Move to force out Tottenham residents and businesses blocking High Road West scheme

Haringey Council could force landowners in Tottenham to sell their properties to allow the huge High Road West regeneration scheme to go ahead after failing to make sufficient progress through negotiations.

Senior Haringey councillors have approved the use of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) – a power that allows public bodies to buy land without the consent of the owner – to acquire a swathe of homes and businesses near Tottenham High Road.

If it is approved by the government, the CPO will allow properties within the designated area to be demolished so that developer Lendlease can build the first phase of a scheme that will ultimately provide nearly 3,000 homes in tower blocks up to 29 storeys high.

The regeneration scheme, which was approved by councillors in July, has attracted significant opposition from local residents and businesses who warn it will put their homes and livelihoods at risk. Among the scheme’s opponents are firms from Peacock Industrial Estate, shops in Tottenham High Road and White Hart Lane, plus residents’ group TAG Love Lane – representing temporary accommodation residents living in the 297-home Love Lane Estate.

A report presented to a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday reveals Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and businesses at Peacock Industrial Estate have already signalled they plan to mount separate legal challenges to the council’s decision to grant permission for the development. Both intend to apply for judicial reviews of the decision, and the council has said that it would “robustly” defend itself against the challenges.

Government guidance states that councils should only use CPOs when there is a “compelling case in the public interest”. According to the cabinet report, the council believes it has met this requirement. It lists the scheme’s benefits as including 500 homes for social rent, a new public square, a library and learning centre, and employment and training opportunities for local residents.

The report states that if the council continued trying to acquire land through mutual agreement with the owners, it would be unlikely to acquire all of the interests – meaning it would be unable to deliver the first phase of the scheme.

Ruth Gordon, cabinet member for housebuilding, placemaking and development, told this week’s meeting that a “dedicated housing team” would look after the interests of all tenants and leaseholders.

Cllr Gordon added: “We are absolutely determined to work with businesses. We want to make sure this scheme […] will be about improving businesses and making sure businesses there that are very valued by the local community and council continue to exist, and indeed thrive, in that area.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Pippa Connor asked if the legal challenges would affect the council’s ability to obtain funding from the Greater London Authority which is needed to provide the 500 social-rent homes. Cllr Connor also asked how many landowners the council had been unable to contact.

In response, officers said the council had sought legal advice and been told that there was “no reason not to progress the CPO”, adding that it “would be robustly resisting” the challenges.

All of the business owners and residential leaseholders had been contacted “several times over”, officers said, although they added that they had not heard back from one commercial landowner and “around a third” of residential leaseholders regarding the purchase of their properties and housing options.

The council confirmed that the use of the CPO was approved following a private discussion that took place after the press and public were excluded from the cabinet meeting.

After the CPO is formally served, affected landowners will be given a minimum of 21 days to object to it. Objections will then be heard by a government-appointed planning inspector during a public inquiry, after which the inspector or secretary of state will then decide whether to confirm the order. If it is confirmed, opponents have six weeks to apply to the High Court to challenge the decision.