Agenda item

Report of the Director for Placemaking and Housing. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Local Economy.

The report seeks approval of Shaping Tottenham, which sets out the Council's response to the findings of the Tottenham Voices engagement and shapes our Placemaking approach for Tottenham over the next decade.

The Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Local Economy introduced the report on Shaping Tottenham which would guide the Council’s approach to holistic placemaking in Tottenham in the years ahead. It would also form how the Council works in partnership with external stakeholders, ranging from community groups to strategic partners, businesses, landowners and investors and the community. It would seek to address the challenges for Tottenham highlighted through Tottenham Voices in order to deliver a placemaking programme that both meets the concerns and aspirations of local people, and also looks to make the most of opportunities that could transform the area.

In response to questions from Cllr Emery, the following information was provided:

-       That this was a framework strategy and would set the themes for any future programmes and the Council would be working in conjunction with the stakeholder groups to develop the agreed projects and these would have key performance indicators attached to the project work streams.

-       The delivery strategy had particularly been developed to have flexibility to respond to external factors, including a reduction in the capital programmes if required. The key component of this document was establishing the Council being that enabling factor for placemaking in Tottenham and working with the groups outlined in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the Shaping Tottenham document attached in Appendix 2, which

builds on the learning from Tottenham Voices to set out a vision underpinned by five themes for improvement and proposals for how these will apply through five priority placemaking areas for Tottenham.

2. To note the approach to ongoing resident participation, central to the delivery

of Shaping Tottenham, as described in section 6.11-6.13.

Reasons for decision

Alignment with other Vision documents in April 2023, the Wood Green Voices Vision Document ‘Shaping Wood Green’ was approved by Cabinet. This established a new way of working under the Haringey Deal, to deliver a placemaking approach in collaboration with communities and local partners.

Shaping Tottenham builds on the approach established by Shaping Wood Green, while responding to the Tottenham-specific context. It will sit beneath and work with the emerging Borough Vision, providing a Tottenham-focused response, informed by the priorities of our communities, to the Council’s borough-wide ambitions.

Shaping Tottenham will complement and supplement the planning policies for

Tottenham in the upcoming Local Plan.

Engagement led

The approach to Shaping Tottenham was led by an extensive strategic engagement exercise, where communities and partners were asked ‘what is working well?’ and ‘what needs to change looking ahead?’ The Tottenham Voices approach took a specific focus on how the Council engages with communities that are often under-represented, to ensure that all of Tottenham’s residents were able to have their voices heard.

Building on community priorities

The vision and themes within Shaping Tottenham have been carefully developed from what we heard through the Tottenham Voices engagement and are therefore rooted in recent conversations with a wide range of residents and stakeholders. These themes were tested in a workshop in March 2024 with circa 100 participants from a range of different stakeholder groups, where they were positively received.

Outcomes focused

The findings from Tottenham Voices illustrate the complexity of the challenges facing Tottenham and its communities, including the interrelationship between factors such as the quality of housing; lack of facilities and support for young people; issues of crime and safety; and feelings that Tottenham is neglected, which combined, can have a stark impact on the outcomes and opportunities residents are able to access (See Appendix 1).

Shaping Tottenham responds to this by taking a holistic, outcomes-focused

approach, recognising the need to work collaboratively and in a focused and coordinated way to bring together the Council and its partners to tackle the big

challenges affecting Tottenham.

Ongoing participation

Shaping Tottenham embodies the principles of the Haringey Deal, recognising at the outset that in order to achieve the outcomes that Tottenham and its communities need, the Council must work together with communities, strategic and local partners, businesses, service providers. The Council will build on the collaborations established through Tottenham Voices to form lasting partnerships for positive action (as described in section 6.11-6.13).

Action-led

Shaping Tottenham advocates a dynamic and pragmatic approach to withstand a tough current financial climate and a shifting funding and policy landscape. Where plans face uncertainty or delays, the Council will develop initiatives for rapid, visible change alongside long-term transformative programmes to be brought forward at the right time. Catalysts like Borough of Culture ’27 and Euro ’28 will drive early impact and build a lasting legacy.

Alternative options considered

Do not approve the Shaping Tottenham Document

The Council has committed itself to sharing power with residents as part of the

Haringey Deal. This vision document communicates the outcome of an extensive process of engagement and will be used as a basis for further conversation around change in Tottenham. Publishing this document is an important pre-requisite for future collaborative working and public participation.

Failure to publish the Shaping Tottenham document would risk undermining

the commitments made to our communities through Tottenham Voices, and

contribute to a lack of strategic direction that is necessary to unite workstreams

across Tottenham to achieve greater impact.

Do not adopt models for ongoing participation Developing any approach to ongoing participation with the public for Shaping Tottenham will need to start with an acknowledgement that the Council does not have an off-the-shelf solution to be deployed. The Council is committing to an approach that prioritises participation and seeks to make inroads into the most challenging issues Tottenham is facing by tackling these publicly and directly, giving them the prominence they require in accordance with the Haringey Deal.

Emily Read was thanked by the Cabinet for her work on placemaking in Tottenham.