Speeches+-+Ruth+Allen

Welcome. My name is Ruth Allen and I am a resident of South Tottenham of 10 years. I am chairing this evening’s event. Sometimes, you **just have to do the right thing**! However hard it seems. Five months ago, something happened to reveal the depth of community feeling about Wards Corner and a lot of local people from all walks of life decided they had to do the right thing by their neighbours, friends and by the future of Tottenham. Plans by Grainger plc - backed all the way by the Council and the NDC - were revealed in July 2007 – and were immediately criticised and rejected by local people. A coalition of interested parties emerged – shopkeepers, market traders, residents like myself, interest groups. We came together as Wards Corner Community Coalition. It is this Coalition that has organised tonight’s meeting. The Grainger plans we first saw in July have only been slightly modified since and are now submitted for planning approval. Grainger’s plans will tear down the entire Wards Corner site and build gated private flats and shopping mall. They will evict all existing business and residents, destroy the market and change the historic face of Tottenham for ever. But let’s be clear of something from the outset. Whilst we are convinced that the restoration of historic buildings on Wards Corner is important and we certainly don’t want unimaginative blocks that are cloned from every other town centre shopping development, **the coalition is primarily and fundamentally about people,** their well being and how they live now and in the future in the urban energy and community that is Tottenham. We believe that regeneration happens through involving people – not wiping them out and replacing them. Wards Corner, which to outsiders may look a scruffy, is important. It is **important** because of all the **shopkeepers** and **residents** who don’t want to be evicted which is what is planned; it is **important** because of the **lively 7 Sisters market** that has **reduced crime** and provided a **safe community resource** on that site, despite what some of the terrible negative myths have said; it is important because of the **history, memories and sense of place** tied up in the main buildings on the site, particularly Wards Store; it is **important** because the **people of South Tottenham** say **its diversity and grassroots** character is important to them and they are saying they **don’t want** **a clone town, a retail mecca for acquisitive crime.** I think Haringey Council, the NDC and Grainger are surprised to find that a lot of us think is a living, breathing place. The Wards Corner coalition has organised this meeting tonight to help you all have a say in what you want for Wards Corner and to hear about the Community Plan developed by the Coalition - but not as a ‘done deal’. We really want to know what else people want from this site. Because we are here to find a way to involve as many people as want to be involved in the Coalition. We want to show a way of engaging with our community which the Council and NDC have singularly failed to attempt in respect of this site – and they have had at least five years to try! If you want to find out more about the Grainger plan, then you can visit them this Saturday at Seven Sisters tube. We hope that what we present tonight encourages you to question what Grainger are trying to do and to reject their plans and support the Community Plan.