Agenda and draft minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Amin. Cllr Bartlett, Cllr Ibrahim, Cllr Collett, Cllr Rice were absent.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under item 8 below).

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution

There were no deputations/ petitions/ presentations/ questions.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee meeting held on 7^th July as a correct record.

RESOLVED

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee held on 7^th July as a correct record.

Cllr Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning addressed the committee:

• The draft local plan was dedicated to the memory of Nicky Gavron. She was a leading Haringey and London politician whose career spanned 50 years from the 1970s. She was the first deputy Mayor of London following a successful career at Haringey Council. Nicky was a trail blazer committed to improving the built environment for families and access to outdoor space, widening participation in the arts and improving the environment. She led the way on policies to improve air quality and green spaces and access to play for children.

The following was noted during questions from the committee:

• Councillors wanted to hear from the lesser heard voices, and a previous engagement had succeeded particularly with young people and school aged children. Officers identified that there were some gaps and specifically outlined what those gaps were in the communications and engagement plan and would be seeking to address those. They were working on the detailed communications and engagement plan with specific and targeted strategies for several of the group's members had mentioned, including older people, younger people, women and families. Officers would look into the UN-Habitat ‘Her City’ and Young Families Toolkit initiatives. Officers were always looking to build upon best practise and learn what has worked elsewhere.
• Councillors highlighted that the plan was overdue, acknowledged by officers. There were a number of reasons for this which were picked up through the review of the planning service. It partly related to limited resources within the planning team, which had been partially addressed in the last 6 to 12 months. It also partly related to the fact that the team had done a lot of the evidence-base work in house; there was a significant cost saving for this but there was a time implication to that.
• In terms of responding to government changes to the planning system, officers had done well in the last 12 to 18 months in bringing in funding from the government to help deliver the plan at the lowest possible cost to the Council; they were awarded close to £230,000 from MHCLG. Funding had also been given to deliver a Green Belt review which was being led by the GLA. In terms of the plan itself, the government was bringing in a new planning framework towards the end of next year. The idea was that a lot of the standard policies would be stripped out of plans on things such as biodiversity net gain. Officers had deliberately developed the plan so it would be future proofed.
• Councillors suggested engaging with Tottenham Sixth Form College and a contact would be provided by Cllr Bevan.
• Councillors enquired about enhanced protection for trees. Officers acknowledged one of the shortcomings of the existing local plan was that it did not address trees in a satisfactory manner. Officers had comprehensively addressed that in the drafted local plan. There was a trees policy in the green and blue infrastructure section that had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There were no new items of urgent business.

To note the dates of future meetings:

23 February 2026

It was noted that the dates of the next meeting was 23^rd February.