"High Road PO plans amount to architectural vandalism"

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Haringey blogger: ‘High Road Post Office plans amount to architectural vandalism’

http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/news/ ... _1_2252720" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plans due before Haringey Council tomorrow evening threaten to further damage Tottenham’s historic fabric, says our blogger Martin Ball. He outlines his objections to the ‘junk builds’ of today.

The Haringey Councillors sitting on this Thursday’s planning committee have to say no to the planning proposal for the old Post Office site, at 530-536 High Road. The application is an act of architectural vandalism in a conservation area and has to be stopped for local people to have faith that the council’s regeneration process will add to our heritage, not undermine it.

The proposed building is too high, too dense and increases the crowded-in appearance of the High Road. It is an unsuitable building to be placed between the beautiful High Road buildings on either side of the site. The ‘Iceland’ building has a rounded edge and Windsor Parade has the rounded corners. The proposed building ignores this setting and plonks a Lego-style building in a conservation area. It looks like a corporate building one would expect to find on an out-of-town business park.

There are too many flats for the space, and more than were in the old buildings. It is good that more flats will be provided and this means more homes are available to people, but the jump to 16 is too many. Especially as the requirement to provide three-bed flats has resulted in inevitable loss of space in the one- and two-bed flats. The size of the flats could deter owner-occupation and might result in most of the flats becoming rental properties, thereby creating a ticking bomb for the social problems – rubbish dumping and noise disturbances – of overcrowding common in Tottenham.

The quality of the materials proposed for the build are inadequate and inappropriate for a conservation area, too. The proposed ground floor bricks have the appearance of a backyard brick shed painted red, while the two-brick design, with a probably cheaper brick used above ground level, smacks of doing something OK at ground level before dumbing-down above because nobody will look at it or care. Well, some of us do and we want high-quality here in Tottenham.

The proposed building may claim to be no higher than the surrounding buildings, but that is sleight of hand using the chimney peaks of Windsor Parade and not the level of the highest flat in those buildings.

The Design Council gave £10,000 for local people to be consulted about making local alleys safer and attractive places. This proposal goes against the demand for more space and improved walkways. In the winter and the dark the adjacent Factory Lane will be a more intimidating passage if the proposed high building gets approval.

I hope our elected representatives will support local people in saving Tottenham from more of these junk builds that allow developers to exploit our area and then depart leaving a legacy of problems. Don’t let our gift to the future be a monstrous building on the historic High Road. Tottenham deserves better.