A presentation will be given.
Minutes:
Anne Lippitt, programme director for the Tottenham Regeneration Programme, addressed the Board in respect of the work of the Tottenham Regeneration Programme. The three key elements of the work were outlined as:
1) Continuity (handling the immediate aftermath of the riots, supporting local residents and businesses).
2) Confidence-building
3) Rebuilding Tottenham
The Board was advised of the positive achievements that had been made, such as the establishment of the Community Assistance Centre and the Tottenham Fund to support residents and businesses affected by the riots, the successful lobbying for recovery funding, and the implementation of a 3 month exemption from business rates for affected businesses, which was in the process of being extended to 6 months.
There was a need to increase confidence amongst traders, residents and people from outside the area in Tottenham as a place to visit. The ‘I love Tottenham’ campaign had been launched and would involve physical improvements to the High Road environment such as banners and hanging baskets, additional street cleaning, as well as t-shirts and bags with the ‘I love Tottenham’ logo, to enable people to show their support and promote the area.
Bringing the Post Office back to the High Road was identified as a priority, as this had a significant impact on footfall locally, and work was progressing to achieve this. The Job Centre was currently operating out of Chenel, and it was intended that this would be consolidated in the short term by providing a Portakabin to enable the full range of Job Centre services to be offered on site. Work was progressing as quickly as possible regarding the Carpet Right and Aldi plots, and also to re-instate a Council presence at 639 High Road. Temporary uses were also being considered for some of the vacant sites, for example community gardens. The Community Panel, chaired by the Leader of the Council, aimed to unite the Borough in the recovery process and to ensure that all views from the community were taken on board and fed into the regeneration work.
The Board was advised that a vision was needed in order to establish Tottenham as a place where people want to live, work and stay. Key elements were identified as business investment, open space and transport, jobs for local people, high quality housing and safe, secure, confident communities.
Promoting the strengths of the area was felt to be a key issue, as well as converting these strengths into a deliverable strategy. Ensuring that Tottenham Hotspur remained in the area was a key part of any regeneration effort, as a catalyst for further development. In addition to physical regeneration, social and economic regeneration was essential and must be centred around existing communities and how they could benefit. Tottenham could provide a new model for regeneration, leading to physical improvements alongside better homes and new jobs for local people.
The Board was advised that Sir Stuart Lipton had been appointed as a link / champion for Tottenham regeneration. It was felt that, working with partners, the regeneration programme should be ambitious in its bids for funding, outline bids for which needed to be submitted by early November. There were a number of community safety issues for consideration, which partners were encouraged to provide their thoughts on.
The Board expressed the view that it was essential to engage marginalised groups during the development of regeneration plans for the area. It was also emphasised that, with regards to the regeneration plan, any proposed initiatives should consider how they would benefit young people and also how proposals could incorporate and respond to the views of young people. In response to concerns raised regarding youth services in the area, it was noted that the Bruce Grove youth centre was not closed, and was still in operation for service users, although now based on a hub system.
The Board felt that there was an opportunity to provide a hub for shared services, for example health, employment, criminal justice, as having a range of services in one place could deliver real benefits and enable partners to pool resources. It was also suggested that talks with local businesses could build on work already achieved with the probation, health and DAAT services in supporting people back into work, alongside professional assistance. It was noted that Homes for Haringey were keen to play a part in community recovery work and were looking at mentoring and employment initiatives in respect of youth engagement.
The Committee noted the view that it is people that make a place and that regeneration should therefore start from this point, for example assisting young people and ex-offenders into employment and building aspiration. It was also suggested that consultation should actively target those groups requiring the most support so that they had a sense of ownership in the process. It was felt that issues such as the proliferation of betting shops in the area needed to be robustly addressed in order to better reflect what was wanted for the future of Tottenham. In order to change the negative impressions of Tottenham, it was felt that people should identify and build on the genuine reasons there were to love Tottenham.
It was further noted that the Fire Service and Metropolitan Police would be looking to build into any proposals the highest level of safety standards so that the area did not just feel safer but was genuinely safer.
Board Members were encouraged to contact Patrick Jones or Claire Kowalska if they had any further ideas to feed into the process after the meeting, and it was suggested that, once the proposals relating to community safety were drawn up, these be circulated for the Board’s endorsement and endorsed via the Chair. Anne Lippitt asked for any suggestions of specific groups to consult or meetings to attend to be forwarded on to her, and it was suggested that she attend the forthcoming Better Places Partnership Board as a way of contacting key stakeholders.
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