Press+-+Dave+Hill's+Blog

=The value and the charm of Seven Sisters Market= Dave Hill's Blog (Monday 12 January 2009)

I've read about Haringey Council's plans to redevelop the home of Seven Sisters Market, noted the local campaign to save it and followed Boris Johnson's interventions in the controversy. But until Saturday I'd never been to the market itself. Within a minute of arriving it was obvious to me that it is irreplaceable. If the bulldozers move in, as it now appears they will, something unique and valuable will be destroyed. It has become an issue in a Council by-election campaign and there's a debate about it tonight.

Located at Ward's Corner in South Tottenham at the angled junction of Tottenham High Road and Seven Sisters Road, it's a small indoor market, friendly, warren-like, and with a strong South American character. There are cafes and hair salons, clothes shops and music shops, a tiny haberdasher, a couple of property agents operating out of premises barely bigger than cupboards, a bike shop, a butcher and a pan-African cultural goods store. From a Colombian mini-market I bought chocolate from Argentina, coffee from Brazil and seasoning from Peru. Spanish was being spoken everywhere. The place has the look of miniature, do-it-yourself mall. Many of the shops are distinguished by little wooden balconies and eaves. Soft reggae and salsa seeps through the corridors and from wall-mounted televisions. It is obvious that it has grown organically, largely from incomers putting down new roots. You couldn't plan such a hybrid: it has been nurtured from the ground up. Could it survive being torn from its soil? The campaigners, of course, do not think so. A letter I reproduce in full at the bottom of this post describes severe doubts that the latest revisions made by the developer, Grainger, apparently allowing some space for market traders within a modern mall, will compensate or be affordable. It also expresses disappointment that Mayor Johnson has failed to do more to prevent Haringey - whose offices stand opposite the market - proceeding. His position was set out in a [|statement I obtained] from him just before Christmas. I've yet to speak to Haringey or look in detail of the latest plans. I plan to do this soon and no doubt will be assured that [|the scheme as a whole] will benefit the neighbourhood greatly. Perhaps that will eventually turn out to be the case, but the loss of the market in its present form would be a sad thing indeed.

Here's the letter mentioned above, from local resident Sara Hall. > Dear Dave Hill, > I am writing to you as resident of Seven Sisters and a member of the Wards Corner Community Coalition, regarding the latest entry in your blog about Wards Corner in Seven Sisters. > To set the record straight, in our opinion the "sensible solutions" regarding the future of El Pueblito Paisa, said to be put in place by the Mayor's spokesperson certainly do not "enhance the market and give it a long term future". In view of the information which the Mayor has had placed before him, we believe that this statement is disingenuous or at best, ill considered. He has not saved the market. > The main factors which would eventually lead to the demise of the market under the Grainger scheme are: a very substantial reduction in space, vastly increased costs, the shattering effects of temporary relocation, completely inappropriate ambience and crucially, loss of potential association with an on site Latin American/ Iberian Cultural centre as proposed in the alternative Plan for the Community put forward by the WCCC. This last factor is a major element in any genuine attempt to boost the status and quality of the existing market. > > It is totally implausible to suggest that 2-3 years of insecurity / lack of investment prior to demolition, followed by 2-3 years of relocation on a temporary site, followed by the return of at most 50% of the stall holders to a much more expensive site with total lack of ambience is going to enhance the future of this market.A report by Urban Space Management, commissioned by the NDC (New Deal for Communities, who with Haringey Council, played a central role in establishing Grainger's involvement in Wards Corner) was published in the summer of 2008. It clearly details many reasons why incorporation of the market into the Grainger plan is not viable. Please refer to pages 16 and 17 – and remember that this report is approved of by supporters of the Grainger plan. > The issues raised in this report have not changed – and yet Grainger are claiming to be able to disregard them. Grainger's justification for omitting the market from its original plan was that it was financially unviable. They claimed that their predicted profit margins were already set to be absolutely minimal. (This was why they had to build 100% private residential units for sale and make the block so high) Now, despite the fact that building costs have soared and income from sale of property has plummeted they claim to be "excited" by the prospect of including the market. We view this turn around as disingenuous to the extent of being totally reckless about the future of El Pueblito Paisa. > However, if the allocation to the market of a relatively small, dark fraction of an indoor shopping mall really is an exciting prospect, we would like people to consider how much more exciting would be the realisation of the Community Plan as proposed by the WCCC. We propose to: > a) Restore all parts of the building to allow its integral grace, proportions, quality, sense of historical continuity and ambience to shine. > b) Flood the market area with natural light by opening up the back section onto a new public courtyard area at the back of the market. > c) Vastly boost the status of the market by establishing a Latin American cultural centre on the site. (Probably on the upper floors). This idea is enthusiastically supported by all 12 Latin American/Iberian Ambassadors who visited the site on 24th Sept 2008. (They came from Spain, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Chile.) > d) Allow investment and rejuvenation of the whole block including transforming the area behind the market into a much needed public courtyard space. This would put the market at the centre of an attractive, well connected destination and so boost their clientele. > As for the spokesperson's claim that the Grainger plan would have the effect of rejuvenating and improving "a neglected corner of London", we believe that the opposite would be the case. > First of all I would like to point out that this corner of London need not have been neglected. In her letter for the attention of the GLA dated 25th November 2008, the current proprietor of Seven Sisters market states that during her past eight years of managing the market she has received an average of two inquiries a month from people interested in using the amazing empty space at Wards Corner. She told me that all attempts to pursue these people's dreams have been frustrated, despite some of them having access to the necessary funds. Furthermore, if the whole block had not had the threat of demolition hanging over it for many years it would not be recognizable as the run down patch that it is today. Shopkeepers along West Green Rd and Seven Sisters would have happily invested in the improvement of all aspects of their businesses had they been able to feel secure about their future. Also Suffield Rd, the residential side of the block, is now becoming increasingly derelict as a direct result of Haringey council's decision to allow the sale (at an absurdly low price) of four council owned, terraced houses on the street to Grainger. These are now unoccupied, neglected and boarded up. > > Therefore we believe that the perceived blight of this patch is due to lethargy and suppression by Haringey Council and Transport for London of any natural investment and optimism. (The upstairs of Wards Department store has been vacant since 1972!)Realisation of the Grainger plan condemns us to a further 2-3 years of living with a condemned site, followed by 2-3 years of building site in order to eventually achieve a relatively mundane shopping centre topped by 7 floors of private gated flats inhabited by people who just want to live by the tube in order to vacate Tottenham as quickly as possible. (In the current economic climate, even this bleak outcome looks optimistic). This is not genuine rejuvenation. It is the imposition of an out of date solution by a tired council (40 years of uninterrupted power) who can not be bothered to make an effort for an electorate that they take for granted. > When Boris visited the market prior to the mayoral elections, he asked us if we had been in contact with Camden market. He clearly recognized the potential for the site to be genuinely rejuvenated and to become something special. He said that the building was amazing and referring to the Grainger plan he said "the mayor could call it in". We are totally disappointed by the contrast between his pre election statements and post election actions. > > The alternative Community Plan was submitted to the Council before the Grainger plan but has not yet been considered by them. If they were really interested in rejuvenation why are they ignoring a plan conceived by a coalition of local residents and traders who are motivated by a strong commitment to the area and a passionate desire to improve the quality of life for all of us.Yours sincerely, > Sara Hall Go and see it for yourselves.