A new independent cinema, 143 new homes, 142 parking spaces and the envy of the rest of north London.

That is the £15 million vision for Hornsey Town Hall under initial plans announced last Friday by the Community Partnership Board (CPB), the body charged with deciding what to do with the listed building in Crouch End Broadway, Crouch End.

To raise the money to carry out the redevelopment, the CPB, which is working in conjunction with Haringey Council, proposes turning the town hall's car park into four-storey residential housing to provide the bulk of the 143 new homes. Around 50 per cent of the housing will be affordable.

Under the proposals, the three cinema screens would show independent films and an extension to the town hall roof would be built to house two of them. There will also be cafes, shops, business units and performance and rehearsal spaces for budding young artists. The redevelopment would also feature significant landscaping to the areas surrounding the town hall, particularly the front.

If all goes according to plan, work will begin at the start of 2008. The CPB was not able to say when the redevelopment might be completed.

Aware the sale of the car park for housing is likely to be contentious, the Crouch End ward councillor David Winskill, who sits on the CPB, said: "The reality of the situation is that the car park is the dowry of the building. It's going to cost an awful lot of money to get it the town hall up to scratch and back to its former glory. The car park has to go into the mix to raise capital."

The new housing will not be enough, however, to raise all the money needed for the town hall's redevelopment and the CPB will need to find around another £3.5m. The board hopes this money can be raised from grant-giving organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and charities as well as donations from artists and actors.

Mr Winskill said: "We want to tap into local people financially. We're going to try to find people around here. There are people in cinema and music who have expressed a big interest in this."

Kit Greveson, of Crouch End for People, which is taking an active interest in the town hall's redevelopment, said: "The main thing we keep saying is that we are not pro-car, but we are in a society where people need to use their vehicles and the amount of parking is just not enough. Crouch End is not well served by public transport."

Of the proposed 142 parking spaces, the vast majority will be for residents, not for people using the town hall's facilities. "We're not trying to encourage people to come to the town hall by car," said Mr Winskill.

The plans for the town hall were exhibited at the building on Saturday. They have now moved to Marcus Garvey Library, Tottenham, until Monday; and they will be at Wood Green Library from Tuesday until July 24; and Hornsey Library, in Haringey Park, Crouch End, from July 25-31.