Park Collection Planning , Development and WDCO Forum
Considerations for the consultant brief for the Ground Floor / Retail / Enterprise Strategy
Why am I writing this?
Because Berkeley Homes and Hackney are working towards a planning application for the next phase of the Woodberry Down Regeneration, and part of that planning application will define what sort of ground floor we get for the future. The ground floor is the bit where we get our shops, the entrances to our offices, our churches, our community centres and its where we walk about to get places. It’s where we live when we’re not indoors at home.
And right now through the medium of the Woodberry Down Community Organisation we have the opportunity to influence how Berkeley go about deciding what to put in this Ground Floor strategy. Reply to this blog to let them know what you think, so they can tell Berkeley Homes.
There is a clue to where the next Phase of development will take place in this article, though the Ground Floor strategy goes wider than just the next phase.
The nature of the advice
The advice given by the consultants must be clear and definitive. The presentation of alternatives, or decision points on flowcharts, or multiple possible outcomes is undesirable and simply leads to a lack of decision making.
Decisions are good, even if they might be wrong.
The courses of action proposed must be decisive and clearly set out, but they must be capable of adaptation.
Changes in the world order
There have been two massive changes of the world order since the turn of the year 2019/20. The outbreak of Covid-19 (possibly a natural phenomenon) and the War in the Ukraine (definitely man made) and my Granny always believed that things happen in threes, so maybe there’s another one coming. Maybe the third is that governments around the world are planning a ‘carbon free’ future.
So the consultant’s proposals proposals for this strategy must be capable of reacting to whatever tis he next change is in the world order, whatever it may be.
Covid-19 has brought about the following changes;
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unprecedented government intervention in everyday life
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compulsory medication
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working from home
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a very extensive change in shopping habits
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other changes in individual behaviour rarely seen before
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Getir, Uber Eats, Gorillas, etc
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shielding
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disruptions to the supply chain
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an outbreak of cycle sales and repair shops
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Peloton’s temporary flirtation with immense wealth
The war in the Ukraine has led to what wars lead to:
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fuel shortages
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a refugee crisis
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hand wringing and virtue signalling
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genuine, well meaning and effective charitable actions
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disruptions to the supply chain
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a halt in and to some extent the reversal of globalisation
It’s a tough ask, but the ground floor strategy must not only reflect the changes that have happened, but be ready to respond to what comes next.
Tenure Leasehold / Freehold
There is a traditional approach to the ownership and occupation of commercial properties which depends on the continuation of the old world order.
Freeholders expect to own property, possibly in perpetuity, maybe with a view to trading the asset according to business cycles.
Leaseholders take possession of commercial properties for terms often set to be 5 – 10 years, at predetermined rents, the collection of which is legally enforceable
So there is an argument for looking at other approaches:
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Rent free periods – to relieve start ups of the overhead of rent, enabling them to concentrate on set up and launch
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Shorter terms – the traditional 5 -10 years give the landlord some assurance that he knows who to turn to to collect the rent, and the tenant the knowledge that they won’t be kicked out soon, but 10 years at £20,000 a year is a big commitment for a start up
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Frequent break clauses – a possible way out for a start up whose income is not matching their expectations, with the right to break tilted in favour of the tenant
Demographics
Clearly we have to understand whom it is we are serving with our strategy.
Walk a few hundred yards to the North and West and Green Lanes shop fronts have a very clear theme.
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Turkish Barbers,
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Turkish coffee shops,
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huge, and astonishingly numerous Turkish restaurants,
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jewellers and furniture shops selling goods in the Turkish taste.
The same distance to the South and East brings a different picture, with sales of Kosher foods, except on Saturdays, clothing to satisfy religious dictates and terraced housing converted to places of worship, community and education.
Will our consultants know our target audience at Woodberry Down? The latest census will give
some idea, though we believe that many residents here are short term tenants, at least some of whom will have moved away since the figures were gathered.
Do we have a dominant cultural / ethnic background? If so, should we cater for it (pander to it)?
Legislation
Governments lately have become prone to making new laws to address every eventuality. They pass these laws very quickly, which means they then pass amendments to correct the errors in drafting that arose out of the original haste. Planning law has seen a lot of change.
If we look at High Streets we can see a lot of vacant units. We also see units, often restaurants, with paper or blinds over the windows, simply standing empty. I wonder why there aren’t estate agents boards outside such places. Clearly a directive to the consultants must be to prevent this falling empty of units.
If a landlord has an empty unit, he will seek where he can to let it, or failing that change it to something that can be let. Current planning legislation for the High Street essentially says to the planners, whatever anyone applies for, let ‘em try it, see if it works. Up and down the country, landlords are busy turning high street shops into dwelling places, and only rarely is the result a pretty sight.
Our ground floor strategy needs a mechanism to deal with this.
Lessons Learnt
What can we discover from what has been done so far? How is the provision made by Berkeley’s so far working?
Sainsbury’s and Goldstar act as anchors on our little High Street. I’ve never seen either of them truly busy, but equally I’ve not seen either of them ever empty. My guess is that Woodberry Down residents spend more money on the big Sainsbury’s up the road, than they do in either of our convenience stores, and then more again on bulk deliveries out of the back of trucks. Our consultants need to understand just how viable these two stores are, and even more importantly, to predict how that is going to develop as habits continue to evolve.
And the look and feel of our shopping places.
Woodberry Grove is essentially an unattractive place. It is a very windy canyon. 215 had to change its outdoor seating because the bistro furniture blew away too often. The sturdy wooden replacements would look fine in a country park or outside a pub. I’m not sure they suit my refined city dweller taste.
The strip with Sublime on one side, Blooms and the Post Office on the other is not a spot to dwell and do window shopping. Apart from the wind and the traffic, there is not enough variety to hold one’s attention.
The backwater Riverside Gardens with Zer, JLL and the dry cleaner’s rarely seems to attract any pedestrian traffic. I think there is minimal passing trade here. Really not a good spot, in my opinion, for the sort of businesses which are there, but possibly more suitable for manufacturing, or offices. Or conversion to dwellings. Definitely questions for our consultants to explore.
Block D
Thinking about the locations of the businesses in the previous paragraph brings me on to think about Block D, the hugely unhelpfully designated space at the reservoir end of Hartington’s. It strikes me that this would be the ideal place to locate Zer, Sublime, Blooms. But instead it is to be dedicated to “community benefit”. I hope that what does go in there is not so desperately worthy as to turn what should be a wonderful, lively outside area into another white elephant. Perhaps our consultants could be persuaded to review the disposition of this space.
Block D is just one of the topics we would like to pursue with WDCO
Commonplace
Commonplace is a software approach to consultation. There is still a Commonplace consultation open on Woodberry Down. So the opportunity exits for you, dear reader, to express an opinion on one of the topics.
It is also an opportunity for our consultants to gather data. There are roughly 150 - 250 comments on each of the Woodberry Down topics
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Amenities (this is the most relevant to the Ground Floor Strategy)
And there is a brief commentary on the Movement section here
Included just prove I'm wrong about Street Art - here's a portrait of me Photo by Anna
Street Art
I don’t think we have any on the estate, but the consultants should definitely look at building some in.
The estate as it is has been rebuilt is very attractive. The planting is standing up well, the terra-forming creates attractive spaces. The playground slide is a dominant feature.
But a bit of art would be good, if it can be incorporated without detriment to the other features.
Which brings me back to Block D. The space is not as big as the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern, but it is large. As a single unit it would serve well as an Art Gallery.
And casting back to the windy canyon that is Woodberry Grove, I wonder if there are installation which might act as baffles against the gale, mobiles or maybe even as a source of energy.
Originally Posted by Adrian Richard Essex on March 19, 2022 at 6:09pm in Planning
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Replies
I'm not sure about the finding my leader exercise. What I think this does is to identify who is not the leader.
It is not Hackney, whose corporate motivation is to be re-elected with an ever bigger majority, and whose individual councillors are motivated to become leader, or an MP.
It is not Berkeley Homes whose short term motivation is to sell the dwellings they have built to leaseholders, and longer term to sell the freeholds.
It is not any of the myriad consultants who have worked on the estate, who don't have to deliver anything except platitudes and neat diagrams.
Feels to me as though we are reliant on serendipity.
And there you demonstrate that the exercise works!
Eliminate the pretenders and eventually you find the real leadership.
Thanks
Fingers crossed , then
Perhaps Daniel Levy (Spurs) has some relevant points to make.
While we are in Hackney, not Haringey, and we don't have a massive sports venue on our doorstep, Haringey's proposals to build an estate consisting entirely of housing, and little else, have angered Levy.
He demands both socio-economic and community benefits for the proposed estate, and to make it a leisure destination. These are vlaid goals for Woodberry Down, are they not?
He writes:
“We are extremely concerned that this application not only lets down our communities and residents, but that it utterly fails to live up to even the most basic of aspirations that the Council set for positive change in the area.
“The terrible August 2011 riots, the second riots to rock this area, were a wake-up call for everyone. The aspirations and objectives set out by the council in response to the riots were not just about housing – but about real transformative change.
“This was to be achieved through the delivery of jobs, social and community infrastructure and the creation of a premier leisure destination for London.
“That aspiration was long consulted upon and subsequently endorsed in both the High Road West Masterplan and the Adopted Tottenham Area Action Plan.
“It was on this basis that we confirmed our decision, in a written agreement with the council, to remain in Tottenham and to commit £1.2bn of investment in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the wider Northumberland Development Project.
“Unforgivably, there has been no focus on jobs at all in these proposals. No space is secured for industrial use and just 1.6 per cent of the total possible development is secured for employment.
“On the basis of what is actually secured by the council, your own officer report confirms that just 374 jobs would be provided on site, a loss of 316 jobs compared with employment on site right now.
“What is coming before the planning committee has no socio-economic or community benefits to speak of. It is plainly and simply a dense housing estate of up to 3,000 homes.
“There is no mixed-use – the proposals are for up to 97 per cent residential uses. The total space secured for indoor sports and recreation use is just 500 square metres across the whole area."
When I originally proposed that WDCO and the Regeneration Partners need a 'Retail/Enterprise Development strategy", I specifically used the term "Enterprise Development". Repeatedly 'Development' has been ignored by WDCO. Berkeley Homes' Masterplan talks of 'retail space' (amended to refer to 'community space' too) but does not address the needs of Enterprise Development.
WDCO was set up to represent residents and local businesses. However, it does not include representatives from local business and it does not have strong advocacy on behalf of local business. It has no strategic plan of its own.
MHDT seems to have a 'community benefit' focus that does not appear to extend to include 'enterprise development'. Enterprise development needs more of a business mindset to get things going and make them sustainable.
Hackney Council has some involvement with enterprise development initiatives (including the area above the public gym) but this all seems very low key and largely invisible. It seems to be very separate to MHDT and is not represented on WDCO.
I have proposed to MHDT that their bid for Block D should comprise, Zer - moved from Riverside Gardens and Blooms (moved from the main street) as cornerstone tenants, together with a substantial enlargement, and combined with a significant expansion of the 'artist in residence' model (e.g. House of Buckley). This could include ceramics, pottery, photography, etc, more art classes, pop-up and permanent art galleries and sales outlets for local artists, school art exhibits etc.
An enlarged Zer in Block D could also be a venue for local service providers/freelancers to network and promote their existence etc. All of this has the support of Zer's owner and the professionals who run Blooms. The mainstreet, with negligble natural light and limited space, is the wrong place for a florist. Zer could easily be double the size and provide a better place for people to meet and socialise from across the community, while also providing catering to support art classes, group meetings etc. It could also provide a venue for the STAY Youth Forum which does not feel comfortable meeting in The Naturalist or Redmond Centre.
Hackney Council need to reconsider their planning restrictions and existing businesses must be allowed to move if their current locations are not optimal. The retail/enterprise development strategy needs to built around 'clustering' (standard enterprise development practice).
In much the same way that Green Lanes has built itself into a vibrant Turkish cluster, so must different zones within WD. JLL, for example, needs more space and Riverside Gardens is completely the wrong place for it. It needs to be in the mainstreet near the other estate agent. The mainstreet needs to be viewed as a cluster. What makes sense to be there, co-located?
Riverside Gardens is another cluster opportunity and needs to comprise businesses that both benefit from being in that location and which enhance that area. Is this the area for hairdressers, beauty salons etc? These tend to be appointment based rather than reliant on passing trade and footfall.
Likewise, Block D tenants need to both benefit from being in that specific, premium location, while also enhancing that area. There is no point having such a superb location if it is closed most of the time. Having successful and appropriate commercial tenants at the cornerstone of Block D will both ensure it is used regularly but also ensure that it generates sustainable trading profits that can be ploughed into the Redmond Centre and other MHDT local initiatives to ensure these are more affordable and sustainable.
We must not over-do the provision of retail space. As has been said, the retail landscape is changing. We need more parking space for delivery vans than we need empty shops. Why do we have a convenience store for a residential community of around 12,000 people by 2035? Surely this is too small long term. It isn't big enough, it seems, to sell lamb or smoked cheese. What does this tell us?
If you travel around London - for example on the Capital Ring walk which passes through WD - you'll come across very many 'Community centres' many of which are not in constant use. We need to ensure we don't simply repeat this by having an oversupply of 'community space' which is rarely used. We need to track and undertand the utilisation of all local space - the Redmond Centre, the church hall, the West reservoir rooms, the space above the public gym etc. If we are not using the space, why not and do we really need more?
Enterprise development refers not just to commercial iniatives but to not-for-profit ones too. In particular, it refers to the pre-revenue, pre-profit phase of enterprise development. This is the period when there is little or no funding available to the start-up. Almost all great companies have started in someone's "garage" or "spare room". If we are to foster enterprise development, in all its forms, to create opportunities for people then we need things like the following:
- More cafe space to facilitate networking, spontaenous conversations and meetings, informal co-working
- Opportunities for pop-up shops, markets, stalls, exhibitions
- Joined up thinking and collaboration between those organisations supporting enterprise development
- A single portal that covers such things as 'space for hire', promotion of freelancers' profiles, bartering opporunities etc.
- Greater coordination around the promotion of events and themes throughout the year so that everyone can get on board. Most local businesses could link into a theme if there was some coordination in advance
- There would be more opportunity to provide and receive mentoring, coaching, education etc.
- etc.
In summary, what WD needs is not simply space planning but strategic thinking about the kind of community that is being built. What will WD be known for in years to come? What's the buzz here? How do we create opportunities for people?
Lessons can be learned from other communities that were once dead and are now vibrant (whether you like that kind of thing or not). There's a long list of them.
Clustering is crucial.
Also, choice of eateries is also important if eateries are to succeed. Anywhere you go, people want to eat out, they want choice and they will travel to eat out. But do they really want to eat out in a sunless wind tunnel?!
My prediction is that the outcome for Woodberry Down's retail, enterprise and community spaces will be at best disappointing.
Why?
Because WDCO and the Regeneration Partners will appoint yet another consultant to make recommendations, recommendations about 'space' or generalised needs (as done for Block D).
What's needed - in addition to thinking about 'space' - is leadership and a strategy for enterprise development (in its widest sense) that meets the needs of local people or creates the need. The leadership would coordinate the varous interested parties (current and future) and ensure both the utilisation of 'space' and, more importantly, develop the 'glue' that holds it all together. Without this, we risk having an excess of underutilised space or a shortage of effective space.
A consultant can't provide leadership. Who is providing the visionary leadership to follow through on any of the consultant's recommendations? Find the leader before hiring the consultant!
You can find the leader by undertaking this simple exercise: We have one consultants' report relating to Block D (which raises far wider points), we have data from the Common Place survey, and we have local businesses we can talk to. IF all this same information came from a new consultant's report, what would we do with it? What decisions and action would be taken, given what we already know?
On the question of windy canyons - Telford and Wrekin council is reinforcing its commitment to sustaina..., the council will be the first in the UK to trial a new wind turbine technology on public highways.
Telford & Wrekin Council will trial the new wind turbines which will be attached to selected street lighting on the A442, harvesting the wind generated by passing vehicles. The project is underwritten by a third party, with no cost expected to the authority.
Our windy canyon between the very tall buildings would seem to be the ideal place to use such devices. It appears they are simply fitted to the existing lamp post. In Shropshire they are relying on speeding vehicles to generate the draught. In Woodberry Down we don't need that, it is windy more often than not.