Author: Liz Sich

FEC launched its website – http://www.restoringhornseytownhall.com – this morning. This is, of course, the start of their much broader community engagement, starting with the creation of the HTH hub, drop-in sessions and more detail coming in May 2017. There is also a copy of the Community Use Agreement to which we, as well as Ward Councillors, contributed detailed comments, alongside a series of FAQs about the agreement.

On Tuesday 28^th March, HTHCT trustees met with successful bidder, FEC, and representatives from their two communications’ agencies and Make architects.  Agenda items covered included the Trust’s involvement in securing a viable future for Hornsey Town Hall as well as community use and access; our role in the OJEU procurement process; FEC’s consultation strategy and timeline; the restoration and building project timeline; the arts’ partner; ways of working together and future meetings.

FEC confirmed it will launch its project website, www.restoringhornseytownhall.com, imminently.  This will act as an online hub for ongoing news about the refurbishment of Hornsey Town Hall, including the Community Use Agreement which, as part of the development agreement with the London Borough of Haringey, guarantees long-term community access to and use of the building.  They will also publish an outline timetable, information about the project team, and the conservation of the building.  There will also be an opportunity for comment and to provide feedback.  For those who wish to comment in person or by post, FEC will establish a physical hub with a community post box in Hornsey Town Hall next month.

In addition to the launch of the website, the next key milestone is a meeting with Haringey planners, currently scheduled for mid-April.   Works are due to begin in Q2 (April-June) 2018.

We are delighted to announce that James Souter and Lucy White were co-opted on to the Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust board at the trustees’ meeting on Wednesday 15^th March.   Both are local residents; James is a property lawyer and Lucy works in arts’ marketing.   You can read their biographies here About Us

The vacancies were advertised on this website, on social media feeds and on the Arts Marketing Association website.  James and Lucy each had an informal meeting with trustees in February, followed by a formal interview in early March.

Today, Friday 30 September, Haringey Council announced its preferred bidder for the Hornsey Town Hall project (hornsey-town-hall-press-release-september-2016).  This is not the culmination of the OJEU process as the recommendation now goes forward to the Cabinet on Tuesday 18 October, at which point and if agreed, the council will enter into final negotiations with the successful bidder.   The council expects to sign contracts in early 2017.

Mixed community access and use of the historic parts of Hornsey Town Hall have been secured for the long term with a financially strong business plan underpinning the bid.  This means that the Grade II* listed building will be fully and properly restored, taken off the Historic England At Risk register, and made fit for use in the 21^st century.  Public access to the Town Hall Square and green is also secure (despite community concerns, it was never threatened by development) but plans may well be forthcoming to improve this important amenity at the heart of Crouch End.

Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust, which has been working with the council to try and find a sustainable future for this magnificent building for well over a decade, welcomes this recommendation.  The Trust met with all bidders on several occasions to discuss and question their community proposals as part of the OJEU process; it also took part in the evaluation of the community access and use sections of the tenders.

There is still some way to go before Hornsey Town Hall is fully restored.  HTHCT expects to play an active role in ensuring community access and use is properly and appropriately enshrined in long-term and binding legal agreements.

The council’s press release is here hornsey-town-hall-press-release-september-2016 but please do read the FAQs hornsey-town-hall-faqs-september-2016 which should answer many of your questions.  If there is anything else you would like to know from us, please get in touch.

info@hornsey-town-hall.org.uk

@Hornsey_T_Hall

We know there continues to be concern around the future of the Town Hall Square.

To make it absolutely clear and to reiterate what we said at the end of May, the Square is part of the much-needed regeneration of Hornsey Town Hall.

It will remain fully accessible to the public, as a fantastic community space in the heart of Crouch End

It will be maintained by the future leaseholder of the Town Hall.

There will be no housing or large-scale development on the green.

These guarantees will be written into legal agreements with the preferred bidder.

As the council’s procurement process continues, we thought it would be helpful to remind everyone of the community requirements at the heart of the process and also the role that Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust (HTHCT) continues to play.

Background

HTHCT is a buildings preservation trust which was set up in 2007 to work towards finding a long-term, sustainable solution for this historically-important building. Many of its members, all local residents and volunteers, were involved in the project long before the formation of the Trust, either as part of Crouch End for People, as members of an Advisory Panel to Haringey Council (LBH) and subsequently the HTH Community Partnership Board. The Trust has always had Crouch End ward councillors as members and they are currently Natan Doron and Sarah Elliott.

It has long been the Trust’s view that the most productive way forward is to try and influence the council’s decision making over the future of the Town Hall by working with the council whilst continuing to lobby hard for long-term community access and use of the building. It is also imperative that sufficient investment from the sale of the land to the rear of the Town Hall is committed to fully restore the Grade II* listed building (it has long been on Historic England’s Buildings at Risk Register) but also make it fit for purpose in the 21st century.

HTHCT’s legal responsibilities

In June 2015, Haringey Council’s cabinet took the decision to engage in a formal procurement process for Hornsey Town Hall. This is a detailed, complex, confidential and long process, and, because of the scale of the project, governed by European procurement rules. In order to take part in the process, each individual member of HTHCT has had to sign a formal confidentiality agreement and must abide by the legal requirements in that agreement. We understand that is it unprecedented for a group such as ours (i.e. local, community volunteers) to be involved in a confidential procurement process in this way and we are pleased to have achieved this role on behalf of the community.

Community access and uses

Haringey Council has repeatedly stated its commitment to finding an appropriate long term solution for the Town Hall and has also restated its promise to ensure that community access and use is a key part of the solution.

It has also promised:

• The Town Hall Square will remain in the public realm as a fantastic, publicly accessible space at the heart of the community
• There will be no housing or large-scale development on the green

These guarantees will be written into legal agreements with the preferred bidder.

HTHCT was closely involved in the process of drawing up the council tender documents for the Town Hall which relate to community access and use. Much of HTCT’s input was based on the informal consultations undertaken by the Trust over the years, the most recent of which took place in May 2015 [Our Consultation – Hornsey Town Hall’s future].

The Trust is also a member of the evaluation panel that is scoring the community access and use parts of the bids. Each section of the bids is being scored by expert panels overseen by independent legal advisers. The overall final score will be the total of the scores for each section.

HTHCT has agreed with the Haringey that the ‘public access and community use’ has an usually high weighting in the overall scoring of tenders, giving the bidders the clear signal that this is a vital ‘deliverable’ for the community (and the council).

Whatever solution is found for the future use of the Town Hall, the Trust is also committed to ensuring that there are robust mechanisms in place which will ensure that community use and access is ensured for future generations. In terms of a sustainable business plan, HTHCT agrees with the council that this is vital to ensure long term viability of the HTH public access and community use operations. They are inextricably tied in to the long term viability of the whole development in the absence of ongoing council funding or investment in HTH.

Community access and use tender requirements

Community access and use has been broadly defined as follows:
o Community access: publicly accessible space free at point of entry; and
o Community use: space made available at non-commercial rates for given periods to members of the public to use
Bidders are required to demonstrate how their proposals will ensure sustainable cultural, community and other activities in the Town Hall in the long term. We expect these to be both commercial and community activities. We also expect bidders to show how they will work with the community and outline a proposed governance model(s) which guarantee a wide range of community representation.

We also want the current, very popular interim community uses to be provided for as long as possible until refurbishment on the Town Hall starts.

Long term public access and community use is one section of many to which bidders have been asked to respond. Bidders have to fulfil many financial criteria to ensure there are adequate resources to refurbish the Town Hall. The HTH project should be a holistic and comprehensive development and operational solution that will generate the requisite capital and revenue returns (across the Town Hall and wider site) to ensure a long term sustainable future for the Town Hall.

Underpinning the procurement process are the following principles:

high quality…
A development sensitive to heritage and conservation, informed by a ‘place making’ approach, to create a high quality scheme that enhances a key part of the district centre of Crouch End.

support economic development…
A development that creates job opportunities and encourages inward investment into the local area.

commercially sound and deliverable…
A development that is viable, deliverable and sustainable in the long term.

delivers a strong community focus…
A development that provides high quality and accessible space for the use and enjoyment of the wider public and local community, which hosts a desire to play an active role in the future of the property.

You can email us at info@hornsey-town-hall.org.uk

Link to trustee’s biographies

Following notification last night that one of the trees on the Town Hall Square needed urgent attention to make it safe, HTHCT asked for more background to this decision.

LBH says that a large branch fell from the tree in August 2013; an inspection subsequently revealed it was in poor condition. According to LBH, published guidance states that horse chestnut trees do not respond well to decay as they are unable to prevent disease spreading, once it’s established.

LBH also says there was evidence (black tar like stains and cracking along the stem and large branches) that the tree has been infected by Phytophthora which can also lead to some branches dying back. The tree canopy was thin, compared to a healthy specimen of the same species.

The council says it undertook a significant crown reduction in Sept 2013 to minimise the risk of additional branches failing and to re-balance the crown.  LBH says this work was carried out to minimise the risk of additional branches failing and to re-balance the crown. LBH says it thought it was better to try to retain the tree in the short term and see how it reacted to the pruning works.

They go on to say that the tree was monitored last year and another inspection took place this week; their conclusion was that the tree was in terminal decline and that their priority was to make the green area of the square safe for the public.

LBH has sent several images of the tree, one of which is attached to this post.

LBH has told us that they have recommended planting one or two replacements.  We have no more news on that at the moment but will update as soon as we know more.

Haringey Council told us late yesterday that one of the chestnut trees on the square has died and that it urgently needs to be made safe. This work will be undertaken today, Wednesday 8 June.

Cllr Alan Strickland has responded to speculation about the future of the Town Hall Square. You can read his piece in the @BroadwayHamHigh here