-+This+Week


 * Wards Corner News Article Archive **

Grainger in the news this month
=[|Grainger agrees new debt]=

[|Sacked executive can sue for unfair dismissal over his green beliefs] Tim Nicholson's commitment to green causes was enshrined in law by an employment tribunal as a "philosophical belief" under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations. The landmark ruling could now pave the way for hundreds more discrimination claims against companies who have ridden roughshod over employees' support for climate change. Mr Nicholson, 41, was made redundant while head of sustainability at Grainger, Britain's biggest residential property investment company, in July last year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/5016185/Sacked-executive-can-sue-for-unfair-dismissal-over-his-green-beliefs.html

[|Selling family homes] An entire street of families fear they could be evicted after their landlord announced plans to start selling off their homes. A handful of residents of Willow Close at Sulis Meadows in Odd Down received letters last week from landlord Grainger, which told them their tenancies would not be renewed and they had two months to move out

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Fears-Odd-homes-sell/article-763305-detail/article.html

[|Seeking equity partner for German operations] Residential property company wants €95m equity partner to expand Grainger Deutschland. Grainger is seeking a partner to inject at least €95m of equity into its German business, Grainger Deutschland, to expand its operations further. The London-listed residential property company is to appoint an investment bank within the next month to advise it on its options for bringing in an equity partner or creating a joint venture partnership.

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=36&storycode=3136635

[|Grainger sells 182-188 Kensington Church Street to private investor] Grainger, the UK’s largest quoted residential landlord, has sold 182-188 Kensington Church Street in Notting Hill, west London, to a private investor for £4.5m

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=530&storycode=3135780

Modern Shopping is hurting London Time for a reality check on Future Development
 * This month's Articles from Regeneration and Renewal:**

News: [|High Court Row in Wards Corner Fight]

E-newsletter from TINAG (This is Not a Gateway, Dalston)

** WARDS CORNER COMMUNITY COALITION NEWS PAGE **   ** THE FIGHT FOR COMMUNITY LED REGENERATION OF TOTTENHAM GOES ON ** Despite a challenge to the impartiality of the Chair and one other Committee member, Haringey Council's Planning Committee granted consent (by 5 votes to 4) to Grainger plc's plans for Wards Corner on Monday 17th November. In front of a packed public gallery, objections were voiced by all three local Councillors, the Conservation Area Advisory Committee and community representatives, reflecting the hundreds of objections received by the Council.

Ruth Allen, representing the Coalition, said 'We will be continuing our fight for a better regeneration of Tottenham. After this, morally, we have no choice. This decision and the process by which it was reached show the contemptuous attitude of the Labour group in Haringey towards residents and small businesses. The Labour committee members asked virtually no questions and demonstrated no understanding of the matters before them. The chair had previously declared herself in favour of demolition on the site and has spoken openly of her contempt for the Latin American traders who will lose their market hall. Cllr Ray Dodds shouted xenophobic abuse at a resident in the gallery as one of his few contributions to proceedings. Haringey Council has a lot to worry about at the moment and their relationship with the people of Tottenham just took another turn for the worse.'

The Wards Corner Community Coalition has submitted an alternative plan for the site.

Charlotte Gray's, Haringey Independent, article with comments by Justin Hinchcliffe of the Tottenham Conservatives and David Schmitz Liberal Democrats: http://www.haringeyindependent.co.uk/news/3857641.Wards_Corner_battle_lost/#show


 * Planning Officers Nobbled? **

Perhaps you had to be there to appreciate just how unprofessional and depressing was the leadership of Haringey Council at Monday night's Planning Committee meeting. The bias shown by the Labour Planning Committee members and Haringey Planning Officers was truly shocking! Judge for yourself by watching the webcast [|HERE] (if you can be bothered to strain your ears - mysteriously, and for the second time, webcasts of Wards Corner go amiss . . .!).

Paul Smith, the Head of Development Control, began the presentation of the facts of the case to the planning committee panel and public gallery quoting from the consultation letter submitted by David Lammy thus:

//**"To start with I have had a letter from David Lammy dated 13th November where he explains his position. This letter was on the website today and I am sure people have seen it. Paraphrasing it very, very much, he says he welcomes something happening on the site which is positive and which will be of benefit to everybody in the future."**//

In the context of the proceedings that followed, you can be forgiven for beleiving this was cynically leading. David Lammy's letter is clearly critical of Haringey Council's lack of meaningful engagement with the community, of Grainger's unambitious plan and of Wards Corner he writes "The beauty and historic nature of this building, even in its dilapidated state is significant".

The real suggestion in this letter, and it would have made the better paraphrase, is that Haringey Council have allowed this area to remain blighted with no regeneration for years to come by failing to engage meaningfully with their constituents.

Charlotte Gray of the Haringey Independent wrote an excellent article highlighting the corruption of due process witnessed by all at Monday's planning committee meeting. You can read the article [|HERE] as well as those comments added from Justin Hinchcliffe of the Tottenham Conservatives and David Schmitz of the Liberal Democrats. Tottenham is united against a minority of people who for too long have made decisions for Haringey with impunity.

The GLA would do well to call in this sham and back the proposal made by the WCC for all parties to withdraw their applications and sit down together to bring forward a collaborative development of the site. Do the right thing. Choose the PROCESS with the meaningful outcome of which we can be proud.


 * Call this application in **

This is an open letter addressed to all those elected officials who voted for the Grainger plan on |Monday 17th November. I am writing to you as I would like you to have some idea of what it is like to be an ordinary resident living in this remarkable part of London which I have come to love, despite its many problems. I am perplexed by your determination to push through such a plan as Grainger’s. Could you tell me why you are doing it? If you wish to be re-elected why are you alienating your voters with such displays of arrogance and contempt? You made little attempt to cover up your lack of respect for us. Why do you wish to be a councillor if you have such dislike of the people you are supposed to represent? Is it because you have been in power so long that you think you are protected from the harsh realities that we have to face? Do you really think that you can bully us into submission and think that we won’t mind? I feel so tired of having to battle every inch of the way to see any improvement in the Tottenham that I love and so angry when I see your very normal and lovely constituents driven to fury and desperation by your intransigence which results in their homelessness and loss of their jobs. I am moved to tears when I see our local councillors giving desperate speeches to try to deflect you from your course of destruction and depressed when I realise that it is not going to deter you. As one of those exhausted people said “We go to bed with the council and wake up with Grainger.” We don’t sleep very well around here now. I am tired of seeing yet another shoddy building going up so that some distant property developer or Transport for London can profit from leaving us with unlet shops and flats that we cannot afford. I am angry when I see Councillor Dodds make insulting remarks about us when it is their neglect, not ours that is the problem. I am perplexed why you think that anything they do will improve the place that we have to live in. There are many examples already here to prove that it this is not the case and all approved by you! Finally what perplexes me most is why, if you are intelligent and educated people, have you just passed a plan that Grainger’s probably have no intention of building!

**TOTTENHAM JOURNAL -** [|HERE]

**LONDRA, London Turkish Gazette:** Turkish Newspaper. http://www.londragazete.com/haber_detay.asp?haberID=1584 http://www.londragazete.com/yazar.asp?yaziID=2416

I would like to draw you attention to the following article in **Property Week** http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3127799&c=1 The Vote was 5 LABOUR ‘for’, 4 LIBERAL ‘against’. I think our community now relies on you and all Conservatives who support the WCC to do whatever is necessary to get Boris to ‘Call it in’ as Property Week puts it It looks like it is our only last chance. Maybe even David Lammy, who’s evidence to the planning meeting I have read, might be able to do something to re-dress the truly shocking way Haringey residents have been treated by their own corrupted officials. Peter Timmer
 * LETTER TO BORIS JOHNSON**
 * //“The consent is subject to whether or not the mayor calls it in over the next two weeks, and to section 106 agreements.”//**


 * Tottenham Civic Society statement re Wards Corner **

"We are extremely disappointed by the decision taken by Haringey Council's planning sub-committee this week. The decision was taken despite overwhelming local opposition from residents and traders, and objections from English Heritage. Grainger's revised scheme makes no concession to the heritage of the local area. In fact, by seeking to replace a historic Edwardian streetscape with a new seven storey development, the very existence of the conservation area in that part of Tottenham is now under threat. We have called all along for the site to be restored sensitively on a human scale, preserving the historic buildings and local shops. We will support any proposals to submit the decision to independent review."

Matthew Bradby


 * NEXT STEPS **
 * They have not taken into account huge opposition to this scheme and its devastating and negative impact on people, businesses, jobs and our environment
 * Despite our ef forts for collaboration the council have not listened or involved local people in any meaningful way. With the exception of our local councillors, particularly Isidoros Diakides, there has been a glaring lack of leadership and accountability from all our elected officials.
 * Our local MP, David Lammy offered mediation and then failed to follow it up.
 * There has a been a huge mismanagement of the £2 million routed through the NDC
 * This is just another step in the ongoing campaign. We remain prepared to work with anyone who has Tottenham’s welfare at heart.
 * We are nowhere near the end.

= WCC CAMPAIGNING TO WIN! = The WCC met the day after the decision and drew up an action plan, here are a few: **
 * Meeting with Ian Clements, Deputy Mayor of London, to get the application called in
 * The WCC will be progressing their alternative vision for the site.
 * When our application has been given planning permission, we look forward to engaging meaningfully with Grainger, the Council and NDC in the better, deliverable alternative proposed by the WCC.
 * RE-STORING WARDS CORNER:
 * guerilla gardening - creating a garden refuge besides the corner Wards Stores
 * repairing, decorating, painting the Wards Stores building
 * Seeking conditions be imposed on the application, for example
 * there can be no evictions or demolition until Grainger demonstrate fully that they are financially ready to rebuild to the satisfaction of the WCC, NDC and Council.
 * need condition to prevent blight to area as development goes ahead
 * GLA/Mayor to get in writing Grainger’s intentions for the site over the next few years until they start works
 * PARTYING!!!! 5th December Winter Warmer
 * Lobbying the Council and NDC to pull out of their agreement with Graiger
 * stand as councillors

**WE WILL NOT BE EVICTED, WE WILL NOT BE MOVED FROM OUR HOMES OR BUSINESSES, WE WILL RESIST SHOP BY SHOP, BRICK BY BRICK, PAVING STONE BY PAVING STONE! www.wardscornercommunity.org.uk** 

BBC Inside Out - Watch [|Here] Wards Corner is featured 18 minutes into the programme, but it is well worth watching the first two programmes too - the first because Haringey is piloting the sell off of our GP service through privatisation and the second is an example of what we are fighting to avoid here in Tottenham. Mayor's Question Time

Demonstrative Hug of Wards Corner on Saturday 19th