How to comment on a planning application
Send an email.
If you’re in a hurry, this is quick and easy to do. Go to the council’s website, click on the “Comment on Application” button, and fill in the form. Here’s the link:
View and Comment on the 500 WHL Application
Write a letter.
Or you can send a printed letter straight to the council. If you need help writing up a letter, we have some sample letters right here!
Be sure to mention your name and address, and cite the right reference number. In the case of 500 White Hart Lane it’s:
HGY/2016/0828.
Planning and Building Control
6th Floor
River Park House
225 High Road
Wood Green
London
N22 8HQ
What to say.
A few things to keep in mind when writing to the council:
Focus on the key points that you object to.
Planners are most interested if you object "in principle" (that the project is inappropriate and shouldn't support a change of land usage), or that the proposal is "overbearing".
Be polite, of course!
If you support aspects of the proposal, great. But remember that they’re probably going to go ahead anyway if nobody objects.
Don’t focus on how your house value will go down if the tower blocks are built. That’s probably true, but it’s also something that planners refuse to consider.
Don’t focus on how you’ll lose your view of the city if giant tower blocks go up. That’s also true, but another issue that planners refuse to consider.
Don’t focus on how much money the football team’s owners will make by parachuting 145 flats into a small spot. That’s another topic that planners refuse to touch.
Don’t joke around about how you support a different football team – planners don’t always have a sense of humour!
Keep your thoughts specific and to the point.
If it’s useful to you, many of us in the community object to:
Tall 7-storey tower blocks are appropriate for urban settings or along a railway. They are not appropriate for our leafy two-storey streets.
Haringey’s own planning documents (Haringey Sites Allocation Development Plan Document) state that 4 storeys should be the maximum height for buildings in that area.
The density of housing is too high. We are 1.5 km from the nearest rail or tube station. There aren’t enough shops, doctors’ offices, playgrounds, and schools as it is — let alone if the population doubles.
The plan does not improve or regenerate our neighbourhood, and in fact places extra stress on our already taxed neighbourhood amenities.
Find out more.
We, concerned residents of Devonshire Hill, have a page with more detailed information on 500 WHL here:
500 White Hart Lane project details.
The official planning application by the football team’s corporation is here:
500 White Hart Lane planning application.
Contact a councillor.
You can also contact your councillor. But if you choose to do this, please do it as well as filing a comment with the planning department. Contacting your councillor alone is not enough to have your voice heard, since councillors do not forward comments to planning directly.
A list of local councillors is included here, on our useful links page: