Agenda item

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

A deputation request had been received from Faruk Tepeyurt on behalf of the Peacock Industrial Estate regarding the High Road West regeneration scheme. This request was not valid as it had been received on the day of the meeting and not at least five working days previously as required. Under the discretion of the Chair it was determined that the request be allowed to proceed nevertheless.

Mr Tepeyurt said that he is the elected spokesperson for the Peacock Industrial Estate where he runs a business, and was also speaking on behalf of the Tottenham business group. He said that the majority of the business community on the Estate are on record from a 2013 consultation that they do not object to regeneration but they do want to be a part of it and remain where they are. In November 2013 a petition with 4,000 signatures was submitted to Haringey Council against the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and what they regarded as a flawed consultation process but Mr Tepeyurt said that this was ignored.

Under the proposals Lendlease would be given a 250-year long term lease impacting on the 50 business entities on the Estate which currently employ around 250 people. Mr Tepeyurt said that the Council doesn’t want to protect the existing employment opportunities. The Peacock Industrial Estate businesses want to have their own planning initiative and regenerate the area jointly. A pre-planning application has been submitted to the Council. However, Mr Tepeyurt said that Lendlease just wants the taxpayer to buy up the Estate’s units at cheap rates and then transfer the assets to them. Existing businesses owners would become leaseholders instead of freeholders. Mr Tepeyurt said that a special scrutiny meeting should be held to discuss the problems of the Peacock Industrial Estate businesses regarding this regeneration scheme.

In response to questions from the Panel, Mr Tepeyurt said:

• That business owners were being asked to downgrade their ownership status from freeholder to leaseholder. As leaseholders they would have to pay ground rent and service charges which they don’t have to do currently. This would be justified on the basis of the quality of the new units but the current units are good quality.
• The Peacock Industrial Estate’s preferred option would be to remain in place but with better landscaping of the Estate to make it more welcoming. A second-choice option would be a mixed use development with industrial units, residential homes and green spaces from their own land. But Lendlease and the Council would also need to allocate space from their own land.
• Asked about problems with noisy industrial units operating near residential buildings, Mr Tepeyurt said that the proposals include plans for coffee shops, retail units and workshops but some businesses wouldn’t be able to operate from the new workshops. If these businesses are going to be removed they should be relocated within a one-mile radius but there are no suitable locations. There is no plan for where these businesses and jobs will be going.

Cllr Gordon thanked Mr Tepeyurt for his presentation and acknowledged that this is an issue on which the Panel has a lot of questions. The High Road West regeneration is included in the Panel’s 2019/20 work programme and would be scheduled after the Panel’s current scrutiny review had been concluded.