SAVE OUR BACKLANDS!

Public Inquiry
Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th June
10am - 4pm at the Civic Centre, High Road N22
All welcome

A call for support from the Gladwell, Landrock and Cecile Park Residents Action Group, N8

Developer Paul Simon is appealing against the Council's refusal to grant planning permission for their backland (over-)development.

Our residents association has been fighting for ten  years against all the odds to preserve a backland site in Crouch End  bordered by some 160 homes against plans by Paul Simon Developments  to replace the existing, unobtrusive and much needed lock-up garages 
by cramming luxury housing completely out of chartacter with the  surrounding terrace housing into an inappropriate site with an  unsatisfactory and unsafe access.

We are grateful for the continuing support of the Federation and ask that any  members of residents associations or environmental groups who can  attend the Public Inquiry at any point (it is likely to run from 10  to 4:30 on both Tuesday and Wednesday) to do so, to show their  support for what must be the longest-running planning battle in the  Borough between a determined local community and what may well be one  of the greediest property speculators operating in the area as it  reaches its culmination, as it surely will, next week.

Believe it or not, the Council will for once be fielding a strong  team in defence of their refusal of consent (despite the absurdly  limited grounds upon which they refused consent). John Murray and I  worked well together with them in objecting to a very similar appeal 
at a Public Inquiry this week on the other big Crouch End backland  (garages) site and we are cautiously optimistic, though not at all  complacent, that our long, uphill struggle to save the site for the  community is winnable. But it won't be easy.

I appreciate that many Haringey residents will be focused on the  Wards Corner judicial review taking place at the High Court at the  same time and am not suggesting at all that our campaign is in anyway  comparable to the magnificent campaign the Wards Corner Community  Coalition, which we too support, has been waging. However, if anyone  can spare a little time during the two days to drop by the Civic  Centre to show their support for us it would be very welcome.

Privatising the site by the erection of two land-guzzling and carbon- emitting villas would permanently remove the site from continuing  community use and the potential for ongoing sustainability gains  which that could produce.

The applicant claims that there are only 2 options for the site:  their luxury villas or  dereliction. The existing consent for 38  lockup garages remains a viable and sustainable alternative,  providing for an ongoing community need. And were the garages site to  be owned and operated by local residents, this would be, as we have  shown, by far the most economically, environmentally and socially  sustainable solution for its future.

Many thanks.

Bob Maltz
for GLC-RAG
(Gladwell-Landrock-Cecile Park Residents Action Group)