Wood Green flats approved again as councillors rage

Councillors clashed with officers after a plan to build a block of flats had to be reconsidered because the scheme was originally approved during a public consultation.

Haringey Council’s plan to build a nine-storey block at the junction of Partridge Way and Trinity Road in Wood Green was brought back to the planning subcommittee on Monday so members could consider further objections from members of the public.

The scheme will provide 23 council-rent homes, contributing to the civic centre’s target of starting work on 1,000 new council homes by March 2022.

But councillors raised concerns because the committee had already granted an almost-identical application just seven weeks earlier, while a consultation was still running. The council subsequently received 14 more objections to the plan during the consultation period. 

Speaking during the meeting, Labour’s Reg Rice said he had previously argued that the committee should not reach a decision until the consultation had ended, but other councillors had voted to go ahead. He added: “Now we have got the same thing back again. What is going on?”

Planning officer Robbie McNaugher replied that planning officers had taken a “cautious approach” and brought the application back to the committee to allow councillors to consider issues that were “broadly considered” but not “specifically considered”. He explained the consultation was extended because of the late publication of a notice informing the public about the plan in the local press.

But Cllr Rice asked for the committee to hear from the council’s legal adviser on whether what they were doing was “right and proper”, as it would involve setting aside a decision that had already been made.

Legal officer Justin Farley said considering the plan at the current meeting was the only way to ensure all relevant information had been taken into account by the committee. He added: “There is no planning permission granted as yet. Until a formal notice is granted by the planning department, there is not planning permission. You have recommended that it be granted.”

Despite the assurances, Liberal Democrat councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison raised concerns that either of the two decisions made by the committee could be taken forward by the planning department.

“I really hope this never happens again,” he said. “It was shocking at the time that we were hearing an application that had not had its consultation completed, and this is evidence of how badly that turned out, even if the original reason was a late issuing of a notice.”

Under further questioning, Robbie said residents had raised “additional points which went beyond the previous material considerations, so to avoid a risk of the planning permission being challenged, we are back to reconsider it to make sure it is absolutely legally sound”.

Concerns raised by the opponents of the plan included claims that the block would be too high and lead to a loss of privacy and daylight. Paul Burnham, from Haringey Defend Council Housing, raised these points during the meeting and called on the committee to turn the scheme down.

Ruth Gordon, cabinet member housebuilding, placemaking and development, spoke in favour of the plan, arguing the borough was in “desperate need of council housing”.

At the end of the discussion, three councillors abstained, and the remaining five members of the committee voted to grant planning permission.