Decision details

For the Head of Programme Management to Approve the contract award for a structural assessment of Nos 515–523 High Road to The Morton Partnership for the sum of £2,480 exclusive of VAT.

In July 2020, Cabinet resolved to accept a £2m grant from Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zones Programme to deliver Tottenham Heritage Action Zone (HAZ).

The Tottenham HAZ is focused on the Bruce Grove Conservation Area and Bruce Grove Town Centre. Its objectives are closely aligned with those of A Strategy for Tottenham High Road 2019–2029, which aim to make Bruce Grove a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work and spend time. It seeks to do this through a blend of heritage investments aimed at improving the condition and appearance of buildings along Tottenham High Road and Bruce Grove: repair and restoration, shopfront improvements, small-scale public realm investment, feasibility, technical work and planning guidance to inform any current and future activity required to manage heritage assets at risk.

A series of priority sites located within the Bruce Grove Heritage Corridor have been identified and agreed with Historic England, and Nos 515-523 High Road are included among these sites, as a locally listed ‘gateway’ building marking the corner of Bruce Grove and Tottenham High Road, which is showing visible signs of structural movement.

The structural assessment of Nos 515-523 High Road will inform future proposals for shopfront improvements to the buildings and enable meaningful engagement with their owners to take place at an early stage. It will also contribute towards improving the condition and appearance of buildings along Tottenham High Road and, by extension, towards the long-term improvement of the image and perception of Bruce Grove Town Centre, generating increased footfall, and delivering a more attractive and vibrant town centre.

Procurement was carried out in line with Contract Standing Orders 8.02 to act in the manner most expedient to the efficient management of the service (obtaining a single quotation), and having kept a record for so doing, in relation to a contract for services having an estimated value less that £10,000.

Nos. 515-523 High Road are locally listed buildings within a conservation area that are showing visible signs of structural movement. Given this context, the alternative – to do nothing – is not an option, as the specialist expertise of a conservation-accredited structural engineer is required to address the building’s condition and presumed structural defects. Doing nothing would also introduce a high level of time and cost risks to future improvement works to the building and to the building’s long-term condition and viability, due to a lack of sufficient baseline information.