Making a house a home

9:42am Friday 27th June 2008

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Haringey Council has unveiled ambitious plans for a new civic centre set to open by 2010.

Former Wood Green Town Hall, Woodside House, in High Road, has been chosen as the new home of the council chamber instead of the existing centre in the same road.

Council chiefs said the move, which they have been discussing for a year, is essential because the current building is surplus to requirements and costs too much to run. The only permanent staff currently based in the offices are electoral services and the registrars.

Council leader George Meehan said: "The current civic centre is 50 years old. It is increasingly unfit for modern requirements and inefficient, with an escalating maintenance bill.

"We now have a major opportunity to provide new civic facilities we can all be proud of, for years to come.

"Woodside House will be restored to its former glory as a modern civic centre at the heart of Haringey."

The building will have to be renovated and extended but Mr Meehan believes it should be finished within the next two years.

He added: "It will be tight but we have been told it is achievable. We're not knocking anything down, we're just building on what is already here.

"It would be nice if it was ready for the first council meeting after the next elections. I am confident we can achieve that."

However, critics are sceptical the deadline will be met.

Councillor Robert Gorrie, leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats, said: "The borough's experience of Labour decision making and mismanagement of major projects must make us all fearful that any project to replace the Civic Centre will be late and over budget.

"I don't suppose Labour thought to ask residents where they would like their Civic Centre, what benefit the move will have for residents, or indeed whether a more creative use of existing buildings in Tottenham and Hornsey Town Halls would be better."

The locally-listed building, formerly Wood Green town hall, is home to Older People's Services which will be relocated later this year, although the council is yet to decide its new home.

The existing Civic Centre would be put on the market and sold, with the revenue used to cover the costs of the Woodside refurbishment.

Charles Adje, cabinet member for resources, said: "The building will be fit-for-purpose. It's not about having fancy new offices, but value for money and making best use of the space in the interests of the borough's taxpayers."

The centre will be available as a conference suite as well as for marriages, citizenship ceremonies and civil partnerships.

Full proposals will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on July 15 after which a planning application will be submitted.