Press+-+Tottenham+Journal+-+We've+won+battle+but+not+the+war

=We've won battle but not the war= Tottenham Journal (Thursday, 31 July, 2008)

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stop the demolition of Wards Corner declared they had won a battle but not the war after a meeting to decide its future was cancelled.

Councillor George Meehan, leader of the council, met London Mayor Boris Johnson last Friday to discuss the future of the Tottenham site.

This came a day after a planning committee meeting due to hear developer Grainger's application to demolish the building and put up luxury flats was cancelled.

A Grainger spokesman said: "Haringey Council and Grainger have agreed to allow for further consideration of how best to bring forward these important regeneration proposals."

Members of the Wards Corner Community Coalition, a group of residents and traders who have fiercely opposed the developer's plans, celebrated outside the Civic Centre in Wood Green on Thursday.

Raul Mancera, of the WCC and Seven Sisters Latin market traders, said: "We should be celebrating, but we also have to keep working."

Last week Mr Johnson came out in support of the Tottenham community's efforts to save the old department store building which if knocked down will leave a vibrant Latin American market homeless.

Justin Hinchcliffe, chairman of the Tottenham Conservatives, confirmed that deputy mayor Richard Barnes had been "extremely supportive and sympathetic both in words and deeds" to the community campaign.

Betrayal
Widespread opposition has surrounded Grainger's plans for the site with 500 people forming a human chain around Wards Corner.

The WCC has prepared its own development scheme for the site which is yet to be considered by the council's planning committee.

Councillor Rachel Allison, Liberal Democrat regeneration spokeswoman, said: "The battle has been won but the war to protect the heritage of the Wards Corner site is not over."

She called on the council and Grainger to consider the community's plans and said "anything less would be a betrayal".

A FIRE that badly damaged a billboard next to Tottenham's Wards Corner site was sparked by an electrical fault in the light above it.

It started on Monday evening when another billboard paid for by a community group trying to save the Wards Corner site from development was sabotaged for the second time in a week.

Two fire engines attended the blaze after receiving a call about a street sign that was alight next to a shop at 710 Seven Sisters Road at 7.40pm.

Station officer Jon Thornton, of Tottenham Fire Station, said: "The flames were licking out across the street.

"By the time we got there the whole hoarding was alight."

The billboard was four metres high by 10 metres wide and three quarters of it was destroyed by the fire which is not being treated as suspicious.

It came as the Wards Corner Community Coalition (WCC) reacted strongly to a billboard poster they paid £560 to advertise on being blocked out with grey paper for a second time.

David Tothill, WCC member and Tottenham resident, said: "The truth obviously hurts."

The poster highlighted the group's opposition to Haringey Council and developer Grainger's plans to knock down the old department store building and erect luxury flats on the site above Seven Sisters Tube station.

The poster said: "If Haringey Council approves the plan to demolish these buildings, it would completely destroy a thriving local community."

Justin Hinchcliffe, chairman of Tottenham Conservatives, said: "This has left local residents feeling angry, depressed and confused."

The WCC has reported the incidents to police.