The remarks led to calls by Hackney’s mayor for Mr Pickles to apologise and issue a retraction. (See attached letter)
A ministerial correction has now been issued and is part of the Hansard official record, which stated that Mr Pickles meant to identify Haringey as the worst performing authority in regard to planning applications.
It remains to be seen what sort of letter Clare Kober will send the Minister.
Story picked up from Construction News
- Attachments:
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Hackney-Mayor-letter.pdf, 90 KB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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The following information has just been published by Planning magazine:
A series of tables produced by Planning on the English authorities who suffered the highest proportion of defeats in planning appeals and those that were lowest scoring for determining applications within 26 weeks show Hackney is in fact 21st - out of 25 – of the lowest scoring English councils for determining all applications within 26 weeks. It does not feature in any of the other Planning tables of struggling authorities. Labour MP and former local government minister Nick Raynsford quoted the Planning data in the house on Monday.
The London Borough of Haringey is not named in any of the Planning tables, which are based on Planning Inspectorate and DCLG data.
A DCLG spokesman said a parliamentary question had been tabled asking the department to explain the reason why Haringey had been named as the worst performing council. The spokesman said the department's response would be published in full tomorrow, but the decision was based on the council's performance in determining major applications.
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There's a theme developing on Twitter!:
Mr Pickles has trouble with his H's. Withdraws accusation of #Hackney as worst #planning authority. Names #Haringey. Hounslow? Hammersmith?
— Paul De Zylva (@pauldezylva) November 7, 2012"Sorry no not Haringey, Hammersmith. No Harrow. Damn no Havering." "Were you thinking of Happyland Minister? From the ELC?"...
— Dan Wilden (@danwilden) November 7, 2012
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Permalink Reply by JJ B on
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Yup...and if there is one thing we who live is the east of Haringey know, it's that Haringey Council is very, very bad at planning and planning enforcement. The conservation areas in the east of the Borough are being destroyed by HAringey itself not enforcinig the policies effectively. People are daily ripping out original doors, windows, walls, etc. They chronically fall behind enforcing illegal house conversions and the housing stock is losing its appeal to family's. Haringey have allowed Spurs to demolish parts of the High Rd near to White Hart lane. IT is only the intervention of heritage charities that manged to save some of the historic street scape!
In their (Haringey planners and Executives) minds Seven Sisters renewal can only happen by eviction and replacement of local traders and demolition of heritage assets - well loved buildngs, by clone town high rise speculative appartment blocks.
They sold the beautiful old library at Compton Crescent and this is now under threat of demolition and redevelopment ito a bland chunky apartment block...
This INEPT council has lost the plot and tries to get around that by spending loads of our council tax money on propaganda. But they arn't fooling anyone. I think even they know that they are wrong!
The unfortunate thing about it is that one only realises much later that one's policies have resulted in the opposite effect to that intended. But by then it is too late to go back. And of course those in charge won't be around to suffer the consequences. They'll have moved on to "better things".
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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The Conservation Area at Wards Corner was ordained by the London Borough of Haringey.
LBH later granted Planning Permission on the Conservation Area, for an over-built, out-of-scale, off-the-peg, office-block-like structure. This will be massed right on top of the corner above the Underground station (Seven Sisters). Not much conservation in evidence there.
The only thing conserved is a reputation for incompetence.
It seems that, for the council's planning department, a conservation area is merely a place pending development and whose conservation aspects will be relegated to "Memory Boxes".
Memory Boxes is the official, Haringey Planning Department terminology, dreamt up the clowns of the circus.
You could not make it up.
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Permalink Reply by Neville Collins on
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@JJB hear hear!!!
Haringey's approach to planning in Tottenham has been for a long time different from those in other parts of the borough. Not only they are failing to protect the public realm (not just buildings), but they are indirectly putting lives at risk.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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So Haringey's Kober Kabal were just trying to improve their stats when they pushed through the latest Grainger slash + burn planning appn in six weeks with no time for consultation, then? Never mind that major plans should be given at least 13 weeks. And closing the public meeting to discuss it in 20 minutes would have abbreviated those stats even more. Good-o. So proud to live in this shining example of democracy in action.
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Agree. Enforcement is non existent. I actually left my old home and moved after years of battling an illegal oversized extension on the house next door. The developer knew how to play the game and although an enforcement notice was served nothing was ever done and now he has got permission to convert the house in to flats.
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I understand there is a chronic problem with the placement of site notices in a timely, indeed legal, fashion. It may be this to which the communities secretary is referring.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I can't understand how he came up with Haringey, it doesn't appear on the lists. Infact the worst authorities are all conservative run.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Raises so many interesting questions, Michael. For example, about the accuracy - or otherwise - of data; about bias and political propaganda; and about the usefulness of targets. So for example, I assume few people on this website would agree that a borough's Planning Service should be judged solely on how quickly it processes applications.
Yet we do want and need to know how well a local council's services are doing - whether in-house or contracted-out. And that means having reliable measures reported by people we can trust.
Politicians? Chance would be a fine thing.
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Permalink Reply by TTTH on
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As an amenity group I think that Harringayonline has the power to not only object to planning applications but to go to judical review if a planning application is allowed particularly on the grounds of conservation. Paragraph 135 of the (new) NPPF states "the effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application". The Secretary of State himself would have to comment on the Judical Review and if he already has a bad opinion of Haringey, he is likely to look at it more closely. Also the 1990 Act states that authorities must not only preserve and enhance their conservation areas, but they should be appraising these areas on a regular basis. Any failure to do this could lead to the SoS stepping in to enforce the local authority to act. Again I think the procedure an amenity group should follow to do this is Judicial Review. I always say put the negative energy into fighting for what is right
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