Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
LondonCentric report that promised arts centre at Hornsey Town Hall won't go ahead
Following a meeting last week between Haringey Council, the developers and local groups last week, it has been confirmed that the arts centre originally proposed for the Modernist town hall in Crouch End will not now be built.
Local groups feel "betrayed" by the move and argue that the proposals put forward for community use will be beyond the means of most local charities and community groups
Read the full story here
Tags for Forum Posts: hornsey town hall
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by tim p
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So, Harringey, "Borough of Culture 2027" Council , showing its real level of support for the arts then ??
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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A DISGRACE in London Borough of Culture 2027
In my view, Haringey Council is too close to developers and too ready to believe developer undertakings on everything from affordable housing quotients to promises of an arts centre in the Grade II STAR-listed masterpiece.
Because of the lack of transparency, there is no way of knowing whether this is due to naïvety, ignorance, stupidity, credulity or connivance.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Morris
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Is there any kind of protest with regards to this? A petition, campaign, demonstration etc?
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Is anyone really surprised? Isn’t this the MO of most developers? Promise the council the world to get approval for their scheme and then deliver nothing, knowing full well they won’t be held to account? It’s how “affordable” homes in most developments green lit start with 10 or 20, then become 5, then become none as each new appraisal shows that the developer suddenly can’t deliver and show a profit. The rich get richer…
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CHRIS Arnold is co-founder and director of the Crouch End Festival.
Chris comments about the evaporation of the Community Arts Centre that the council promised in this Opinion Piece in the Ham&High:
Why Hornsey Town Hall isn't a community arts centre
This kind of conduct by developers has happened again and again and again.
Why was this not locked down by staff at the council's legal department?
Will the London ["rebel"] Borough of Culture 2027 ever learn?
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The development company, Coplan Estates, was given the nod by the Council to partner in this project. In what is pure coincidence, Coplan were clients of a small PR firm, Terrapin.
If that name rings a bell, Terrapin was the employer of local councillor (now MP) and Labour Party chief whip Adam Jogee. See Ham & High to refresh your memories.
What is always underestimated is just how cheap it is to buy these people.
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YES.
Coplan Estates was the 50% partner in the deal with Far East Consortium.
Terrapin may have been small but the property developer lobbying firm had an impressive client list which included Lendlease UK the council's erstwhile Joint Venture partner with Clare Kober's New Labour Council.
Haringey Council is chronically unable to deal with conflicts of interest.
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The cheap buying: Modus Operandi
The MO of Terrapin was to offer lunches and dinners for politicians along with intimations that Bingle & Co are so well-connected, that can help the right politicians with their careers. As set out in the Ham&High article, the wining and dining happened repeatedly.
The MO of Terrapin's former Haringey Councillor employee was, Can we do coffee? ~
I declined that offer, despite it being accompanied with "it's now or never!". I hesitated for approximately one second and replied "in that case, it's never!" just before he got off the W3 bus outside the Hornsey Historical Society office in Crouch End. No one would be surprised to learn the same offer was made to a previous leader of the local Opposition.
I understand the second key element of his MO was obtaining one's email address, part of a building his networking database.
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Labour was once dominated by persons of principle, intellect and integrity and seeking the betterment of society. New Labour now appears riddled with self-serving lobbyists or former lobbyists.
Perhaps the best evidence of the overlap between politics and paid lobbyists in London is the former leader of Southwark Council:
Peter John was Chair of London Councils (2018–20). He later became Chairman of Terrapin.
Mr John is now styled as Lord John of Southwark.
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