Fortis Green ‘eyesore’: Haringey Council urged to act over ‘jungle’ property
Hoardings outside the Annington Road premises in Fortis Green before graffiti was whitewashed. Picture: Cllr Justin Hinchcliffe - Credit: Archant
A Fortis Green councillor has backed neighbours’ calls for Haringey Council to do something about an “eyesore” property bordering a conservation area.
Haringey granted planning permission in 2010 to turn a single-storey garage workshop in Annington Road into a pair of two-bedroom flats.
Since then, though the foundations have been dug, the flats have not been built and residents are frustrated by what they see as a blight on the area.
Tall wooden panels surround the property to stop people throwing rubbish into it and the garden is overgrown, which neighbours say encourages vermin.
Recently, the owner of the building organised for the panels to be painted over in order to cover up graffiti.
Fortis Green councillor Justin Hinchcliffe (Lib Dem) told the Broadway: “I just hope the council can do something about it, like get a CPO [Compulsory Purchase Order].
“They could put affordable housing there or a nice green park for our children because Fortis Green as a whole is not very green.”
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One neighbour in Annington Road, who declined to be named, agreed. “The area looks like a jungle,” they said. “I’ve complained to the council many times.”
But the property owner, who asked not to be named, told the Broadway: “My plans are to build something there – a small block of flats or a house, a dwelling of some kind.”
He could not say when work would be finished, but added: “It’s no one’s business when I’m going to finish.”
His neighbours would also like to see the flats go up. One told the Broadway: “If they build two flats, the area will look nice.”
A spokesperson for Haringey Council said: “While the council previously granted planning permission for the redevelopment of the site, it cannot force an owner to carry out the development. The council, however, expects sites to be kept tidy.
“This is not the type of site that the council could reasonably use CPO powers on. Such powers can only be used in specific circumstances, normally for assembling sites for large scale development or regeneration, or major infrastructure projects, and also require a decision from the government minister.”
