I've just picked up a tweet from John McMullan with the following text and picture:
Ha ha! Queen's Head Harringay kept as a pub... and I laughed and laughed and laughed.
My understanding is that planning permission was granted with provisos that included:
the applicant retain the use of the ground floor of the building as a public house. A feasibility study would have to be conducted using a team approved by the council if the applicant wanted to, in the future, change the use of the ground floor
At the very least, it appears that the developers are acting in bad faith.
I've been on the phone to planning and was told that the decision has yet to be published with these provisos.
Perhaps our councillors might intercede on this if possible.
Tags supplement: More conversations on this topic in the Friends of the Queen's Head Group
Tags for Forum Posts: queen's head
I wrote to the chief planning officer and to the head of planning enforcement last night (Sunday) to inform them of this threatened breach of planning control.
I will keep you informed of developments.
David Schmitz
Liberal Democrat Councillor for Harringay Ward
If they were young children vandalising it you would have the police in there stopping them. Injunction?
Thank you David - very much hope you get a great deal more sense out of them than I was able to. Can share with you offline if you need.
Glad people are interested in this. I noticed this sign this morning and felt it would be very sad to see this beautiful old place gutted.
Ugh, unfortunately this is hardly a surprise (aside from the brazenness of it all). I think planning is probably the section of local government which needs the biggest shake up of all...
More news on this - and it's not good.
I just had a call from a helpful chap at Haringey planning. I was told that apparently if the ground floor is sold (leasehold or freehold), the restrictions imposed by the planning committee won't carry any sway. The restrictions applied only to the planning application as part of the conversion of the upper parts. Once the ground floor is sold only national planning use class applies. I was told that currently national law allows change of use from a pub to a shop and the Council have no say in the matter.
Sounds like a nonsense to me. Whether it's the national law or something else, someone or something is making a monkey of us here.
What a load of you-know-what. So what else is new.
So are we to assume that the developers have sold the ground floor to allow them to announce this so boldly? If so, no wonder the developers weren't too bothered by the council's proviso. They knew they could easily get round it. Disgraceful. Yet another Harringay and indeed Haringey pub is lost to the community and an example of how planning laws actively work against the community despite all the fine talk.
I'm not sure we can yet conclude anything. Let's see what Cllr Schmitz finds out. Difficult to believe that the committee weren't advised that their proviso was useless. We can't expect the councillors to have known this, but we can bloody well expect expert advice to have been available to them.
IF what I was told is true, this is a true farce.
Thank you David for getting on the case.
Surely if this proviso exists the development simply cannot be proceed.
This issue hopefully transcends party politics as being of concern to all the community. Are there any other Councillors on this list? If so, would be grateful for your thoughts and responses.
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