March round-up of GMTRA news
New trees
Some good news for Easter is that a new tree has been planted in Glasslyn Road today (near number 34) and a second tree will be planted in Tivoli Road (again near number 34) shortly after Easter. Huge thanks go to Zander Calderwood who has put a lot of work into arranging this on behalf of GMTRA.
The phone mast
Less good news is that all the avenues we have explored for stopping a 20 metre high telecoms mast being built on the Hornsey Club cricket field have come to nothing.
You’ll recall that following strong local opposition, including from the Club itself, the Council refused the application to build the mast last May. However they failed to send the notice of their decision to the developer within the statutory 56 day time limit, which means the developer can claim they have ‘deemed permission’.
The council acknowledge their failure and blame it on a mistake they made in setting up new database software to handle planning applications. Head of Planning Enforcement Robbie McNaugher has written ‘Whilst we deeply regret the error here, we have no powers to enforce our refusal’. He offered a meeting and I’m seeing him in mid April.
We appreciate the efforts of our councillors to pursue the issue. Luke Cawley Harrison wrote several times to the planning department asking detailed questions. Cressida Johnson wrote to the developers appealing to their ‘sense of corporate kindness’ and asking them to drop their plans. The appeal fell on deaf ears. You can see the correspondence here>>.
The developers still face some obstacles – the Club who own the land remain opposed to the development – but short of occupying the site, we’ve run out of options.
The Hornsey Club Sports Hall
The Hornsey Club’s plan to build a sports hall with indoor cricket nets on their tennis courts is still live. Sophie Kent, the Club secretary wrote on 15 March to say:
“Since we held our first residents meeting in May 22 we have been undertaking a series of exercises exploring the financial viability of the scheme and therefore there has been no meaningful update to the scheme design.
We have held several meetings with the committee and trustees and they have quite rightly scrutinised the project to ensure that the project is in the club’s best interests. This process has also taken longer than expected causing delays in the original design and planning programme.
As we are sure you are aware any planning application will be required to provide a Statement of Community Involvement which will provide details of the community involvement undertaken. We are not seeking to bypass community involvement or oversight.
The Club has engaged with LB Haringey as you are aware. As you rightly point out the MOL is protected and the planning requirements are significantly onerous. The planning process will consider the benefits of the proposed scheme versus the loss of the MOL and the changes associated with it.
As a Club, the committee and trustees are committed to protecting the Club’s current assets and ensuring the long term viability of the club. This project will potentially secure our financial security in the years to come and whilst there are many risks associated with the project these have been mitigated against to ensure the Club is not at risk.
We understand that there are restrictive covenants on the land and are seeking legal opinions on this matter.”
As you know, residents have major concerns that the plan would cause loss of precious protected open land, traffic congestion and parking difficulties particularly in Tivoli Road, and noise and disturbance for neighbouring houses. You can see further information on the ‘Save our Space N8’ website.