If you aren’t aware, then you ought to be.
Not my words, but those of the late great, Ronnie James Dio
About 30-40 members of the public attended the Council’s ‘Development Management Forum’ meeting last night to discuss the new Spurs plans to increase the size of the Stadium to 61,000, to build tower blocks of over 500 flats, and demolish 3 more of the listed buildings on the High Road.
After Spurs officials talked for 30 mins about the supposed benefits of the proposals, around 20 people spoke from the floor, all with major objections.
No-one expressed any support for the proposals. Sky Sports News were present to do a news piece.
The leaflet below was distributed to all present..
Spurs Stadium Controversy Grows
· Local people oppose threats of demolition of nearby homes and estates, shops and businesses, and historic buildings
· Campaigners demand support for Council Housing
There is a frenzy of plans for property speculation and ‘regeneration’ around the Spurs ground and across Tottenham as a whole. Thousands of Council homes, and hundreds of local shops and businesses are under threat – the threats to the area around Spurs have been opposed by a 4,000-strong local petition.
The expansion of the stadium is not in itself the problem – it’s the controversial associated development in the surrounding area. This mission ‘drift’ is being pushed by Haringey Council and property developers, backed by Spurs directors.
· The Spurs property arm, registered in Bermuda, has been buying up threatened land & buildings so they can make massive profits if luxury housing can be built there instead.
· Spurs are still evading obligations to pay £17m to the local area and provide affordable housing.
· The plans for a ludicrous ‘Wembley-style Walkway’ from White Hart Lane station to the ground would mean the controversial demolition and redevelopment of the 300 homes on the Love Lane council housing estate, the demolition of the historic shopping parade facing the ground (including the library and medical centre) and the Peacock Industrial Estate to the north (a total of 120 local family businesses destroyed).
· Now they want to build an outrageous 35-storey tower block complex to the south of the stadium, and demolish most of the historic listed High Road buildings they had promised to protect..
· There is also a serious threat of demolition and ‘redevelopment’ of the 1,000-home Northumberland Park council housing estate to the east of the ground.
Local People Oppose the Demolitions
Many Haringey Council estates are now under review for ‘redevelopment’ – evictions, the breaking up of communities, years of stress and blight, less genuinely-affordable homes, more luxury flats and tower blocks.
Hundreds of family businesses in Tottenham’s industrial estates & around Seven Sisters face similar threats.
This is happening all over London. The powers-that-be seem to want to force out working class people by gentrification and ever-rising housing costs. Even the Council’s own ‘Equalities Assessment’ has found this policy to be racist in its effect on local black and minority ethnic communities.
The local campaign is growing
Communities are fighting back. Opposite the Spurs ground 4,000 people signed a local protest petition. Large meetings have been held on threatened estates, coordinated by the Haringey Defend Council Housing campaign. Legal action is being taken against biased ‘consultation’ tactics. And the Our Tottenham network has united a wide range of local community groups in speaking out for the real needs of local communities.
Spurs fans express their concerns
Tottenham Hotspurs Supporters’ Trust Board member Martin Cloake says:
“We will be asking [Spurs] why the good relations built with local residents and businesses in the wake of the riots have been squandered, replaced by enormous suspicion over the motives behind a plan that appears to many to echo the social cleansing currently being carried out at the Elephant and Castle – something the wrongheaded plans for a walkway from White Hart Lane station to the new ground seems to epitomise.
And we will be continuing to forge links with the local communities in Tottenham to put the case for a sporting club and stadium that everyone can be proud of and benefit from. ”
These 2 community networks are standing up for the real needs of Tottenham people:
Our Tottenham network www.ourtottenham.org.uk
Haringey Defend Council Housing Contact: haringey_dch@outlook.com
