Agenda item

Report of the Director of Placemaking and Housing.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning.

The Cabinet Member for Council Housebuilding, Placemaking and Development introduced the report which introduced a new vision for Wood Green which set out an overarching vision for the area and articulated six main themes to guide change.  The report sought approval for the Shaping Wood Green document as set out in Appendix 2 of the report.

In response to Councillor Hakata, it was noted that the ethos of the Haringey Deal were included within the whole vision for Wood Green, for example, having discussions with local residents, the way in which plans were communicated, and ensuring documents were translated into different languages.

In response to questions from Councillor Barnes, the following was noted:

-       Many local interest groups had been consulted, and there would be further sessions to feed back on the vision as plans develop and were put into action to ensure that it was on the right track.

-       In relation to the comment on street sweeping, Cllr Chandwani confirmed that the Head of Waste had attended every Wood Green voices meeting to take on any concerns raised and added that Wood Green had the highest number of street sweepers in the borough, which would help to improve the cleanliness of the main roads.

RESOLVED

1.            to consider the successes and learning from Wood Green Voices, set out in section 6, which will inform work to continue to embed the Haringey Deal; and the proposed approach to ongoing resident participation at the heart of Shaping Wood Green. 

2.            to note the actions already taken by the council following the feedback from residents during the Wood Green Voices project contained in section 6. 

3.            to approve the Shaping Wood Green document attached in Appendix 2, which sets out a vision, six themes for improvement, and five placemaking areas in Wood Green.

Reasons for decision

The vision and themes within Shaping Wood Green have been carefully developed from the extensive Wood Green Voices engagement programme that took place in November 2022, and therefore is rooted in recent conversations with a wide range of residents and stakeholders.

The strategic spatial proposals in the five placemaking areas bring together recent public engagement with the potential opportunities created by the Council’s consolidation of its corporate estate on to the Civic Centre (cabinet – January 2022), and the chance to strategically consider how the Council delivers its front-facing services.

Shaping Wood Green is a high-level document, that will guide more detailed conversations with residents, businesses, external partners, and internal council teams, on how to best to respond to the vision and placemaking areas. This process will continue to serve as a test bed for other projects adopting the Haringey Deal approach.

Alternative options considered

            DO NOT APPROVE ‘SHAPING WOOD GREEN’ DOCUMENT

From the Wood Green Voices engagement the council has developed a deeper understanding of some of the issues raised by local people about Wood Green. Council responses to improving Wood Green could be taken forward based on the information of this report and the Corporate Delivery Plan, without the need for the publication of a high-level vision document.

The council has committed itself to sharing power with residents as part of the Haringey Deal. This high-level vision document communicates the outcome of an extensive process of engagement and will be used as a basis for further conversation around change in Wood Green. Publishing this document is an important pre-requisite for future collaborative working and public participation.