Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Why has work stopped on the West Green Road Council Housing scheme?
Given that we have both a housing and cost of living crisis (and further that Haringey is an unaffordable area to anyone on average or local authority wages) it seems mad to me that a scheme to provide 46 Council homes 'soon' has been stopped half built for half a year. The reinforced concrete framework went up last year plus a few bits of insulation and brickwork but since then nothing. This is a scheme between Haringey Council and the Paul Simon Magic group but perhaps the magic has gone. Does anyone know why?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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jpq, in case you haven't already noticed, you'll be pleased to hear that work seems to be proceeding again. I took this snap for you of a man at work on the top on one of the buildings at the back.
I hadn't appreciated how huge the development is. I've only ever driven past the West Green frontage before and seen it out of the corner of my eye. Today, I walked over to the Latino store at the top of Seven Sisters Road and walked past the Stanley Road frontage. The photo below only captures an idea of the depth of the development.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Thanks Hugh. I'm glad to see there appeared to be a human being up on the scaffolding. Did they move?
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Only if you captured a snatch of the dance routine.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon Farcas on
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Man at work or bloke who jumped the fence and is wandering around nicking gear to sell at the market on White Hart Lane or enterprising chap usung the empty building and free electricity to run his cannabis farm on the upper floors?
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This link including an aerial view in 2022 may help HoL members judge the scale of the site previously owned by Haringey and entrusted to Magic Homes.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5866931,-0.0974123,51m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttuClick on layers icon.
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Permalink Reply by jp quethiock on
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You might notice from Hugh's photos that the plastic sheeting designed to protect the workers from the elements has blown away in parts; to reveal not much. This happened quite a few weeks ago and should have been treated as a H&S matter but maybe the Council and Paul Simon Magic Group are happy to have sheets of plastic blowing onto the street below?
In any case, yes, I did see some brickies at work last week on the site. Not many it has to be said so again, I think the slogan '46 council homes at council rents coming soon' has a very different meaning for those responsible for this development.
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There are always excellent reasons/mitigating factors/pathetic excuses/ for snail-like progress.
The late Cllr Julie Davies had a long previous career as a teacher, and later an effective trade unionist.
Julie had a sharp wit. After some or other Council mess-up, she described the frantic buck-passing as either "a big-girl-made-me-do-it" or "some-boys-did-it-then-ran-away".Has anyone spotted a Council report which might possibly offer a hint of a whisper of truth about the Red House development?
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I braved the rain yesterday and took another look around the site. There were no brickies at work and I doubt the rain would have stopped them from working under plastic sheeting cover but the crane operator was moving some items around; all very unhurried. As the Smiths once asked, how soon is now?
I took a photo, attached, of the sheeting on West Green Road now bundled together exposing the lovely cantilevered concrete balconies plus plywood window infill.
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Just to update the world on the (lack of) progress at this site. There was still no work at the site today but I spoke with a security man there. He said that the site had more or less been closed for the past four or five months but he was still expecting his job to end by March 2024 and so the building completed by then I understood. Perhaps thinking that I was casing the joint he pointed out to me all the lovely new CCTV cameras that had sprung up on poles around the site on the Stanley Road side of the development. There's not much lead or copper in buildings nowadays but doubtless there's plenty of other stuff someone might think worth stealing from the site. Particularly as it may seem abandoned. Perhaps Haringey Council have forgotten about it or maybe the developers are using delay to push the council into accepting a lesser number of social housing units on the development. It would be nice to hear from the council why this site has ground to a halt.
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How about collecting names addresses and group signatures to a Freedom of Information Act request. I'm up for signing one and would encourage several more friends and others.
My only reservation is that it should be about obtaining hard facts about this formerly public land, which could and should be used to build affordable homes.
Not for scoring political points.
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It's been a year since last I sauntered down to the building work on the site of the old Derby Hall on West Green Road where for three years there's been a promise to deliver 46 council homes soon. Still they remain uncompleted. I spoke with a security guy who said that two blocks are structurally completed but he had no idea as to when the development will finally be ready for tenants. There was no work activity on site today.
Same story on Cornwall Road where the Mayor of London's development of (admittedly rather ugly) council flats has been left untouched for 7 months since the structure was essentially finished. Photo attached. No work seen since February.
How on earth will the government build 1.5 million homes in five years if the Haringey standard applies?
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