File:Windsor Parade - side view from Reform Row.jpg

English: 1 September 2008. Windsor Parade is 538-554 High Road, Tottenham N17.

The Windsor Parade Project was completed in June 2007. It was part of a Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS) led by Haringey's subsequently abolished Neighbourhoods Team, working with English Heritage, private developers and Stadium Housing Association. Funding came from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Housing Corporation and from the freeholders.

The Project reinstated architectural features with new shopfronts. The scheme also created affordable new flats.

This side view is no picture postcard. Though plainly, someone has tried to make it reasonably attractive. (Let me know if you disagree, and I'll try to dig out and post some 'before' photos!)

Award Ceremony

The work on Tottenham High Road was transferred to Haringey's Urban Environment Department; which had minimal involvement in the project.

This didn't prevent senior staff from that department attending an award ceremony. The Windsor Parade project was "highly commended" in the "Heritage-led project of the year" category, in the awards by Regeneration and Renewal magazine.

The awards were doled out on 18 September 2008 at a dinner at the Hurlingham Club, London. The cost for each person attending was £160. Black ties were worn by the men.

Poverty as a Super Output

I have to confess that my interest in this block didn't start with its architectural merit or 'heritage' tag. But because, as one of the local ward councillors at the time, I saw that, like many other Tottenham premises over shops - it was home to families and single people, living in very poor conditions.

This isn't unusual. The Government's Indices of Deprivation now use small "Super Output Areas" (SOAs) to show statistics at a neighbourhood level. The SOA data confirms what engaged local professionals (and even ward councillors) have long known or guessed. Flats and rooms above shops, or at the back of main roads are likely to have a very high concentration of poorer residents.

The persistence of poverty is a deeply shaming feature of our ‘rich’ society. It remains very much a reality, not just for families with children, but for homeless people; and many, for example, with mental health problems.

Of course, such concentrations are also found in many other places than along our High Roads. Tottenham - with its high proportion of privately owned housing - is attractive to some of the very worst landlords. Other London borough councils have found it convenient to place homeless people in rented temporary accommodation in Tottenham – sometimes in sub-standard private housing. It’s relatively cheaper and the cost of services then falls on Haringey.

Where people are housed in older buildings along the shopping streets, it’s no surprise to find badly maintained premises. Heating, insulation and even electrical wiring may be poor. There may be a higher fire-risk. Almost certainly there is a concentration of ill health; and many hard-to-reach families with young children.

In a small but valuable way, the Windsor Parade project tried to reverse this by refurbishing an attractive old building, and creating new homes.

Interesting and Critical Questions

I don't pretend this type of project is a perfect solution. Elsewhere in Haringey illegal conversions are not properly controlled, and some of the very oldest and most attractive buildings deteriorate. Even in Windsor Parade I'd prefer to postpone congratulations until families have properly settled in, and tell us what they think of their new homes. Should any so-called regeneration "experts" bother to visit and ask them, of course.

Similarly critical questions need asking in every town and city where - in recent years - substantial "regeneration" funds were poured in. Though in Haringey, I suspect few of these wider questions will be asked; nor lessons learned.