Separate plans for two new warehouses also won approval at last night’s planning committee meeting, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a new engineering centre and two new warehouses in Tottenham have been approved by councillors.

The new five-storey engineering centre will be built at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London in Tottenham High Road.

A building currently used as a gym and lecture theatre will be demolished to make way for the structure, around two-and-a-half times bigger in size.

Councillors unanimously approved the application at a planning sub-committee meeting yesterday (Monday 9th).

Committee member Sean O’Donovan asked whether the educational and public benefits of the scheme outweighed the potential “harm” to the campus, which contains listed buildings.

Haringey Council planning officer Roland Sheldon said the relevant existing facilities were “quite dated” and students had to do some of their work outdoors, which a new “bespoke” building would change.

He said: “The college itself is one of the largest career and education providers in the borough, it’s got strong links with the council, and we’ll be looking in the future to create better links between it and local businesses”

Roland added the new facility would be delivering a “green curriculum” that focused on tackling climate change.

Linda Odiase, from architects Atkins, said work at the pre-application stage had established any harm identified as a consequence of the development was at the “low end”.

Neill Scott, director of estates and facilities at Capital City College Group (CCCG), the applicant, said the new height was needed to increase the type of work and projects the college could cater for.

He said: “We have just signed a contract around turbine blade repairs and we need that height in a facility.”

Councillors also unanimously approved a second scheme during last night’s meeting, for two new warehouses with office space, a yard and landscaping, both at the Hotspur Industrial Estate. The larger site is located at 18 West Road and the smaller one at Unit 4, West Mews.

Committee member Emine Ibrahim expressed concern over traffic management as West Road is “quite narrow” and had “a lot of on street parking” and “a lack of road markings”.

She said traffic seemed “to flow” but certain “hotspots” might crop up with the “added pressure” from the development, as the route was often also used by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

Maurice Richards, the council’s transportation planning manager, said he was confident granting permission wasn’t going to make the traffic flow worse, adding both sites would include “turning points” for HGVs.

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