Issue - meetings

The Committee heard two deputations.  The first deputation was made by Paul Burnham, Jacob Secker and Bob Lindsay-Smith of Haringey Defend Council Housing.  NOTED:

-           The Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) would mean social cleansing, with seven council estates in Haringey included in the plan. Council tenants, leaseholders, people in temporary accommodation and local businesses would be affected, and had not been consulted adequately, or made aware of the consequences of the development vehicle for them.

-           There was a viability gap in the proposals, which did not make economic sense.

-           Haringey Defend Council Housing supported the proposal by the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel that the HDV be halted.

In response to questions from the Committee it was noted that:

-           A ballot should be carried out with every tenant, business and leaseholder affected by the HDV.  Information provided needed to be simple, clear and truthful.  This would not only provide a fair response and decision, but it would empower residents.  As long as this ballot was conducted fairly then the decision would have to be accepted.

-           Proper consultation needed to be carried out before a contract was signed with a preferred bidder.  Residents needed to know what their housing rights would be under the new development plans, what community facilities would be available to replace the ones taken away, and this information needed to be provided before any contracts were signed.

The second deputation was made by David Bennie, Friends of St. Anns Library, and Joanna Bornat, Friends of Stroud Green Library, in relation to all libraries across the Borough.  NOTED:

-           The budget proposal was to cut library opening hours by 40%, despite previous assurances that there would be no library closures. 

-           There had been virtually no consultation on the proposals.

-           Libraries were important to everyone in the Borough and crucial to the Council’s equalities agenda.  Cuts in library hours would reduce demand and increase the likelihood of full closures in the future.

In response to questions from the Committee it was noted that:

-           It was not clear how the reductions in hours would be applied in each library.

-           A reduction in opening hours would not just mean that people were unable to access libraries to borrow books, it would also affect people, such as job-seeker, who used libraries for community groups, for computer usage and for socialising.  The proposed reduction would represent a false economy.

The Chair thanked all for attending.

Clerks note – the Chair varied the order of the agenda to take item 8 - Interim Report Governance Arrangements for Haringey Development Vehicle (From the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel) – as the next item of the meeting.  The minutes follow the order of the agenda.