Agenda item

Broadwater Farm

To provide the Panel with an overview of issues relating to the Broadwater Farm estate, including the Broadwater Farm improvement programme.

Minutes:

David Sherrington, Director of Broadwater Farm at Homes for Haringey (HfH), introduced a report on the Broadwater Farm Improvement Programme. He said that Broadwater Farm is an estate of 1,063 homes in the N17 area, comprising of 12 blocks of mainly 1-bed and 2-bed properties. The tragic events at Grenfell Tower led to concerns about Large Panel System buildings and a requirement for structural surveys which found that 11 of the 12 blocks at Broadwater Farm had structural problems. To mitigate the risks identified by the surveys, a joint project team from Haringey Council and HfH was set up to take forward various workstreams. These workstreams include:

·         efforts to drive up the standard of housing management;

·         the rehousing of the residents of the Tangmere and Northolt blocks that are due to be demolished;

·         installing a new district heating programme along with the upgrading of kitchens and bathrooms;

·         structural and refurbishment work;

·         building new homes, to replace those that are demolished, through a New Homes and Urban Design Framework;

·         communications and engagement with residents;

·         a socio-economic programme funded by the Estate Renewal Programme and Haringey Community Gold;

·         ensuring that other non-housing assets amenities, such as commercial units and the community centre, are considered as part of the overall programme;

·         procuring the demolition work required on two of the blocks.

 

Asked by Cllr Barnes about the acknowledgment in paragraph 4.1 of the report that cleaning and maintenance on the estate was found not to be satisfactory following engagement with residents in 2018, David Sherrington said that a new estate grading system had been introduced to monitor cleanliness and communal repairs. HfH had recently approved a new deep cleaning team to be deployed at estates across the Borough to improve standards. Cllr Hare expressed surprise that these problems had not been identified earlier and David Sherrington said that he would look into this and provide a written response about the estate services standards. (ACTION)

 

Asked by Cllr Hare about the future of Broadwater Lodge, David Sherrington said it had been identified as an opportunity site and that architects had been asked to provide detailed designs for replacement homes following the demolition of the Tangmere and Northolt blocks. They had also been asked to provide design briefs for three opportunity sites which are the old Moselle school to the north of the site, a strip of land to the north-east and the Broadwater Lodge site which is a former care home currently being used as a Temporary Accommodation hostel. Broadwater Lodge currently provides an essential service which saves the Council money on Emergency Accommodation payments so, while it is included in the list of opportunity sites, this doesn’t necessarily mean that a closure would be forthcoming because this service would still need to continue in some capacity. Asked by Cllr Say about timescales, David Sherrington said that it was too early to say and, while there was a clear timetable for the architects, the overall timescales would depend on the procurement process and the engagement with residents. Dan Hawthorn, Director of Housing, Regeneration & Planning, added that there is a balance to strike between not prolonging the disruption to the estate while also ensuring that residents are engaging in the design of the redevelopment.

 

In response to a question from Cllr Say, David Sherrington and Dan Hawthorn noted that a ballot of residents would be required for consent to the plans due to GLA guidance, however this applied only to the new plans and not the demolition because that GLA accepted the health and safety grounds for the demolition. Asked by Cllr Barnes whether there was a target for the turnout level in the ballot, David Sherrington said that there was no specific target but that the response from residents to the previous S105 consultation about demolishing the blocks had been very good with 70-80% engagement from residents.

 

In response to a question from Cllr Say about wider plans for the estate, Dan Hawthorn said that there were currently no plans to demolish any blocks on the estate other than the Tangmere and Northolt blocks.

 

 

Supporting documents: