Press+-+Haringey+Independent+-+Resignation+over+Wards+Corner

=Resignation over Wards Corner= Charlotte Gray - Haringey Independent (Tuesday 11th November 2008)


 * A councillor has resigned from the project responsible for the regeneration of Seven Sisters over its handling of a controversial planning development.

Tottenham Green ward councillor Isidoros Diakidies was a board member on the Bridge New Deal for Communities project, in charge of the £50million regeneration of the Seven Sisters area of Tottenham.

Last week he sensationally resigned, claiming the board members had "seriously mishandled" the Wards Corner development. Private developer Grainger's design would mean the demolition of the old Ward building and Seven Sisters market to make way for 200 private flats and retail outlets.

Fierce opposition has grown from all neighbouring traders and residents associations and has included key figures such as London Mayor Boris Johnson.

However Mr Diakides has now publically criticised the behaviour of the Bridge NDC board, who support the development, for failing to recognise the concerns of the community. || || He said: "I did not want to create divisions within the board and therefore I felt that it would be better for me to withdraw completely. "I feel very strongly that the organisation has seriously mishandled the particular issue of the Wards Corner redevelopment and, for an organisation that had begun its life as 'resident-led' it has treated with indifference, if not outright contempt, the strongly held views of the vast majority of the residents and the businesses affected by these proposals.

"The fact that every single one of the numerous and very active residents associations in the immediate vicinity of the project is 100 per cent against the proposed scheme, should in my view have resulted in a real discussion at the board, some genuine soul searching and a re-think."

He also criticised a "complete lack of willingness to listen" to residents and he warned of the "continual blighting" of the area if the Grainger project goes ahead.

Haringey Trade Union Council chairman Keith Flett compared Mr Diakides' resignation to a "political earthquake". He added: "He is quite right to slam the Grainger proposals as leading to fewer jobs in the Wards Corner area and against the background of a looming recession that is a hugely important issue for trade unionists and the community alike."

Haringey Council's planning committee is due to meet on Monday to decide on the future of the multi-cultural Wards Corner. A mass lobby is being planned by the Wards Corner Community Coalition, an alliance of market traders, shopkeepers and residents, outside the civic centre meeting at 6.15pm.