Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Tottenham's Future - in whose hands?
Starting tomorrow is a so far undefined consultation on Tottenham's Future. Sketchy details on its website say that they want to talk to us about the £Billion 'regeneration' plans for Tottenham. Doesnt say much about listening, but I reserve judgement till Tuesday morning when the first presentations happen in Seven Sisters, the first of a rolling programme.
Tuesday 22nd 11-2 outside the college, 4-7 outside Costa Coffee (not on the bigger space on the pavement in front of the market, for mysterious reasons).
Then Saturday at Tottenham Hale, then progressing up the High Road till 9th November.
Over to you, people of Tottenham and beyond.
Tags for Forum Posts: 'regeneration', future, tottenham
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Neville Collins on
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In whose hands? Certainly not the local peoples' thats for sure. I wonder what the Our Tottenham and Wards Corner guys think of this.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Thanks for letting us know about this, Pam. and for the link to the website.
Zena tells me there was a meeting for Labour councillors in Tottenham where this was presented by Cllr Alan Strickland. As I'm no longer a member of the Labour Group I wasn't invited so I can't give you any first first-hand information. Obviously being Tottenham councillor for over fifteen years - and a resident for twice as long - means nothing to the Claire Kober/ Alan Strickland secret society.
I've no idea whether or not LibDems have been let into these secrets. Although all councillors - whipped and whipfree - have a responsibility for the whole of the Haringey, not just their own wards. Plainly, whatever happens to Tottenham will have a significant impact on the rest of the borough.
I tried the phone number given on the website if you want more information - 0208 489 8434. I got through to an answerphone inviting me to leave a message with someone who, I think, was part of the team which did the consultation about the Love Lane estate in North Tottenham. Has anyone had any success in speaking to a person and getting hard information?
I have seen a draft leaflet (which has the same phone number). It appears to be exactly the same sort of completely vacuous fluff-with-tickboxes used in Love Lane. Like that "consultation" it Invites people to construct a pie-in-the-sky wishlist of positives. Giving them tendentious lists which appear to be already decided.
The leaflet would be a very bad joke if it wasn't so desperately serious for us Tottenham residents.
However. I'm assuming that behind this facade of cheery update "improvements" some very serious thinking has gone on. With reports from highly-paid consultants setting out the background thinking. Some of this may be helpful and have some positive outcomes. If no other reason than the law of averages.
Unfortunately, any such background reports are not included in this website. Alternatively it may be that no new thinking has been done and that the ideas come from the same old stagnant pool of failed thinking used for many years. Or perhaps it's Stuart Lipton's property developer's report on Tottenham?
Pam, is anyone from "Our Tottenham" digging into this? We need some urgent Freedom of Information Act Requests, and extensive public sharing of any bits of information people are able to winkle out from behind curtains of Secret Haringey. Before it's too late.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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The launch has obviously got itself ahead of the website being ready. I wonder what those consultants cost?
'Our Tottenham' is in the information loop now. A good job that Neville of 7SistersCommunity picked this up in time.
I'm going now to play a part in active citizenship and do a bit of listening. Sssshhhhh.
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Sadly, "One Tottenham" sometimes seems to be an echo chamber of people who agree with one another.
The immediate task here is being community detectives and digging out and publicly revealing the truth about the next lot of plans being prepared by the Muswell Hill Colonial administration. Which may of course, contain some positives. We don't know yet because their default position is secrecy.
But when you're chucking other people's money around, it can sometimes hit a positive target.
BTW, I would not be surprised to find a huge cost for consultants. Let's have some photos of these splendid people. If possible with their daily rates and whether or not they avoid tax through having their own companies.
Because there tend to be two levels in this process. There are the facilitators who are the sales-force - the smiley, pleasant, front-end faces of consultation. But behind them are the consultants, "master planners" and business interests who are driving the Tory policies dressed-up in Labour clothes.
So listening to the front-of house staff has severe limits. We need a concerted effort to get to the people behind-the-curtain and bring their ideas and plans into the fresh air and sunlight.
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The women on the stall are very charming and have large supplies of post-it notes.
The questions are fairly open - what do you like/dislike, what do you want to see happen/not happen. But no mention of the actual Plans for Tottenham, which are effectively set in stone anyway.
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As I said, I've seen the leaflet. It's the same idiotic nonsense as other fake consultations.
E.g. "You told us you would like the streets and public spaces to be improved. What ideas do you have for making this happen and where? This might be making streets cleaner and safer (how?), street art, well designed new buildings, or better parks..."
It's as though some joker thinks it's utterly hilarious to roll into one giant "consultation" a whole list of political farce and fakery. Including: the politician's fallacy; the Law of the Nonsensical Reverse and Maslow's Hammer and my old favourite Bullshit Bingo.
As you suggest Pam, the frustrating thing is that whoever approved this will carry on regardless of any criticism however soundly-based. Perhaps they are entirely shameless? Or simply have no capacity or disposition to listen and learn?
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There's more on the website, Pam. As the links now work. Still fluff and sugar-coated pap.
Interesting timing as well. Five months bring us nicely up the pre-election period. So it's fairly obvious what the sub-text of this is. As I said, shameless.
You'll now also see that the organisation called Soundings plans to take charge of the process. The Consultation page says that They will be setting up
"Community Liaison Groups in Tottenham from November covering:
- North Tottenham west (incorporating High Road west)
- North Tottenham east (incorporating Northumberland Park)
- Tottenham Green/Seven Sisters/Bruce Grove
- Tottenham Hale/South Tottenham
These groups will discuss the community’s ideas for their areas in more detail, and how those ideas can be made into reality. Each group will meet three times – in November 2013, January 2014 and February 2014. We will be talking to tenants and residents associations, local community groups, trader and business associations and other local stakeholders about joining the groups."
So there we are. Our colonial mistress and masters in Muswell Hill are sending in the District Commissioners to sort us out and capture our opinions. Which - again as you said before - will be carefully slotted into the plans they've already decided on.
If we let 'em.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
P.S. You'll see that their definition of "Tottenham" is east Tottenham. As I've been saying for a couple of years they've allowed the developers and rioters to define our neighbourhood.
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Oh dear, why is the council doing this? It is clear that they are trying to get local people to endorse what they have already decided on. It's amazing that they are selling a "brave new world" for local residents, despite not being either able to clean our streets nor to tackle flytipping.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Morris on
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Hi all
I agree that the Council's 'consultations' in Tottenham are vacuous and pretty much just a form of propaganda for their already-decided plans. However its up to us all to speak out independently and to come up with our own ideas, demands and plans... inspired by the many great examples of community-led plans (the successful regeneration of Broadwater Farm estate in the '80s and '90s, and Lordship Rec over the last 5 years, the current Bull Lane playing fields sports development plan after 25 years of successfully campaigning to stop the site being sold for housing, the new Wards Corner community plan to save and refurbish the site rather than demolish it, and the many inspirational community-run facilities around Tottenham like Selby, Tottenham Chances, Chestnuts Centre etc... To help groups and communities throughout Tottenham to develop their own demands and plans a Community Planning Conference is being organised for Feb 2014 by the Our Tottenham network...
This is a recent Our Tottenham statement...
REGENERATION - but for who?
The Council are promoting their 2012 'Plan for Tottenham', backed by property developers, big business, and the Mayor of London. They are predominately promoting the establishment’s interests, rather than genuinely engaging with local community groups. The Council is gifting public money and assets to the profit-driven developers, and have so far largely refused to listen to the views of residents.
The plans generally promote corporate-led and large scale urban development; increased rents and unaffordable housing; and the loss of some independent local shops, homes, community facilities and small businesses. Coupled with the Government’s planning policies and attacks on vital public services and people’s welfare, the major effect of all this will be to over-develop Tottenham, to threaten its positive community-scale character in many areas, to promote profiteering at the community’s expense, and the forced displacement of thousands of local people who can no longer find or keep any affordable place to live. Many people believe this is a deliberate attempt at social engineering.
Together with local people the 30 community groups involved with the Our Tottenham network have pledged to take action to support each other, and to:
- Defend community facilities;
- Stand up for decent and affordable housing for all;
- Support small businesses;
- Promote quality design and respect for heritage;
- Improve the street environment;
- Support youth voices, services and facilities;
- Empower our communities.We have also pledged to support the development of local community plans for sites and facilities that are under threat (eg the Wards Corner market and historic quarter at Seven Sisters, the Bull Lane Playing Fields in North Tottenham, and various community-run facilities), and promote such positive community planning throughout all parts of Tottenham. In this way we are helping promote strong, thriving, healthy and just local communities.
In particular we have now embarked on an extremely ambitious process to create a Community Plan for Tottenham. After all, to the people living here, its OUR Tottenham.
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Dave, let me make some suggestions. I hope, constructive ones.
The first is to ask you to consider at least the possibility that you may be like those generals who are always fighting the last war. And that perhaps there is now a different, more powerful enemy with Tottenham in its sights. Who are working quickly and effectively behind the scenes to "create facts" on the ground.
So that maybe the old tactics - marching and leafleting for this building and that so-called community centre. and slowly developing unfunded and aspirational "community plans" which are mostly brushed aside, simply aren't going to work this time.
Because what's happening in Tottenham is an example of what's been going on elsewhere in London and other cities.
It's the march of the money men and women, aided and abetted by Tory and nominally Labour councils. To achieve displacement of the poorest people. But also shunting out working class people from areas which property developers see as ripe for highly profitable demolition and exploitation. Complemented of course by the efforts of landlords to sub-divide homes into as many high-rent hutches as possible to meet "market demand" for housing.
The key issue is not the consultation. Nor the very pleasant, smiley people who've been sent out - apparently by Homes for Haringey and the Council - to pretend everyone will have a cinema and a new nursery, library and wonderful new park. All at a time we aren't sure we'll have the funds to properly fund the ones we've got.
The Dutch may have unscrupulously "bought" Manhattan from the Canarsies - who didn't "own" it. But at least they handed over some kettles, axes, guns, and wool blankets. This "consultation" wants people to give away Tottenham to developers for a promise of magic beans.
So what is to be done? We can try pooling our efforts to:
- Find out exactly what's going on
- Make it public
- Share the task of understanding what's happening and
- Developing tactics and strategy to build opposition to the negative parts of the plans. (There may be some positive aspects!)
Best wishes, Alan
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