News from Siân Berry: Sian supports plans for St Ann's Haringey Community Land Trust

London Assembly Member Sian Berry met with StART Haringey, a local residents group, who are planning to set up a Community Land Trust to acquire and revelop part of the St Ann’s Hospital site in North London.

Next year, two-thirds of the St Ann’s Hospital site is due to be sold for private housing development. Current plans for the plot, with a private developer, have just 14% affordable housing.[1]

Sian said:

“The current plans for the St Ann’s Hospital site take little account of the needs of local people at a time when there is a desperate need for truly affordable housing. There’s potential to build 500 homes on the site, so it’s really important that more than 14% of these are affordable.

“I fully support the local people who have set up StART to make their own plans for the site. They’ve already consulted with local residents on their vision, and are looking for crowdfunding support to raise the money for the next steps of drawing up proper plans and making a bid for the land and buildings.

“They’ve already crowdfunded 65% of the money they need to start drawing up their vision. Community Land Trusts are a great way for local people to take back control of their neighbourhoods and provide much-needed affordable housing.

“We need much more of this in London, on NHS land like this and on land controlled by the Mayor such as the vast number of sites owned by Transport for London. I’ll continue to stand up for local people and organisations like StART Haringey and urge the Mayor to support their plans.”