Haringey Liberal Democrats have welcomed Haringey Council’s announcement at the Cabinet meeting of 26th July 2007 to appoint Inner Circle as the preferred developer for the Hornsey Depot site but have criticised a ‘decade of dithering’ by the Labour-run council over the development.

The decision represents the latest step in almost a decade of Labour mismanagement of the site since it was first appropriated for planning purposes in 1998. The Liberal Democrats have criticised Haringey Council for the emphasis placed on the amount the developer would pay for the site rather than the quality of the scheme for residents.

Liberal Democrat councillors attending the meeting challenged Labour on the lack of consultation to date, the lack of thought into planning for the social infrastructure such as school places that the development will require, and the lack of vision around how the traffic impact will be managed. In response the Cabinet committed to work on infrastructure and traffic studies and to support resident and stakeholder consultation albeit only as part of planning.

Lib Dem Hornsey Councillor Robert Gorrie comments:

“Progress towards having a development of a site that Labour have spent almost a decade failing to progress is obviously welcome. The critical challenge will be to ensure that consultation with residents and stakeholders is real and meaningful and that very obvious infrastructure and traffic issues which any sensible study will highlight are addressed effectively. As ward councillors we look forward to the preferred developer introducing themselves to the community and hope that they will work proactively and openly with the community and act on the concerns which will be raised.”