5:24pm Tuesday 16th June 2009
By Elizabeth Pears
A HARINGEY councillor is accused of giving the appearance of unfair bias after voting in favour of controversial plans to demolish Wards Corner, a court heard today.
It is alleged that on three separate occasions Councillor Sheila Peacock, who chairs Haringey Council’s planning committee, expressed a firm view that she wanted Wards Corner to be demolished before a planning application was even submitted.
This led Tottenham resident and local hisorian Janet Harris to apply for a judicial review against Haringey Council's decision to approve an application submitted by development company Grainger Plc regarding the regeneration of Wards Corner.
The site is situated above Seven Sisters Tube station and includes the former Wards department store, a Latin American market and small shops, as well as houses on Suffield Road.
The council earmarked "the gateway to Tottenham" as badly in need of regeneration and approved Grainger's application to flatten the site and build private flats, a public square surrounded by shop units and a small supermarket such as Tesco Metro.
But a coalition of residents, market traders and small business owners — the Wards Corner Community Coalition (WCC)- have vehemently campaigned against the proposals and submitted alternative plans for the site.
Their vision focuses on preserving the Wards building which is not listed but has some local significance, according to conservation charity English Heritage.
The Royal Courts of Justice, in Westminster, heard today that in an email conversation on September 16, 2007, with Ruth Allen, of Clyde Road Residents Association, Ms Peacock wrote: "We will not agree on the future of this area, which I would like to see completely changed.
"Visitors when coming to Tottenham need to be impressed by the new build and not depressed by seeing the old just tarted up."
At an earlier meeting she was also recorded as saying that Wards Corner "would be going".
And she is accused of repeating a similar view in conversation with Vicky Alvarez, a market trader, stating: "It does not matter what you do, this place is going to be knocked down anyway."
Ms Peacock denies the last allegation but admits she did say that Wards Corner would be demolished.
The court heard that Councillor Neil Williams, of Haringey Liberal Democrats, complained that Ms Peacock's comments showed bias and asked for her to be removed from the committee.
Haringey’s monitoring officer accepted the complaint and removed Ms Peacock from the planning committee of the rival application that focused on restoration rather than demolition, but still allowed her to chair the committee hearing the Grainger application.
The committee later voted five in favour and four against, meaning Ms Peacock’s vote was crucial, argued David Wolfe, the lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Harris.
Deputy High Court Judge Keith Lindblom QC said he was "curious" about the officer’s logic in making the decision.
The council said that while it was right to remove Ms Peacock from hearing the community application, her views on demolition were in keeping with its planning policy.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
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