Hornsey Town Hall Construction Steering Group Minutes – 16 November 2022

Attendees

Phil Briscoe (Chair, SEC Newgate UK)
Vincent Carroll-Battaglino (SEC Newgate UK)
Mark Afford (Crouch End CAAC)
Graeme Jennings (Hornsey Town Hall Trust)
Kathy Smith (Weston and Haringey Park Residents’ Association)
Nick Poon and Scott Lau (FEC)
Katy Ghahremani (Make)
Joe Pitt (Ardmore Construction)
Cllr Cressida Johnson and Cllr Lester Buxton (Crouch End ward)
Robbie McNaugher and Samuel Uff (Haringey Council Planning)

Apologies for absence

Lewis Freeman (Crouch End Traders)
Susan Cooper (resident representative)
Amanda Carrara (Crouch End Festival)
Liz Sich and Benjamin Lesser (Hornsey Town Hall Trust)
Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison
Paul Toyne
Angela Walsh (FEC)
Andrew Major (Time + Space)

Introductions

The Chair invited all attendees to introduce themselves.

Approval of previous meeting minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

Time + Space update

As Time + Space representatives were not in attendance, the Chair gave a verbal relaying information from Time + Space.

On the licensing application, events for local residents are being held to hear about this. Leaflets were delivered to the roads surrounding the site, and to CSG members.

The question was raised whether the license application was necessary given existing license in place. The License update necessary to align with Time + Space proposed use areas, including the hotel areas.

Fit-out timeline is still to be confirmed. FEC is pushing for this to be as soon as possible, aiming for Ardmore to complete at the end of the year. The fit-out has gone out to tender.

We are beginning to roll out marketing and comms in the form of newsletters and social media, largely centred around the opening of the pop-up workspace and coffee shop, which is also being used as an incentive for people to reserve workspace in HTH. We have also just begun weekly tours of the building for those who are interested in booking event space in late 2023 in the Town Hall.

Info on appointments, operational details and full Building Management Plan will be coming out in early 2023.The intention is to begin forming the CUAA Steering Group in January 2023. In discussions with Haringey officer Samuel Uff about the group.

We will be looking to appoint a formal advisory board in 2023 and will provide an update soon.

FEC update

Ardmore still has some work to do before the Green is ready. We are keen that the Green is not opened before all statutory information has been submitted. Outstanding issues include CCTV and paperwork. There was discussion over the reasons for this delay. The selection of the right type of lighting and planting was essential so that an opening is not premature. Councillors offered assistance with the council if “roadblocks” continued.

Fatto a Mano opening date has been delayed slightly as there is still work to do on aligning the space.

Heritage: the conditions are with Ardmore, who have appointed specialists to carry these out.

FEC was asked whether a restaurateur had been decided for the other restaurant space. Not yet, we have been focused recently on the Time + Space elements.

The possibility of a Christmas tree on the Green was raised.

• It was not clear who would order the tree or sponsor it. There was no procurement in train.

• FEC was reminded by councillors that there would be a good deal of goodwill and FEC agreed to review what historically had been done.

Ardmore update

S278 works have been discussed with Haringey. These will be after the finish of the Ardmore works. The progress was disappointing for members of the CSG and this was noted.

Hatherley Gardens – drainage and access issues had been raised. We are waiting on the design from Highways but the surfaces will be flush and therefore accessible. FEC was encouraged to continue talking to Haringey Libraries about works at the Town Hall gardens behind the library.

Ardmore spoke to a slide show of images of recent construction works in various locations on the site. The Hall/Supper Room is nearly ready to be handed over to fit out contractor.

Councillors asked when the handover of the social housing would take place. It is not ready yet. Haringey Council is happy with the snagging benchmarks Ardmore had in place.

The roof on the Boundary Lofts is expected to be on by Christmas, and scaffolding down to move on to the internals.

Any other business

There was discussion of the telephone kiosk. Officers reported that the council has tried but removal of this is not in the BT programme of removals. Benches were likely to be reused elsewhere if removed.

The Chair told the group that Time + Space was offering the group a site tour of its part of the site where new co-working spaces have been launched. These would likely be in the afternoon, and preferences should be sent to SEC Newgate. The team will coordinate dates

Opinions were sought on whether the CSG should be held remotely via Zoom to allow more members to attend at 6pm.